~Avery~
“Well… This is awkward…” I trailed, not able to look at the person sitting in front of me. More like I wasn’t able to look away from my food. My stomach grumbled at the sight. I’d been so hungry.
I still couldn’t believe Dylan ditched me to handle this by myself.
“Honestly.” Liam sighed, watching me stuff my mouth with fries. “Geez.” he rolled his eyes, irritated by how I ate.
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes, chewing, not embarrassed at all by how my cheeks popped up. I felt comfortable around Liam. I felt natural. I loved his aura but I couldn’t imagine loving him as a mate.
I decided to stop wasting his time and bring up the topic. “Be honest with me and yourself. Do you want me as a mate?” I asked as soon as I gulped down my food, reaching for the juice immediately, feeling choked. I swallowed too much.
He remained quiet, while I drank, finishing in few seconds then re-filling and going for a round two. It surprised me how long he needed to meditate on the question. “Let me break it down for you.” I said, dropping the cup roughly on the table then leaning in, ignoring how uncomfortable he looked.
“Can you imagine fucking me?” I whispered, leaning away and relaxing on my seat as soon as I said what I said.
“What?” he asked with an eyebrow up, judging me with his eyes. I couldn’t help but get offended by how irritated he looked at the thought of us being together. I’m not that yucky.
“Cause we’re gonna have to fuck if you accept me as a mate.” I said it raw, knowing perfectly well it’d kick him into reality. Both of as are in the friend zone and there’s nothing either of us can do about it. There’s no way anything romantic can blossom out of our relationship when he still obsesses over his late mate while I obsess over Dylan. We can’t even start talking about how badly our personalities mix.
Sure opposite poles attract, but not in this case. Some people were just made to be friends and I hoped my wolf was seeing it too.
“That’s terrible” he finally spoke up, retaining his disgusted expression. “That’s… really awful.” he continued. earning an eye roll from me.
“That’s enough.” I said, already picking offense.
“Honestly, part of me was bothered when I started feeling the mate bond again between us but again, part of me was excited. I thought a stronger mate bond would be enough to help me forget about Veronica but then as soon as I kissed you earlier today… I realized it wouldn’t be enough. It kinda sucked.” he admitted, running his hands through his face and sighing after.
“Veronica must’ve been really amazing.” I couldn’t help but say. It was crazy how tangled he was around her fingers. I actually felt bad for him for a moment.
“She was.” he smiled before speaking up “She really was…” he trailed, getting lost in a trance for a second, but reviving himself almost immediately. “I’m not depressed about her leaving anymore though. I’m just missing her. I wanted to use you to keep me busy but I didn’t really know what I had in mind. It was messed up. I guess… seeing you in the hospital bed really did something to me. I misunderstood everything and turned it into something else. I was careless.”
My joy grew simultaneously with my wolf’s pain. I was glad we agreed on this but I needed my wolf to accept it.
I sighed, when she growled, finding it hard to accept the fact that he only wants Veronica.
“I Liam, reject you Avery, as my mate” he said shortly after without even asking if I was ready. He seemed excited to end this.
I remained quiet, feeling a bit pained inside. Feeling it made me grow a smile. The rejection worked but I still had to say it back, Though I hated it, I still needed approval from my wolf to go on with the rejection. Going ahead to reject him without her approval might cause a problem and that’s the last thing I want.
“He really doesn’t want us huh.” my wolf was still finding it hard to accept
“Yeah. But there’s someone who does. You just need to reject the one rejecting us and accept him instead” I told her the simple solution, hoping she’d just accept it already.
Instead of giving me an answer, she remained quiet, I could tell she was drowning in despair. Getting rejected is the worst feeling ever but not for me, just her. For me, it was great.
I remained quiet, still waiting for her response but she wasn’t giving me one so I decided to take her silence as approval and just hope I made the right choice to do so.
“I, Avery, reject you, Liam, as my mate.” I simply stated, watching a smile grow on his face.
“That hurt.” he said, sounding excited.
“It’s over.” We both sighed, relaxing on our seats.
Last time we rejected each other it was painless. That wasn’t how it was meant to be. Pain symbolized separation and that’s what we were both experiencing at the moment.
“I couldn’t have someone who eats like you live on the same building as me” he said, spoiling the mood.
“Shut up” I said, sitting up, remembering I had unanswered questions he could answer.
“So tell me Liam. What happened?” I asked, going straight to the point again. “How did I end up in the hospital?” I added, guessing he didn’t understand my first question.
“Oh” he said, sitting up. “Dylan hasn’t told you?” he asked
“He’s too scared to.” I shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t say he doesn’t want to intrude. “He thinks I’m not ready to hear but I am. I swear I am.” I swore when I noticed him hesitate.
He took a deep breath before speaking up. “Well… I wasn’t there when it happened but it was in your dad’s apartment. You came to his apartment with your phone recording everything. Apparently, he had invited you over to give you answers to your questions but instead he repeated things you were already aware of.”
My eyes widened as the realization hit me “Things I was aware of?”
“Yes. Things like you being the last luna, the negotiation between your dad and mine…” he trailed
“I recorded everything?” my excitement was shown through my voice.
“Yup.” he nodded. “I’m still with your phone. I’m sorry I haven’t told anyone, not even Dylan. I felt you should be the one doing the revealing.”
“You’re okay with that?” I asked, wondering if he would feel embarrassed when I exposed his dad. I wasn’t even sure if he was ready to loose his title as alpha to Dylan.
“Sure, go ahead. I honestly hate the thought of being Alpha.” he shrugged, moving to the side, reaching for his pocket and pulling out my phone. “I planned on giving you earlier but things came up…” he trailed, handing it to me then carrying on with the story. “You complained about the fact he didn’t give you any added information. Then called you him a murderer for killing your mom”
Part of me wondered what Liam did to his dad after he found out about him killing his mom. Is the man even alive anymore.
The question was at the tip of my tongue but I didn’t let it slip out. It didn’t feel safe. I could guess the answer.
For Liam to be talking so calmly about this with no hint of rage, means that he’s already avenged his mom. It’s either his dad was being tortured or was already dead.
Either ways, I shouldn’t ask to avoid changing the atmosphere or the topic.
“Suddenly you were attacked by him. Im not too sure. You put the recording on audio so I couldn’t see what was happening. But by the sound I know you were attacked before Tessa showed up and joined your dad with the attack. They planned everything before you arrived. They had stabbed you a few times then Mr. Arthur showed up, attacking them, trying to save you. He got stabbed a few times by your dad while he was busy handling Tessa.” Liam said, without looking at me, probably expecting me to explode or something but I remained calm, giving him the permission to carry on.
“While you and Mr. Arthur were down, Dylan showed up. He got a surprise attack and ended up stabbed. Tessa killed your dad after for giving birth to you. I’m not sure what happened, but you regained conciousness. I could tell by the sound of cracking bones that you had your first shift there and a while later, by the sound of cracking bones again, I could tell that by the sound of cracking bones that Tessa was getting murdered. I showed up after the massacre.” he said ending the story, looking at me to see my reaction.
“So it’s my fault Dylan’s dad is dead.” I sighed, leaning on my seat, letting my head drop as I closed my eyes. “And I’m stupid enough to let that memory go?”