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THE first thing I notice when I finally open my eyes is the brightness. My head throbs for a short time, while my eyes adjust as I try to take in my surroundings. The same woodsy smell is strong, along with the smell of leaves and something smokey, almost like incense.
An empty feeling sits in the pit of my stomach as a wave of nervousness spreads through my whole body. My fingers and toes tingle as my breath quickens.
Trees swaying in the breeze outside calm me.
There’s an itch at the back of my neck.
‘Ahem.’ I clear my harsh, dry throat.
As I lean up on my elbows, the first thing I notice is the room. I am no longer in the forest or sleeping on the ground.
The room has large windows overlooking the trees. Birds and butterflies flitter past. A dark green colour covers the walls.
The wooden bedposts have the most intricate carvings I have ever seen. It’s as though the bed is made of vines. And sheer fabric hangs overhead as a canopy.
Someone coughs and clears their throat.
Jackson stands by the door with Dakota not too far behind him.
Dakota’s aura is the same black and red colours, only now I can actually see what these colours are. Streaks of each colour sits just on the surface of his skin. The cords of our entanglement are barely visible, but still linking the both of us together.
‘Ava?’ Jackson speaks first. He sucks in some air and exhales.
‘Do you know where you are?’ he asks, his voice holding full authority.
I press my lips together in a slight grimace.
Do I know where I am? I almost want to laugh at that question. Of course, I’m at their house in a room I have never seen before. Come to think of it, I haven’t really explored this big house because Dakota said they like their privacy; it’s where they can truly be themselves.
‘Yes,’ my raspy reply leaves my mouth, and Dakota blanches as if this is hurting him. I narrow my eyes at Dakota.
Why would this hurt him?
‘Water,’ he barks at someone.
The footsteps run down the hallway. I hear the tap in the kitchen, and my bladder alerts me that I need the toilet.
I leap off the bed.
Jackson and Dakota both walk forward with their hands in the air, palms facing up.
I recognise the treaty stance.
‘Toilet,’ I growl. Though it wasn’t supposed to come out so harsh.
They both point to the door along the wall on the far side of the new room.
The bathroom is bigger than my room at Sam’s place. It has a large standing bath with a separate shower. Now, that’s something I could get used to.
A glass of water is on the bedside table when I return to the room.
Jackson is nowhere to be seen.
‘Angel?’ Dakota’s voice is soft and full of pain.
‘You don’t get to call me that!’ I sneer as I sit back on the bed. My head hurts, and I feel exhausted again.
Dakota sits on the chair in the corner of the room and lowers his head. He runs his hands through his hair.
‘Say what you have to and then get out of here,’ I snap.
‘I’m sorry—’ he begins.
‘Too late for that,’ I spit back.
Dakota gets out the chair and paces the room.
‘Do you feel any different?’ he asks.
‘What about? Us?’ I look down at my hands. ‘There are times I wished we had never met.’ Saying the words out loud hurt. ‘Is that why you have me here, so you can apologise? Well, guess what? Apology not accepted. You hurt me Dakota, and I don’t think I can ever forgive you.’
‘There are some things going on that you need to know about.’
‘Like what?’ I take a deep breath. ‘You know what— I don’t really care right now. I’m tired, so—can you please leave.’ I cross my arms over my chest. I’m not really tired, but I need to be alone, away from him before my walls crumble down on top of me.
* * *
DAKOTA
I walk over to the bed and lean forward so that our noses are almost touching. Ava swallows as she looks into my eyes. I can see in the reflection of her irises that mine are yellow. She sucks some of the air in as I breathe out of my nose. I hate that I have to do this. It kills me— the way she looks at me now. So much hate.
‘You and I aren’t finished,’ my voice is full of anger and authority. I know that she has the urge to bow her head to my command because my magic flows through her and her wolf.
She falls back on the bed and looks up at the ceiling through the sheer curtain canopy.
The breeze through the window flitters over the delicate fabric.
Her thoughts scream in my head.
Why, am I here?
Am I their prisoner?
This thought makes me want to chuckle, but under these circumstances, I can see why she would come to this conclusion.
Wait, I didn’t get kidnapped.
