Rejection Denied
Grave Marsh

Aviry

“TANNER!” Denver cried.

She had fully transformed into a human again. The dress that Orion dressed us in was nothing more than scraps. But it was better than nothing, I guess. My clone adjusted the dress, rushed over, and knelt on her knees in front of the chair. “Wha—what has he done to you.” She bawled. “How could he do this to anyone. This is torture!”

Mia whimpered and shook her head off. The fumes from the bleach were a little too much for Mia’s heightened sense of smell. She was beginning to feel light-headed. In case Orion finds us down here, I need my wolf to be ready to fight.

“Mia, give me back control,” I said. “My nose is weaker than yours, and I’ll last longer in the room as a human.”

“Not the much longer.” Mia huffed. “We can only stay in here for a few more minutes, Aviry. Save Mark and Tanner. And then we’re getting the hell out of here before we both pass out.”

Mia released control to me. The familiar vacuum feeling rushed over me as my body reverted to a human form. When the shift finished, I was crouched down on the floor. I was completely nude. My rags are back in the other room. I stood from the floor and passed through the curtain to grab them.

I reached down and picked up the torn dress and began dressing. There’s no way in hell I’m fighting Orion butt ass naked. And I can’t exactly ask him to knock before he enters because we knocked the door down. I thought I heard soft shuffling down the hall. “Probably a mouse.”

Once I was decent, I ran past the curtain and back into the room with Denver. She was still on her knees, crying. I cleared my throat. “Are you sure that’s Tanner?”

“Of course it is!” Denver snapped. She gripped onto maybe, maybe not Tanner.

I’d say it doesn’t look like the guy who drugged and kidnapped all those weeks ago.

“His appearance is different. But his scent is the same. Look at him!” Denver snarled. “Look at what Orion did to my mate.”

Tanner looked like he was resting. His skin is pale, nearly translucent. You can see three bulging veins on both arms, each surrounded by smaller blue veins that ran up his neck. His cheeks are sunken, and his jawbones are protruding outward. His lips are dry and flaky, and the under bag under his eyes nearly reached his cheeks.

Denver pulled the cover entirely off her mate and let it fall on the floor in front of her. “Oh, goddess.” She whispered, lifting a shaky hand to her mouth. She turned away and began heaving.

“Shit,” I whispered. I took a few steps closer. Tanners chest was covered with tiny blistering, pus-filled red pricks. Clearly from a dirty needle. There are bandages wrapped around his stomach that are a mix of brown, and yellow. They hadn’t been changed, so now there’s an infection.

Tanner and I don’t have a great history. But seeing him like this pisses me off. This kind of treatment is reserved for the worse of, the worse. I pulled the cover back over Tanner’s body. Denver stopped heaving and sat up, wiping her mouth with her forearm.

“We have to get him out of here.” She said. “We have to get him to a doctor.” Denver stood shakily and pulled at the ropes wrapped around Tanner’s wrist. She wiped at her eyes. “I need something to cut this.”

My clone stood up and speedily walked back through the curtain. While Denver dealt with Tanner. I focused my attention on the other two covered figures. If Tanner looks like this, then the condition of these two must be equally terrible. I took both left and right covers in my hands and pulled them down.

The left covering unveiled another unconscious older blonde male strapped to a chair. Appearance-wise, he just looked deprive of hygiene. But health-wise, he is in a better place than Tanner.

I looked to the right of Tanner.

“Mark.” I sighed. He was asleep, the same as Tanner.

I doubt it’s a natural sleep, though. According to Bex, Mark turned himself into Orion. If Mark were brought down here by Orion, he would’ve escaped by now. He wouldn’t be taking a nap while Bexley completed his task. The Mark I know would be fighting to get free. There’s no way in hell he’d sit still and wait to be rescued.

“Great. We found him now; let’s get the hell out of here.” Mia said.

“Denver!” I shouted behind me. “I found Mark!” I heard the curtain pull back behind me.

Clang!

Denver gasped as she dropped a pair of scissors on the floor. “Gail.” She said, rushing over to the unconscious man and pushed the damp blonde hair out of his face.

