A Rejection and A Plan

I don't know how long I lay there on the floor of the entertainment room.
But the pain in my chest just won't go away, it has eased a bit but is still there. With difficulty I roll onto my side before sitting up. With one hand I press against my chest, where the stabbing pain persists. When I manage to get up, I stumble to the elevator and let it take me to my apartment. With any luck, Erina will be waiting for me there and we can work this out.
When I throw open the doors, I know right away that she has left.
Her wonderful scent is missing, it is as if my apartment has lost all shine. I throw myself against one of the walls and let out a long scream in frustration. One moment of weakness robbed me of everything I treasured. What was I actually thinking? Although we are not fully mated, Erina could sense from my mood that I was with another she-wolf. My lust has probably reached her through the mate bond. From the beginning, I realized that she has strangely heightened senses despite not having a wolf yet. Stupid, so stupid of me not to take that into account when I called Jasmine.
I bumble into the bedroom and step into my bath.
Maybe ice cold water will make me think sober and I know how to handle this further. After fifteen minutes in the cold shower, I indeed feel better, although the pain is not gone. With a towel around my waist, I step back into the bedroom and sit on the sofa with my head thrown back.
'Jace!' I suddenly hear in the mind link.
In a moment, I sit up straight. "Enrick," I answer him. 'What's up?'
'Have you seen Erina? She is missing. The trainer said she left early and the nanny couldn't find her anywhere. She hasn't shown up for lunch either, which she never misses. So I thought she might be with you.' I remain silent for a moment, this is an awkward moment for me. 'Jace? Why do I feel a difference in your aura? What's going on?' Enrick asks, concerned now.
'She has rejected me,' I let him know painly. Rejected you? Is that even possible? She's just a pup, man. What logic does she have about that?' he replies impatiently.
'To be honest, I can't answer your questions. What I know is that she used the right sentence and the pain in my chest just won't go away. This is not normal, I say. “Everything about Erina is strange. She acts wiser for her age, is physically taller than she-wolves her age and talks like she's of elite descent," I tell Enrick. 'I didn't find her in my apartment, she's gone. Just like how she came into our lives, the same way she left. Do you recognize that behavior, Enrick?'
Now it's his turn to be quiet.
He now realizes that both our mates have similar behavior. These two have more to hide. And then I remember Alcina's words. 'I know who she is.' Is that a coincidence?
'Enrick, we have to step up our game. This needs to be solved as soon as possible, I can't deal with all these secrets anymore. Obviously, there's more going on here, but we're right in the middle of a guessing game. It would be best if you now forced Drina to confess. Our pack and personal future are tied to the result of all this. We have nothing to lose anymore,' I declare, distraught.
'Okay, I'll start today with the plan we discussed. It won't be easy, Drina will skin me alive if she finds out. But you are right, we need to do more because the women are not releasing any information. And we can't live without our mates,' he admits.
I sigh, knowing that Enrick is facing a very difficult time.
Drina, like Erina, is hard to deal with. I suspect she'll never turn Enrick down until she's convinced he's cheating on her. Maybe if she would catch him naked and in the act with Alcina, no less than that. Drina is a keeper. Alcina will probably lose out. But how much the truth about our mates and Alcina's presence in Midnight Moon will affect Erina's decision to come back to me, remains to be seen. She rejected me but I did not accept it. So I have one more chance to win her back.
What a life!
A Beta pushing for a pup's favor! The Moon Goddess is not exactly in my favor, my self-esteem is dropping by the minute.
Mentally weary, I fall asleep on the sofa.
And when I wake up a few hours later, it's dusk outside. I decide to release my wolf to get rid of the stress. Hunter is frustrated, the rejection of his mate hits hard for any wolf. He was so attached to Erina and the prospect of moving on without her hurts.
'Next time, if you want to pull a stunt like that again, inform me in advance to let me stamp common sense in your head,' Hunter rebukes me. 'She will definitely come back to us. She has shut your way to a new mate, leaving the door open for her return,' he argues. 'What a stupid ass you are, Jace. Did you really think that slut could replace our mate? You fool!'
Hunter continues to scold me as I put on some sportswear to go downstairs.
In the garden, I walk to the tree line where I hide behind a tree to change and shift. We take a long run at high speed in the woods. Hunter pushes himself to the limit, jumping from one fallen log to another. The trees fly past us.
After an hour, we are exhausted but satisfied.
Hunter throws himself on a lake bank with clear blue water. We rest there for about fifteen minutes before wading into the water to cool down his body after our race. When Hunter is up to his snout in the water, he decides to play the old game of 'catch me if you can' with the colorful fish. After an hour, he gives up and walks back to the bank. And then we notice that the evening has fallen.
It's time to go back to the pack...