CHAPTER 3

Ava's POV:

At the witching hour of 3:00 AM, the elusive embrace of sleep eluded my weary eyes, leaving me entangled in the shadows of another restless night. A symphony of sighs accompanied my futile attempt to find solace, as I shifted, hoping to escape the clutches of insomnia.

It has been a week since that fateful day, and my heart, a vessel of agony, echoes the unanswered questions that reverberate through the corridors of my restless mind.

The weight of this emotional crucible surpasses the scars of yesteryears; the damages foisted upon my soul now cut deeper than any external affliction. The resonance of pain, silent yet profound, surpasses the echoes of past misconducts. This intangible suffering, more potent than the tangible, lingers in the void left by tacit words and disgruntled promises.

Staring at the ceiling, I wondered, how will it be to be loved by him. There are so many things that I want to tell him, so many questions, I want answers from him. I want to hug him tightly and ask why he's doing this to me.

When will he free me from this agony? How ironic, sometimes our salvation is the person who's responsible for our agony. How do we find comfort in the person, that broke us? A lone tear escaped my eyes. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take over me.

The alarm went off at 7 AM. I lazily opened my eyes and shut it off. Pulling the duvet off my body, I dragged myself towards the bathroom. After doing my morning ritual, I went towards the closest to get ready for another dreadful day, But something on the bed caught my eye.

I went towards my bed to see a beautiful red dress. I touched it, it was so soft, I wondered why mom bought it, but then it clicked today's Valentine's Day. I slumped on the bed, thinking how fate was playing a cruel game on me. A silent tear left my eye, thinking about my mate, wiping it, I stood up to get ready.

I know Dad must have planned something for a mom like always. I would rather not spoil that for them, and I also won't give my mate and Jessica the satisfaction of seeing me weak and broken.

Furthermore, I changed into that beautiful dress, it reached above my knees. So beautiful! I did my hair in loose waves and light makeup.

Walking down the stairs, the first thing I noticed was the bouquet of beautiful red and pink roses lying in the vase on the kitchen island. Mom was dressed in a beautiful, Burgundy color dress, and Dad was admiring her with a look that made me wonder if I'd ever be looked at like that, but I discarded the thought as quickly as it came.

“Oh my! You look, gorgeous, sweetie," Mom said while hugging me.

“Thank you, Mom” I hugged her back.

“Yes, sweetheart! You're looking lovely, come and have breakfast, Dad said lovingly meanwhile, Mom placed my breakfast in front of me, heart-shaped pancakes.

Savoring each bite of my breakfast, I lingered in the quiet moments, grappling with the daunting task of confronting him. The weight of my heartache intensified as the haunting scene continued its relentless playback in the theater of my mind. Mom noticed this and just as she was about to ask something, a car honk was heard.

“They're here, Bye mom, Bye dad," I quickly showed the breakfast down my throat, took my phone, hugged my parents, and fled from the kitchen to give my parents their privacy because the constant looks my dad was giving to mom were enough to terrorize any daughter.

“Good dawning”, greeted my friends as I slid in the car but got no answer. That's strange, turning to them, only to see Cora lost in her thoughts. Well, that's new, Cora wasn't someone to stay quiet. Fleur had a worried expression on her face.

I jostled Fleur and asked, “What happened to her?

“Don't know she's been this gloomy all morning,” Fleur replied.

“Are you okay, cor”? I placed my hand on her shoulder and inquired gently, but she didn't answer and was looking outside absentmindedly. I glanced towards Fleur worriedly.

I shook Cora a little hard. “Huh”! She asked perplexed.

“Are you alright, what happened? I asked.

“ I don't know Sapp, lately my wolf has been behaving strangely. She's been restless, but today she's much worse, I don't know what's happening.” She said worriedly.

I froze for a juncture, her wolf has been restless, which means… I didn't say anything, as I would rather not conclude anything. But deep down I prayed for her. The rest of the ride was silent.

We came to our destination, aka hell. Never thought, one day my favorite place would be dreadful.

The whole school was festoon beautifully, with flowers and balloons. All the trees were decorated with red, pink, and white fairy lights, creating a romantic atmosphere. Heart-shaped balloons were making a beautiful heart-shaped booth, where couples would get their sweet moments captured. Girls were dressed beautifully in red, while guys were wearing tuxedos and a matching tie with their ladylove's dress.

“Woah”! Fleur let out, amazed by the beautiful scenery.

My eyes on their accord were digging through the sea of people for a certain someone. Fleur looked at me silently, understanding, and took my hand. Just as she was about to say something, someone collided with us, due to which Fleur was knocked to the ground.

" What the just as Fleur was saying something, she got quiet and was looking at something rather than someone. I followed her line of sight to see, that the guy and Cora were looking at each other, with a certain look. It was the world was disappeared, and it was just the two of them. Fleur was about to say something, but I stopped her because I knew that look.

“MATE”, they both said at the same time.

Cora took a step forward towards her mate, but what next he did, shocked us. He took off running outside the school premises towards the wood, without looking back. Cora was hot on his tail, silent tears falling from her eyes, meanwhile, Fleur and I were too stunned to do anything. This wasn't how Valentine's Day was supposed to be.

