17
+25 BONUS
I went to my mother and asked,
“What happened, Mom?”
She was shocked as she looked at me. But then she grasped my hand.
“Bow to your Alpha and Luna. We are leaving now,” she said with a hurried tone.
I bowed to Alpha Martin and Luna Carolina in puzzlement glanced at Gamma Harper, who was also there.
“If you want this, then okay. We won’t force you,” Alpha Martin said this to my mother.
Luna Carolina looked upset. She turned to me and said,
“Come here again.”
I nodded my head. My mother bowed to Alpha and Luna before quickly dragging me outside the pack house.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. You don’t have to know.”
I was about to call for a cab when a guard came out to inform us that Alpha had instructed his driver to send us
home.
It was already night, so my mother decided to accept his offer to go back home with Alpha’s car.
The driver opened the back car door for us. My mother got inside the car. But when I was about to get inside, my eyes met the pack house for the last time.
However, when I looked up, my eyes froze.
Ian was standing on the second–floor balcony. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, and three of the buttons on his shirt were also undone. Leaning on the railing, he was smoking a cigarette.
Nevertheless, the main fact was that he was looking at me.
I felt my breath hitch. He did not break eye contact with me while puffing on smoke.
“Ava”
When I heard my mother’s voice, I immediately averted my gaze from him.
I hurriedly got into the car. When the driver closed the door, I closed my eyes as well.
My heart was beating so loudly that my mother could also hear it. I tried to calm myself.
‘No, no. I can’t think about him. He rejected me. He never failed an opportunity to hurt my feelings. There is nothing between us. He broke our mate bond the day he learned about it. The way he moved on, I will have to do the same. I can’t be like this forever.‘ I reminded myself.
As I arrived at our home, I noticed that my mother appeared to be becoming anxious.
I held her hand and asked, “What are you hiding from me, Mom?”
She stroked my hair and replied,
“You don’t have to know about it, Ava.”
1/3
“But, Mom. I heard you were talking about me.”
+25 BONUS
She averted her gaze from me. I cupped her cheeks. I had never seen my mother avoid my gaze before.
“Mom”
“Ava, can you please don’t ask me about it? It’s just something they proposed, and I disagreed. That’s it.”
“What did they propose?” I asked with wide eyes.
“Nothing.”
“Mom, please tell me.”
She turned around and said,
“T–They asked me to go to another pack and treat some of their relatives. I refused.”
After listening to it, I did not know what to say. For some reason, I felt that there was something more that she‘ was not telling me. 1
I walked to her and hugged her.
“That’s it? It’s about treatment. Do you want to go?”
She turned around and hugged me. “No, Ava. They have the best doctors. They don’t need me at all. I want to be with you forever.”
I smiled and embraced her back. “I know. You are the best mom in this world.”
The next day,
I made it to university on time. I attended my classes and felt that my days were turning back to normal day by day,
“We are going to visit Doctor Levi today. He is epsilon in rank. He can treat wolves,” Abigail reminded me.
“Okay,” I replied.
Debra sent a text.
“Luke resumed basketball practice today. It’s a practice match. Let’s root for him. Are you all in?”
I looked at Abigail; she also got the same text from Debra.
“We are rooting for him,” I said to Abigail.
“Are you sure?” She asked me while looking at me carefully
I understood why she was asking me that. Both teams would be on the court.
“I’m sure. He got hurt because of me. I should at least cheer for him.”
“Okay, let’s go then.”
We both headed to the basketball court. I saw girls looking at me as if I had committed some sin,
I spotted Debra sitting on a staircase near the field. Many students came to watch the practice match and took
seats in the audience area.
2/3
Abigail and I went to Debra, She looked at us and patted ne to her. “Sit down. Chips?”
We sat down and grabbed a packet of chips from her hand.
I noticed Luke pushing the ball into the basket. I clapped as saw that he looked totally fine.
My gaze shifted to another team wearing black jerseys. My gaze wat drawn to one boy who grabbed the ball and was surrounded by the opposite team, but he continued on without fear and eventually jumped to shove the buff into the basket.
“IAN. IAN, IAN.”
The girls began to cheer for him. I averted my gaze from him.
During the match, I heard someone calling out to me.
“Hey! Ava.”
Stephen was also practicing under the Black Diamond tearn
I looked at him. From there, he gave me a wave.
Everyone noticed it and turned to me in surprise, and I felt awkward.
Tan and Luke’s eyes also fell on me. Both of them realized that I was there.
One of their eyes was filled with delight, while the other appeared annoyed, as if my presence bothered him.
I gave Stephen a nod and lifted my glasses from my nose to my eyes.
“Oh, hello? What was that? Do you guys know each other?” Debra asked me about Stephen. Abigail’s eyes were asking the same question.
“I met him in the pack house. I went there last night.”
“YOU WENT WHERE?” Both of them asked at the same time.
I thought about telling them about last night. So I started.
“Last night, I-”
However, I was abruptly interrupted when a ball flew at my face and hit my glasses. Fortunately, my glasses did not break. But it startled me. I got a little hurt on my forehead too.
I was about to see who threw it at me, but before that, I heard a familiar voice, which I did not want to hear.
“Hey, you nerd. Pass the ball.”
It was lan’s voice. I looked at him, and he smirked at me. Everyone in the audience, except my friends, began to laugh at me as if it were a funny act.
I could not control myself anymore. How much more would this boy insult me?
I looked at the ball, which had rolled a little away from me. went over to the ball and picked it up.
I looked at lan and spoke loudly,
“I thought you were the captain of a team. But you seem to have forgotten that this is not a football game but a basketball match.”
3/3
18
