Page 37 of Framed and Forgotten (Ashen Wolves #3)

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A V R I L

Was I going to die?

When the blade sliced across my throat, time seemed to stop. Everything slowed, the world falling into silence as warmth spilled down my neck in thick, wet rivers. Strangely enough, there was no pain - just a strange numbness. A sense of detachment, as if my body was no longer mine.

Instinctively, my hands reached for the wound, but the blood kept flowing, slick and unstoppable between my trembling fingers. I tried to hold it in. To stop it. I failed.

This wasn’t just bad. This was fatal.

Kea could have helped heal the cut, at least partially. She could have prevented our frail human body from bleeding out. But the poison still burned in my veins, keeping my wolf under, suppressing all our powers. I couldn’t shift. I couldn’t heal.

I couldn’t even scream for help.

My weak knees failed me, my body too weak to hold its own weight.

I collapsed, helpless, using what little was left of my strength to pathetically press harder against my wound.

Before long, the remainder of my energy waned, and I stopped fighting.

After a lifetime of fighting, my efforts would be rendered useless. It would all end here.

Like most of my kind, I would die alone.

Until…

Suddenly, warmth rushed in like a rising tide, colliding with the cold that had begun to hollow me out.

My heart, weak and barely holding on, was encouraged to give one fragile beat.

Then another, as his voice broke through the numbness, ragged and desperate.

And another, as his trembling hands cradled my head as gently as I’d ever been held.

I wasn’t alone - Koen was here.

Ever since our night together, I’d been trying to understand what he meant to me.

What I’d seen in him. Why I’d risked everything just to be with him.

The attraction was undeniable, but what flipped the switch inside my head?

What made me decide love was worth a shot, for a life without it sounded too miserable after I was reunited with him?

As he whispered sweet promises to me, clutching me close to his chest with both desperation and tenderness, as if it was his very heart he was holding in his hands, the answer I’d been seeking finally dawned on me.

I wished I could speak. Thank him for caring so much about me. For sticking around even after seeing me weak and vulnerable. For staying with me as I took my final breath.

I wanted to remember what we once were. Everything we used to be.

And as if the Moon Goddess herself had been listening, she answered my final, silent prayer.

“Is that what we are? Mates?”

His voice echoed through my mind, softer now, like a memory that refused to fade. And then I was somewhere else - in the village, in the safety of our secret haven, staring into those emerald eyes that sparkled with hope. A last glimpse of clarity lit up my head.

In a blink, I was teleported to another moment. “What I want, Avril…” His lips brushed mine, the waterfall murmuring behind us, fading into silence as everything became him. “…is to be with you. Whatever it takes.”

My heart thudded, his essence keeping me alive for a second longer, and another memory played. “I love you, Avril. More than I’ve ever loved anyone or anything. I always have.”

One by one, the memories returned. Each one crashing through the darkness like stars reborn. Every kiss. Every whisper. Every stolen moment. My soul filled with everything I’d forgotten, everything I never wanted to lose again.

And by the time death wrapped its arms around me, I wasn’t empty anymore.

I was whole.

As darkness finally consumed me, I felt peace. Maybe I hadn’t been given forever with the man who taught me what love truly meant, but I got to die in his arms.

And that was enough.

There was no concept of time or space in the afterlife. No sound to fill the silence. No thoughts to keep me company.

All that existed was an endless void.

It seemed Heaven didn’t exist after all, but I suppose I could say I’d found peace.

Would it really be so terrible to be trapped here for eternity, when I couldn’t feel the days pass?

When guilt, sadness, and regret no longer touched me?

Neutrality meant there was no joy, but at least I was free of pain.

Until my lungs suddenly burned, and I shot up, gasping for air.

My hands flew to my throat as adrenaline alone made me hold onto my senses. Everything inside me was set alight, Everything inside me was on fire, as if the flames of the underworld were incinerating me from the inside out. What the hell? I was supposed to be dead.

Yet, somehow, I wasn’t.

And the slash in my throat? It was completely gone, no scar to tell the story.

