Part 65

My heart ached for Abel, at the pain in his voice as he talked more about his childhood. He had to be a grown-up way before his age. As I listened to him, teary-eyed all I could do was scent my mate to comfort him. It's the people closest to you who can hurt you the most. He endured so much on his own and at such a young age that it made sense why he could not easily accept affection. 

The plan was simple. He was going to take me along with him to the pack house and reintroduce me as his mate. My stomach was in knots at the thought of seeing everyone again. Especially Nina—Avon's mother. She had such high hopes that I was dating her son. 

Alpha Leon, Abel's half-brother also believed that I and Avon were an item—the reason for the whole charade in the first place. He was so different from Abel no wonder their father kept pressuring Abel. 

As expected the members of the pack were shocked at the revelation. Thomas stormed into his office and Abel, giving me a look followed him. I lingered in the living room awkwardly, trying not to be bothered by their intense stares. It did not help that Nina was quiet, unmoving on the couch and staring at the carpet on the ground. 

Before Leon could approach me, Avon cut his path and stood in front of me. A relieved sigh escaped my lips at the sight of him. The Alpha looked like he had not slept in a while, bags under his eyes. 

"Can we talk?"

I eagerly nodded my head, elated at the thought of escaping the tension in the room. He took me to the gardens outside the pack. 

"You went back to him?" Avon bitterly asked, his shoulders squared and mouth set in a straight line, almost accusatory. "I thought you knew better than that, Emma."

It felt as if he had slapped me with his interrogation. Rage bubbled in the pit of my stomach. I glared at him. I understood he harboured feelings for me but I made it very clear from the start that I didn't return those feelings. 

"Listen...Avon, I understand that it may not make much sense to you but he is my mate."

A sarcastic laugh echoed around us, "He was still your mate when he broke your heart and you were crying over him. I never imagined you would be one of those omegas who folds so easily. What happened to your pride?"

"You don't know me." I gritted my teeth. "We are friends, Avon and I would like to keep it that way. I know you are upset..."

"Upset? Oh, I am pissed actually. Why him? You could have chosen any motherfucker but no!" His voice raised and I stepped back, alarmed at the pheromones in the air. His scent had turned bitter, almost suffocating me. 

"That's enough!" Abel's voice boomed, making me instantly relax. He came to stand next to me, his arm coming to wrap around my waist. I sagged in his hold, breathing into the comforting pheromones the Alpha was releasing. 

"You do not speak to my mate that way."

Avon made a face. "Fuck you!"

With that he stormed past us, forcefully pushing at Abel's shoulder as he did. My eyes widened. What came over him? He never acted in such a manner. 

"What was that about?" I turned to Abel who let out a sigh.

"Don't worry he's not angry at you but he hates me. That's why the reaction." 

I had always sensed the animosity between the two Alphas. Not like they hid it well. Avon pretended in class as if he did not have any connection with Abel. He hid the fact that they were in the same pack for the longest time. At least until he brought me to the pack-house and I found Abel to be the son of the Pack Alpha. 

“I always thought that and I asked him last time but he never told me…” 

Avon brushed off the questions about his past with Abel and simply changed the topic. I did not insist on it after that. Maybe I should have. 

“Come with me.” 

I meekly followed as Abel dragged me to his childhood room, my head bent down. Fortunately, most of the members cleared off from the living room so there were fewer eyes on us. 

Once inside the comfort of his room, I let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding. I sat on the bed as he rushed to retrieve an album from the closet. My lips curved when I noticed the baby photos of Abel. 

“Oh, you were so adorable…” I gushed watching the pictures across the page. 

He blushed before flipping to the middle of the page and pointed at the picture with him and a few other boys leaning against the tree. I squinted my eyes to take in the faces of adolescent boys. 

“Is that Avon?”

The bed dipped as Abel came to sit next to me, humming quietly. He stared at the photo for a long second. 

“I was thirteen I think when my mother dropped me off. Even though I knew these people it had been years since I saw them. They had no idea who I had become…” The Alpha licked his lips. “Avon was everyone’s favourite before I came in. When my father welcomed me into the pack, all of the kids my age wanted to hang out with me. I was Pack Alpha's son after all but Avon did not like me. He made that clear when he pranked me for a week straight. They seemed silly and harmless at first.”

“That sounds awful.” I made a noise sitting up straighter, my stomach clenching painfully. 

“He hated that I was able to skip grades in our school. The teachers liked me, all his friends liked me and I always got to pick our prey for hunts and lead our team.”

Abel shook his head, “H-He held this grudge for so long. There was a girl he had a crush on for a long time and was making plans to confess. That’s what Liam told me. I was two grades ahead of him so it was my time to leave for my college. On the last day here, the girl he liked came to me and confessed. She kissed me and he watched that.”

“Oh.” I opened and closed my mouth, unsure of what to say. “Then what happened?”

“He was convinced that I went behind his back and hit on the girl he harboured feelings for. I did not even know this girl well! The only time we talked was when she came to hang out with Avon. I rejected her but he did not care.”

“He misunderstands you.”

“And resents me. There is nothing I can do about it. I tried…” Abel shut the album. “Multiple times. Believe me but he cannot be cordial. It also pisses him off that I was able to graduate and get a job at the university and he is my student.”

It all made so much sense. Avon was the first guy I made friends with at the college. He made me feel so comfortable and safe around him but never did I think he had such a side to him. 

“Do you think…Will you guys ever reconcile?”

Abel gripped the album tighter in his hands, till his knuckles turned white as he met my eyes. “I don’t know. Frankly, it might be impossible since he likes you and now you are with me. I don’t see Avon putting this behind him anytime soon. Maybe 10 years down the line.”

***

As Abel went to say his goodbye to his father, I stood in the driveway, by the car. Thomas didn’t seem to come out of his office and we had no intention of overstaying our welcome. When Abel followed his father earlier to talk, the Pack Alpha was pissed. They barely talked for five minutes in which Thomas asked to be left alone. 

I rested my back against the car hood when I spotted Nina approaching me. My body froze in the spot. 

“You thought you could leave without saying goodbye huh?”

My cheeks reddened, I stood up straighter and shook my head. “I-I didn’t…I am sorry.”

She smiled warmly, her arm coming to pat me. “You have got to stop apologising. You didn’t do anything wrong.” 

As those words sank it felt she was saying them in response to something else. I did not have a chance to mull over as Nina cleared her throat. 

“You are good for Abel.”

“Huh?” I blinked. “You are not mad?”

“I saw that boy when he came to this packhouse—so broken and desperate to be loved. He doesn’t look like that anymore. I am very happy for you two, Emma.”

A huge relief settled over my bones, shoulders sagging. She squeezed my palms, an apologetic look taking over her. 

“I am sorry for my reaction to the news. Avon is my son so it did make me feel for him.”

“I am sorry—“

“No.” She chuckled wetly. “I am sure there is someone for him. Hopefully like you?”

“I believe…” Tears welled up in my eyes at her kind smile. “Thank you, Nina.”

***