Page 5 of Shattered and Saved

Amidst the turmoil in my mind, I noticed my wolf perk up her ears.“He’s not far,”she announced, a hint of excitement in her voice. My heart thumped.

Kea allowed me no time to process her discovery, swiftly making her way through the trees, careful not to step past the territorial line. Using our special abilities, which were enhanced after the ritual, she managed not to make a sound until we spotted the immaculate white beast, casually patrolling his lands. The sight of him made her stop, but only for a moment.

The next second, Kea leaped out of hiding. Once the need of staying undetected was gone, she carelessly stepped over twigs and leaves on the ground, cracks and rustling revealing her presence. Columbus darted his head toward the sound, his eyes locking on hers for a brief moment, yet he had no time to react - she was already too close by the time he noticed her.

When Kea pounced on the other wolf, the two fell to the ground, grasping each other, rolling together just like they had a few weeks past during the battle that had taken place whilewe were guests at Whispering Hills. In the end, my counterpart pinned her former mate to the ground, a playful grin spreading over her lips as she noticed the male’s surprise.

However, as soon as Columbus’ shock was gone, a frown stained his face. Kea cocked her head to the side in confusion, but she didn’t get an explanation. Instead, the white wolf shuffled beneath her, pushing her away from him. A pinch of hurt struck me at his reaction.

I thought Columbus would walk away, yet he stopped after putting a few feet between us. Then, his body began to change, fur retreating through his pores, bones reshaping to allow his limbs to lengthen. Once back to human form, a naked Koen stood up to face Kea with irritation visible in his features.

“You don’t get to just show up here as if nothing happened after disappearing without a word,” Koen said sharply, his words a knife to the heart.

Why did I feel pain? I should have expected his reaction.

In an attempt to try to explain myself, I asked Kea back for control, not hesitating to say, “I’m sorry.”

“You’resorry?” he scoffed, looking away thoughtfully before staring back at me. “Do you have any idea how worried I was? I thought someone had taken you, Avril. I thought-” he cut his own sentence short, pinching the bridge of his nose. After a sigh, he continued, “Why did you come back anyway? You used me, and you got what you wanted. What else do you want?”

Ouch.I knew I was in the wrong. He had every right to be mad. Yet, his harshness still hurt.

“Koen, please listen,” I asked, stepping closer to him, but all it did was make him back away. Well, at least he was waiting for me to go on. “I wasn’t planning on using you. I mean, at some point I was, but not that night,” I rambled.

“Sure.” Another scoff. “I was able to put the pieces together. None of it was true, was it? The reason why you came here, thethings you said - the things youdid. All you wanted was that damn urn.” For the first time, his anger gave way to something else, and I saw hurt flash in his eyes. He quickly shook it off. “You know, I would’ve given it to you if you’d just asked.”

“It wasn’t that simple,” I admitted. “You would have asked questions - questions I wasn’t ready to answer.”

“And what? After one week, you’re suddenly okay with telling me everything?” he asked.

Despite the frustration lacing his voice, I had a feeling he wanted an answer. I opened my mouth, but no words came out.Tell him everything, I repeated in my head. That’s what Elijah had told me to do. That’s why I came here. But actually doing it was harder than I’d anticipated.

After my long silence, he pursed his lips, hands resting on each side of his waist as he glanced down, then looked sideways, clearly trying to avoid my eyes. “Look, I know I screwed up. You don’t owe me anything after what I did to you. Maybe I deserved you toying with me.”

I swallowed dry. There was a time when I did want revenge. When I wanted him to fall for me, only so I could break his heart, as he had done mine. In the end, I did just that, but not intentionally.

Ridden with guilt, I stepped forward again. “Koen, I swear, I didn’t-”

"Just stop, Avril," he interrupted, his voice heavy with pain. "I tried to fix what I'd done, but maybe we were too broken all along. Perhaps it's best if we go back to living our separate lives."

My heart sank. Whatever little courage I had to begin with vanished completely. I felt powerless -how ironic. But what could I say when he had already made up his mind? Honestly, maybe he was right. Or at least, that’s what I tried to tell myself as I stood there, watching him shift back into his animal form and disappear into the woods.

After long, miserable seconds standing alone in the middle of the forest, trying to make sense of the ache in my chest, I gave Kea back control. In a slow, dejected march, she shuffled away, barely able to lift her paws, back toward where Theo was waiting for us. I cursed Elijah - not that it was anyone’s fault but mine, but I had a feeling it would’ve been easier to live with the uncertainty of how Koen would react rather than knowing for sure.

Defeated, I had almost made it to the road when I caught the distant, almost imperceptible sound of wailing horns with my heightened hearing. At first, I ignored it, too focused on my sorrow to care about anything else. However, I soon realized what it was, and it made me stiffen. It was the unmistakable sound of a pack alarm.

Whispering Hills was under attack.

4

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K O E N

Trying to survivein Avril’s absence was brutal. I let her go once, and I deeply regretted it. Then, destiny brought her to my door - I thought it was the Moon Goddess offering me a second chance. I made the most of it. For over a month, I’d had her, and it seemed like she would finally be mine again. But when I woke up, she was gone, along with my dreams.

At first, I was terrified that someone might have taken her from me. That she might get hurt. But it wasn’t long before I realized the truth - she had left out of her own free will, abandoning me without explanations.

The betrayal was worse than anything I’d ever known. She had deceived me, used me to get what she wanted, and vanished without a trace. I’d let my guard down, let myself believe that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for us. But instead, I was left alone in the wreckage of her deception, grappling with the emptiness she’d left behind. The hurt was a relentless storm, tearing through me. Every touch, every word we’d shared now felt tainted, like a cruel illusion that mocked my pain.

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