The Soldier's Begining

04 The Rejection

    I woke up this morning with a groan. School starts back up today, I really didn’t want to get out of bed but I needed to get answers and I was only going to get them at school. I got out of bed and dressed in some loose fitting clothing. I chose them both for comfort and because I didn’t feel like putting any effort in. I went downstairs and sat at the kitchen table to eat my breakfast. Mom came in and gently stroked my hair.

    “Are you feeling better baby?”

    I looked up at her and gave her the best smile I could muster. “Yeah momma.”

    “I worry about letting you go to school. You were really sick.”

    “I’m ok mom, I feel fine. Promise.”

    “Ok, but if you need to come home don’t hesitate to call.”

    “Ok.”

    I finished eating and headed to my car with Jace running out behind me. He was always running late. We drove to school in silence, I really wasn’t in the mood to talk. We walked into school together, then went our separate ways. I went to my locker, I was a little surprised that Ryan wasn’t there. He always met me at my locker every morning before winter break. I got what I needed and headed to his locker. He wasn’t there so I wandered around school a bit looking for him. Five minutes before the first bell rang I gave up and went to class.

    The first half of my day was super weird, it was similar to how it was before the break. Everyone left me alone but they all kept staring at me. It was like they were all waiting for something to happen. I simply ignored them all, I didn't have the energy or the patience to deal with them. I spent the entire time looking for Ryan but he was nowhere to be seen. I thought that maybe he wasn’t in school, but I caught his scent a few times. He was avoiding me and I couldn’t figure out why.

    The lunch bell rang and I dropped my books at my locker and headed to the cafeteria. I made a b line for Ryan’s table but it was empty. Where was he and where were his friends. I was beyond frustrated. I decided to go sit by the tree out in the courtyard. I didn’t even bother grabbing any food, I wasn’t hungry. I just sat there staring at nothing till the bell rang. I grabbed my books and headed to class. I could barely focus, it seemed like with every passing second I was growing angrier. It wasn’t until last period that I realized that the anger I was feeling wasn’t mine. My wolf was pissed and I was sure why. The sound of the last bell made me jump, I was so focused on my wolf that I didn’t even realize that school was ending. 

    I made my way to my locker and I didn’t feel right. I started to feel light headed, my vision was blurring and by the time I got to my locker I felt a sharp pain in my chest. The pain was so bad it brought me to my knees, stole my breath and made my vision go black. After a few minutes it felt like I could finally get air into my lungs. Then I caught a whiff of Ryan scent and almost on instinct I followed it. His scent led me to a janitor's closet, I opened the door and instantly wished I didn’t. I saw one of the school’s cheerleaders pressed up against the wall. She was moaning rather loudly and had her legs tightly wrapped around Ryan. He looked over his shoulder and smirked at me, then returned back to his conquest.

    I closed the door and stood there listening to them. I wanted to leave but I couldn’t seem to move. I heard a rather loud pleasurable scream and I knew it was over. It seemed to snap me out of my trance, I felt tears well up in my eyes and I ran out the front doors of the school. All of Ryan’s friends were standing out front like a wall. I went to run past them but they stopped me and pushed me to the ground. They all were laughing and without warning started beating me. It wasn’t long before a crowd formed around us. There was a lot of laughing and cheering, but not a single person stepped in to help me. 

    “Alright guys that’s enough.” I looked up to see Ryan and his little bimbo standing in front of me.

    “Why? I thought we had something.” I didn’t try to hide my tears.

    “Wow you actually believed I loved you?” Ryan laughed and looked at his friends. “I’m a better actor than I thought I was.” The crowd laughed and Ryan squatted in front of me. He roughly grabbed my chin and brought his face close to mine. “I never loved you, in fact being your mate disgusted me. The day I found out you were my mate I was going to reject you on the spot but then I had an idea.” He stood. “I thought ‘why not have a little fun?’ The guys and I made a bet to see how long it would take me to get you into bed. Honestly it took a little longer than I originally thought it would so I made sure to lay it on thick every time I was around you. I had to pretend to be the perfect mate so that you would let your guard down and I could get what I wanted.”

    I felt my heart break, I can’t believe I was so blind. I should have listened to my family. The tears wouldn’t stop and I felt so weak laying on the ground at his feet. I looked into Ryan’s face, he gave me a sinister smile. Ryan nodded his head and two of his friends grabbed my arms and lifted me up so I was on my knees. Ryan leaned down so he was face to face with me. I looked away and apparently he didn’t like that since he grabbed my face so roughly that I’m sure I was going to have bruises. He looked me dead in the eye and I saw his eyes change, his wolf was in control. He let his claws out, digging them deep into my face. More tears poured out of my eyes and I wanted to scream but I kept quiet. Ryan’s wolf dragged his claws down to my chin and I felt the blood pour down my neck. I let a sob out and the wolf in front of me scoffed and pushed my face away.

    “Pathetic and weak. You were never worthy of us.” Ryan’s eyes changed back to his normal blue and he smirked. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. I, Ryan Crenshaw of the Blue Ridge pack, reject you Jessica Santiago as my mate.”

    I felt that sharp pain in my chest again and I couldn’t help but let the sobs overtake me. I heard a large roar of laughter as I fell back to the ground. Ryan and his friends started beating me again and I no longer had any fight left in me. I relaxed my body and let all of their blows hit me without anything to stop them. I lost my mate, my ability to trust and my will to live. I allowed myself to slip into darkness.

