Rejected and Regretted (Ashen Wolves #1)

30

“Great,” I said, not letting half of my appeasement show in my contained half smile. If I appeared too thrilled, she would second guess her decision, and I couldn’t afford having her change her mind. “We leave by noon. Be ready by then.”

Her eyes widened. “What?!”

“Sorry about the short notice,” I blurted, already heading to the door to see her out. No, I actually wasn’t sorry at all - I had planned to invite her at the last minute to give her less time to ponder about it. Opening the door for her, I gestured for her to leave. “See you in a couple hours, Avril.”

As she confusedly walked past me, I grabbed the empty coffee cup from her hands. She stopped halfway through the door, her mouth opening. For a moment, I was afraid she would argue, but thankfully, she didn’t. She slowly pursed her lips and left.

With her back to me as she disappeared down the hall, I finally released the sigh of relief I had been holding since she’d said yes.

The excuse I had come up with to want Avril to come with me had been nothing but a lie, well-crafted enough to have her believe me. The truth was that I wasn’t comfortable leaving her at Whispering Hills in my absence, especially after what happened the last time I was out for a few hours. But I knew she would never accept my request if I told her that.

I had almost thrown away the little progress I had made with my former mate when I tried to kiss her in the woods. At least it made me realize that I was moving too fast. She clearly wasn’t ready to talk about feelings yet, but I noticed she was more than comfortable discussing politics. That was unusual for an omega, but I had always known she was not ordinary.

Shortly after Avril was gone, Gregor reappeared. He didn’t even try to hide the displeasure on his expression as he stepped in front of me. I eyed him for an instant, anticipating the unavoidable argument I was certain would come, before finally moving aside to allow him back into my office.

Not even a second after I closed the door, securing our privacy, he began, “I don’t like this.”

“You’ve been quite hard to please these days,” I replied in a mocking tone, marching back to my seat.

Gregor remained up, arms crossed, a frown across his face. “Why are you so adamant about bringing this omega with you?”

I could feel the disdain in his tone when he spoke about her, and I didn’t appreciate it. “Like I told you, I think she can help us make new alliances,” I rasped.

“Do you now?” he answered, unamused. “Seems to me you just can’t stay away from her. You’re always by her side. You invite her to private pack events. You-”

“Quit beating around the bush!” I demanded, my alpha aura expanding as I failed to control my anger. “If you have something to say to me, say it.”

He took a deep breath before boldly revealing, “I don’t like how close you are to her.”

“That so?” I scoffed.

I thought he would back down, but he raised his head instead. “She’s a weak omega. You were right to reject her, and I hope you’re not going back on the decision you made five years ago,” he observed, though it sounded more like a threat. By now, Columbus was enraged, thrashing like a ravenous beast inside my head, fighting me for control. It was hard to focus on what Gregor was saying when my wolf was losing it, yet I still heard him say, “There was someone who could actually help us at the meeting - your Luna. I don’t get why you let Nerine go.”

“That’s none of your business!” I growled loudly.

A warning he dared ignore.

“With all due respect, Alpha, as this pack’s beta-” he tried, but I’d had enough.

“As beta, your duty is to support me, not question my personal life choices!” I reminded him, my eyes flickering black, letting him know the alpha wolf inside of me was too close to the surface, one second away from coming out and snapping at him. At last, my aura became so intense, Gregor had no choice but to lower his head in submission. I took the opportunity to take a step in his direction, concluding, “If you truly care about the integrity of our pack, don’t interfere in matters unrelated to business.”

Gregor nodded, not daring to look me in the eye, his boldness seemingly gone. The tension in the air started dissipating as he excused himself with another head gesture, turning to walk toward the door. I began relaxing again, Columbus calming down in the confines of my mind once our authority was successfully reinforced.

However, Gregor halted right before he stepped out of the office. His voice, although now lower and devoid of defiance, still carried a semblance of warning as it echoed through the four walls.

“I do care about the integrity of our pack,” he insisted calmly. “Which is why I’m concerned.” He glanced over his shoulder, barely looking at me. His next words carried heavy bitterness. “It seems to me that this omega, who has always been a bad omen, has returned to bring about our pack’s downfall.”

Taken by surprise, I couldn’t react fast enough. By the time I opened my mouth to argue, Gregor had already shut the door, leaving me alone to deal with the stress of the situation. Mentally exhausted, I flopped onto my chair, an exasperated breath pushing through my lips as I rubbed my face with my hands. As I rested my back against my seat, my eyes landed on a portrait on my desk of Gregor and I right after we took over Whispering Hills. I found myself staring longer at it.

We used to be best friends growing up. Never one without the other, we would patrol the lands I would once inherit together, talking about everything we would do when the power was in our hands. When we officially started training to take over at thirteen, we became even closer, since only the two of us could understand the weight of the responsibilities bestowed upon us.

At fifteen, my father began personally mentoring us. He tried to teach us his tyrannic ways, but I refused to accept them. Through the pack bond, I could feel the hurt of the lower-ranking members of our pack. I could see the hatred and thirst for revenge in other leaders’ eyes every time Dad threatened them. Unlike him, I couldn’t believe any Alpha was unbeatable and self-sufficient. I was convinced a wolf’s strength relied on union rather than brutal force - a lone wolf could never face an entire pack on its own, no matter how powerful.

Gregor, on the other hand, listened to him with unwavering conviction. Perhaps it was his strong sense of duty that allowed him to be so easily brainwashed by his alpha, the figure he respected most. He lived by my father’s words, slowly turning into a merciless man who resorted to violence any time he had a problem to solve.

Still, even as I turned twenty and finally earned my father’s blessing after marrying Nerine, I had hope that Gregor could change. I thought I could remind him of the promises we had made when we were pups. As I ruled, I tried to show him that there were other ways - better ways - besides blood and violence. Sadly, I had underestimated how deeply Dad’s views were ingrained in his mind.

Our relationship worsened when I ended things with Nerine following the termination of our two-year contract. An avid follower of my father’s beliefs, he was adamant that I was making the wrong choice. When I told him I didn’t love her and never would, he said that love was a made-up concept and that I, as a leader, should sacrifice it for the sake of my pack. He failed to see that, even if I did, Nerine would never be a great Luna—all she cared about was the money and status she got from being with me.

How did our views differ so drastically? I pondered, taking the photograph in my hands to take a closer look at it. With a sigh, I soon put it aside again, facing down against the desk. It didn’t matter.

This trip would be my last attempt at trying to rescue the best friend I used to know - if he was even still inside Gregor.