Page 12 of Rejected and Regretted

“No, but just barely,”I confessed.“I’ll shower and get changed. You guys go ahead and get dinner, I’ll meet you there.”

Although they hesitated to leave me, I soon heard them step away from my door. As they did, I returned to my earlier thoughts.

There was no bond between me and Koen. Not anymore; not in five years. Then how did he manage to get to me so easily?

I grunted. It was probably my fault, like Kea pointed out. She was mostly right about what she had said to me, except for one thing - Koendidmean something to me. He was the key to getting the relic that once belonged to my pack.

For that reason, I would snap out of whatever spell the alpha had me under, and get him wrapped around my fingers instead.

I didn’t cross paths with Koen again after the rogue attack. Whether he was busy reporting the occurrence to his sentinels, or simply preferred the luxury of his private dining room, he didn’t show himself during dinner at the cafeteria. It was probably good since Theo and Elijah were even more protective of me after hearing about the incident.

My friends also questioned me about what exactly had happened earlier in the forest. I refrained from telling them the details of how I had felt, ashamed of how I had lost control of my emotions. Before they could notice what I was hiding fromthem, I changed the subject. As we discussed the next steps for our mission, I informed them I would need to spend more time alone with the alpha - an idea they weren’t really fond of, even if they understood it was necessary. Then we said our goodnights and returned to our suites to go to sleep.

The next morning, I went to the same spot I had found Koen the day before, ready to carry out the plan I had carefully thought out: I would play the damsel in distress, apologize for my outburst and thank him for being theknight in shining armorhe absolutely thought I needed. That should inflate his ego, emphasize my submission toward him, and hopefully earn his trust.

However, I couldn’t find him at the place where his private training sessions took place. Upon returning to the main part of the territory, I learned that he hadn’t sparred with the rest of his warriors either. It would be suspicious for me to question the alpha’s whereabouts, so I resorted to waiting until he decided to appear. And he did, just as I was walking into the packhouse.

I almost bumped into my former mate on my way in, but we both stopped inches before our bodies collided. Now that we were face to face, I realized just how much taller than me he was; I had to lift my head to look at him. Goddess, did I hate having him look at me from above.

“Avril,” he whispered, almost as if he was shocked to see me.

There was a mix of emotions in his expression that I couldn’t quite figure out, probably because he was trying to mask them. As he pursed his lips, I took it as he could be mad at me for the way I spoke to him the day before, but I didn’t let him speak; I couldn’t afford to have him dismiss me. Though I couldn’t say I was thrilled about how I was going to humiliate myself.

“Finally, I found you!” I sighed, trying my best to sound happy to see him. “Alpha Koen, about yesterday-”

When he groaned, I stopped. At first, I thought I had made him so mad he wouldn’t listen to me at all. But the next words he spoke left me in disbelief.

“I’m sorry, Avril.”

He’s what? I blinked twice at him, dumbfounded. Yet, I quickly recomposed myself.Don’t fall for his tricks,I reminded myself.

“No, I am sorry. You…you…” Fuck, this was harder to say than I anticipated. “You protected me yesterday,” I finally managed to say, “And instead of thanking you, I yelled at you. To be honest, I didn’t want you to see what was beneath my bandages, so I instinctively pushed you away. The truth is…” Here it goes - the lie I had thoughtfully crafted. “These bandages hide an old scar that I got back when I was trying to survive as a rogue. I don’t like others to see it because I know they’ll think I’m weak, which is why I keep it covered.”

For a moment, he remained silent. His face darkened, and I struggled to read him once more. In the end, he just repeated an apology.

“It’s okay, I was the one who overreacted,” I insisted, but when his piercing eyes locked on mine, I stopped speaking.

“No, Avril. I’m sorry about what you had to go through. WhatIput you through.” Then, I saw it - a glimpse of guilt flashing in his eyes. If this was fake, he was one hell of a manipulator. “You didn’t deserve any of that. You deserved a mate who wouldn’t reject you.”

Despite hearing Kea scoff inside my head, I managed to force a smile. “It’s okay. It’s in the past.”

It wasn’t fucking okay.I wish I could make him feel what I felt back then. The heartache. The fear. The loneliness.

But for the sake of my mission, I had to make him believe my words, even if saying them made me feel like I was about to explode.

“Koen, we’re not mates anymore, but…” I started, looking down. Hopefully, it would help me sound shy - in reality I just couldn’t keep a straight face while telling the most absurd lie: “It would be an honor if we could be friends.”

When I glanced back at him, his eyebrows were raised, a fondness in his eyes. A grin illuminated his face as he caught me off guard, grabbing my hand in both of his.

The second his hands enveloped mine, I stiffened. I could have sworn I had felt sparks of electricity at the contact, but I brushed it off. It was probably just the shock I felt from his unexpected touch. Yes, that had to be it - my body fighting the urge to remove myself from his grasp.

But why did his warmth make me feel so safe?

Before I could figure it out, I was pulled from my thoughts as Koen lowered himself to stay at my eye level, and staring straight at me, he declared, “I would love to be your friend.”

9

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