“Gail. Gail, please wake up.” She shook his shoulders.

“I’m pretty sure Orion has them drugged with something,” I suggested. “We need to get them and ourselves out of this room.” I picked the scissors up off the ground and began sawing at the ropes restraining Mark first.

“How are we going to carry these three out?” She asked me. “I can’t leave my other men behind either. They have families and deserve to be buried properly.”

“Listen, Denver.” I wiped my nose as I finished cutting Mark free. “No offense but those guys are dead. We need to get the living out alive, and then after we kill Orion, we can focus on getting them back home.” I passed the scissors to Denver.

“Now, set Gail and your mate free. We have to get out of here.”

The curtain behind us pulled back.

“But you can’t leave yet.” A familiar voice said from behind us. Denver and I both turned to face the clear curtain held in place by Spencer’s employees of the month. Caleb, with his blue hair and pierced brows. He smirked as he stepped into the room.

“Well, isn’t it my lucky day? You naughty girls. Your daddy is looking for you two everywhere. This basement is like a maze he didn’t think you’d come down here.” Caleb crossed his arms.

“Good thing I checked.” He smiled and looked past us. “I see you found Orion’s latest test subjects.”

Denver growled and stepped forward. “What the hell do you mean?”

Caleb chuckled and pushed his blue hair back. “Orion has been… recruiting volunteers for his latest experiments.” He nodded toward Mark. “This one just arrived. And Orion has big plans for him.”

He pointed at Gail and Tanner. “These two were caught on our property and their little friends.” He turned around and pointed at the hanging trackers and hunters. “Well, they failed the testing phase. The humans ran out of blood.”

“How…why would he do this? I thought Oriions’ main goal was restoring the dire wolves. Experimenting with these men has nothing to do with that. How do we wake them up.”

“Who says there’s a way to wake them?” Caleb smirked and shrugged. “Listen, I don’t give a damn what Orion does. I get paid, and I go about my business.”

He smirked again. “But right now, you two are my business. There is a big reward being offered at the moment. And I do love being rewarded.” He chuckled darkly.

Denver darted forward. She was seething; the anger that was emitting from her body almost matched my violent mood.

“We don’t have time for your fucking games!” Denver snarled. “Tell me how to wake them up, and your reward will be your life!”

Calebs laughed bounced off the wall. “Calm yourself, dire bitch.” He pushed Denver away with a hard shove. “You need me to get you out of here. All I want is payment for my….good deed. Better than what Orion offered.”

I crossed my arms. “Yeah, and what exactly did my alleged psycho father offer you, Blue?”

“My name is Caleb.” He snapped. Blue bit the inside of his lip. “And your daddy offered ten grand to whoever found his dire princesses.”

“Tsk.” I shook my head. “Ten grand? We don’t have ten grand in our pocket Blue. So I guess we’ll just take your life—”

“Wait,” Denver took a deep breath and looked back at Tanner. “I’ll get you fifty thousand dollars and a favor from the hunters if you tell us how to wake them up and get us out of here safely.”

Caleb poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue, thinking about Denver’s offer. “Why should I trust you, huh? I’ll give you everything you want, and then you’ll kill me anyway.”

“You’re right.” I snatched the scissors from Denver’s hand. “Since you have your doubts, though, how about we kill you now. We can keep the money and figure the rest out along the way. If we run into Orion, we’ll kill him too. Either way, Blue, you won’t be getting paid.”

“Unless you help us.” Denver the scissors out of my hand. I looked at her and rolled my eyes. “You’ll just have to take my word for it. So decide quickly, Caleb.”

“Twenty seconds Blue.” I counted to twenty by five in my head, which gave him four seconds to make a decision.

Caleb uncrossed his arms and walked past us towards the back of the room. Denver and I watched closely as he opened a cabinet and pulled out a small metal case.

Holding the case in both hands, he walked back toward us. “The code is 10-99.” He held the case out for Denver to take it but snatched it back quickly. Denver growled, and Caleb chuckled.

