The Rejected Mate's Children

Chapter 17

Ava's P.O.V.

"When is she going to wake up?"

"It's been ten hours."

"Are you sure?"

What are all these voices and noises? Where am I? I try to open my eyes, but shut them immediately due to the light. I was fast and discreet, making sure that no one noticed. I hated being fussed over.

I lied down, trying to remember why on earth I was here. Then, it came back to me. The Hunters, the rescue, passing out again.

But who did the voices belong to? They weren't Emma, Jackson, Ethan, Josh or Chris. I would recognize them.

My wolf chose that moment to make an appearance, "Mates!"

Shit, that's whose voices I heard. That made this awkward. I never thought I would see them again after they rejected me. 

I heard Ethan speak, "Shut the fuck up. Mom will wake up when she wants."

Hearing his voice made me smile, I wonder how his meeting with his fathers went. He was the one who never wanted to see them. 

The thought of seeing my pups again forced me to open my eyes. It hurt like hell because of the lights. 

Jackson noticed first, "You idiots. Mom is awake and turn off the damn lights. Get her some water when you are at too." 

I hear a scurry of motion to my left and the lights are turned off, giving me relief. Jackson hands me a glass of water which I take a sip of grateful. My throat felt so dry. 

After finishing the glass, I spoke, "Thank you." During this time, I was doing my best to ignore the presence of two certain individuals on my left, looking only at my pups and best friends.

Emma asked, "How are you feeling, mama?"

"Just dandy," I replied, causing the room to chuckle. 

"Sure, you are," joked Chris.

I questioned them, "What were my injuries? What did I miss? How did you get to me? How long was I out for?"

Josh answered first, "You had a shattered kneecap, a broken foot, two fingers broken, two cracked ribs, one fractured rib, two broken ones and a concussion. Not to forget your punctured lungs which made you have a surgery."

"Fun stuff," I said, "How long was I unconscious?"

Ethan told me, "When we found you, you were out and have been for about 15 hours give or take."

"Hot damn, that was a nice nap." I always am rather sarcastic when there is a tension in the room. The current tension was the fact that my mates were behind me and I was ignoring them. 

Jackson added, "Now, I assume you want to know about what we have been up to when you were gone."

"Of course," I replied.

Jackson started, "Well, we made it to the pack territory. All was fine until some of the wolves tried to detain us since it was the rule for their territory, ignoring the law of the Alpha King. Turns out, your old pack moved and that was where we were. We found your parents' house and hid there. They agreed to get us to the Alphas to talk to them during a pack meeting."

Emma picked off where he left off without stopping, "During said meeting, some people brought up the subject of a new Luna to replace you because you had been missing for so long. I kind of got up and told the whole room off, saying they didn't deserve you. In the meantime. I had knocked off my hood which made the Alphas think I was you."

Ethan continued smoothly, "They were also confused how there was another set of twins looking exactly like them. Emma also ordered everyone to leave the room and told your mates that you were in relationship with Josh and Chris."

I look at my daughter, "Really?"

She blushes and takes back up the story, "Not my finest moment. I also managed to tell them that you were my mother and were in danger. They lost control of their wolves and we had to run. Luckily, our grandma had told us a story about Alice, the Beta female and your friend. We tracked her scent."

Jackson chose to continue the storytelling, "Alice thought Emma was you, but Emma told her we were your kids. She protected us even though her mate didn't want her to. Blake, the Beta, managed to get us to have a nice conversation. They explained some things which they will tell you later. We had some issues, but eventually settled them. Josh and Chris came over. Our fathers gave us warriors and we came for you. That's the basic rundown."

I look at my pups, "You know when I told you to run I meant to safety not back to me."

My pups just give me a hug and there was an amiable silence. Then, as if on an unseen command, everyone but my mates got up and left. 

With a sigh, I realize that I am going to have to talk to the men who rejected me. 

I ask them, "You told them to leave, didn't you?"

It is Ryder who answered me, "We just wanted to talk to you." He reaches forward as if to touch me and I flinch back. He retracts his hand, his expression showing his hurt.

I tell him, "You rejected me, so you have no business being in my life."

Asher retorts, "We have so explaining to do, so please listen before you reject us." He looked so forlorn and in bad shape. 

It was the sight of him begging which made me say, "Fine."

With a sigh of relief, Ryder starts, "At 20, Asher and I thought we were never going to find our mate, it had been four years. I am ashamed to admit that we started to sleeping around. Of course, the women we slept with only thought it was more than an easy lay, that we were going to make them our Luna. So, we told our Beta Blake to get us out of the room before the woman woke."

Asher picked up the story, "That's what we did after the night we spent together. Both of us only woke at 2:00 in the afternoon, four hours after you had cut your ties with the pack. When we discovered what happened, we nearly killed Blake and our wolves took control for 24 hours without leaving us any memory of what happened. What we mean to say is that we never rejected you."

Ryder continued, "Only a crazy man would want to reject you. We never wanted you to go through such pain, to raise our children alone. 

But we are also proud of the woman you have become who commands such respect," says Asher.

Ryder takes my hand in his, "What we want to ask you is that if you could find it in your heart to forgive us for all that has happened and to give us one final chance."

I am speechless. This is not how I thought this conversation was going to go. 

I felt my wolf, El, telling me, "Forgive them. Go to mates."

I was torn. My heart told me to say yes, but my brain didn't want to open myself to such heartbreak. My heart won.

I tell them, "Yes, but only one chance. You mess up and poof I'm gone."

When I answered yes, Asher and Ryder gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, suspiciously  close to my mouth. I was happy they didn't kiss me yet, I needed more time. 

But right now I was content with my mates.