Chapter 15
The car crawled lazily to his destination, and Alpha Damon sighed with a heavy heart. He had always wanted to know why she had rejected him and now that he knew he had no idea what or how to feel.
He deserved it, to be hated and rejected by her, he deserved it all, he thought. The events of the past slowly crept into his mind.
He has been horrible, a terrifying bully to her. He had ruined her teenage hood, making her an outcast in her pack.
Alpha Damon loathed himself more than he had ever. She had done him no wrong, but he in turn had taken out all his pent-up trauma and anger on her.
Making her a laughing stick to his friends and even the whole school.
He remembered vividly how he had bullied her in front of the entire school for the first time.
She had gone to get his lunch as usual, but she had made a small mistake of not heating it. It was against the school policy, but she should have found a way around the kitchen staff, paid them, or something he had taught at the time.
So when she had presented the food to him that afternoon at lunch break, in the vast school cafeteria, he took the tray and one after the other poured the content on her body.
No one could stop him, and no one did. She was at his mercy. Their eyes had met briefly, and he could see the anger and fear in them but had waved it off.
After all, who the hell was she?
Nobody, she was just the beta’s daughter, and he could do as he pleased.
The whole school had taken pictures of her standing there drenched from head to toe in food, her hair stuck together and wet with milk that he had emptied on her.
Her white shirt was stained yellow from the Mac and cheese that had splayed on it, he remembered how helpless she had looked that day.
But did he have any remorse? No.
He had continued to bully her, every single day that she came to that school.
He had taken out the anger and pain his mother caused him, taking all of it out on her.
Once he had made her stand outside in the rain, drenched from head to toe and shivering under the cold.
It was her punishment, for what, you might ask? for forgetting to make his tea right and adding three cubes of sugar instead of two.
He had punished her for something so meager, something that could have been overlooked as it was her first time preparing tea for him without any prior notice or specifications.
But he had not overlooked it, he had made her stand there, drenched in her school uniform, while the other students pointed fingers and made jest of her.
Making snide remarks at her about it when she walked through the hallways.
And then suddenly she had vanished, no one knew where she had gone. At some point, rumors at school had it that the bullying had gotten to her, and she had died.
A tiny part of him has been curious to know what had happened to her or where she had gone. buy he had crushed that pet of him immediately.
He had acted as if he could care less about what happened to her. She had been of no importance to him after all.
And now that the Same woman was mated to him, he had kissed that same woman, made sweet love to her without knowing.
Soon he was home and alpha Damon walked in briskly, his steps were rigid and his posture tense.
It was evident that all was not well with him.
Walking straight into his study, he took out a bottle of whiskey, gulping the burning liquid down his throat straight from the bottle.
If he was going to be thinking straight, he would need some help, something to keep his thoughts away and keep the heavy feelings under check.
His wolf was silent, alpha Damon chuckled humorlessly, he was just as disappointed and ashamed as he was.
The thought of apologizing crossed his mind, but he pushed it away. The pain that her voice held when he heard she spoke was enough to tell him that she would never forgive him.
Some sins cannot be forgiven, such as the type he had committed against her, just as some pains cannot be forgotten, the type of pain he had caused her was never to be forgotten or forgiven
“Ava Mitchell Smith” Alpha Damon sap her name, wincing as guilt filled him when her name rolled off his tongue, he wasn’t worthy to even call that name he thought as he collapsed onto the chair at the corner of the study.
No wonder she rejected him
No wonder she hated him, she had a valid reason for running away and avoiding him.
He would hate him too if the roles were reversed. He hated himself even now, many even more than she did.
His eyes closed slowly as the alcohol began to kick in, he could feel his head grow lighter and lighter with each gulp from the bottle.
Somehow he knew he would still see her face in his dreamland, maybe not the way he wanted to see her. He would be haunted by all the wrongs he did her all those many years ago.
Ava walked out of the office, she had called off the engagement. Not like she wanted to, but she knew she had to.
She would not settle for a man who would not under her and her past.
They have been through a lot together, she had known alpha Jude right from when he had left Westwood pack for Mist Wood pack.
But today, Standing in that study with him, she felt like she was in front of a total stranger, someone she had never met before
Funny how certain situations and topics would bring out the side of a person one would never have imagined existing.
If someone had hinted to her that one day alpha Jude would stand before her to spit all yay he did in that office, she would have slapped the person and asked them to shut up.
Ava has always thought of people to be just like a coin, two-sided. A part of her had accepted alpha Jude and convinced herself she had seen all sides of him.
As a wolf, as a human, as a fighter, she had seen him as an alpha, a true leader of his pack, but she had never envisioned seeing him like this.
A man who would pay dead ears to her, overlooking her excuses and reasons and doing only what was best for him and would benefit his pack without thinking about how it made her feel.
It was unbelievable and still baffled her minutes later as she walked to her room, slammed the door shut, and walked straight to bed.
Moments like this were when she wished her family were close by, or that she had a friend, someone to go to when she needed a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen.
But she had none, so she comforted herself. Encouraging herself instead to stay strong, she still had to be here after all, she still had to stay in this mansion with him.
She had signed the contract to work with alpha Damon and Westwood pack on behalf of Mist Wood pack. Meaning, she still wanted to be here even though the engagement was off.
She would still have to work with alpha Damon and be reminded every day of her past and the erotic night she had with none other than her enemy.
Ava could tell it was going to be a very long weekend for her, and an even longer week ahead, as she still had to work with alpha Damon.
Consoling herself with the thought of the fact that they were maids to carry out every one of her biddings and a good lock on her door, she would be able to avoid him certainly and at all cost.
She would deal with the alpha Damon issue later, she told herself.
Curling up into a ball on the bed, she drew the duvet up to cover her, sighing at the warmth and coziness it brought.
Ava sighed as she wiped her tear-stained face with her palm, angry at herself for letting herself go down like this because of anyone, she could not let herself be this weak and broken
She could not let anyone drag her back into that hole she had crawled out of. She was a strong woman and a fighter now, she was Ava presently, not Mitchell.
Mitchell died a long time ago, a sad easy to bully, and weak teenager, and Ava had resurrected many years later, a strong powerful fighter.