“You just bought yourself three antidote serums and one antidote canister. Orion is planning to end the war outside with chemical warfare.”

Denver’s breath caught. “He wouldn’t.”

I scoffed. “Of course, he would. Orion is a cowardly bitch. That’s the only way he’ll fight. He has no strength of his own.”

Caleb held up a finger. “You are not wrong about that. That’s the main reason I decided to help you. Orion is the loser in this fight simply because he cuts corners. He relies on science and outside force. I don’t want to submit to that kind of alpha.”

Blue tapped his fingers on the case. “With that being said. I will admit that I still fear Orion. If I’m going to betray him, I need to be able to escape him. Even if you end up killing him, he still has allies that will avenge him.”

“Name your price Caleb. We don’t have all day.” Denver sighed.

“Another fifty grand should help.” He grinned.

“Fuck you!” I spat.

“DEAL!” Denver shouted.

“What!?” I asked, dumbfounded for two reasons. One is why the hell are we negotiating with him. Killing him is way easier. And two, who the hell has that kind of money?

Denver reached for the case. “I have the money. Help us out of here, and you’ll have it as soon as possible.”

Caleb grinned as he handed the case over to Denver. “Awesome. Pleasure doing business with you. I offer other services if—”

Denver growled as she entered the code in the case. Caleb held his hands up. “Ok, I get it, not interested. You seem too sweet anyway.” He nodded toward me. “How about you, huh you wanna play with me, princess? You seem like you know—GAH!”

I wrapped my hand around Caleb’s throat and squeezed. “The money she’s paying you can still be donated to a charity of your choice upon your death.” I snarled, pushing Caleb against the wall.

“This rescue shit is already interfering with my plan of murdering Orion. If you fuck us over and get us caught, I.WILL.END.YOU. SLOWLY.”

I released him. He growled and rubbed his neck as I walked back over to Denver. She had the case open. I looked over her shoulder and saw Four needles and a silver canister.

“I thought you said three—”

I quickly covered her mouth. “Shhhh,” I whispered. “That one is a bonus. Don’t complain about free shit.” Denver nodded and took the first syringe, and passed me the other two.

“Wake up, Gail and Mark. I’ll take care of Tanner.” We both walked over to the three sleeping uglies. “Caleb, are you sure this will wake them?”

“Listen, I don’t play when it comes to money.” Caleb scoffed. “It will wake them, but that one—” he pointed at Tanner. “You may want to hold off on him. You see, Orion isn’t a complete monster. They can’t feel the pain when they’re like this, but once he’s conscious— whistle—He’ll beg for death.”’

Denver growled and whimpered. “Orion is a monster.” She looked at Tanner and pushed his hair out of his face. “Ok, we’ll wake Gail and Mark. We’ll carry Tanner out of here and wake him when he’s with a pack doctor.”

“Yeah, that advice can be on the house this time, by the way.” Caleb chuckled.

Denver rolled her eyes and placed Tanner’s syringe back in the case. “Pass me one, Aviry.” I passed her a syringe and walked over to Mark. Denver walked over to Gail. “So we just—”

I did not want to hear Caleb’s smart-ass mouth. I stabbed my syringe into Marks’s neck. “Just do it Denver, we need to get out of here.” Denver slowly pierced Gail’s neck with the needle. Opposite of what I did, I’d rather it be over quickly.

I hate needles. And can you blame me? I’ve been traumatized by all the drugging's.

“How long will this—”

“AHHHH!” Mark roared. “Niro, you son of a bitch!” Mark snarled. He lunged at Caleb and tackled him to the ground. “I’ll kill you. I’ll rip you apart and burn every—” Sniff Sniff. “You’re not Orion,” Mark said. Sniff. “But you look like one of his men,” Mark growled again.

“Get…him…off.” Caleb gasped.

CLAP “Haha.” I clapped my hands as I bent over, laughing.

“Gah!” a loud gasp caught our attention. We looked back at Denver and Gail. “What…the—”

“GAIL!” Denver shouted, throwing her arms around the man. “I miss—missed you so mu—much.” She cried.

