Rejecting, Your Broken Promises
Chapter 26

Peyton’s POV

Ever Green Pack

Gabi is a machine. She is over twice my age, and she hasn’t stopped yet during this training. She is like a little drill sergeant, and I love how Tanner just lets her do what she needs to and helps her when she needs him to. The love he has for her is obvious, and I hope Percy is like that with me when we have been together for over 20 years too.

I never got to train. I was supposed to start when I turned 14, but I was 13 years old when I was taken to B***d Claw for my own safety. I knew dad was going to do it when I got back, but that wasn’t what happened. I am still frail, as I haven’t been able to eat regular meals yet. My stomach was smaller than it needed to be, and I was given some exercise clothes that belonged to a 14-year-old girl, and they fit perfectly.

Gabi flinched, looking at me, and I saw Heath go over to her and hug her and then speak to her before he came over and started working with me. After an hour with Heath, I finally had enough courage to ask if I had upset Gabi, but he said that seeing me and my ribs clearly showing just brought back some bad memories for Gabi, as she was in the same boat when she got here from Red River.

Heath was an excellent trainer, and I was so happy to work with my hero on this. I trusted him completely, so when he told me that he believed that I could do something, I took it as the absolute truth. Heath thought that I did a great job on my first day of training and I was exhausted when we went back to shower and change for lunch. I could barely get back downstairs to get to the dining room, I was so sore. I noticed that there were several girls around Percy when I arrived in the dining room. Sloan was done first with training, so she had showered first, and I slipped into my seat at the table with Dawson and Sloan.

I was watching the show with interest, as the girls had apparently heard through the grapevine that Stephanie was no longer going to be Luna, or a pack member here anymore, and they were trying to put the moves on Percy now. No one approached Dawson as he had Sloan with him and cuddling her, so they knew he was off the market. Sloan looked at me and arched her eyebrows and was opening her mouth to say something and I said, “Dawson, do not even think of warning him” in a very authoritative voice.

Dawson looked at me in surprise, and then guilt, and I knew he was about to do it. I want to see what Percy will do when I am not around. I have understandable trust issues with people who say that they are going to take care of me, not doing what they said that they would. I leaned forward, watching as an extremely attractive blonde she-wolf ran her hand up and down Percy’s arm while she spoke to him. She exuded confidence and was clearly interested in Percy. I saw him stop filling his plate and put it down. He then took her hand off his arm, and I don’t know what he told her, but it looked like she had been struck. The other girls standing there were also wearing a surprised look too. I guess he dropped the bomb on them that he had found his mate and would not be available to date at any point.

I sat back, more comfortable now, and then decided to get up to go approach him to get my plate too. Percy turned and saw me and bent down to k**s the top of my head. He then leaned down and said, “I smelled you the moment you entered the dining room, babe. I knew you were here. I take it I did well?”

I pushed him, mad that he knew I was there the whole time, but I was glad that he had done what he did. He doesn’t need to allow any other she-wolves to think they have a chance with him. He is mine, and I am learning how to fight. I hope I never needed to, but for Percy, I would. I took my time and got my food, and then my drink, and heard a few jealous she-wolves, that included the blonde talking about me, but had the brains to shut up and leave when I looked at them with a glare.

I sat back down at the table and Heath and Von were now entering the dining room, along with Gabi, Tanner, and Elena. We are all enjoying lunch and Sloan and I were commended on how well we did for our first time training. I looked at Gabi, and then Heath and asked, “Really? We did well?”

“Yes, you are both strong women, with good instincts. That will help you throughout your life. Tomorrow we will have additional training, where we will see if either of you would like to learn to work with weapons, or not. You do not have to, we will not force you to. But I will say that having that type of training could come in handy. I just want you to have as many options to choose from as we can give you. Sometimes you need to even the playing field, especially if you are dealing with a very strong opponent or opponents. It is to make sure you can live to fight another day. You can try it out tomorrow and see if you like it”, Gabi told us. I have to admit I am a little nervous about trying to shoot a gun, or a bow and arrow, but I will give it a try.

“I wanted to mention something. We will be having a visitor soon. I had called my dad last night before bed and mentioned to him that a friend of mine needed some help. So, dad is reaching out to Vincent Ash to see if he can come here and help Sloan to learn to handle her magic. He is a pretty powerful warlock, he is the one who put the spell on me. I wanted to see him anyway to thank him. If he hadn’t done that, I might never have found my parents or my mate again. He was a big help to me and Amanda”, I told them.

“I wanted to mention something. We will be having a visitor soon. I had called my dad last night before bed and mentioned to him that a friend of mine needed some help. So, dad is reaching out to Vincent Ash to see if he can come here and help Sloan to learn to handle her magic. He is a pretty powerful warlock, he is the one who put the spell on me. I wanted to see him anyway to thank him. If he hadn’t done that, I might never have found my parents or my mate again. He was a big help to me and Amanda”, I told them.

Percy squeezes my hand, and I already know it is him telling me that he was glad that he found me there. I smiled thinking about dad mindlinking mom to take me to the office while Percy and Heath were asking him for help in finding me, and I remember smelling Percy for the first time. He calms me from his scent to his words, and I love being around him.

“Peyton, I am really not trying to rush you, but I would like to talk about marking you. You are the only girl for me, and I only want you. I want to be able to link with you and know that you are OK. It will also help to connect us more, and our bond will get stronger. I can wait until you are ready for us to mate. But could you think about allowing me to mark you, please? I love you and I want you as my mate”, Percy tells me, and I forgot to breathe. He wants me to fully be my mate. I want to say yes, but I have been thinking about that girl, Stephanie, from last night, and I don’t want to make any sudden moves just yet. I want to have a serious talk with him first before I allow him to mark me. Percy was looking at me intently like he was trying to figure out if I would be saying yes or not. I hate disappointing him, but I can’t allow it until I get to talk to him privately.