The light in the room dulls as the sun goes down.
I sit against the wall outside of Ava’s bedroom door the entire time. I hear each breath she takes. To pass the time, my fingers draw lines across the floor.
Ava doesn’t sit still. She moves to the large glass window in her room. I hear her sigh. We built this room for guests, and after I found her in the woods on the ground, I asked Jackson if it could be her room. It’s on the very top floor or the attic, before we cleaned it up and turned it into a bedroom away from everybody. She was covered in dirt and fallen leaves. I stayed with her for a while until her temperature simmered down.
Ava’s agitated feet scramble across the wooden floor. The light from the half moon shines through the hallway window. I get to my feet and open Ava’s door. She stops, and holds her breath when I walk into the room. The moonlight glows on her hair. I can’t breathe. I want to reach out and pull her into my arms. But I’ve done so much damage to the both of us; I don’t think it will ever mend.
‘It hurts sitting on the floor.’ I explain. It doesn’t really, but I need to see her and be close enough not to touch. Ava turns back to the window, and it takes everything in me not to walk over and put my arms around her.
Jackson and the boys have been packing camping gear ready for the full moon in just a few days.
‘You know. I like the heightened senses and hearing. I also like that we can talk without saying things out loud,’ Ava says after a while. ‘When was the last time you ate?’ she asks as she looks over her shoulder, and her eyes wander down to my toes and back up again. I like that she is concerned for my health.
‘The morning Katzé arrived.’ I shrug. ‘You and I ate breakfast together. That was the last time.’
Ava nods her head.
I’m not sure if she is remembering how happy we were in that moment.
‘Who is she? I need to hear it from you,’ Ava voice trembles a little.
I hear her heart beating faster. The strands of our bond are reconnecting and binding together again.
I sigh and walk over to the chair in the corner of the room by the window. I take a seat. Ava hasn’t moved from her spot. She turns, to continuing to looking out the window.
‘Katzé Föehn is the daughter of our current leader Efrem Föehn.’ I swallow. This next part is going to be hard. I should’ve told her right from the beginning when we imprinted. ‘I was never meant to bond with you. Katzé and I were supposed to be married in five years when I turn twenty-four.’
Ava’s body stiffens when I mention marriage.
‘I always thought I was a dead-end to my clan because of my father. He has never imprinted with any of the women that bore his children. And my mother was one of those who fell victim to his charms, only she died when I was seven years old. My mother was a princess, and she was supposed to marry Efrem, but she fell pregnant to my father. And my clan, the Dragmir’s, owed them a debt. Her child was to marry his to align the clans again. We have been fighting with them for so long since I was born, but our grandparents had a meeting, the deal was struck, providing that Efrem had a daughter. But all of that changed a month ago when we met up again.’ I shake my head.
Ava has turned around, and she is watching me intently.
‘Ava, I can’t lose you again.’ Saying it out loud gives me clarity.
I know that I still love Ava, and I always will.
‘What do you mean it all changed a month ago?’ Ava turns and is watching me with her arms crossed over her chest.
I stare at Ava in the eyes. ‘Katzé and I are no longer betrothed.’ When I look at her, I see my whole existence blending together with hers. ‘Remember all the things I told you about my history— the wolf parts?’ I ask.
‘Yeah, but you never told me about her—’ Ava looks away and swallows. Her heart is beating faster than mine. ‘If you had told me from the beginning, I would be fine with it.’ Ava sighs. ‘Dakota, living without you in my life killed me. We had only been dating for a few months back then. I would’ve done anything to stay with you. Be with you.’
‘It hurts to not be around you,’ I say. ‘You are my reason for breathing, and I think from the first time I met you on the beach, my wolf knew who you were to me. Only I was too stubborn to believe in it.’
Ava looks at me for a moment before turning her back and walking away from me. She doesn’t look at me anymore with love in her eyes. It’s more hate and something else. And it kills me that I put that there. I made the one person I love more than anything else in this world hate me.
I run my hand through my hair before getting up out of the seat and walking out of the room. I take my spot back on the floor outside of her bedroom door.
I lean my head back and just wait for the morning.