“Denver?”

“Aviry?”

Both men said at the same time. Mark released Caleb’s throat and rushed over to me, wrapping his strong arms around me as he embraced me. Now listen, the only reason I didn’t pull away was because my arms were stuck underneath his boulders. And I laid my head down on his shoulder to scratch the left side of my face.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Mark said.

“Yeah, vice versa big guy.” I tried patting his back with my fingertips.

“Wait! You are supposed to be with Nixon!” Mark released me and held on to my shoulders. “Orion will stop at nothing to get you back. Where's Bexley!?” Mark snapped.

I crossed my arms. “Seriously!? You think Bex bitch would be able to tell me what to do. Honestly, Mark, you have a better chance than at that. And speaking of chance, what’s the chance of you telling me the truth, huh?” I took a step back and poked his chest.

“When were you going to tell me about my mother, huh?” I poked his chest again. “When were you going to tell me that you were the one that aban—I mean delivered me to the hospital.”

“No, your right Aviry. I did abandon you.” Mark sighed heavily and wiped his face. “And I regret it, and I will continue to hate myself for doing that. Your mother wanted you to live among the humans. If she only knew how horrible that kind is—”

“Hey!” Gail shouted from behind. “At least we don’t shit in the woods like animals.” He slowly stood from the chair with Denver's help. “Well… some do. But that’s not the point,” He snapped.

Mark smiled, like the bald grinning emoji. “Gail.” He said, chuckling, as he embraced his friend. “I haven’t seen you in ages. And this must be Denver. I haven’t seen her since she was a little girl.”

“Yeah, excuse me,” Caleb said. “We don’t have time for a reunion right now. Orion will shut this shit down faster than you can blink. We need to get you out of here before that.”

“Right.” Denver looked back at Gail and Mark. “Grab Tanner. Gently, and let’s get the hell out of here. We’ll come back for the others after we win this fight.”

Without any questions, Mark and Gail gently lifted Tanner from the chair. Denver took hold of the silver case.

“Quick reminder. Payment will be made as soon as possible.” Caleb said with a finger in the air. “My services are not free.”

“Just lead the way, Caleb.” Denver snapped. “Gail, don’t look up.”

“Now why would you say that.” Gail sighed. “Now I have to look—”

Denver quickly snatched Gail’s head down. “That was an order.” Gail gulped, and Denver released his face.

“This way, lady and gentlemen.” He looked at me. “You two, she-devil.” He said with a smirk. “You can pay me with that body if you—”

“If you value your life, move your ass,” Mark growled.

Caleb held his hands up in defeat. “Just kidding. But this way.” Caleb pushed past the curtain and held it open as we passed through. “I wasn’t kidding, by the way.” He whispered from behind me.

We don’t need this fucker anymore. I shot my hand back, aiming for his throat. But Caleb ducked out of the way and jogged to the front of the group.

“ Alright, please keep all hands in feet to yourselves during this tour.” Caleb piloted his arms forward. “We are now leaving Orions lab of EVIL. Next stop, freedom.”

“And to the left…another wall crack that Orion created during one of his rages,” Caleb said in his best tour guide voice.

After we left Orion's lab of horrors, Caleb led us down the opposite hall. We have been keeping a steady jogging pace. Caleb is in the front, and Denver and I are beside each other. Mark and Gail are behind us, dragging Tanner along. Caleb says there’s a drain hole that leads to the marshes outside. The same place Bexley and Taylor will be.

I am getting fucking frustrated at this point. We should be there any moment if we keep up the pace we are at. But Caleb’s clown ass keeps stopping to show us random as shit on the walls and floors. He claims each crack and stain has a story behind it.

“Before we run past it….” Caleb pointed up at the ceiling. “That riiight…not that one…but that one right there is from when Orion caused some rogues head to explode. It was right after a failed experiment. I’m talking brain and blood, and—”

“Caleb, stop fucking talking! I’m not paying you for a history lesson on Orion’s monstrosities. Are we almost there?” Denver snapped. And she said that the nice way because my way would be to knock a few teeth out.