“I want to talk to you before we do that. I just want to know that I am the only one that you want”, I told him, and I saw his disappointment. I also see his parents looking at each other before looking over at us, and I can tell that they are worried about me rejecting him. I do love him, but last night was really embarrassing for me, and not the “welcome to the pack” that I was anticipating. It could have been avoided with a simple conversation, but instead, he gave me half-truths, and not the full story of just admitting that he promised my position in the pack, to another woman, just because she was “helping” him out. I started getting upset about it again, and I went to let go of his hand, and he held it tighter and tried to get me to look at him.

“We can go talk now if you want to. I was completely serious about you being the only woman that I want. We can go upstairs right now, so we can talk”, Percy told me, and I nodded and got up from the table and excused myself as we headed up to my room to talk.

Percy enters my room behind me and shuts the door and follows me to my bed. We had picked the mattress up from the floor this morning but had not made the bed yet. I sat down on it and hugged a pillow to me. I needed to keep my hands to myself while I asked him the hard questions. I knew if he was holding my hands, I wouldn’t be focused on what I needed to say to him.

“What did you want to talk to me about, Peyton?” Percy asked me, and I could hear the nervousness in his voice.

“Last night, Percy, that was horrible. I felt like I was set up. That was not the way I always dreamed of being introduced to the pack. It was embarrassing for me. You knew that you had promised to make her Luna. Yet even knowing that, and knowing she would use it against me, you never said a word to me about it. I got the half-truth from you, but you clearly were having relations with her. You knew this when you met me, and you said nothing to give me a heads up until we were almost here at the pack. Like it suddenly occurred to you. You knew her, and I could tell how she was from the short amount of time that I met her”, I told him.

Percy had the grace to at least look embarrassed and he opened his mouth, but then closed it again. I could tell that he was struggling with what I had said, and with what he wanted to say to me. I could see him looking down at my hands holding the pillow tightly to me. I knew he wanted to hold my hands. I could feel his emotions too. He was scared of losing me, angry that he fell for what Stephanie had done, and embarrassed at the audience we had for it. I bet he was. I know his parents, Heath, Von, and his siblings were upset by it too.

“I wanted to tell you, but I had forgotten about her the second I saw you. Yes, I was wrong for messing around with her, but I had not been allowed to date, or do anything at B***d Rose. When we were heading here, I then remembered her and had mindlinked her to tell her I had found my mate and that, as I told her before I left, we were not together. I also told her not to do anything at all to you, and to respect you as her next Luna. She threatened me and told me that she was going to tell you, in an effort to get rid of you. I didn’t want to lose you. I have never felt this way about anyone. You are the most important person in my life”, Percy told me, and slid closer to me to be able to touch me and I could feel that he was being honest and sincere with me.

“It made me feel like I didn’t matter to you because you were not honest to me. I have had to deal with a lot, and the only thing I ever dreamed about was to find a mate who loved me, who would protect me from harm, and be able to have some pups. That was it, that was all I could afford to dream about. I didn’t think I would survive B***d Claw. I thought I would be killed there and didn’t dare to dream anything else. I don’t want to be caught unaware again, Percy. Is there anyone else that you need to tell me about? I know you did everything but have s*x with Stephanie, but is there anyone else that you need to tell me about? I need you to be honest with me from now on. I don’t deserve to be attacked with no information given. I want you to tell me, to value me as your mate, over any other woman trying to be with you. I don’t want this happening again. I don’t think my heart could survive it, Percy”, I told him and couldn’t stop the tear that escaped my eye and slid down my cheek.

“I am sorry baby. I was so scared that I would lose you because I was stupid, that I didn’t tell you the whole thing. I was scared if I told you before we left Royal Knight, that you wouldn’t come with me. I knew after I had lost you when you ran away from B***d Claw, that I needed to find you. Imagine my surprise when we were asking your dad for help in finding you. He knew who you were when I still thought you were Katrina from B***d Claw. I wanted you as an Omega, but I was scared to death that you would reject me when you found out about Stephanie. She was a huge mistake and one that I will never duplicate again. I love you and I would never hurt you intentionally. I never loved Stephanie. I only told her that I would let her be Luna because she kept crying and wouldn’t stop. I did tell her that was only if I was 23 and had not found my mate, but I was actively searching for my mate. I never wanted her as my Luna. She was only someone who made herself available to me, and after being raised so strict, I went a little wild. But I have never felt for anyone what I feel for you. I want you, and I need you in my life. I will never allow Jasper to harm you, and I have already started upping my training because I will fight to the death with him to protect you.

“I believe you, Percy. I believe that you love me. I am OK with you marking me, as long as I can mark you too”, I told him.

“Yes, yes, I want that. You can mark me first if you want to, and then I can mark you. But yes, I want you to be mine today, and forever. You are my mate and I love you completely. I also wanted to see if you would stay in my room with me. I would feel better having you there, in case of another nightmare, or someone trying to come and get you”, Percy told me, and I could see the sincerity shining in his eyes.

“I will think about it. I was able to sleep peacefully with you, more than I have in the last 6 years. I would like to do that, I think it will help me heal” I told him, and he nodded in agreement. I guess we are going to do this. Tonight I will be getting marked by Percy Wright.