Dane’s
eyes darkened as soon as he heard Ava.
Ava observed those eyes and scoffed at him. “What happened? Lost all the colors from your face?”
He clenched his jaw and grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him.
“You can’t be with him.”
Ava looked into his eyes, noting his fury. “What’s wrong? Why didn’t you think about it when you spent the night with your mate?”
ke up.
Dane tried to compose himself, losing his grip on her arm. Look, Ava. I never slept with her after we She tried a few times to seduce me when she was drunk. I always ignored my wolf and the desire to be close to her. But I lost myself in front of my wolf last night.”
He let go of her arm and cupped her cheeks. She looked away from his face. Not wanting him to touch her, she attempted to push him once more.
Her eyes landed on the hickeys Freya had purposefully left visible in his chest.
If Dane had said that everything Freya said was a lie, she would have ignored it. But he himself admitted everything.
Now what would she do?
“Ava, you are a fragile woman to me. I want to protect you and bloom you. I didn’t want to hurt you last night.”
Ava’s gaze returned to him, shaking her head. “That is not the way to bloom your woman. You cheated on me and my trust.”
For some reason, Ava’s mind reflected Ian’s face.
Today, she could feel how Ian felt when he thought she had cheated on him.
Though she did not cheat, he misunderstood that and felt this way.
“There is no way I can leave you,” Dane said with an angry tone.
She pushed his hands away from her cheeks and turned around to leave.
He grabbed her wrist and said,
“You can have time and think about it.‘
She yanked her hand away and turned her head to him, “Think about what? About us? We are over.”
He growled in response, which shocked her. His face turned fierce in anger. He turned her around and drew her closer to him.
“I have spent my entire life looking for you, Ava Taylor. Even though I had no idea what you looked like, you were always on my mind. That man, who has rejected you and betrayed you several times, does not deserve you.”
“And you deserve me?” she asked with a sad smile.
Her heart broke thinking that he had slept with another woman. She had trusted him blindly. She used to feel warm around him, but it has now vanished. She used to think anyone in this world could do wrong but not him. It
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appeared that sleeping with another person was not considered cheating on his list.
He did not sleep with another woman while he was in a relationship with me,” she told him angrily, unaware that she had just defended Ian.
Dane’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “So now he is better than me? Have you forgotten who gave you shelter when you were lost four years ago?”
Her expression changed when he reminded her of all the things that he had done for her.
He had given her shelterin his pack, assisted her in discovering who she was, introduced her to her brother Griffin, and given her his shoulder when she had no man in her life.
She lowered her head and said, “Thank you for everything. I will be forever indebted to you.”
“Thank you? Will you thank me for what I have done with my heart?”
She raised her head and looked into his eyes. “You don’t love me, Dane. Your heart beats for somebody else. I have been watching you for the past few days. Whenever Freya is around you, you look different. He became enraged upon seeing her in revealing clothing or with another man. You don’t like her to move on when you yourself have moved on.”
He gave her a long look before averting his gaze. He gritted his teeth and said,
“Don’t try to make me confused just because you discovered Ian Dawson as your mate again. Your first love has returned to your heart, and you now prefer him to me.”
She shook her head. “You are misunderstanding me. I never said that I wanted to be with him. I don’t want to be with him either.”
He was taken aback. “Not with him either?”
She wiped away the tears that had fallen on her cheeks. She took a deep breath and said,
“I don’t want to be with anyone now.”
It did not seem to fit with Dane. “Don’t forget that our parents once fixed our marriage. You have to fulfill that. What about your promise? You can’t back away.”
Ava found herself in a cage. She pushed his hands away from her arms and took a step back.
She made her way to the door while saying,
“I will not break any of the promises I made to you. I will never forgive Ian. You will always be the man who gave me a new life.”
