Rejected: Found By Another

Chapter 8

LYANNA'S POV

I stood completely frozen in my spot, my legs suddenly planted into the ground as I watched the rogue continue to growl and snarl at me.

Slowly, it started to advance towards me, taking its sweet time as it approached, like a predator cornering its prey.

Only I was no prey, never will be again.

"Reyna!" I called on my wolf, shifting in the air as I lunged at the Rogue, tearing into the skin on its back with my wolf teeth.

The Rogue let out an agonizing sound as it shook violently in an attempt to get me off of him, but I maintained my grip on his back, and soon I felt his movement start to slow.

I was low-key proud of myself that I was handling this on my own without any help. I didn't need a mate to protect me. I didn't need an alpha to save me.

However, I spoke too soon.

The Rogue threw itself from side to side, shaking its whole body violently, and next thing I knew, I was being thrown off of its back.

Not able to control the fall, I watched helplessly as my body collided with a large tree trunk, the pain and the force of the hit forcing me to shift back into human form as I yelled out in pain.

I noticed blood dripping from my mouth and panicked, thinking it was mine, only to realize as my eyes met the torn flesh on the ground beside me that it was from the Rogue.

I'd taken a large chunk of his flesh with me when I was thrown off of his back.

Instead of the injury weakening him, it only seemed to enrage the already angry Rogue even more, as it snarled angrily at me, saliva dripping heavily from its mouth.

He started to approach me, and currently too weak to shift or fight back, I settled for moving away from him, crawling backward on the grass as I tried to get away from him.

Suddenly, it lunged at me, no doubt with the intention of tearing me apart, and I turned my face away, my arms flying up in front of me in a poor attempt to protect myself as my eyes shut tightly in expectation of what was to come.

This is it then. The end of the road for me. First the betrayal and rejection from my supposed mate, and now this. Now I'm about to be ripped to shreds by a rogue.

Suddenly, I heard a loud, earth-shattering growl that even had the ground I sat on shaken in fear.

That wasn't the rogue. There's no way that was it.

Slowly, I peeled my eyes open, only to have them widen in shock at the sight of the gigantic beast that landed out of nowhere in front of me.

I couldn't see it properly; its back was to me while its front was facing the rogue, but from what little of it I was able to see, I could tell it was huge. Way bigger than any wolf I'd seen before. This wolf was twice the size of Lucien's wolf, and that was saying something considering that Lucien was an alpha.

Whoever this wolf was, I wouldn't want to be on his bad side. The rogue seemed to share the same thought, as he immediately backed down, submitting to the giant dominant wolf that stood staring down at him.

The next thing I knew, the rogue was running off into the woods with its tail between its legs, and I felt myself tense up in fear when the large wolf slowly started to turn toward me.

I started to move back out of panic, not exactly sure what to expect from this powerful beast. Yes, he did just save my life by running off the rogue, but that doesn't mean he meant me well.

For all I know, he could ___

My thoughts were cut short when I saw the familiar green eyes that I immediately recognized. Same eyes that I would recognize anywhere, even in my sleep. Same eyes that belonged to the owner who saved me twice in the space of twenty-four hours. So strange, yet so enchanting.

"Xander?"

I found myself saying his name even without meaning to, and I noticed the wolf tense up for a second before turning around and walking behind a large tree.

A few seconds later, Xander walked out with only a pair of gray sweatpants hanging low on his waist and a white T-shirt held in his hand.

Xander walked toward me and threw the T-shirt into my lap before turning around and silently walking away.

I quickly got up and threw the T-shirt on, his scent immediately enveloping me as I got up and followed in the direction I saw him leave.

"Xander?" I called again as I saw his back walking away from me, but again, he remained silent.

He wouldn't even look back to check if I was following him or not. What if I was badly injured and couldn't get up to follow him? Would he have left me just like that?

For some reason, I found myself very upset by that thought, even though I had no reason to be. I was the one who left. Xander doesn't owe me anything whatsoever. But still, it upset me.

I continued to follow Xander silently until we got back to his house, and I realized just how close I'd been the whole time. It wasn't too close, but it was closer than I had expected, seeing as I had walked around all day before settling down under that tree.

We only walked for about an hour or so before we arrived back at the house.

As soon as we went in, I tried again to talk to Xander, but he kept ignoring me as he walked past me into the kitchen, and I followed him.

"Are you seriously giving me the silent treatment? I don't even remember asking for your help!"

I said, as I suddenly felt angry at the fact that he was ignoring me, but still I got nothing from him.

I sat on one of the kitchen stools and watched in confusion as Xander placed two sandwiches on a plate and poured some orange juice into a glass before grabbing the two and walking over to me.

Placing the food in front of me, Xander turned around and walked out of the kitchen.

I heard a door slam a few minutes later and assumed he'd gone to his room.

My stomach growled at the sight of the sandwich and orange juice, as I hadn't had anything to eat in a while. But I still couldn't get my mind off of Xander's behavior.

"I can't believe he's ignoring me again."

I said, and Reyna sighed.

'You really need to make up your mind on what exactly you want from him, Lyanna. Stop sending him mixed signals.'

Reyna said, and I frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean, I'm not sending him mixed signals, Reyna."

I replied, and Reyna scoffed loudly, causing my frown to deepen.

I really am not!

Am I?

You know what, I don't care anymore! He can go on

and do whatever he wants for all I care!

I meant it when I said I was done with men. I'm not letting myself get dragged into yet another mess. No man is worth it.

'Not even Xander?'

Reyna asked, and I decided I wouldn't be answering that question as I grabbed a sandwich and shoved it in my mouth.

I'm NEVER answering that.