Rejected

Chapter 5

Tab's POV

She had been crying for twenty minutes, dad had called everyone except the doctor out of the room and down the hall. Tyler and Zack were the first to exit the room, and the first to start arguing, then Myles, followed by himself.

"What are you going to do with her Alpha?" Myles asked respectfully.

"I don't know yet." He answered.

"Dad... She's not a threat, and she has nowhere else to go." I said almost angrily.

"I said I didn't know yet... I want to observe her a little longer." He said, I shook my head and walked back down the hall to A's room. When I walked in, I saw the doctor running his tests and checking her vitals.

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you are uncomfortable." I asked as I sat down in my chair on her right. She nodded slightly but didn't look at me. "Can you see out of your right eye?" Her eyes shot up to me and studied me for a little bit before shaking her head. "Does it bother you?" She shook her head again.

"It used to, but now the only time I notice it is when I look in the mirror." She said.

"Can I ask what happened?" I asked as I leaned forward in my chair, resting my elbows on my knees. She took a shaky breath and began.

"My father took my mother's death pretty hard, and although there was support for him in the pack he didn't take it. He took his anger out on me and did everything he could to make the memories of her go away. He said I looked too much like her, and I didn't deserve to resemble her in any way." Her hand went up to her forehead as she traced the scars. "He shifted on me one day and I was left with this." The way she said it was so casual, like it was no big deal, it put me on edge.

"And the other scars... are they all from your father?" She shook her head and cleared her throat.

"The ones on my back... some of them are from the teenagers in the pack. They would punish me for my mistakes." Her voice was void of emotion.

"And the one on your shoulder," I questioned, "Who gave you that one?" Her eyes darted from side to side and her breathing increased. I heard her heart rate speed up not only through the heart monitor but also from her chest.

"Um... My... My mate... He..." Her eyes started to water again but she continued, "He rejected... me. Said this was the only mark I would have from him." Her voice was barely above a whisper when she finished but the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"That idiot," A new voice commented. Both our heads shot up to look behind me. Myles, the Twins and dad had walked in unnoticed and were standing at the door. "You're way too pretty to reject." Tyler finished.

"And nice, he really missed out on a great mate." Zack added.

"He gave up a strong young woman." Dad pitched in with a look of sympathy on his face. She shook her head and looked down at her lap.

"I'm a runt, I'm not strong." She said under her breath.

"Are you kidding? You outran all of us without shifting and if it wasn't for Busted Up Hill, you probably would have made it to the small channel of no man's land that separates us from the Council's land." Myles said with a smile on his face.

"And if the marks on your body are any indication of what you had to go through, I'd say you're mentally strong as well." I added.

"The way you've handled everything that's been thrown your way; the loss of a loved one, the betrayal of the rest of your family and pack, the physical strain on your body from being on the run, and the amount of stress put on you by being here, is all a test of your strength. And might I say, you're doing fantastic." Dad commented. I gave him a questionable look and raised an eyebrow.