How to Handle Rejection - Maybe

Chapter 23

I watched, stunned, as the two males fought. At first, the brown wolf, which I recognized as a lower classed Enforcer, was defending his title fairly well, but Crone quickly pinned him down with a paw to the cheek. I submit, I submit! he whimpered out, and Crone got off instantly. He turned to look at me, waiting for me to give my judgement. I nodded once, my arms crossed in front of my chest.

"Welcome to the team, Crone!" Jasper cheered. I looked down at the other wolf with sympathy. "You can still be an Enforcer. Try to train more with Jasper so you won't be taken down by another pack wolf." I told him. I knew it wasn't exactly a fair fight, going against an old alpha, but he still needed more training. The wolf, Stanley, nodded graciously and herded his pup away towards the trees.

By the time I turned to the boys, Crone was human and clothed. He watched me expectantly. "You will have to earn titles through practice from now on. You can't always challenge people for it." I said with a light scold. He looked like he wanted to argue, but I was pleased to see that he held his tongue as he merely nodded. Jasper beamed at the two of us, then gave Crone a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

Smirking at his friend, Crone shook his head and walked off. "So what changes has the new alpha made?" I heard him ask. I didn't hear Jasper's reply, though, because a few Enforcers walked up to me with Maka in the middle. He had ruffled dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes. He was tall, about the same height as Crone, and had a grin like a five year old.

"Hello, Alpha." Maka greeted with a dramatically low bow. He tilted his head up to show his playful smile. "Come on, Maka, you're a friend. No need for theatrics." I chuckled and opened my arms. He straightened up and pulled me in for a bear hug. Even though I was an alpha, he still crushed me. As I let out a groan, I heard a growl off to the side.

"Maka, some air would be nice." I chuckled wheezily, and Maka immediately set me on my feet again. "Sorry, I got excited." he laughed back, then shot a glance in the direction of the growl - Crone. He was standing a bit impatiently beside Jasper, arms crossed, and face pulled into a deep frown.

"Crone, you can be territorial once an actual threat is present and once I actually accept you as my mate." I snapped back. He looked away in guilt as I scolded him, but my last few words made his brows furrow as he tried to process them. I turned back to Maka in the meantime. "What was the big news you were going to tell me about?" I asked him.

Maka grew serious, looking back at me. "My mate agreed to meet up with me alone. She realized that her life had turned cold and horrible because she had no one. Her brother is being forced to help her father, the alpha of Hurricane Pack, try to kill off every smaller packs' alphas that Crone hadn't already gotten to." We both glanced at Crone, who was looking off at some pups.

"She told me she wanted to run away. With me. Her father made her lie about being in love with someone else. She asked me to see if you would allow us to join." he went on. Even though the reason behind it was awful, I smiled at having my friend join with his mate. "Of course. You're always welcome here, Maka." I answered almost cheerfully, but went back to frowning.

"Do you know any of his plans for Crow Pack?" I asked. He shook his head. "She said that her father was still thinking about what to do with you. If you let me stay here, I'm sure he'll attack. He doesn't want me with my mate; he wanted her to mate with Crone." Maka replied, and my eyes softened with empathy at that.

Jasper stepped forward. "Tilly?" he asked formally. He wanted to know what I planned to do next. "Call a meeting with him," I said, "and ask if we can speak about a truce. There will be no need for a Wolf of Council to come down if he accepts the truce and let's Maka's mate join him with living in Crow Pack."

With a curt nod, Jasper walked off to go collect other wolves to help him get a hearing with Hurricane Pack. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Crone looking at me with a certain glint in his eye. "Is that pride and smugness I see on your face?" I asked him teasingly. He cocked a brow and actually smirked at me. "Possibly." he answered slightly honestly.

Rolling my eyes, I turned back to Maka. "Would you like to meet the pups?" I asked him, ignoring Crone walk up beside me. I also ignored the questioning look Maka gave the two of us before replying. "Would I ever." he said formally again, back to his earlier playfulness. I gave him a quick shove to the shoulder as I led him off to the house.

Luckily, I had shut the door all the way, so the pups were all waiting on the couch. Last time I left them alone for just one minute, Maka and CJ were battling over a pillow. This time, they knew better. Right when I walked in, they all lifted their heads and wagged their tails. At the sight of Maka, their composure fell and they all went running to him.

"Hello, puppies!" he greeted as he walked out of the doorway and off to the side, kneeling down to get his face licked. I knew Crone was following me back to the couch, and I sat watching the pups greet their new friend. I pointed at the white spot. "That's Dean," then the white tail, "Jonathan," the female, "Elle," the one with the gray and black gradient, "Damian," the small one, "CJ," then paused at the pup with the white belly.

"And that one is Maka." I introduced. Maka pulled his clone up onto his hind paws to look at him. "I can see it. Just missing the scar on the snout from when we first met." he chuckled, letting his small version lick his face. I smiled sheepishly at that. "Yeah, sorry again." I said, then joined Crone on the couch. CJ and Dean quickly followed, whereas Elle and the boys wrestled around in front of Maka.

"So how's Dan?" I asked, and Maka looked at me again. "He's back at his shop. He's trying to convince Patilda to join Crow Pack. He thinks their daughter has the wolf gene, and doesn't want her to grow up as a rouge. He wants the security of a pack." he explained, and I nodded along. "He is just as welcome here as you are."

The conversation soon turned lighter. Maka talked about Dan's little girl, and how he hopes to have pups himself some day. He seemed very honored to have one of my pups named after him, because his eyes grew soft every time he looked down at the pup in question. Crone stayed silent, letting CJ play with his hands. Right when I turned to place a hand on his arm, Jasper walked inside, a few wolves on the porch behind him.

"Hurricane Pack has agreed to speak with you, Tilly." he said, his brown eyes wild, looking at Crone with fear.

It's been over a year since I've updated this o.o Let me know how you think of the story and I'll try to update more...