“Geez.” Caleb scoffed. “It’s just ahead. By the way, quick fun fact, before we arrive in the marshes. Or should I say grave marsh?” Blue laughed at his joke.

Mark growled. “Who the fuck is this kid again?”

“I don’t know, but he’s entertaining.” Gail chuckled. He shifted Tanner on his shoulder and continued keeping pace with Mark.

“Thank you. Anyway, the grave marsh is full of dead bodies from Orion's failed experiments. When you get out there—” Caleb stopped jogging. And looked up at a hole in the ceiling. “Watch your step. You already have Orion as an enemy; let’s not include the walking dead.” Blue chuckled darkly.

The hole above was large enough for us to fit through. The bars were rusted and could quickly be snapped off. The sky above us was dark, and the stars were bright. The crescent moon was high above, and a very soft breeze blew past my nose.

Clap

“Well, I did my job,” Caleb said, rocking on his heels. “You can Zelle me at WhodogBlueDog69 for my payment.” He turned on his heels, ready to leave. But Gail caught him by the collar of his shirt.

“Like I said, your very entertaining boy.” Gail laughed. “But I wasn’t born yesterday. Get your ass up to that, marsh, and prove this isn’t a trap. And Lord have mercy if it is.” Gail said comically, but he was serious as fuck.

“Lord? You mean goddess.”

“Whoever the fuck!” Mark growled. He shoved Blue with a heavy palm. “Hurry the hell up and break the bars before I throw you through them.”

Ah, Mark. As friendly as ever I see. I must admit I did miss him…just a little bit.

“I smell a liar.” Mia sang.

“No, what you smell is fresh air and the truth!”

Mia huffed. “Mmmk, whatever you say, Aviry. It’s ok to have friends, and miss said friend when you haven’t seen him in a while. Mark is risking his life to save us, and if that’s not a true friend, then I don’t know what is.”

“Tsk. Mark is saving us because he feels guilty about leaving us with humans. He’s trying to make up for what happened. He said it himself. He regrets what he did. If Mark wasn’t linked to this werewolf shit, and he was just my trainer like I thought he was. He wouldn’t be here.”

“You don’t know that, Aviry.” Mia said, “Mark cared for us before we knew what we were. He could’ve stayed away but he came to find you. And in his way, he became a part of your life and still was able to respect your mother’s wishes.”

I thought about what Mia said for a moment. Mark did regret leaving me to be raised by humans. And when the time was right, he found me and became my trainer. If he wanted to, he could’ve just did a check-up and left. Instead, he stayed, and for the first time in my life, I had someone who didn’t toss me away.

I thought Mia and Cay were there first. But it was Mark who cast the first anchor into my life. Every fight night, he would cheer for me as a proud father would. Anytime I was upset, he would take me to the gym, and we would train and spar until I calmed down. And afterward, we’d get ice cream.

“You are right, Mia,” I said quietly and looked back at Mark. I laughed a little at what I saw—Gail was fully supporting Tanner now. And Mark had Blue by the shirt raised to the hole in the ceiling.

“PLEASE!” Blue cried out. “I don’t wanna fly, and I don’t think I’m a fairy. Please…please let me go. I’ll go up first.” Blue was huffing and shaking.

Mark was satisfied with Blue answers. He huffed and sat him down on his feet. “Hurry the hell up, pixie boy.” Mark spat.

And without hesitation. Blue jumped up and latched onto the bars. With a strong pull and a tight face, the bars bent and broke. Blue looked up and then down at the group again.

“If the zombies get me. Don’t kill me; let me become one.” He smirked and jumped up again, pulling himself through the hole in the ground. “Ugh,” Caleb grunted. “One more thing, the ground is wet, but I can guarantee it ain’t all water.”

“Then what the hell is it?” Denver asked. And why she did that is the big question. I don’t want to know what the hell the mystery liquid is. If it’s not water, then damn it, let’s pretend it’s forbidden juice. Details do not matter in cases like this.

