Page 2 of Framed and Forgotten (Ashen Wolves #3)

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A V R I L

“Is mate…lying to us?” Kea’s thought was a quiet, fearful whisper in my mind, like a winter breeze chilling me to the core.

She had caught the subtle signs of dishonesty, her disheartened feelings mirroring my own. Still, I found myself defending him. “Koen would never lie straight to our face like that.”

Despite the semblance of conviction in my voice, I couldn’t say I’d bet my life on it. Deep down, I was more afraid of even entertaining the possibility that he could do such a thing than I was rationally certain of his innocence. Kea lowered her ears, not reassured, but resigned.

As I stared blankly back at Koen, still processing his hesitant response, I contemplated confronting him.

Desperation urged me to ask how he couldn’t be sure if he had a son out there when he had insisted he was a virgin until I came along.

But I fought the impulse. I didn’t want to blatantly accuse him of lying without proof.

Besides, even if he had lied to me on our first night together, it didn’t - it shouldn’t - matter what he had done before we got together.

For now, I preferred to attribute his uncertainty to the stress he was under rather than to him genuinely believing such a possibility could exist.

Suddenly, Koen cradled my face between his hands, bringing my attention back to him. He seemed aware of how his answer had struck me as he looked into my eyes, whatever reservations he had now gone. I remembered how to breathe again, drawing in a small gasp.

His fingers brushed my hair as he said, “I’m sorry. You’re right - I shouldn’t be worried. I’m just confused about this whole thing, but…” He released a sigh before asserting, “I’ll let it go.”

I managed a half-smile as I nodded at him, trying to silence the thousands of questions that had erupted in my mind. We were both overwhelmed after the past few days. I wouldn’t hold anything against him until he gave me a strong reason to.

As he lowered his hands to find mine, I suggested, “Why don’t we take a nice, hot, relaxing bath before heading to the cafeteria?”

His lips curled in response as he agreed, “I’d love that.”

K O E N

As the days passed, I tried to stay true to the promise I had made to Avril - if not for my own sanity, then for hers. At first, it wasn’t too difficult. I spent my days helping Avril with pack business or training, focusing on adapting to my newly-acquired power.

The real challenge began at nightfall. Every time I closed my eyes to try and sleep, I saw those bright emeralds staring back at me.

It felt as though the little pup was trying to reach into my soul.

That image was imprinted on my mind, his sweet, innocent voice echoing on repeat. I simply couldn’t shake it.

Columbus did little to aid my attempts at forgetting.

It felt as though he were the one replaying the memory, refusing to let me move on.

His behavior shifted after our encounter with Elias.

I could have sworn he sensed some kind of bond between us and the pup.

Since then, he had been on edge, a primal protectiveness keeping him perpetually alert.

On the same day we met the little boy, I asked Col if the tug at our chest could be the family bond. Although he couldn’t confidently confirm my hypothesis, the sensation too faint for proper analysis, he couldn’t discard it either. Over time, my doubts only grew.

When I realized the feeling wouldn’t go away, I pretended to forget about it. But, as I was usually proud to admit, I was a bad liar. Avril was already sensing that something was off, and I knew I could only keep up the act for so long.

The truth was, I hadn’t been entirely honest with my mate when she confronted me about the possibility of me fathering a secret child.

I just had never even considered that it could have happened.

However, once I stopped to think about it, I couldn’t deny there was an incredibly slim chance - but a real one nonetheless. And it was eating me up.

Roughly a week after the meeting, I decided I couldn’t keep living this way anymore.

While Avril was sound asleep in the alpha chambers, I carefully crawled out of bed, sneaking out to go to her office.

I closed the door before turning the lights on and heading to the landline, hesitating one last time before dialing the number.

It took a while for Alpha Hector to pick it up, but he did. As much as I’d prefer not to involve him in this story, I had deleted Nerine’s contact, leaving me no other way to connect with her. Of course, the leader was confused getting a call from me in the middle of the night.

“Alpha Hector, is your niece there? I have very important matters to speak with her about.” I kept my explanation brief.

