Chapter 29

FIFTY YEARS PRIOR TO THE CURRENT TIMELINE

AVA~~~~


They hurt. They hurt so much I could barely breathe. Tears welled up in my eyes and I tried, I really tried to keep them in but I lost the fight as they tricked down calmly. It was almost serene.

His words were like knives stabbing my heart. Small blunt knives eat painfully breaking through the skin to reach my heart with extreme force applied. It hurts to hear them again and with the same expression in his eyes as last time. It was as if the time I spent here were of no use. They had no impact. They changed nothing.

He had the same eyes, there was no sense of recognition or familiarity in them. It was the same eyes he had when he saw me the first time. He said the same words. It hurts. I left Natalie who must be extremely worried for weeks now and this is all it amounts to.

I stood there as I stared at the red eyes I used to think were cute. He just stood there glaring as my tears fell. He said nothing more and so did I. We just watched each other's eyes as his glared at mine, red eyes glowing in anger.

"Get out," he ordered not taking his eyes off me."

Hilda made a move towards us. "Sir, she's still....."

"Shut up, Hilda," he ordered, glaring at her with those glowing eyes and I could see her visibly shiver. "Stay out of this. All of you."

"Leave her out of our issue," Isabel said pulling me behind her.

"What part of 'stay out of this' do you not understand?!" he growled at her and she also flinched. He's using his authority as an Alpha on them.

"It's okay, Izzy," I said pulling her away from him. I glared back at him as my body heated up. Even Lily was mad. "You are a disgrace of an Alpha who only rules with power and forgets all of his personal relationships. You don't even know your sister at all, nor do you trust her. You are no different from a tyrant."

"I said get out," he growled. Lily whimpered and retreated but I stood my ground. I had Alpha blood too. I wasn't gonna be intimidated by a man who isn't even as strong as my father.

"I'll leave so stop growling like an animal," I said as I walked towards the door. I stopped at the door and turned to look at him. "It's a curse being mated to you, Liam Simon Wyatts."

I ran out of the house after I said that and kept running. I took to the trees out of habit and kept up the pace, trying to clear my mind just like Natalie says. She always said a good run clears the mind. I want to be rid of this emotion. I want to be rid of this knot in my chest that keeps squeezing my heart. I don't want to cry but the tears don't stop flowing. My vision clouded with my tears and I couldn't care less. I ran into trees, tripped over broken branches on the floor, and overworked my body until my legs wouldn't move anymore.

I stopped running and collapsed on the ground. Even then, I got on all fours and crawled. Clawing at the dirt and dragging my knees over the rough earth. Splinters of wood pierced my palms too many times, dirt got under my fingernails and my jogger pants ripped at my knees, letting the splinters pierce and scrape them until they bled. I kept up with it anyways. I had no idea where I was going anymore. I just wanted to get as far away as possible from that house, the pack, and that bastard who calls himself an Alpha.

"That's enough," Lily said. She's been quiet since I left there. She must be as sad as I was or even worse. I want to blame her for all this. She was the one who kept pushing me to meet and talk to him. She frustrated me and made me make impulsive decisions. She made me feel like I needed to prove myself worthy of being her host by gaining our mate's affection. I ruined everything trying to get that bastard to accept me and now I've lost it all. She caused all of this.

I ignored her and kept crawling.

"Stop that, Ava Pinkett Jarred!" she yelled, spreading a violent heat through my body. It was so hot that I buckle and fell face-first into the sand. Luckily I closed my eyes so sand didn't get into them.

I ignored her still, trying to get back up and continue crawling.

"Do that again and I will melt your insides," she warned. "Or I will take control of you until you calm down."

I still said nothing but I made no move to stand up either. I laid there, taking deep breaths, some I think the sand was mixed in with.

"I know you must be blaming me for all of this," she said, this time her tone was calmer. "I won't deny the fact that I played a part in this. I admit that I was wrong and I'm sorry."

"A part?" I asked. "Just a part?"

"Yes, miss. Just a part," she replied sounding more defiant. Her voice was beginning to annoy me. "You share equal blame for whatever is happening to us right now?"

"Equal blame?" I asked. "Equal blame? You pushed me into this!"

"As a point of correction, I did push you into this," she replied. "I was eager to meet our mate and be acknowledged, I admit to that. But I never told you to go stalk him or go find him in his pack. I also remember that I specifically told you to go tell Natalie. I asked you to inform her of your plans before leaving and even after we left, I asked you to go back. I also do not remember you complaining while I allegedly pushed you. You complied willingly because you wanted the same thing so don't place all of the blame on me, Miss Ava Jarred."

I wanted to give a reply refuting her claims. I wished I could boldly say that everything she said was wrong. I wanted to scream at her and blame her some more.

But I couldn't because she was right. Everything she said was true. It was painful to admit but I was as much of a fool as she was. I tried too hard to get his acceptance. I left school and I even started learning how to fight and strategize. Even the lazy, undedicated and unmotivated Lily devoted herself to training. She was as much of a victim as I was.

"All I wanted was to be with my mate," I sobbed for the first time since I got rejected again. "Why does everyone reject me? Theo used me, Natalie's trying to sell me off and even my mate has rejected me twice. Am I that terrible of a person that they all try to push me away?"

"I'm sorry," Lily said. Her voice was just as sad as mine.

"What did you feel from his wolf?" I asked.

"Nothing," she replied, her voice as low as a whisper. "Absolutely nothing. There was no feeling from him. I was hoping he would give a sign to at least console me for the way his host was treating us but he didn't. He was indifferent."

"I see," I said. "It seems like we were both rejected individually then. It's great that you have no right to mock me about this."

"It's weird how you still have a sense of humour with a tear-stained face and swollen eyes."

I tried lifting myself off the floor and I could feel the heat spread across my body again as Lily's warning. "Chill. I'm just going to sit down. You don't expect me to lay here all day right?"

"I'm warning you, you better not be trying anything funny."

"I can't escape from you, can I?" I asked. "I just want to sit down."

She said nothing after and let me sit and rest my back on a tree. I was still wearing my training outfit since I didn't have the time to change before the incident.

"What do you think Natalie would do to us when we get home?" I asked.

"I can't even imagine it but I know she would be extremely mad," Lily replied. "Mad enough to keep us under house arrest until we turn eighty at least."

I laughed at that but It was a sad attempt. It came out dry, more like a wheeze with the coughing git that accompanied it. "I don't think Natalie is that strict. She might prolly pity us if we told her the whole story."

"Maybe you should get a little intel on the situation back at home before you go," she advised.

"Nevermind that," I sigh. "As long as I live, I will have my revenge on the Southern Pack."