“Trust me; you don’t want to know,” Blue replied.

And I’m grateful for his answer because a million different things came to mind. And now, more than ever, I’m ready to go. Orion’s death is on the horizon, and I want it done before the sun rises.

“Is it all clear?” I asked. “You know what, never mind.” Before Blue answered, I pulled myself up quickly, landing in the mushy…forbidden water juice. Because that’s what it is, Aviry. My torn dress, and bare skin, was itching from the liquid. I want a shower after this shit.

I was looking around the marshy field. Orion’s pack house was more of a warehouse. But the barbed fences, watchtowers, and floodlights reminded me of the juvie prison field. On the other side of the fence is the forest.

“Aviry, are we good?” Denver called up.

“Yeah, we’re good,” I called down. I looked at Blue as he picked grass off his leather jacket. “Should I kill him now?”

Caleb's head shot up fast as hell. “Wha—what?” He stammered. “WE HAD A DEAL BITCH!” He growled.

“Mmmm. You had a deal with Denver. Not me.” I smiled villainously. I cracked my neck and shot forward, grabbing Caleb by the neck before he knew what was happening. “If you shift, I’ll shove this mystery gunk down your throat.

“I’ll…I’ll mind link—” I squeezed his face between my fingers; his mouth made that fishy shape.

“You can’t mind like Orion. If you could, you would have when you first spotted us down in the basement. You know you can’t take on two dire wolves, and Orion wouldn’t care about your death. So the next best thing would be to bargain your way out.” I squeezed tighter. “And you confirmed that you couldn’t mind link when you said you wouldn’t submit to Orion.”

Caleb huffed, and his eyes wide as he looked up to me. “Ple—Please don’t.” He got out.

I furrowed my brows confused. “I thought you wanted to play with me.” I pouted my lips. “No one ever offers to play with me because I break my toys too fast.” I grinned again and plunged my knee into his torso. I was still holding onto his neck and cheeks.

Caleb grunted, and his breathing became more challenging. “Why would you trust us so fast, Caleb? I mean, we are the daughters of a monster, allegedly. Surely you’d think some of those traits would pass down. Some more than others.”

Caleb tried to pull out of my grip again, and for that I released his face and threw my left fist into his jaw. “If you’d betray Orion so easily. I have no doubts that you would do the same to us even faster.” I reached out to Mia and allowed her to take over.

Caleb shrunk back in fear. The glowing reflection from my wolf’s eyes was menacing. With her hand still around Caleb’s throat, Mia slowly lets her claws protrude into Caleb’s throat. “Are you ready to die?” Mia growled.

“Please…Please….” Caleb begged. “I won’t betray you. You can keep the money. Please don’t kill me.”

Denver clapped her hands. Mia backed off and gave me back control. I looked back at Denver, smiling. “Told you I could get your money back.” I released Caleb’s throat and slapped his cheeks twice.

“You bitches are crazy!” Caleb shouted, nearly crying. “I do not doubt that you’re related to—”

In the blink of an eye, Denver was attached to Blues neck. “You can still die,” she snarled.

And I swear the temperature outside dropped twenty degrees. So my clone does have a little me in her.

“From now on, you’re on our side free of charge. Do you understand?” Denver said with a deadly calm. Blue rapidly nodded his head.

“HAHA!” I clapped, looking back at Mark as he helped Gail out of the hole. “Mark, did you see that. Now I’m sure there’s a larger percentage of piss on the ground courtesy of Blue. So watch your step.” I laughed again and looked around the Marsh.

In the distance, I spotted of black-figure creeping across the field. No…two…six…ten figures

“Bexley and Taylor made it out.” Denver turned in the direction I was looking in. She sighed in relief.

“If we can spot them this easily, we need to guide them out of here safely,” Mark said. “Besides, I need to have a word with Bexley.” And by word, I think he means punch in the face.

“Well, let’s go help them out of this hell.” Denver shoved Blue. “And apologize to those women or else.” She snapped.

“Yes, ma’am,” Blue said defeatedly.

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