Page 11 of Rejected and Regretted

Without responding, I rose to my feet and swiftly turned away from him. I was ready to make a run for it, desperate to vanish from his sight before he noticed anything else he shouldn't. However, I didn’t expect him to follow me, let alone grab my arm to pull me back, causing our gazes locked once again.

“Who did this to you?” he demanded, his eyes dark, his tone sharp and low.

Ignoring him yet again, I tried to free myself, only to fail as he tightened his grip on me. If I really wanted to, I could escape him, but it would be suspicious for me to overpower him so easily. That didn’t stop me from struggling though.

“Avril, listen to me!” he ordered, albeit it sounded more like a plea. I stopped moving, feeling his fist loosen up around my wrist. Once I gave him the attention he sought, his voice grew calmer. “Are there bruises beneath these bandages? Did Angelica mess with you again?”

“No, she’s staying in line, thanks to you.” I forced a smile.

“Answer me,” he pushed, his eyes flickering from black to green, from rage to worry. “Who did this to you? Are they beating you at Azure Smoke?” Goddess, why was he suddenly so concerned about my well-being?

Then, I recalled his recent revelation. How he had waited two years to reject me, then banished me, supposedlyfor my own protection. Was this what he thought he was doing now? Protecting me? I didn’t need him, not after he threw me to the wolves and I returned leading them.

That was the final straw.

“Please, Koen! Don’t act like you care!” I yelled. When he let his guard down, I yanked my arm away, freeing myself at last, before he could unwrap my bandages. By now, Kea and I were so mad, I had no more control over my emotions. “Yourejectedme! Youexiledme! You abandoned me to die alone!” I growled, expecting him to shout back at me, yet he never did.

In his expression, there was only guilt.

“You made it very clear that you don’t give a shit about me, and guess what? That’s fine, because I don’t need you to care!” I went on. “I don’t need your pity, and certainly I don’t need your concern.”

“Avril…” As I prepared myself to flee, he reached for me again, but I jerked out of reach.

“Just do me a favor and leave me alone! You and I have no business anymore.”

With that, I stormed out of the forest, leaving a defeated Koen behind.

8

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A V R I L

Goddess, what wasthat about?

My heart was racing as I rested my back on the door right after locking it. Flashes of Koen grabbing my arm played on my mind as I tried to breathe through the surge of adrenaline. Had he seen my mark and recognized it, my identity would have been compromised and our mission ruined. Yet, all I could focus on was the feeling of his fingers around my skin, the emotion in his eyes. The protective behavior he showed toward me…was that fake, too?

“For the light of the crescent, Avril! Get a hold of yourself!”Kea scolded me, rightfully so.“Of course, it was fake. The man who abandoned you to fend for yourself is incapable of remorse - or concern, for that matter. Yes, he was once our mate, but he denied us. He should mean nothing to you.”

I let her words sink in. Deep down, I knew she was right. Koen’s sudden interest in me, his inexplicable desire to clarify what had happened between us years ago, his readiness to protect me - they were all tricks to earn my trust. They had to be. And I was allowing myself to be impressed by his act.

However, if that was the case, how could he affect me like no other male could?

Before I could find an answer, my internal battle was interrupted by someone else invading my mind.“Alpha, are you alright?”I immediately recognized Theo’s voice, followed by his scent, as well as Elijah’s, hitting my nose. They were probably right outside my door.

“We sensed your apprehension through the bond,”my gamma added.

Ah, bonds- the essence of our species. As pack creatures, werewolves were united by different kinds of this unique magical connection. Primarily, there was the bond between members of the same pack, creating a sense of unity by allowing them to share similar emotions. Then, there was the familial bond. Present only between individuals who were part of the same bloodline, it was significantly stronger.

Yet none of them were as powerful as the mate bond.

Some believed mates were two halves of the same soul; one could never be truly complete without the other. It wasn’t uncommon for one to perish shortly after the passing of their fated partner, so intense the connection between their souls. If they were marked, their chances of living on became even slimmer. Even a simple rejection, prior to any form of relationship, caused unbearable pain to both the rejected and the rejector.

I would know.

Shaking my head, I focused on answering my friends.“Yes, everything’s fine. I was attacked by a rogue on the borders.”I could feel them both tensing up. Before they could shoot questions at me, I addressed their unspoken concerns.“Don’t worry, it didn’t touch me. I also didn’t have to shift, so no one saw Kea. Koen was there, and he…”I stopped myself as the word ‘protect’ came to my mind.“He slayed it before I needed to do anything,”I corrected myself.“But my sweatshirt got torn, and he saw my bandages.”

“Did he see the mark?”Elijah asked, though he didn’t sound nearly as worried about my sweatshirt falling apart as he did about my safety.

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