Fleur and I got out of our reverie and rushed outside. After a few jiffies, we found her on the ground, on her knees, crying hysterically. Fat tears decorated her beautiful face. I had never seen her this devastated. I and Fleur rushed towards her and hugged her. Silent tears were falling from my eyes.

“ Sapp, Is this how you felt when Alpha Xavier rejected you? Is this how heartbreaks are? Please make it stop, it hurts.” She was crying hysterically. One thing I know is she won't be the same core from now on. After a few minutes, Cora calmed down, but there was no spark, no spirit in her eyes. She was broken, just like me. After some time, we retreated to the school.

Entering the school, we made our way towards the auditorium. The hallway was decorated with lovely hanging hearts. The auditorium was also beautifully decorated with red roses and scented candles. Red and black were today's themes. Loud applauding and clapping brought me out of my reverie, I followed the source and how I wished I didn't.

There stood Jessica, looking stunning in her short red dress, her makeup done to perfection in a heart on the floor made of flowers and candles. She was holding a beautiful big bouquet of red roses, a big teddy bear, and chocolates while Xavier was kneeling before her, declaring his love and looking at her lovingly.

My wolf whimpered, and a sob racked through my body. It's like someone was stabbing my heart again and again. My rib cage constricted against my heart. A lump formed in my throat. My vision was blurry with tears. Again, he shattered me. I didn't know when Fleur and Cora came to my side.

A hand was placed on my shoulder, I looked at them with my blurry eyes. I ran to the washroom, I couldn't take it anymore, my wolf was howling in pain. I barged in there and cried. Fleur was trying to soothe me, but the pain was too much. Suddenly, Cora hugged me, that time we both cried for our love, we both cried for being unwanted mates.

You are worthless

You are weak

No one wants you

Putting my hands over my ears, I tried blocking those voices. I'm not worthless. Tears streamed through my eyes as everything played before my eyes. No no.

Opening my eyes, I took a deep breath and wiped my tears away. I decided to go back. I'm not weak, and I won't give him the satisfaction, either. Fleur and Cora weren't sure, but I made them.

The whole auditorium was packed with students. Soft music was playing and couples were dancing to the rhythm of the music. Xavier and Jessica, we're in the middle. Her hands were placed on his shoulder while he was around her waist, dragging her towards his chest.

They were swaying with the music, looking into each other eyes with adoration. A soft smile was playing on his face. His eyes were sparkling with love and affection, just for her. This made me wonder, will he ever look at me like that? I smiled at that because I knew the answer to that.

“May, I have the pleasure of dancing with a beautiful girl,” A guy approached me. I was reluctant because I wanted my first dance to be with my mate. I glanced towards them, to see Jessica had now placed her head on his chest and his eyes were closed.

I placed my hand in his hand and he led me towards the dance floor. We stood in the middle, I placed my hands on his shoulder while he placed his hands on my waist. We slowly swayed to the music.

“I'm not that good at dancing," I said quietly, embarrassed. I was trying my best not to step on his foot.

“ It's alright, just follow my lead," he said softly after seeing my efforts. After a few minutes, I was doing quite well. He was a nice guy.

“My name's Ava, but you can call me Sapp," I introduced myself shyly. He smiled.

“I'm Noah,” he said with his charming smile, but there was a certain loneliness in his eyes. We were making small talk and laughing, he was so easy to talk to. Total sweetheart.

My eyes unconditionally darted towards Xavier, to see he was already looking in our direction. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes had changed to a darker shade. He was livid, his eyes were stuck on Noah's hand on my waist. I don't understand why he was behaving this way.

“Dear students, may I have your attention please, welcome to the Valentine's party!! This year's celebration will be a little different. The couples on the dance floor will change their partners with every changing song. Enjoy! The teacher announced and students cheered.

Soon music started playing and couples started dancing. With every new song, the girls were rolled to the next guy. I danced with five guys.

The song was changed, and I was rolled to someone. Due to the force, I landed on his chest. Sparks erupted in my whole body, and my wolf purred. My eyes shot open, only to see the mesmerizing eyes of my mate. I tried to step away from him, but I was yanked back to his hard chest.

He placed my hand on his shoulder wrapped his around my waist and swayed to the rhythm. He twirled me around. My back was touching his chest, my wolf was going crazy. My heartbeat increased. I was trembling in his arms. He hugged me from the back.

We were dancing when my eyes found Noah, he was dancing with Jessica. A strange glint in his eyes. A sharp pain in my neck made me hiss. I looked at Xavier, shocked, did he just bite me? But he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at Noah.

Soon the song ended, and everyone went away from the dance floor, Xavier slowly let me go but not before hugging me one last time and whispering, “Be careful mate, I'm not good with Sharing.”

Jessica looked towards me, and then to Xavier. She placed her hand on his cheek and moved his head in our direction. She placed her lips on his and kissed him. Xavier was not responding for a second, but then he started kissing her with such force while looking directly at me.

I couldn't take this anymore, I fled from there. I ran and ran, outside the school premises. I came to the lake, this place was so calming yet so beautiful. I sat there and cried. My heart was shattering, I broke down there. While crying, I heard the sound of leaves cracking, I got alert and slowly turned around to see…