Page 49 of Framed and Forgotten
The delta was interrupted when her eyes clouded over. In fact, the same had happened to Theo and Elijah as well. It lasted for a few seconds, during which I just stood there in confusion, until the mindlink was over.
Once their eyes returned to normal, each of them slowly stepped aside, their silence now an invitation. I stared at them for a moment, suspicion and caution crawling through me as I walked past them, my every step heavy with anticipation.
Standing before the door, I hesitated. The air around me thickened, the walls closing in as my heart pounded in my chest. My breath came in shallow gasps, a lump lodged in my throat. With trembling hands, I reached for the doorknob, but just as my fingers brushed against it, it turned on its own.
The door opened slowly, and there she was - Avril.
Our eyes met for the first time, and in that single instant, I forgot how to breathe.
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K O E N
For a moment,time seemed to stop. I was freefalling into those electric cerulean skies, the stars aligning in silent promise. Hope pulsed through me with every beat of my heart. There was so much wrong between us, but I would make it right. She was here, right in front of me, close enough to touch - and that was all I needed.
I would atone for every sin, and once I was clean, I’d offer her my very soul to do with as she pleased.
Before I could say a word, her lips parted, shattering the silence.
“Leave,” she commanded, her voice low but firm.
For a moment, I thought she was talking to me, her eyes boring into mine with an intensity I couldn’t quite read. Then, in a blink, her team vanished with their werewolf speed, and I realized she hadn’t meant me. I shut the door behind me, and at last, it was just the two of us.
I let out a short breath, an attempt to release some of the tension coiled inside me before tasting her name on my tongue. “Avril.”
Unlike every other time I had called her, she didn’t waver. No flicker of warmth, no softening of her stance. She held her head high, unmoving, her eyes cold and indifferent.
“Why did you come back?” she demanded.
Of course, Elijah hadn’t explained my reasons. He couldn’t possibly know them; he was with Avril when I told Theo and Rhea about what I had found at Crystal Pond. I was sure his mate must have mindlinked him to briefly cover it, but it was on me to state my case and wait for her verdict.
“I never planned on leaving permanently,” I began, trying to narrow the distance between us, but her posture hardened, warning me to stay back. It stung, but I respected it. With a sigh, I clarified, “I don’t wanna hide behind excuses. I know I wronged you,” I admitted, my tone growing slightly desperate. “But I wasn’t myself, Avril. If Nerine didn’t have me under a spell, I would’ve never-”
“I broke my kind’s sacred law by taking you in,” she cut me off, a hint of anger burning in her eyes.
“I sheltered you when you had no home, even though you cast me out of the only one I knew five years ago.” This time, she was the one to step toward me, her tone rising with every sentence she delivered like a blow. “I fought my own family to ensure you would be accepted - something you couldn’t do for me,” she added bitterly, pausing before concluding, “And you turned your back on me. You left when I needed you.”
She stopped when our faces were inches apart, her icy, accusatory eyes stinging like frostbite as she delivered the final blow. “Nerine might have tricked you, but you let her.”
Her judgment cut deep, like a blade sinking into my windpipe, leaving me gasping for air. It hurt because it was true. All I could do was stand there, paralyzed by the reality of my actions, unable to offer a single word in defense. There was no excuse. No justification.
She was right, and it felt like the world had just collapsed around me.
In the end, Avril averted her gaze, heaving a resigned sigh. “Whatever I think of your choices, you’re one of us now. I’ll let you stay, because ordering you to leave would pose a risk to our existence.” Her eyes darted to me one last time, sharp and filled with caution. “But don’t mistake my concession for forgiveness - or anything more, for that matter.”
Without another word, she walked past me, my despair growing as I watched everything we had built slip through our fingers. Exasperated, I turned around, asking with urgency, “What about us?”
Avril halted, and my heart stilled. She didn’t even bother glancing at me over her shoulder, her back to me as she offered, “Perhaps fate never meant for us to last, only to collide.” My heart shattered, but she wasn’t done tearing me apart yet. “A mistake written in the stars.”
With that, Col howled in agony, but she was completely oblivious to it. I felt everything she did, from the rage to the distrust - neither nearly as intense as they should have been. My emotions, however, never reached her. Not when the mate bond lay dormant on her end. My sorrow was mine alone, a hollow wail swallowed by silence.
Maybe that was exactly what I deserved.
After my return to Azure Smoke went even worse than any other scenario I could have imagined, I spent the afternoon trying to avoid everyone. I locked myself in the cottage that hadbeen my first home when I first set foot in these lands, soaking in the consequences of what I had done. No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t figure out a way to win my place in this pack and in my mate’s heart again.
As defeated as I was, I still forced myself to leave by sundown. Even if the Ashen Wolves couldn’t see me as one of their own anymore, I still had to do my best to protect them. I owed it to them. And so, I returned to the packhouse. Luckily, I found the person I was looking for before I had to face anyone else.
