Page 28 of Framed and Forgotten (Ashen Wolves #3)

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K O E N

As her words rang in my ears, I knew I had fucked up worse than I could have ever imagined.

“What do you-” I tried, in vain.

The next second, Avril’s fist was around my throat, applying just enough pressure to hold me in place - yet threatening to snap my neck if I didn’t submit completely. It would have been insanely hot if she didn’t look so damn tempted to follow through.

Was I expecting her to be mad? Absolutely. Did I think she’d welcome me back with open arms? Not in a million years. But this? This felt like something else entirely. It was like she was ready to strike me down where I stood.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” she warned, tightening her grasp until it became slightly uncomfortable for me to breathe.

Her voice carried the sharpness of a dagger against my skin, cutting through the space between us like a final verdict.

Glaring into my eyes, she continued her senseless interrogation.

“Were you tracking me? What do you know about my pack?”

I frowned. “T-tracking…you?” I repeated, my voice coming out strangled as I struggled to speak. My body screamed for air, but I focused on the only thing that mattered - her. Brushing off my confusion, I answered, “All I k-know…is wh-what…you told me…a-and what I’ve…experienced.”

It was her turn to furrow her brows, though I had a feeling her confusion wasn’t a result of my answer.

When she finally released me, standing up and stepping away, I shot up, coughing.

Once I managed to collect myself, I immediately glanced at her to realize something had shifted in her eyes.

They were dark, but not with fury. Those pools of blue lacked their usual glow, as if she was lost in a storm.

An instant later, she groaned, her hand flying to her forehead to massage her temples in a clear attempt to alleviate the pain.

“Avril…” I reached out for her, our explosive encounter completely forgotten as my instincts to protect her kicked in. Yet, before I could take a full step in her direction, she raised her other hand to stop me.

“Stay away!” she snarled, panting and grunting as she tried to contain her headache.

What was wrong with her? I wanted to wrap her in my arms and kiss her pain away regardless of how she felt toward me now. However, another part of me was hesitant about ignoring her wishes. I had failed to listen to her for so long.

While I tried to grasp the situation, she continued, “How do you have the mark of an Ashen Wolf?”

I blinked. “What?”

Glancing at my arm, I realized my long-sleeved shirt was torn. It had likely been damaged when I was tossed out of the car onto the forest floor at full speed, revealing some of the intricate tribal pattern that had been branded on my skin when I turned.

Allowing me no time to process what she had said, she threw another illogical question at me. “Why…why do I feel drawn to you? Even more than I used to at… Argh!”

This time, whatever strange headache she was experiencing struck harder.

She doubled over, cradling her lowered head with both hands.

My chest tightened at the sight, the agony in her voice worse than any wound I’d ever endured.

I couldn’t keep my distance anymore. Let her scream at me for going against her orders, let her hate me.

I didn’t care. I couldn’t just stand there and watch her suffer.

“Alpha!”

As I was about to move toward her, Theo appeared by her side, promptly helping her stand straight again. His presence brought a shift in the air, grounding yet laced with urgency. Then, his gaze flickered to me, his eyes widening with surprise and relief, but also… concern?

“Koen,” he acknowledged, his voice unreadable.

From that moment on, everything started making even less sense.

After Theo arrived, he convinced Avril to allow me into the territory, and I followed them back toward the town square as a sickly unease curled in my stomach.

Honestly, I had considered the possibility that she wouldn’t want me back - hell, I had braced myself for it.

Given my last conversation with her uncle before I left, it wouldn’t have surprised me.

What actually disturbed me was her motivation.

It didn’t seem like she wanted to keep me at a distance because she was angry, but rather because she saw me as a threat.

I barely had time to process the thought before we reached the packhouse, where Theo firmly insisted that Avril and I part ways.

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.”