Page 7 of Rejected and Regretted

As I noticed her raising her hand, my first instinct was to catch it, but I stopped myself mid-way. I could easily deflect her lousy blow and use her own momentum to knock her off balance, landing a clean strike of my own afterward. However, they would never believe an omega to be so skilled in fighting. I needed to play the part, even if it went against my nature.

Since omegas were innately submissive, I decided to lower my head and close my eyes to wait for her slap, but it never came. When I reopened my eyes a few seconds later, I couldn’t believe the sight before me.

Koen was now standing between me and Angelica, his fist wrapped tightly around her wrist.

5

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A V R I L

My eyes widenedin shock as I tried to process the fact that Koen had just…protected me?

Where the hell had he even come from? One second it was only me and Angelica’s clique; the next, Koen was standing right in front of me. It was like he jumped out of nowhere, but then again, I was so focused on my hostile exchange with my childhood bully that I tuned out everything else.

The adrenaline made my heart race. Despite my urge to confront him about his unexpected presence, I remained silent, engrossed in the strange scene unfolding before my eyes. His grip on Angelica's wrist was so strong that her skin reddened under his fingers, and I caught myself wondering how her arm hadn't snapped under such pressure. His powerful alpha aura was so intense, he didn’t need to bare his fangs to make Angelica tremble. I could feel his rage even with his back turned to me.

What I couldn’t understand was what had made him so angry.

“A-alpha K-koen-” Angelica stammered, but he didn’t want to listen.

Still holding her by the arm, he pushed her back before releasing his grasp on her, causing her to whimper. “Tell me you were not just about to hit Avril,” he ordered suggestively, tryingto maintain a calm tone, but no effort would be enough to mask his fury.

“I-I-” At this point, the girl couldn’t even form words; she was shitting herself.

Inhaling a deep breath, probably in an attempt to keep his cool, Koen growled, “If you won’t respect Avril as a former pack mate, you will respect her as our guest! Raise your hand to her again, and I won’t let you off with just a warning. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes, Alpha! Crystal clear!” She nodded vehemently.

“Good. Before you leave, you will apologize to Avril,” he commanded.

I could see her face contort, clearly disgusted at the thought of showing me any decency, but she didn’t hesitate longer than a second. “I’m really sorry, Avril. It won’t happen again.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Damn, she must’ve been truly scared.

“Now, get out of my sight!” he roared, and with a final gasp of fear, Angelica and her friends ran off with their tails between their legs.

As soon as they had disappeared, I witnessed Koen’s tense muscles stretching underneath the delicate fabric of his shirt, his rigid posture easing into a more relaxed stance. As he turned to me, the storm in his deep green eyes calmed, and as they locked on mine, a sense of tranquility replaced his fury.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his previously horse voice now soft and tender.

“I’m fine. I didn’t need your help,” I spat. I wouldn’t let him believe he had saved me, not just because it hurt my ego, but because I didn’t want to inflatehis.

“From where I was standing it looked like you were about to let her slap you,” he insisted.

I averted my gaze. If only he knew how freaking hard it had been for me to feign submission like that. “I’ve endured dozens of her beatings,” I blurted out the first thing I could come up with to excuse my deliberate lack of reaction. “I’ve grown used to the pain.”

My answer seemed to affect him more than I expected, a mix of guilt and anger permeating his features. “Has she always acted this way toward you?”

“You’re gonna tell me you didn’t know?” I huffed, growing tired of his obviously fake concern. Shooting him a quick side glance, his expression was one of pure confusion.Damn, he was good. But he wouldn’t fool me, not after everything he’d done.

“If I did, I would’ve done something about it,” he insisted.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at his act, forcing a smile instead. “Well, you just did. No need to worry about me anymore. You can go back to your alpha duties.”

As I walked past him, he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say more, but quickly shut it, thankfully letting me go without another word.

But I couldn’t deny that he had succeeded in leaving me intrigued.

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