Emerald beams pierced through the darkness, replacing it with blinding light. Despite the overwhelming clarity, I forced my eyes open, every fiber of my body fighting to feel anything but that morbid numbness.

And when I could see, a pair of gemstones anchored me to this world.

“Avril!”

His voice was more angelic than ever, so soft and pure, so…grounding.

As Koen nestled my head in his hands, he pressed his forehead to mine. “You’re okay. You’re alive. You’re here. With me,” he whispered, again and again - I had a feeling the words were meant to reassure himself more than me.

While I tried to recover my senses, he held me even tighter, as if he feared I could slip away. Then, I felt something warm and wet touch my face.

Tears.

“I thought…I…I thought I…” he couldn’t even bring himself to finish his sentence.

Opening his eyes, as if to check that I was really there and not an illusion, he sighed, his body visibly relaxing with relief. “You’re here,” he concluded, savoring the reality that was far more tranquilizing than his recent nightmares.

“I…” I tried, my voice coming out coarse and frail, barely audible. “I r-remember.”

Koen stilled.

I watched his eyes flood with joy, but it only lasted an instant. Almost immediately, shame washed over his face. He backed away just slightly, too guilty to touch me, yet too scared to leave me completely. His eyes dropped to the floor.

“Avril, I am so…” His mouth hung open, but the words trailed off. With a heavy breath, he finally continued, “Sorry doesn’t even describe what I feel…and it doesn’t fix my mistakes.”

All of his emotion laid bare on his face, and it made my chest ache.

Even after recovering my memories, I couldn’t recall ever seeing him like this - so devastated and broken.

I wanted to soothe him, relieve him of some of the dire pain he had been carrying on his own.

Just as I began to gather the strength to speak, though, something in him shifted.

“I won’t apologize, because I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” he stated, low and heavy.

A long pause followed as he sat there beside me, battling his own demons, before his gaze met mine again - determined, unwavering. “But I promise you this, Avril,” he started, his voice raw with sincerity. “I won’t ever fail you like that again.

“I understand where I went wrong.” His head dipped slightly with a brief, regretful shake. “Joe was right. I wish I’d listened to him sooner.”

Then his gaze intensified, determination burning in his eyes as he declared, “You are my priority, Avril.” For a moment, he let the silence stretch between us, letting the words echo, giving them room to settle in my soul.

“I thought I could be there for you both, and because of that, you almost…I almost lost you, forever.” He exhaled sharply, a sound filled with remorse, as if the pain of what he had done was too much to keep inside.

“Because for a second, I couldn’t choose between you and someone else who needed me. ”

He leaned closer, voice softening but no less intense, every syllable heavy with emotion. “But I swear, from now on, even if the world is burning, I won’t blink,” he said, his voice thick with resolve. “I’ll always pick you. No questions asked.”

I took a moment to process his sincerity - no, his devotion. It offered my weak heart strength to beat harder, louder, faster. How could I have forgotten him? He was everything to me, the blood running through my veins, the very air I breathed.

As he soaked in his regret, I finally reached for his hand. When my trembling fingers brushed against his skin, he looked up, hopeful, as if my touch was a blessing.

“I…I’m sorry,” I managed to murmur, my voice barely a whisper. He immediately furrowed his brows in confusion. Swallowing painfully to soothe my dry throat, I continued, “I gave up…on you.”

The recognition stung. It made me feel stupid, but I pushed through, saying what I had to. “I knew you w-weren’t…being yourself,” I said, my voice trembling with shame. “I k-knew…something was wrong. But I…I didn’t try t-to…help you. I just…ran...and hid.”

Koen shook his head, pulling away. “It was my fault. I made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me. Like you weren’t the most important part of my life,” he countered, putting all of the blame on himself.

That was my Koen - selfless until the bitter end.

I couldn’t help but chuckle, a gesture that only further confused him. “I used to like…the w-way you d-devoted yourself t-to me,” I admitted. “It made m-me feel…powerful.”

