Regret The Rejection |✔️

27| Darkness and Danger ✔️

***

There will be haters.
There will be doubters.
There will be non-believers.
And then there will be you,
proving them wrong.

***

"How fucking stupid am I?" I lamented. I hit my head against the wall repeatedly and resumed pacing the room. Bella sat  cross legged on my bed, eating chips and watching me.

Now that the meeting was over and it was time for round one, all the so-called courage in me had evaporated into the thin air.

For the umpteenth time in my short life, I was regretting my hasty decisions.

"Maybe it won't be that bad," Bella said, "Nick could just be exaggerating, you know. He does that quite often."

I spun around to face her, "And what if he wasn't, this time?"

"Then you're dead."

"Not helping, Bells." I deadpanned.

She grinned. "I was joking just to lighten your mood."

"Not lightening."

She sighed. "Look, it really won't be that bad. Not with Ashton around. The worst that could happen is you could break a leg, cut your arm and lose a few teeth." A pause. "That's all."

"That's all" I repeated, incredulously. "There's not much left, short of death."

She frowned. "I thought you'll be happy with my prediction. At least you'll get out alive in my theory. Nick imagined you as dragon feed."

I grimaced, recalling that one.

Nick had spent the last one hour explaining his "The Dragon Family theory" as he named it to his enraptured audience. According to his unique theory, I was supposed to battle an entire family of dragons. I had to kill the father, kidnap the babies and knock the mother unconscious. Yeah, the theory sounded so believable.

Needless to say, the audience consisted of four people: Max, Nora, Bells and I.

The former three, because they had loads of free time, and I because, I was stupid enough to believe that Nick, of all people, was blessed with wisdom. So, it's my fault really.

They say people learn from their mistakes. Well, I just learnt from mine.

"It really will be fine." Bella assured me after watching me circle the room a couple hundred times. "You can do it. I know it. And frankly, I don't give a damn whether you win or not."

"You don't?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I really don't. You were always worthy to be a Luna in my eyes. When Ashton's mate turned out to be a human bitch who didn't give a shit about his feelings, I hoped he'd find someone better who would be his anchor. Someone who knows him better than himself, someone he trusts completely. That's you, by the way. Which is why, I'm being completely honest when I tell you this.  This in your blood, Ki — this leadership, this spirit, this passion — no stupid challenge can ever change that fact."

"If Jared doesn't trust you, it's his fucking fault." She continued. "He's blind as a bat, and what he really needs is a kick in the ass. You're going to be that kick, Ki. You've already shown us how courageous you were when you left your pack and didn't let the rejection hurt you. Now all you need to do is go knock sense into Jared the jackass."

My eyebrows had shot up so high, that it had nearly disappeared from my face. I didn't know what I was in awe of —  delightfully colorful speech she just gave me, or the happiness that she had my back.