Her Rejected Hero

Chapter 2

Rocky moved forward, wanting to touch his mate also, but she turned her complete attention to his brother. He frowned, did she not realize she had two mates? He knew it didn't happen often, but it sometimes did with twins. She had to know they were twins because, except for their eye color, they looked like a mirror image of each other.

He reached out then, thinking if she felt his touch, she would know. When he placed his hand on her shoulder, she quickly shrugged it off. His wolf whimpered, she was rejecting them.

He took a quick step back as the pain hit his gut, causing him to grunt. Rejection is the one thing no supernatural being ever wants to go through. Turning, he saw Gemma standing, frozen with tears running down her face. She was hurt too, making him wonder if his brother had led her to believe he would mate with her at some point.

He shook his head, looks like Gemma and I are in the same boat. So, he moved toward her, slinging an arm around her shoulder and turning her. He looked back to see if Jennifer would notice him now, her wolf had to realize he was no longer close and react.

Jennifer never turned from Johnny though. Instead, she pulled his head down and kissed him.

The pain in his gut intensified, I must get out of here. So, almost pulling Gemma along, he made for the door. Once outside, he took a deep breath and asked, "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay, or I will be. This is going to be a long ride though since I'm riding in the front with her. I've known her brother for a long time, he's older than us, almost forty I think," Gemma answered. "Anyway, she used to come to spend a lot of time here in the summers, and we became friends because her brother is neighbors with Mom and Dad."

"Ah, that explains why Johnny hadn't met her before now," Rocky murmured. He didn't want her to know Jennifer was his mate too. He could only hope she hadn't seen his reaction to the woman, she'd seemed to be lost in her own grief.

"Yeah. Well, I need to go find my veterans," Gemma told him as she straightened her shoulders. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Sure," Rocky agreed. He knew she wouldn't though, he was not going to ride on that float, smelling his mate on his brother and try and bury his pain. No, he was going for a run!

Moving quickly, he headed for the tree line and stripped out of his dress uniform. Carefully folding it together, the way he'd taught himself, so his wolf could carry it, he shifted. He then, picked up the folded uniform with his wolf teeth and ran for Johnny's cabin.

Once he was there, he shifted and made his way inside. He hung his uniform back up and quickly packed his things. He then grabbed everything and threw it all in the trunk of his car. He would leave as soon as he'd had Thanksgiving lunch with his family, he wouldn't stay a moment longer than that.

Shifting back into his wolf, he began to run off the worst of his pain. His wolf howled long and loud as the pain of rejection hit him.

#

"Rocky, it's about time you got here," his mom scolded. "Your brother and sisters have been here for an hour or more."

"Sorry, Mom," Rocky murmured as he gave her a hug. "I let my wolf out and lost track of time."

"It's fine, your dad is out somewhere running too," Mom said as she stepped back. "Go find him for me and let him know I'm ready to put food on the table."

"Sure," Rocky agreed. Anything was better than having to watch the love fest going on between Jennifer and Johnny. It didn't help that his sisters were oohing over the fact that they now had another "sister", to gang up on the boys with.

Stepping out onto the porch, he raised his nose and gave a sniff. Catching his dad's scent, he began to walk. He found him next to the lake, staring off into the distance.

"Hey, dad."

His dad turned as he said, "Son, I was wondering if you'd decided to go home."

Rocky shrugged making an excuse by saying, "I let my wolf out, and he never knows when the run should end."

"Mm... mine doesn't either," Dad agreed. "You look rough though, son. Have you found a job yet?"

"No, but I have a line on a good one. I'm hoping after the holiday they'll give me a call," Rocky replied. "It's on base, so I think I have a pretty good chance at it."

"Good, good."

"Oh, and mom said food is ready to be served," Rocky said, remembering why he'd been sent out.

His dad shifted back into his wolf and led the way back to the house.

Soon, everyone was seated and eating. The girls, Jessie and Monica, began teasing Rocky about him being the only one without a mate now.

Rocky thought he saw a smirk cross Jennifer's face, but it was gone too quickly for him to be sure. When he'd finally had enough, he said, "I need to leave now if I want to make it back before too late."

"Oh, Rocky, surely you don't have to go back tonight," Mom said. "You should stay, watch the games with your dad, it's tradition."

Rocky gave her a forced smile as he stood and said, "Sorry, Mom, I've got things I need to do. I'm hoping they'll call on a job I want, and I don't want to miss the opportunity."

He then quickly said his goodbyes before his mom could guilt him into staying.