My Rejected Heart by Soccerluv4 * (13 ebook reader txt) 📕

He sniffed, locating a faint trace of Ari’s scent leading away from the living room. He followed it closely, weaving down two other hallways until he came upon a crossroads. There was a door right across from him, and the scent of Arianna grew stronger.

Before he could get inside, however, he had to break down a plan. Clearly it had to be a basement of some sort, considering he could smell earth and heavy concrete mixed with Arianna’s scent. He also detected a small hint of blood, and his own began to boil. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his nerves, hoping to think a bit clearly. At this point in the journey, he couldn’t afford to get caught. Arianna’s life was at stake, and his mate was counting on him.

Drew found it kind of surprising that the other guard wolves didn’t seem to notice him. But then again, the ones snorting crack couldn’t possibly fathom their own smells, let alone his. And the ones who were playing videogames? Yeah right. Guys don’t hear bombs going off when they’re in the middle of an intense game. For once in his life, he was glad that men were idiots.

Putting those thoughts aside, he decided that it was best to wait until he sniffed if anyone else was in there. If there wasn’t, he would go in. If there was, he’d have to wait.

The plan wasn’t bulletproof, but it was all he could come up with at the moment, and he was going with it.  Drew sniffed the air, detecting faint traces of Arianna, mixed with someone familiar, someone from the pack. He sniffed again, and his brain connected the smell immediately. It was Zane’s familiar scent. Taking another whiff, he detected lingering smells of unknown origin, most likely guards, but the smell was too light. They probably weren’t inside.

Taking a deep breath, he scanned the hallways to make sure nobody was around. Satisfied, he crossed the span of the way from his hiding place to the door and opened it.

The door was, thankfully, not squeaky, and opened smoothly. He crept inside and shut the door behind him.

Drew tried his best at tip toeing down the stairs, but it proved a little difficult, considering his weight and build. He was strong and lean, and no doubt, muscled. But for once, that didn’t help in his situation.

Still, he tried to get down as quietly as he could, in case he miscalculated and another guard was inside to finish him off the minute he got in. He was halfway down when he heard the unmistakable cry of his mate.

He heard her weep softly, and by impulse, his wolf rose to the surface. Instead of tip toeing like he was supposed to, his wolf forced on with speed, running down the stairs in a frightening pace till he was at the bottom.

A growl rose to his throat when he connected eyes with Arianna. She was trapped in a cage, locked to one of the bars with handcuffs. Her body looked dirty and her clothes were slightly tattered. Despite all that, his willpower rose when he looked into her beautiful brown eyes, so frightened, yet a sparkle bouncing to the surface when she saw him.

He ran over to her and rattled the cage with insane strength, looking everywhere to find a way to unlock it. Unfortunately, the stupid cage was too damn strong for him to rip out and the lock needed a key.

“Drew, Drew, help me please,” Ari cried out, tears spilling from her eyes as she struggled against the handcuffs.

He saw her tears and a blind rage filled him. His knuckles turned ghostly white as he gripped the bars and rattled them with a fierce strength, but they hardly budged.

Drew was too fixated on trying to rip the bars out that he didn’t see his mate’s frightened expression.

Suddenly, something pushed against his head and his rattling stopped.

“Don’t even try it,” came a voice behind him. Unfortunately, he knew this one all too well.

“What the hell are you doing Zane?” He whispered harshly as he felt the barrel of the gun dig deeper into his head. He felt a hand grip the gun that was in his waistband and pull it out. Drew’s nervousness went up twelve notches, as he realized he was now unarmed against Zane.

“Coming here was a mistake. Now I’ll have to kill both of you,” Zane growled, though Drew noticed an underlying fear in his threat.

Drew breathed slightly, calming his wolf. An idea came to his head.

“Why Zane?” Drew calmly asked. His brain went into Alpha mode, and he knew that the best way to deal with Zane now was to try and reason with him. What he’d heard when Zane had made that threat was an obvious hesitation. Something about killing him was terrifying Zane, and he was going to use his fear to his advantage.

“Shut up!” Zane roared, though his voice shook slightly. “I’m the one talking here!”

Drew felt the barrel of the gun twitch slightly against his head, and realized it was Zane’s shaky hand that was behind it.

Locking eyes with his mate, he tried to communicate an ‘it’s okay’ through his mindlink, but it didn’t seem to work. He then used his eyes, praying that it would get across.

He saw Arianna blink at him and soften her eyes, a small twitch at the end of her mouth.

That was all he needed to see. For some reason, she couldn’t hear him through mindlink, and he had a feeling that there may have been some drugging involved. Drew tried to not let that anger his wolf, but he felt his blood pressure rise nonetheless. Closing his eyes, he steadied the wolf before continuing.

“Sorry,” he murmured, trying to play victim. Drew had to make Zane let his guard down if he wanted to escape, and being submissive to him was what he had to do. However, it was proving hard to considering his alpha status. They submitted to nobody but their parents.

