Rejection and Redeemed

Chapter 51

CHAPTER 51

E veryone was waiting in a line outside the castle the following afternoon, only Emory and Fran were missing as they were both at work.

After dinner last night they did search some pictures, but Jacob had gotten tired and took himself off to his room. He had been vegging in front of the TV when Fran got home.

Fran had looked so tired that Jacob had helped him into the shower and then put him to bed, with Jacob crawling in beside him and pulling Fran into his arms. Fran had fallen straight to sleep.

But now, here they were, watching a large truck pulling up in front of the castle with two cars following behind. One of the cars being Joe’s parent’s car.

“You’ve got this,” Joe whispered to Jacob, standing beside him in the receiving line.

“Yep. Your parents are beaming in a slightly bemused way.”

Joe laughed. “Yeah, they really are.”

The doors to the truck and the cars opened and Cresswell got out of the truck.

“What the hell is Nidel doing here?” Jacob asked quietly in surprise when he also got out of the truck.

“No idea, guess we’ll find out in a bit,” Joe replied.

Cresswell walked to a lady who had just exited one of the cars and, holding her hand, walked over to Berni. “Alpha Pullman, I’m Romsey Cresswell and this is my wife Samantha. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, holding his hand out.

Berni shook his hand. “And you and your wife. Let me make some introductions. This is my wife and Alpha Mate, Aubrey, Duchess of Avon.” Berni led the way down the line. “My son, Lord Dr Robert Pullman, Marquiss of Avondale, and his partner, Lord Fintan Pullman, also the Marquiss of Avondale. My youngest son, Lord Ezmond Pullman. My brother, Lord Frank Pullman and his mate, Lord Joe Pullman, and my nephew-in-law, The Honourable Jacob Pullman.”

Cresswell shook everyone’s hand.

Jacob held his hand out and Cresswell shook it.

“I owe you an apology, Jacob. The way I treated you on our first meeting was disrespectful and out of order. Samantha got very vocal on the subject when I told her what happened. Apparently, if she had been in the house at the time, she would have hit me with the frying pan as well.”

“Umm, yeah, sorry about that,” Jacob said.

“Think nothing of it,” Cresswell replied.

Samantha stepped forward. “It’s very nice to meet you, Jacob, and yes, when my husband told me what happened, I was angry on your behalf,” she said, taking his hand. “Now, dear, I’ve packed up everything you left behind, making sure it was all protected and all your mother’s furniture is in the van. Your mother and her family had very good taste.”

“Thank you, Alpha Mate,” Jacob said.

“You’re very welcome, dear.”

As they were chatting, everyone met Joe’s parents and once they got to Jacob’s side, pulled him into a hug.

“I can’t wait to meet your mate,” Annfield said happily, pulling back.

“He’s currently at work. He’s a nurse and should be home later,” Jacob told her.

“Joe, Fintan, Jacob, a friend of yours offered to help Alpha Cresswell,” Berni said with a frown.

“Yes, Nidal was eager to help and come and see you all,” Cresswell added, looking at them.

“Why?” Jacob asked.

“What do you mean, why?” Nidal replied. “We’ve been friends for years.” Looking at his face it looked like he was trying not to sneer. Nidal was an inch or so smaller than Jacob and had a sleek build but his eyes, as always, looked shifty.

“Please,” Joe said angrily. “You were only friends with Jacob because he was an Alpha heir and because Alpha Bishop was paying you to be his friend, so you could report everything Jacob did back to his father.” Growls could be heard from some of those gathered. “You were overjoyed when Jacob got kicked out. The only reason you’re here today is because Jacob stopped the direct payment into your account. And as for Finn, you’ve never been friends with him.”

“Is this true Nidal?” Cresswell demanded, sounding shocked.

Nidal gave what sounded like a fake laugh. “Of course not. I’ve no idea why Alpha Bishop was paying me, but I wasn’t going to turn down free money.”

“You know we’re wolves, right? We can smell your lies,” Finn told him.

“Well, look who grew a backbone,” Nidal sneered.

Suddenly Jacob knew Nidal was about to attack Finn, he saw it all flash through his mind.

He saw Nidal start to move, but before anything could happen, Jacob jumped forward and had Nidal on the ground, a clawed hand around Nidal’s neck. “You do NOT make a move to hurt anyone in my family,” he snarled out, holding Nidal down.

“Jacob?” Berni queried.

“He was about to attack Finn,” Jacob told him.

“Was he now?” Robbie growled out.

“Let me up,” Nidal demanded, trying to pry Jacob’s hands away from his throat. “I’m a member of the Cresswell pack. You will suffer for this insult to me and my Alpha.”

“Not if what Jacob said was true,” Cresswell said. “And unlike you, I detect no lies coming from Jacob Pullman. Alpha Pullman, I apologise for bringing this young man with me today. I thought I was reuniting friends.”

“Apology accepted. Jacob, let this idiot up, he can become a guest of our fine castle,” Berni said.

Frank pulled his phone out and sent a text.

“A guest?” Samantha queried.

“We have cells here. Well, they’re really dungeons that are still used,” Ezzy told her happily.

“And here is an Enforcer to take him away,” Frank said, as the enforcer rushed over.

Jacob took his hand away from Nidal’s throat and stood up. He rocked a bit, but Joe’s hand on his back steadied him.

“Andrew, take this idiot to the dungeons, we’ll need to question him later,” Frank ordered.

“Certainly, my lord.” And with that, Andrew hauled Nidal up and escorted him away.

Jacob looked at Berni. “I think I know what I’ve become now.”

“Let’s all go inside. Clairmont has prepared afternoon tea, and while we're having refreshments, we can chat about everything that’s going on,” Aubrey suggested.

“Excellent idea,” Berni said. “This way, everyone.” And Berni led everyone into the castle.

Finn touched Jacob’s arm. “Not sure how you knew he was about to attack me, but thank you for stopping him. Are you okay?”

Jacob nodded. “Yeah, a bit dizzy when I stood up, but I’m okay, thanks. As for how I knew what he was about to do, I saw it all as a fast movie reel, then saw him start to move and just reacted.”

“That’s amazing,” Robbie said. “And helpful if something like that ever happens again. So a ghost wolf can see a pending attack.”

“It might just be a one-time thing,” Jacob pointed out.

“Even if it was, it saved me, so thanks for that,” Finn said.

“We should go in and join the others,” Robbie said and led them inside.