Rejected, Then Reborn
Chapter 46

Had he made the worst decision letting her go?

Everyone seemed to think so.

I mean, his sister did, and she had barely spoken to him in seven days as a result of it. His best friend did too, and while he wasn’t using the silent treatment card, Reed would be an i***t and a liar not to notice all the looks of disapproval he kept shooting his way every now and then. Hell, even his own betrothed, Rieka had questioned him on whether his idea was a good one, and Reed himself was starting to have doubts.

Don’t get him wrong, the doubts had started to linger in his head the very day he had agreed to her request, but like little wisps of smoke slowly glowing into fiery embers, so had his little doubts morphed into what the Alpha King now identified as regret. The thing was that, Reed was still trying to make sense of these feelings that were plaguing him.

This wasn’t love, because he had loved before, and he knew just how it felt like. No, this was something more, something that kind of felt incomplete since his wolf wasn’t feeling it too.

Reed wasn’t saying that Ace liked Rieka or her wolf, Dasha, but they had kind of established an unspoken truce of tolerance that made their betrothal the perfect match. With Lacy though, his beast was hands down hateful and downright vindictive, it made thinking of any other possibility aside letting her go impossible.

But it still wasn’t enough for Reed to stop thinking about her.

And you want to know the annoying part? Ace hadn’t even reared his beastly head to gloat about it.

“So what? You’re not gonna talk to me? I hope you’re happy now.” Reed threw at his other half after a long week of ignorance, his emotions tearing down the communication block the Lyken had put in place to keep him away with ease.

“Sad. Go away.” Ace said simply, another block replacing the one Reed had ruined just seconds ago.

What the f**k?

Reed would be lying if he didn’t say he was surprised. Did Ace say he was sad?

Did he hear that right?

The Alpha King had so many questions that he didn’t even know where to begin from. He tore the second block down as well, “Are you sad because we let the human go?”

“I TOLD YOU SHE’D MAKE US WEAK. DID YOU LISTEN TO ME? NO. I FEEL NO EMOTION, AND NOW LOOK AT WHAT SHE HAS TURNED ME INTO… SOME SCRAWNY LYKEN WHO CANNOT GET HIS s**t TOGETHER!”

Reed was barely hearing anything Ace was saying, for his mind was already trying to work out the rubrics, his heart already doing some crazy summersault dances at the implication of his Lyken half’s admission. “Can’t you see, you stupid i***t? You don’t hate her as much as you thought if you’re sad about the fact that she’s no longer here.” Reed laughed softly, “You miss her too.”

“Why does the thought of her return make me growl in irritation then, Reed? Why do my claws ready themselves to tear at her flesh and maul her until she’s unrecognizable? Until she’s not breathing at my hands?” The words and the tone with which he said it were so bone chilling that it would have filled even the most ruthless of men with fear, but Reed was no ordinary man, and so he only said. “My decision was and still is the best I ever made; it seems.” Then he put the block back in place, his mind clearing somewhat.

He had made the right decision.

Had she spent more days with them, Reed was not doubting one bit that he would have fallen in love with her.

I mean, what’s not to love?

She challenged him in every way. She was infuriating at times, but goddess, if that did not only want to make him punish her with his mouth and with his c**k.

But above all, she had a heart of gold.

Reed had seen her interaction with the maids lots of times to know this. He had seen her get the blanket for the guard who had fallen asleep behind her door that other time, he was never going to stop thinking this, that she would have made a helluva Luna Queen. But it would have taken just one day of losing control when she was around, and then Ace would cut her life short, doing exactly what he had described and ripping him off what would have been a second chance at love— since circumstances had changed what he once felt for Rieka— simply because the human unnerved him in ways he did not understand even though she was supposed to be their mate.

“Your Eminence,” Bruno called out through the mind link, interrupting his thoughts. “What is it?”

“The Mother of Thorns asked to send for you she says it is urgent.”

The link was disconnected even before Reed could ask a question, and he frowned in annoyance. What did she want?