A sigh broke through my lips, my smile fading. “But y-ou don’t h-have to be sorry f-for caring…for someone else. It’s what makes you…different…from me. F-from all of…our kind.”

My muscles burned, but I didn’t care. The pain was a mere itch compared to the overwhelming need to bring him closer. I lifted my hands to cup his face, staring into his eyes as I confessed, “I’d hate to see...the darkness...obscure your light.”

At first, the pain lingered in his eyes, a heavy weight I could feel even from where I lay.

But with a slow blink, he pushed it aside.

He absorbed my words, and after a moment, a faint smile tugged at his lips.

Gently, he took my hands in his, pressing a tender kiss to each of them before urging me to lie down.

I didn’t resist, too exhausted to argue.

As my senses gradually returned, my eyes scanned the dim surroundings.

A wave of confusion washed over me for the first time.

Stone pressed in on us, jagged and cold, forming both the walls and the roof.

The faint light from the entrance barely cut through the shadows, casting long, flickering shapes against the rough, uneven surfaces. Are we in a cave?

“Wh-where are w-we?” I couldn’t resist asking.

“The first shelter I could find between Whispering Hills and Azure Smoke,” Koen replied. “Nerine and my brother are dead, but she warned someone…” He paused, pressing his lips together as if afraid to finish the thought. “…About you.”

My heart thumped. Even through the fog of my grogginess, the truth crashed into me with brutal clarity.

My kind’s secret had been exposed.

Before I could let the weight of his confession sink in, he added, “We couldn’t stay there, but I…I wasn’t strong enough to get you to Azure Smoke.”

At that moment, I set my terror aside and glanced at him. A wave of pain washed over me as I noticed for the first time the many scars covering his body. His wounds - from the battle with his brother, I assumed - had begun to heal, but they still looked raw and brutal.

It prompted another question. “How long have we…?”

“Four days,” he answered blankly.

I took a breath. Then another. And another. With each beat of my heart, the fear for my people grew.

“T-hey’re in…danger,” I observed, already trying to get myself up, but Koen promptly stopped me.

“You’re still too weak to make the journey. Even if I carry you,” he deadpanned, and I was forced to accept the truth. Tenderly, he added, “Rest, and we’ll get there as soon as you’ve regained enough energy.”

I managed a quiet nod. At last, my body started relaxing as I surrendered to slumber. My eyelids began to flutter shut, but before they closed completely, I decided to voice the last question echoing in my head.

“Koen?” I called, and he squeezed my hand to let me know he was listening. “H-how did you…s-save me?”

Silence followed, long enough for me to wonder if he’d heard me at all. Then, his thumb gently brushed over my knuckles, and he let out a quiet breath, like he was struggling to find the words.

In the end, he just shrugged. “I don’t know.”

That wasn’t the answer I’d expected. My brows knit together weakly, though I was too tired to press him further. He must’ve sensed my confusion, because after a moment, he continued, his voice almost reverent.

“I thought you were gone, Avril.” His voice broke, just slightly.

“Your blood was everywhere. I held you, and you weren’t breathing.

You were so cold. I…I begged the Moon Goddess to take me instead.

I begged her not to take you from me.” His voice faltered, disbelieving even as he said it. “And then…something happened.”

I forced my eyes to stay open just a moment longer, so I could look at him. When I did, I found his eyes full of emotion. Awe. Faith. Love.

“There was this…light. It came out of nowhere, and it wrapped around you, so bright it nearly blinded me. When it faded, your wound was gone, and you had a pulse again.

“I don’t have an explanation. I’m not a healer. I didn’t do anything, Avril. I couldn’t,” he went on, shaken, as if still trying to convince himself of what he’d seen. “It was a miracle. That’s the only way I can describe it. The Moon Goddess must have heard me, and she answered my prayers”

My breath hitched at the image, but I couldn’t fully grasp it before my senses started fading. Still, I held onto a single belief: if this was the Moon Goddess’ doing, then she had deemed it wasn’t my time yet. And I took it as a sign - she wished me to finish my mission in this world.

For her, and for all of my kind, I would free the Ashen Wolves.