The man’s voice was laced with drowsiness, curiosity, and disorientation as he replied, “Yes. She’s asleep in her room.” He paused. “Would you like me to let her know you called?”

I held back a sigh. “Actually, I’m afraid what I need to discuss with her cannot wait.” It was true. I couldn’t risk trying to contact Nerine at any other time. It would be impossible to hide it from Avril, and I wanted to keep her out of the drama until I had confirmed my doubts.

When silence followed, I insisted, “Alpha Hector, you know I wouldn’t ask you such a thing if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”

In the end, he gave in, “Very well, Alpha Koen. I’ll go fetch her.”

I waited for what felt like an eternity until I heard her voice on the other side. “Koen?”

My ex-wife was just as confused as her uncle. Perhaps if I wasn’t restless and consumed by fury, forced to replay my last day with her in my head, I wouldn’t have been so blunt. But I had little time and I wasn’t in the mood to play her games.

“Why did Elias think I was his father?” I spat.

I could hear the faint sound of nails raking against the phone as she grasped it tighter. She held her breath, muttering a muffled “What?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. I know you heard me,” I called her bluff, not bothering to control my harshness.

“I-I don’t know. He’s just a pup. H-he spends most of the day rambling nonsense.” She tried to brush it off, but I wasn’t having any of it. “Koen, I’m sorry about what he did. I’m sure it must have been disconcerting, but I-”

“I don’t have time for your games, Nerine!” I growled at her, losing my temper. “Is it true? Is he mine?”

For a moment, quiet reigned, until her answer came - soft, reluctant, but undeniable.

“Yes.”

That three-letter word hit like a tidal wave, crashing through my chest with a force I wasn’t prepared for. I lost my footing. My breath caught in my throat as everything around me spun out of control.

I staggered back, my hand gripping the edge of a nearby table, desperate for something solid to hold onto. My heart hammered against my ribs, each beat loud and erratic. A sickening knot twisted in my stomach, threatening to suffocate me.

I had been furious at her. At everything she’d done - the lies, the betrayal. But this? This was worse. So much worse! This was a truth I hadn’t seen coming, a nightmare I never thought could be mine to bear.

“How?” I somehow managed to speak as my world spun violently.

“It was…” She hesitated, shame coating her words as she replied, “It was that night.”

Anger bubbled up in my throat as I recalled the exact event she referred to. “You said we never did anything,” I accused through gritted teeth.

Her voice was barely a whisper as she confessed her crimes, “I lied.”

“ That I’m not surprised about,” I scoffed, trying to fight off the storm of emotions brewing inside of me. It would be foolish of me to fall for her trap before I was able to clear up this story.

“She’s lied before,” Col reminded me.

I didn’t have to demand her to explain herself.

“After you found me in your bed in the morning I…I was too ashamed. You were so mad…” she whimpered.

“When you asked me what we had done, I said ‘nothing’ because I knew the truth would only make it worse. It wouldn’t change how you felt about me anyway.

” Her observation carried a deep hurt. Unfortunately for her, I couldn’t care less about her feelings.

“Why didn’t you tell me after you found out?” I pressed.

“It wasn’t fair to burden you for a mistake I’d made by myself,” she revealed, vulnerability shining through her every word.

Still, I had trouble trusting her - and she seemed to notice it, as she soon blurted out, “Of course, I understand if you can’t take my word for it.

I gave you good reason not to,” she admitted, inhaling deeply before suggesting, “We can have a paternity test done. You pick the clinic, I’ll handle the bureaucracy and have them send the results directly to you. ”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” I responded, a hint of bitterness in my voice. It was the very least she could do.

Nerine apologized one last time before I hung up. As soon as I did, I let my head fall backwards, heaving a distressed grunt. What the hell was I supposed to do now? Another groan broke through me as I rubbed my face with my hands, trying to contain my emotions.

I couldn’t tell Avril now. For all I knew, Nerine could be lying. It would be best to wait for the results of the paternity test before involving Avril in this. With nothing else I could do, I rose to my feet and headed towards the exit, hoping my absence would have gone unnoticed.

But as I opened the door to reveal my mate standing right outside the office, I realized I was too late.