Alpha Conan's Rejected Nanny

Chapter 3

Josie POV

I woke up in my bed. I felt disgusting and sick. When I opened my eyes and I was in my bedroom, I thought it had all been a dream and the ball hadn’t happened yet. I wasn’t so lucky, though. Ryan’s cold, emotionless blue eyes kept popping back into my head. The moment he rejected me replayed on an agonising loop.

“Lily?” I called my wolf.

I couldn’t stay in this room where we’d stay up all night watching movies and making out. He liked to sit on the window bench and stare out at the woods in the distance.

“Lily, I need to go for a run,” I begged.

Some of my clothes still smelled like him.

“Lily.” My voice cracked, and salty tears slipped between my lips.

My sweat dragged my clothes to my skin. My hair was stringy and wet. It was like sweating out a disease. Rejection was the parasite my body struggled to kill. Lily didn’t respond. She vanished into a corner of my mind so far back I didn’t know it existed. She left me hollow like a shell abandoned by its host on a beach.

Was this what the first death felt like? This was why rejection was so brutal. It became a taboo that no one spoke about. It was a killer, and it wanted my soul.

A sharp knock came at the door. My Mother marched in.

“Good, you’re awake. The Alpha wants you. Now.”

I met her pale blue eyes. There was worry in them.

It doesn’t matter what she was afraid of. Nothing could hurt more than the s***h inside me. I crawled out of my bed. I dragged myself behind Mom to the living room. I expected Ryan to be there so he could hear my judgment.

However, the only ones present were my brother Shane, Dad, Alpha Rufus and Luna Nora. The Luna offered me a look of sympathy. All I wanted was to get things over with.

“You made a mockery of us, Josie,” the Alpha said.

“Yes, Alpha.” It was the only correct answer.

“Everyone’s talking about the show you made. There wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove your claims were founded. General Braxton is furious. I have no choice but to suspend you from the team, Josie. Take this time to work on yourself and think about the next you want to be rash.”

I shut my eyes to stop the tears from falling. I expected this.

“At least she’s not off the team completely. I felt very safe with Josie,” Luna Nora said.

Well, that made me feel better. I wasn’t a total loss.

“The suspension would normally last three weeks and some paperwork duties, but another issue has been brought to my attention,” Alpha Rufus said. “You’ve been rejected tonight.”

My Mother gasped and grabbed my Father’s arm. Shane remained stone-faced. Of course, he didn’t care. Ever since Chase left, he’s been on a mission to prove himself as the golden child of the family. He took every opportunity to make me look like an ass in front of my Father.

He didn’t need to do anything tonight.

“No one’s been rejected in the Pack for over a hundred years,” Luna Nora commented.

Alpha Rufus nodded. “The Pack has laws on this, and they must be upheld. Every rejected wolf must be shunned for four months.”

I gasped, and every bone in my body rattled. “I’ve never heard of that law before!”

“It’s to protect the pack from any impurities rejection might bring. We’ve managed to keep ourselves clean from curses and droughts this way. We can’t take any chances,” Alpha Rufus said.

My heart thundered at a thousand miles per hour. My vision blurred for a moment. If I weren’t sitting down, I would have fainted.

“No, you can’t do this to me. I didn’t ask to be rejected,” I begged.

“It’s been done. You need to be gone before the full moon tomorrow. Duncan, please walk out with me.”

I turned to my Daddy for help, but he was blank. “Yes, Alpha,” he responded.

Dad walked out the Alpha and Luna.

“You’ve done it now, Josie,” Shane snapped.

“Enough, Shane! Just leave. Do something else,” Mom yelled.

Shane chuckled. “I didn’t think this family could have a disappointment bigger than Chase. You’ve redeemed him, little sis.”

Shane marched off.

I’d just been banished. Where would I go? I couldn’t stay in the Pack. I couldn’t run to Oakley’s house. She would have to shun me, too. Mom took my hands and squeezed.

“You have to pack your things now, Josie.”

“You’re kicking me out? Isn’t there anything you can do?”

She shook her head. “You need to leave. It’s going to be horrible when word breaks in the morning. I know you’ll be shunned, but there are people who will want to hurt you.”

It wasn’t fair. What about Ryan? How could someone who claimed to love me reject me, knowing what would happen to me? I got up swiftly and ran to my room. I darted to the closet and grabbed a suitcase.

I stuffed my belongings in the bag, tears streaming down my face. I had no idea where to go. My entire family lived in this Pack. Except for Chase. I paused. My eldest brother woke up one day and decided to leave the family. He destroyed all our parents’ hopes and dreams for him. I hadn’t seen him in four years. He declared himself a rogue and refused to return.

I grabbed my phone and found ten missed calls from Oakley. I would send her a text later explaining everything.

“Hello?” Chase’s raspy voice came through the speaker.

“Chase… I don’t know what to do.”

“s**t kid, it’s nearly three in the morning. What the hell happened, Josie?” His voice went from sleepy to wide awake in an instant.

I poured out the last events few hours into the phone. Chase stopped asking questions a few seconds ago. When I finally finished ranting, I had a headache.

“Don’t worry, kid. You’ll be fine. You need to get out of there now. You have to accept your fate.”

“I’ve lost everything, Chase. My job, my home and my family!”

“We’ll figure it out.”

I gathered the rest of my things into my suitcase. I had a few thousand dollars saved up, but it wouldn’t last me four months. I found my gun in the bedside drawer. I had to turn that in. I chucked it into my bag anyway. Let Ryan freak out about a missing gun like the perfectionist he is.

I grabbed my suitcase and made my way to my car. My parents were in the driveway.

“You’re packed. Good, you should be on your way,” Dad said.

There was so much I wanted to scream at him. This wasn’t my fault. I didn’t ask to be rejected. I allowed him to walk off.

“Estelle!” Dad called.

Mom started walking away. I exhaled. Here goes nothing.

Arms wrapped around me from behind before I got into my car.

“Take care of yourself,” Mom whispered. “Take this. It’s just a little to get by. I’ll find a way to send you more.”

“Estelle!” Dad barked again.

“I have to go, sweetheart.”

I just lost my entire life in one night.