The Werewolf Hunter

Sadness and Rejection

-Andrew Peterson-

She held her hand over her mouth trying to muffle her sobs. Her wolf howled from within her, she felt it. The pain was excruciating, a pain she would associate with being rejected. He never said anything about rejection, but she felt it. When she walked down the steps out the back door of the pack house she didn't care if she woke the whole pack up. She had so much pain building up inside of her and she needed to let it out. The only way she thought how.

Taking a deep breath, she inhaled and then yelled out as loudly as she could. Until there was no breath left in her lungs. She breathed in, imagining bunching all of her sadness into a ball and then with another scream she let it out again. Imagining her pain leaving her as the air left her body. When she was done screaming she laid down on the grass, staring up at the moon. She'd never felt so alone in the world.

Not knowing much about the mechanics of werewolves put her at a disadvantage. She wasn't brought up in this world, having a mate was still so new and so fresh to her. The emotions that came with it. Not knowing what it all entailed, she wanted to complete the mating process with Jake. She wanted to experience being complete with him.

Her hand came up to cut the refreshed mark on her neck. It felt tender to the touch. Part of her was angry. She wanted to tear it off, to be rid of it. But she wouldn't. The mark was all she had of Jake, Elizabeth had the rest of him. She couldn't imagine anything else being the reason he was holding back.

In a moment of weakness, she wished for her mom. To have her hold her close and be with her. She didn't remember much of her mom, but she knew her mom was a loving person. She was getting ready to stand up when the back door opened. Her heart leapt in her chest and she hoped it was Jake. She was disappointed to see it was Alexa, his mother.

"Ethan woke to the sound of shouting. When he realized it was you, he woke me." She spoke softly, coming to sit next to her on the ground, wearing a thin wrap to cover the pajamas she was wearing. "What's going on?" She wrapped a single arm around Andrew, pulling her close against her side. Andrew worried about talking about Alexa's son to her but a little thought in the back of her head was convincing her this was her mother's doing. Since she couldn't be here she'd sent Alexa.

"It's Jake." She was quiet at first, picking at the grass, pulling up single strands one at a time. "H...he hesitated." She felt the tears filling her eyes again from speaking it aloud, but she quickly blinked them away. "He wouldn't mate with me. It...well it isn't the first time it's happened either. Pushed me away when I've tried. I'm afraid...what if he tries to reject me?" She covered her mouth to hide the quiver of her lips.

"Oh honey..." Alexa's voice was very soothing and soft, her hand running up and down Andrew's arm. "I know it isn't something you may want to hear, but for him, he's survived losing a mate, just like his father. Most werewolves don't even survive the death of their mate. Its why Alpha's are so protective of their own." She was silent for a few moments, Andrew thinking over her words in her head. "Losing a mate is probably something you'll never experience. He's just afraid, that's all. He has a lot of things to consider, including the fact that the first time he'd gotten close with Elizabeth she'd been killed. He doesn't want to go through something like that again."

"I can protect myself though..." Andrew started to protest but Alexa shushed her softly.

"Ethan was the same way with me. He was very wary at first. It took him a while to come around to me and he wasn't ready to commit at the same time I was. It took him longer to open up to me. Longer than it took me to open up to him." Alexa's hand moved to her hair, slowly brushing through it. "You should go back to bed. If there's one thing I know for sure, my son loves you tremendously. But just like he's given you, you need to give him time. He'll come around eventually."