He had barely interacted with the woman he had saved some years back from a Werebear, and now, he had seen her way more than he could count in just the space of what was but a week.

The Alpha King headed out of his study, handing the reins over to Ace who from the way he had shifted so willingly, seemed to have caught the entire exchange.

The duo in one body made it to the Hex’s cottage in record speed, going right in, and then Reed took back control once more, naked as the day he was born. He had forgotten to take a pill and now he was paying the price, but he didn’t exactly care.

“Your Eminence,” Synn Gloom called out, tossing a large, heavy cloth in his direction, one which Reed caught, donning like a proud ruler from the Western parts of Africa. “What is it?” His tone was slightly harsh, as it had been towards almost everyone for the past week since she had left.

“Humans.” Came her short reply, her hand gesturing towards a glowing crystal ball that seemed to be displaying some images.

Reed neared her, his curiosity getting the best of him.

The Alpha King’s heart rate picked up at the disturbing image that reached his eyes. Over fifty men dressed in hunting outfits, walking around in the dark woods, busily searching for something.

“What are they doing here? What do they want?” He practically growled, his eyes already a bloody red as Ace saw for himself too.

“I can’t say for sure. All I do know is that this concerns the human girl. I’m pretty sure she described the Silver Gate and the watchhouse since she saw those after the Cleanse, and they are here seeking answers.” The Mother of Thorns finished, a smirk of amusement making its way onto her wrinkled face, one that Reed didn’t understand, since it was only a matter of time before they discovered the huge gate and came trooping in.

“Be of calm, your Eminence… a Spell of Confusion is in place, they won’t be finding us anytime soon, but we have a huge problem.”

Reed blinked, silently asking her to move along with it. “A portal unlike anything I have ever seen before has opened up right at where the human forest ends and the dark forest begins. I think this is how the human girl managed to enter our world all those years ago, and how all of these humans are flocking in right now as well.”

Reed’s eyes were still fixated on the crystal ball. His worst fear was unfolding right before his eyes, humankind almost close to finding them out.

He had so many questions,

like how had a portal been there for five f*****g years and gone unrecognizable by any of the Supernatural territories?

You see, the dark forest was the focal point of all life.

Humans were on one end, and then came the Werecreatures, Lykens, Vampires, and finally Faefolk. Out of all five, only four knew of the existence of the dark forest, they had to continue to keep things that way otherwise all hell was going to break loose. “How do we close it?”

“Like I said, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before… it’ll take me a couple of days to come up with something.” She wobbled slightly, her cane thumping the ground loudly as she leaned against it to steady herself. “I can conjure a dark mist to make the forest night at all times, and we can get a couple of Lykens to patrol the place and make it terrifying enough to scare anyone who dares venture in back where they came from. They would abandon their search and avoid these areas until I’ve figured out a way to close the strange portal.”

“We’re not risking the lives of any of my people, Synn.” The Alpha King dismissed her proposal, “Think of something better.”

“Well, I can create frightening shadows with the dark mist and some thorns.” The Mother of Thorns amended, her dark eyes already shining at the thought of wrecking so much havoc.

“Good, you do that.”

“What will you do, Your Eminence?” She called when he started to walk away from her, his shoulders set in that angle of determination she had slowly grown to notice since he was but a wee lad and had stubbornly decided to do something. “I’ll call for a Supernatural Council meeting.” He declared.

Synn Gloom, the old Mother of Thorns stared at him as though he had lost his head.

The Hex was very fond of the Alpha King, and she regarded him as a son sometimes even though she knew that the sentiment was certainly not one that was returned. She knew that he had a problem recognizing the authority of this same Supernatural Council that he was so casually mentioning now, and also knew that they had stopped calling him to their meetings quite a long time ago. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” She couldn’t help but ask.

“Of course, it is.” The Alpha King was insistent. “You of all people should know that this is a situation that involves us all… one that certainly puts all rivalries and hate on hold until we’re able to get to the bottom of things. We need all the help we can get to close this strange portal you speak of, Synn. And so if it takes doing this to keep my Clan safe, you should know without a doubt that it is exactly what I will do.”