My Promised Rejection (Olivia and Ace) novel Chapter 14

Connor POV

As soon as I enter the pack house from patrolling, I know something is wrong. I make my way to Xavier’s office to find out exactly what’s going on. My mother’s sobs are the first thing I hear as I push open the already cracked door. “How could you, Xavier? You know damn well that girl was in the wrong, but instead of showing Oli your support you made her feel like an outsider. You hurt my daughter again,” my mother says.

Xavier reaches for her, but she steps back from him and hurt flashes in his eyes. “What the hell happened?” Xavier looks at me and I can see the regret in his eyes. “Connor, Oli is gone. There was an incident with Collette, Bart’s daughter. Oli hit her and instead of Xavier defending her, he apologized to Collette and Bart,” my mother says.

Anger bubbles up inside me. “What the hell were you thinking? Oli wouldn’t have hit the girl if she didn’t deserve it.” “I know that. I just wanted her to tell me what happened. To trust me to do right by her. I know you and your sister are not my pups by blood, Connor, but you are my pups in here,” he says, pointing to his chest.

“I know Oli hates me and I understand why. I hate myself too right now. If I didn’t come along you would all be happy and Charles would be alive,” he says. He looks back at my mother, who has tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Evie. I just wanted her to tell me what happened, so I could put that little snotty b**ch in her place. So I could show Oli that I believed her, not a she–wolf who thinks she is better than everyone else,” he says.

I can’t bring myself to offer him comfort despite believing he didn’t mean to hurt Oli. She seems to be getting hurt at every turn. I’m failing her as her big brother. I hate myself for my part in her pain. I turn to leave, needing to find Oli. I step toward the door without sparing Xavier and my mother another look. “Connor,” my mother saying my name, has me stopping my steps. “Connor, please bring her back,” she says.

“No, I won’t. I won’t continue to hurt her for you or anyone else. She doesn’t want to be here. She doesn’t want to be around us. I’m going to make sure she is alright, but I won’t force her to come back to this place, which is nothing but pain for her. She has shifted to her wolf for the first time, so there is no reason to force her to stay here,” I say keeping my eyes focused on the hallway.

“She needs to be with wolves, Connor,” Xavier says. “No, she needs to be happy, Xavier. She isn’t happy here.

In fact, she hates it here. She hates all of us. No words are going to change that. We all made our choices and I refuse to disrespect my sister any further by taking away hers.” I step into the hallway and Becca has a huge smile on her face.

She moves forward, wrapping her arms around me. “Let’s go check on Oli,” she says. “Do you know where she went?” “There is only one place she would go, Connor. The last place she was truly happy” she says. I take her hand leading her out to my car. We pull up to the gate and I expect the guard to stop us, but instead the gate opens wide. I assume Xavier gave permission for us to leave, otherwise we would have been stopped.

It doesn’t take long for us to pull up to the house where I grew up. A home that was full of love and laughter.

A dull ache in my chest forms when I think about the man that won’t be there when I open the door. “Are you alright, Connor? I can feel your sadness through our bond,” Becca says. I take her hand and bring it to my lips.

“I know the house and car are paid for but I can give you money for everything else until you can access the money dad left.” “I appreciate that, Connor, but 1 have my own savings. I’ve been saving everything I’ve made since I got my job two years ago,” she says. “Well, if you need anything, I’ll be here to help you. I hope some day you’ll forgive me, Olivia. I love you.” “Maybe some day I’ll be able to get past what happened, but right now the pain of everything that happened is to fresh, Connor. I do love you, but I just need time,” she says.

I feel the tears that stream down my cheeks and make no effort to stop them from falling. “Would it be alright if I came to visit you, Oli? I can’t lose my best friend,” Becca says. “I would like that, Becca. I think I’m going to start my online classes now so I’ll be ahead by the time I start actual college. So you can stop by whenever you like,” she says. I’m glad she will at least have Becca until she is ready to let me back into her life.

“Alright, we should get back to the pack. Olivia, I know this whole wolf thing is new to you, but at some point your wolf will need to run. If you decide you want to run, I can bring you to the pack. You won’t have to talk to anyone. It will just give you and your wolf a chance to shift and run. My wolf, Cosmo, would love a chance to run with his sister, but there is no pressure.” “I’ll think about it,” she says.

Becca takes my hand and leads me out of the house. I stand on the porch until I hear the lock engage. When we reach the car, I open Becca’s door before I slide into the driver’s seat. Once I’m inside, I lean my head back on the headrest. She’ll come around Connor. I’m not sure if she’ll ever have the relationship she did before with your mom, but I know in my heart the loves you. She wants to forgive you, Connor, Becca says Goddess, I pray she’s right