“Just – Just move over there,” he barked out, pushing the gun against his head.

Drew held up his hands and followed his direction, moving slightly to the right, away from Ari.

Zane pushed him with his free hand, causing Drew to bite back a growl. He was really not used to being pushed around.

Zane had led them to a rusty looking metal chair in the corner and made him sit down in it. Keeping the gun to his head, he looked up at the wall for a minute before looking down at him.

“I’ve sent some people to come watch over you,” he stated, “so don’t you dare think of moving or I’ll blow your brains out!”

“Okay, okay,” Drew complied, praying that it wouldn’t have to come to that. He glanced over at Arianna, who was sitting straight up, looking at him with a worried expression. He gave her a small smile, but it did nothing to ease her tension.

A few seconds later, he heard the distinct sound of footsteps echoing down the stairs, as a large man walked over. He glanced furtively at Arianna, before dismissing her and walking straight over to Drew.

He put a large hand on Drew’s shoulder, patting it slightly.

“Wow Mr. Alpha. You’ll get a VIP viewing of your mate’s brains being blown out, courtesy of us,” he laughed chillingly, taking his gun out of his holster and pointing it at the side of his head.

Zane walked away, sending an apologetic look over to Drew.

Drew used all his resolve not to shift into his wolf and rip Zane to shreds. Trying to get revenge on the backstabber would just result in his death and then Arianna’s.

He just sent a murderous glare back and clenched his jaw, before shifting his eyes back to his mate.

Another set of footsteps echoed around the dirty walls, as another man stepped in. He was dressed head to toe in camo, strapped with guns on both hips and a large caliber gun strap slung diagonally on his chest, the gun itself resting on his back.

His hair was trimmed to a buzz cut, and a large jagged scar rested just above his left eyebrow and traced down to his eyelid. A menacing grin stretched across his face as he stared at Arianna and then over to Drew. He noticed Zane and the guard holding the gun on his head nod their heads slightly at the man.

“Well, well, what do we have here? Romeo and Juliet, huh?” He roared with laughter, it’s chilling depth echoing off the walls and hitting Drew straight in the gut. The man was definitely the boss in charge, and he didn’t look like he was an easy one to kill.

Stepping over to the cage, he crossed his arms, his biceps bulging out of the camo shirt he was wearing. The man looked like he ate steroids for breakfast.

“I feel bad, really. You’re such a delicious piece,” he said slyly, looking Arianna up and down while he licked his lips. Drew growled ferociously, his vision turning red. The man just smirked at him, and turned his attention back to Arianna.

“Such a shame you can’t join your mother,” he continued, casting a smirk over to Arianna.

Arianna did her best not to sob at the man in front of her, but a few traitorous tears leaked out anyway. The man that she’d seen before didn’t scare her half as much as the man before her now.

“Please, you can’t do this,” she begged, her voice shaking.

“Please,” she whispered, her heart breaking as the man just stared at her, before turning away and laughing slightly.

“Let’s go Zane. Finish her off if you ever want to see your sister alive. Oh, and then get Romeo over there so we have no loose ends.” His laughter chilled Drew’s bones, as he saw Zane quiver before the man. He nodded slightly, slinking over to Arianna’s cage slowly.

‘Damn it!’ Drew thought, realizing that Zane was doing this for his estranged sister. There was no way they could get through this, not if Zane was fighting for something just as hard as he was. He felt his resolve break, as Zane pulled his gun out and held it on his side.

The room is still as Zane inches the gun up toward Arianna, who is huddled in the cage, sobbing hysterically and pleading with Zane.

Zane points his gun toward Arianna, who cries even harder than before.

BOOM!

A shot rings out, as Drew stars in horror at his mate, but he sees she’s completely unharmed.

Standing next to Zane, the ring master of the whole group of rogues clutches at his chest, a large gaping hole resting just under his shoulder.

Drew gapes for a second, until he notices that the barrel of a gun isn’t resting on his temple anymore. He realizes in a flash that the guard is probably aiming it at Zane now.

Unfortunately, it’s too late. The guard has already shot Zane.

Drew watches in horror as Zane clutches at his chest, and slowly drops to the ground.

He shifts his eyes over to the guard and does something that surprises him. Grabbing ahold of the arm that’s extended out, he pushes it down, hearing a sickening crack as he assumes the man’s shoulder dislocates.

The man drops the gun, howling in pain. Drew kicks the guy’s shin, causing him to double over. Letting his wolf rise to the surface, Drew slashes the man with his grown claws, effectively ending the guy’s life. He lets his lifeless body sink to the floor and then switches his attention to Zane.

His body is resting on the floor, but he seems to still be breathing. Blood is sputtering out of his mouth, but another issue is pressing.

Drew looks over to the leader, who’s slumped to the floor, clutching the left side of his chest with his right hand as he scrambles to try and