Jace POV

    I ran to the parking lot, JJ was going to kill me. I got caught up talking to a very cute girl and because of that I was 15 minutes late. JJ has said many times that if I was late she’d leave me behind. I busted through the doors leading to the student parking lot, to find it unusually empty. I was just standing there wondering where everyone was, when I heard shouting and laughter from the front of the school. I ran through the school to the front doors just in time to see JJ pass out.

    I stood there dumbfounded for a moment looking at my sister beaten and bloody on the ground. Anger set in when I saw Ryan continuing to beat her even though she was unconscious. I snapped out of my stupor and ran to my sister, I shoved Ryan off of her. I knelt down and took her into my arms, I held her face in my hand. She was still breathing but she was completely covered in blood. I didn’t know what to do, I felt tears well up in my eyes. I wanted my sister to be ok and I felt so powerless. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and the next thing I knew I was being ripped away from JJ. The force made me drop her, I saw her head hit the pavement and I prayed that she wasn’t injured more. I jerked forward to try and help my sister but I was pulled back and placed in a half nelson. I thrashed and fought as hard as I could to get free. I watched as Ryan went to stand over JJ, I screamed and cried as I fought to get free and protect my sister.

    Suddenly there was a very loud, very angry growl. Everyone fell to their knees and my captor released me which could only mean… Alpha. Nico stepped through the crowd, anger radiating off him. He looked down at JJ and another angry growl erupted from him. He turned to Ryan, his eyes were that of his wolf, he was so close to changing.

    “Jace, take Jess to the pack hospital.”

    “I-I can’t drive.” I know I shouldn’t be scared of my cousin but the rage coming off him was palpable. Nico closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

    “Wes, take my cousins to the pack hospital.” Nico never opened his eyes and I knew he was trying to keep his cool. Everyone knew that JJ was his favorite, hell she was all our favorites except Ryan, no one knew what his problem was.

    “Yes Alpha.”

    I ran to my sister and lifted her into my arms. My heart nearly stopped. Her heartbeat slowed way down and I could barely hear her breathing.

    “We gotta hurry! I can barely hear her breathing!”

    Wes and I ran through the school to his car as fast as we safely could. Wes helped me get JJ into the backseat where I held her on my lap. I kept telling her to hold on and that we were going to make sure Ryan paid for what he did. He went too far this time and on top of that I think JJ was hiding something from us. I held JJ tighter as Wes weaved and swerved through traffic. The drive to the territory usually took 15 minutes. We got there in under 5 minutes.

    Wes pulled up to the pack hospital fast and furious style, luckily he didn’t hit any of the nurses that were outside waiting for us. They came to the car and took JJ, I got out to follow but I was stopped short by the sound of screeching tires. I turned to see my parents and uncle running towards us. Mom had tears running down her face, she tried to run past me but I stopped her.

    “Where’s my baby? I want to see my little girl!” Mom was hysterical which was understandable given the circumstances.

    “The nurses took her inside. I think we got her here in time.”

    “In time? How bad was she hurt? I want to see her!”

    “We can go inside mom but I don’t think we’ll be able to see until the doctor is done.” I don't know how I was so calm. I found my sister on the pavement not too long ago and I was covered in her blood. It was like something in me knew I needed to be strong for my parents.

    We made our way into the waiting room. My father held my mother close while my uncle just paced back and forth trying to contain his growls. I placed my head in my lap and interlaced my fingers behind my head. I was doing my best to control my emotions but my sadness was taking over.

    When the doors burst open I was on my feet in an instant. The thought of news about JJs condition consumed me. My hopefulness was short lived when I saw it was just Jamie that walked in. I threw my arms at my side and huffed as I made my way back to my seat.

    "It's nice to see you too, little brother." Jamie had sarcasm dripping from his words.

    "Take it easy Jameson, he thought you were the doctor." My mother said through her tears.

    "So I take it there's no news yet."

    "She hasn't been in there very long, we're probably gonna be here a while." I wanted to punch something, anything. I could hardly stand still, I understood why my uncle was pacing.

    I was ready to crawl out my skin. I couldn't take this waiting, we've been here for over two hours. I jumped out of my seat ready to go for a run or anything to get rid of this tension. I was just about to leave the room when the doors opened and the doctor walked in. I wasted no time and jumped all over him.

    "How is she? How's my sister?"

    "Why don't you take a seat."

    I returned to my seat and the doctor sat in a chair where he had a full view of all of us.

    "Alright so the good news is Jessica will make a full recovery. The small cuts on her body have closed already. The deep ones on her face have started to heal but they are going to take a day or two to fully close. She has several broken bones that are going to take longer to heal."

    "So what's the bad news?" Uncle Tobey asked.

    The doctor sighed. "She was very distressed during treatment so we had to put her in a medically induced coma. It will keep her calm and help her heal."

    Mom let out a loud cry. Dad pulled her closer to his chest and kissed her head. I could see that he was fighting back tears as he looked at the doctor.

    "How long will she be in the coma?"

    "A week, if she's still overly distressed that it impedes her healing, we'll have to induce the coma again. I know this all sounds overwhelming but I assure you we're doing what's best for her."

    "Can we see her?" I asked. I wanted to be by my sister's side.

    "Of course follow me."

    We followed the doctor to JJs room. My parents walked in first and I heard my mother cry. I walked into the room and I understood why. JJ was lying there covered in bandages and hooked up to machines. My uncle walked in, took one look at her and stormed out, he was pissed.

    "Who would do this to our baby?" My mother cried onto my dad's chest.

    I knew exactly who did this and I planned to make him pay.