Page 14 of Rejected and Regretted

K O E N

Any relief I might have felt at her positive answer was overshadowed by displeasure as I watched Avril walk away with the two men clinging to her sides.

Why did they have to be so close to her? I didn’t know, yet it still made my skin crawl. My wolf wasn’t happy either, especially because she rejected us to be with them.

“You should’ve tossed her over your shoulder and carried her to the private dining room,”Columbus growled inside my head.

Part of me wished I had, but I knew better.“I don’t think that would’ve made it any easier for her to like us,”I pointed out.

“At least she would be hating us where only we can see her, and no one else,”he grunted before retreating to the depths of our shared mind, leaving me alone with my thoughts and feelings.

From the moment I saw Avril again for the first time in five years, everything I felt for her intensified - not that it had ever disappeared in the first place. I had heard, and learned from my personal experience, that severing the matebond didn’t completely erase the pull - at least not for the rejector. It was said to be divine punishment for going against the path chosen by the Moon Goddess.

In all honesty, I actually enjoyed it. Even if Avril most likely didn’t see me as her mate anymore, I could still smell her special scent, as well as feel the sparks every time we touched. It served as a reminder of the love we were robbed of.

The loveIrobbed us of.

With a sigh, I forced my eyes shut, pushing away my regrets before they could poison my mind. If there was any chance I could fix my past mistakes to allow any form of relationship between me and Avril to bloom, I had to stay focused on tonight. Everything needed to be perfect - starting with making sure she would feel less tense around me.

After leaving the training grounds, I took a long shower, where I inevitably drowned in my thoughts again, before making it to my office. I thought work would help the hours pass by quicker, but I was terribly wrong. Not only was it hard to concentrate on my tasks, but it seemed the clock couldn’t tick any slower.

An eternity later, when I was finally done with everything I had to take care of for the day, I rushed outside like a lightning bolt. I breezed past my beta, barely registering his attempts to stop me down the hallway, saying anything he had to discusswith me could wait until tomorrow. To say he was confused would be an understatement, but he didn’t argue.

The moment I stepped outside to find her waiting for me, her beautiful blue eyes reflecting the golden sunset, a wave of tranquility washed over me, cocooning me in a sense of peace.

Hypnotized by her serenity, I didn’t want to disturb her by calling out to her. Yet, I also remembered how I intended to make her feel comfortable in my presence; I wouldn’t be off to a great start if she caught me staring at her like a creep. So, I just walked over to her like any normal friend would do. We engaged in small talk as I began leading her toward the place I wanted to show her, but it wasn’t long before I sensed a hint of uneasiness emanating from her.

“So, what is it you wanted to show me?” she shyly asked.

“You’ll find out soon enough. We’re almost there.” I tried to soothe her.

Avril simply nodded, not questioning me further. Conversation died there, but it wasn’t long before we reached a specific part of the forest surrounding my territory. When I stopped without saying a word, she looked around, clearly confused about what I wanted her to see. Yet, the moment her gaze fell upon the towering, ancient tree, a frown stained her face, letting me know she knew where we were.

“Ring any bells?” I asked nonetheless.

She made her way to the tree, placing her hand on the bark. “It’s the tree I climbed to hide from the pack members chasing after me.”

I was still mad about the situation, even though it had happened over a decade ago. From what I was told, twelve-year-old Avril had to run from a group of boys who wanted to take their anger out on her after one of them accidentally tripped over the broom she was using to sweep the floor. In an attempt to dodge them, she climbed the very tree we were looking at.But she didn’t realize how tall it was, and even after the males vanished, she was too scared to climb back down. I had found her here by accident, and made her tell me the whole story after I helped her down.

“They were punished, you know,” I whispered, my eyes darkening as I remembered the event.

However, as soon as she flashed a confused glance at me, I made sure to hide my anger. “What do you mean?” she questioned. “Your father…the alpha said it had been my fault. He let the boys off without even a reprimand.”

“You’re right.My fatherdidn’t formally punish them,” I agreed. “I, on the other hand, gave them what they deserved.”

I could still remember every swift punch I delivered to each of the boys’ faces. Although I hadn’t even known Avril was my mate then, I was enraged to hear what she had suffered as an omega from our pack. When I watched my father scold her for being clumsy instead of punishing the other pack members for teaming up against her, I was even more furious. It was then that I started noticing how terrible of an alpha my old man was.

At my confession, she raised an eyebrow at me. “You did not,” she doubted.

“They left you alone after the incident, didn’t they?” I countered. A smile played on my lips as I watched her disbelief turn into realization

“Anyway, that’s not why I brought you here,” I continued, approaching the tree as well. “I ended up returning here a few times after that, and I couldn’t help but climb all the way up as well.” Stretching my hand out to her, I invited her, “Shall we?”

She reluctantly took my hand, and I used my enhanced werewolf abilities to boost us to the top in the blink of an eye. Once we reached the tallest branch, Avril could only look down. At first, I thought maybe she had grown scared of heights after the incident, but she didn’t seem tense, just confused.

I didn’t hesitate to clarify, “I believe you were too busy trying to figure out how to get back down to check on the view the first time. Turns out it’s quite beautiful.”

With my head, I gestured toward the immensity before us. This old tree towered over the rest of the dense vegetation, offering a clear view of the lands beyond, illuminated by the bright stars speckled over the lilac sky. Avril followed my gaze, surprise immediately painting her expression. Then, the corner of her lips slowly turned up in a radiant smile.

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