Page 46 of Framed and Forgotten
I barely had time to process the thought before we reached the packhouse, where Theo firmly insisted that Avril and I partways. The suggestion was absurd, so absurd that for a second, I thought he had to be joking. I needed to fix things with Avril. I had already lost so much time, wasted too many precious seconds apart from her. The idea of adding even a moment more to that unbearable stretch was impossible to accept.
Still, I had no choice but to listen. Avril wasn’t the only one I had let down - I’d disappointed all of Azure Smoke. I was in no position to make demands. I had no right to question their judgement. However, Columbus was ready to tear down the whole damn building, taking down everyone in our way to get to her.
It was torture watching Elijah guide Avril away, disappearing into the packhouse while Theo dragged me in the opposite direction. I held my breath until she was out of sight, but it did nothing to ease the gnawing sense of wrongness in my chest. As impatient as I was, the beta made me wait until Rhea arrived to start talking. And when he did, I was sure this had to be some twisted joke.
“What do you mean she can’t remember me?” I asked, my voice weirdly calm given the story I had just been told, disbelief preventing me from losing it.
Theo shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Rhea for support before trying again. “It’s not that she doesn’t remember you at all.”
When words failed him, Rhea chimed in, “We believe she just can’t recall anything you two lived after she left Whispering Hills five years ago.”
“Because of the spell?” I guessed, and she nodded.
“According to Vereya, due to Avril’s inexperience with casting spells and how volatile dark magic is, it didn’t work correctly.” She exhaled, worry and pity mixing into her expression, her voice laced with sympathy as she continued, “She wasn’t trying to erase you from her mind.”
“But she did.” The words were barely above a whisper, but the second they left my mouth, they hit with the force of a sucker punch. A sharp, violent breath escaped me, and I staggered back, running a hand down my face as realization crashed over me.
I had done this. I had pushed her so far, hurt her so deeply, that she saw no other way out. She had tried to bury it, to cut away every piece of us, because the pain of remembering was too much. My breath came out unsteady, my vision blurring as the weight of my own stupidity sank deep into my bones.
Overcome with frustration, I turned and drove my fist into the wall in a reckless movement. The stone gave way beneath my knuckles, but I barely felt it. Blood splattered the surface, thin rivulets trailing downward, mirroring the hollow ache flooding through me.
Pain. I wanted to feel pain. On the surface, I told myself I needed to be punished for failing my mate for the second time, but deep down, it was just an attempt to distract me from the agony of the truth.
“Fuck,” I panted, staring at the red streaks staining the stone. “What have I done?” My fingers curled tighter, my nails digging into my palms as rage turned inward, my self-loathing flaring. “All because I let that bitch fool me again!” I cursed myself.
“Fool you?” Theo’s voice cut through the haze, laced with confusion. “Your ex-wife?” he assumed.
Swallowing my pride, I admitted, “It was a ploy.” My confession made me feel even more naive. When I turned around to face my friends, they were both staring at me with shock. “She was spiking my drinks with some sort of freaky love potion. She wanted me to fall for her and leave Avril.
“And it gets worse,” I continued. “She knows about the Ashen Wolves’ return.”
They both stiffened, but Rhea was the first to ask, “What does she know?”
“I’m not sure,” I confessed. “She seems to be working with another man, who claims to be my…” The word got stuck, too bizarre to speak, but I forced it out. “Brother.”
Theo raised his eyebrows in shock. “You have a brother?”
“No.” My answer was immediate, but my confidence soon faltered, and I massaged my temples. “I mean, not that I was aware of.” I sighed in frustration. “All I know is Nerine has been meeting with him at least since Elias’ birth. I used my powers on him to see the past, but I didn’t get much.”
Bewilderment deepened into the beta’s features, Rhea mimicking his reaction.
“You used our powers to see into the past on a pup?” the beta repeated, stunned.
“Yeah.” I furrowed my brows, unable to understand their shock. “Why? Is it not supposed to be used on living beings?” A rush of fear surfaced as I asked, “Will there be consequences for him?”
Theo shook his head. “No, it’s just… That ability should only work with objects.
“And even then, it usually doesn’t reveal more than a few months, maybe a year, depending on the energy stored in whatever you’re using it on.” Rhea concluded.
I went still, their words sinking in. More questions. More unknowns. Would the mysteries ever end? At last I just pushed the questions aside, focusing on what truly mattered.
The one thing I should’ve never lost sight of.
Letting out a steady breath, I gathered my focus. “It doesn’t matter. We can talk about everything later,” I told them. “Right now, I need to make Avril remember me.”
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