The Perfect Rejection

Chapter Twenty-Nine

I was so terrified he would say no that I didn't quite believe it. My mouth fell open and I finally closed my eyes as I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank the Goddess," I murmured.

"But not now."

My head snapped up and I stared at him. "What?"

The corner of his lip quirked up for a fraction of a second. "I'll do it but not now," he repeated.

I started to say something—I didn't know what to say, but I wanted to say something.

Absolutely nothing came to mind.

I sat there with my mouth opening and closing for a solid minute before Xavier gave my hand a squeeze and moved to the door.

I gawked at the spot where he had been, stunned into silence. Did he seriously just say not now?

"Roxie? They're going to take you back to the hospital so the pack doctors can check your injuries, okay?"

I nodded absentmindedly, my lips pressing into a tight frown. I hooked my arms around Jay's neck as he picked me up but I didn't notice much else. I was stuck in my own head.

"Are you alright?"

I shook my head and inhaled sharply, looking around for the voice. It took me a moment to realize it was Jay. It took me a moment longer to realize we were back in the hospital and I was sitting on my bed.

He peered down at me with concern. "Are you alright?" He said again.

"I uh—" I cleared my throat, my eyebrows scrunching together, my forehead creasing. "Have you ever heard of a wolf saying no to marking their mate?"

"You mean like a rejection?"

"No."

His face was blank. "Okay I have no clue what you're talking about."

I sighed. Might as well tell him, everyone will know soon anyway. "Alpha Xavier is my mate and I asked him to mark me in the hopes of destroying my connection to Alpha Thayne. He told me 'not now'."

Jay blinked in surprise. "I didn't know it was possible to have that much self control," he murmured.

"What do you mean?"

I heard a laugh and craned my neck to see Lance beside us. "When I saw my mate it took all of my energy to keep myself from marking him immediately, if he had straight up asked me to do it—" he snorted, shaking his head, "—a silver bullet couldn't have stopped me."

Jay smiled with a roll of his eyes as he turned back to me. "I haven't met my mate yet so I can't be certain but I'm willing to bet you have nothing to worry about."

"Really?"

"Considering the amount of effort and energy he would have to put into telling you 'not now'—or even a straight up 'no'—without fully rejecting you is enough to guarantee he has a legitimate reason," Lance added, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Maybe he wants to surprise you?" Jay suggested.

I grimaced. "I hope not. I hate surprises."

***

"Please?"

"No."

"Oh come on! I can't wait any longer!"

"I said no Roxanne and that's final," he growled.