[01]

AUTUMN:

Fifteen years ago...

Autumn was only 8 years old...

We sprawled on the grass. The three of us. Maddox. Hugh. And me. All of us were catching our breaths, after running for a long time in the forest. It was fun and exhilarating at the same time. Maddox said it would be more fun if we had our wolves, but we had not reached our eighteenth birthday, yet so there were no signs of it.   

"That was fun," Hugh declared, the eldest among us being ten years old. But he did not look like ten years old. He had a huge body and daddy said that he would become a fine alpha with all the muscles and genes he had. Between Maddox and him, he was the tallest with the rest of us and the leader of the among us. 

"If we had our wolves, then, we would be faster than we ran using our feet," Maddox stated. He was one year younger than Hugh was. Two years older than me. But still, it did not stop us from forming a bond.  

I did not know how our friendship started, but daddy said that it had something to do with our parents. With my dad being one of the finest warriors in the pack. He was my idol and one day, I would be as fine as him. I will follow his footsteps.

Daddy said I had some potential. Which I did not understand. 

"One day, I will also become your alpha and you two will bow down before me,” Hugh said proudly. “I will inherit my Dad's position.”

Giggling, I said, "And I will be your Luna and will be your bodyguard. I will be one of your warriors, Hugh."

"No. You will be my mate, Autumn," Maddox declared, snatching my hands.  “No, you’re not going to endanger your life like that. It is the duty of the men to protect you. Not the other way around. I will always protect you, Autumn, because you will be my mate.”

A low growl escaped from Hugh's lips. "No! She is mine!"

Giggling even more, I said, "No one's going to have me because the three of us are friends. Friends are not like that. We will get old and we will always have each other’s back. We will not fight because we understand each other." 

"I want you to be my Luna, Autumn," Hugh declared, with certainty. “I will become strong to protect you.”

"No. She's going to be my mate. I already told Dad about this, Hugh. Dad said he is fine with it. She likes Autumn too, as do our playmates.”

“Mommy and Daddy like it too when we play together.” Still smiling, I said, "Let's promise to be with each other through thick and thin. That no one will leave someone behind." Extending my hand, I waited until the two would accept mine. “We must honor our promise, alright?”

They hesitated at first. They were very vocal when it came to wanting me as a mate. However, Daddy would scold me for thinking things about that when I am still eight years old. He said that it is time to have a mate if my wolf has already resurfaced. 

"I promised to take care of you for the rest of my life," Hugh declared. 

"I promise it, too," Maddox said. “Nothing will change among us, Autumn. Nothing.”

-------

AUTUMN:

Present time…

My heart had been pounding like crazy as I waited for Maddox, my childhood friend to say something, while my wolf was waiting in anticipation. 

“I will be your mate, Autumn,” I remembered what Maddox had promised me back when we were children.

Would he honor his promise now?

‘Are you kidding me? Why would he when he never acknowledged you. Remember when your parents died? Hugh and Maddox never played with you again. They left you and when they saw you, they pretended as if they did not see you,’ Trisha, my wolf muttered. 

‘Yeah. But maybe they were only following their parent’s orders. They don’t want to associate with someone like me. Still, I believe that this is the right time that Maddox will be honoring our promise. He said that he wanted me to be his mate. So there’s no way that he…’

“Are you listening?” Maddox asked, and found him staring down at me. Oh. Did I forget that he was already the beta of Sunny Pack while Hugh became the alpha. They had achieved so much in life while me? I was stuck here with my position as the omega of the pack.

I did not take it against them. I understand that they were only following their parent’s orders. 

Even if they already left me all alone, I was secretly happy with what they achieved in life. I was so proud of them that I wanted to congratulate them, but I feared if they would even acknowledge my presence? 

“Autumn.”

I blinked a couple of times when I heard him say my name from his lips. This was my first name after hearing him say my name after a long time. And it felt so fucking good that my wolf whimpered. 

Scanning the surroundings, it was then that I realized that I was holding a rug and that I was still dirty. I was cleaning the hallway when I caught a whiff of his scent. His amazing scent. 

“Autumn,” he called once again, forcing me back to reality. “Are you listening?”

It had been a couple of days when I realized the connection between us, but he was pretending as if he was not aware of it. And now, he was facing me.

Was he pressured to honor our promise or not?

Blinking a couple of times, I asked, “I’m sorry? Would you please say it again? I was not listening earlier. I am sorry, Beta Maddox.”

He heaved a long sigh and I could see that he was in a conflict.

'I have a bad feeling about this. You should brace yourself for something that would happen, Autumn,' my wolf warned.

'W-What do you mean? Maddox wanted us to be his mate. That was what he said when he was nine years old.'

My wolf rolled her eyes at me. ‘Do you hear yourself? He was only a child back then. He did not know anything about promises, Autumn. You move on from your past. How many times will I tell you about that? What a stubborn woman. That’s the reason why you keep on getting hurt, you know?’

‘Maddox is already a beta. He will honor his promise.’

Trisha looked up and her eyes were back at me. ‘You’re delusional.’

‘What do you think he would say? Do you think this has something to do with our connection?’

'I hoped I was wrong. I hoped this man would change his mind. I could sense that he is planning something.'

I internally panicked. ‘You think that he would…’

Oh, goodness. How could I think of those words? 

The seriousness of his face after knowing that we were mates was not helping me at all.

What if...

He promised, Autumn. Maddox is the type to honor his promise. Besides, he was already a beta now. He had a word of honor.

"I can see that we are mates now."

"Y-Yes. What about it?" I asked quietly. "Remember back when we were still kids? You said that you want me to be your—"

"We are no longer children, Autumn," he growled. "Those promises? Forget about them. We were only children at that time. We don't know what we are talking about. The same thing with the alpha. I came here to tell you about that."

Which meant including the mates thingy?

I stepped back, fear swallowing my chest. "What do you mean?" 

“Do I really have to say it out loud? You were not this stupid when we were children.”

Stupid.

Now, he was saying mean things to me for what? 

Because I was his mate and he could not accept it? 

“Beta Maddox…why are you doing this?”

“I don’t want to associate myself with you. It’s time to move on, Autumn. Forget about our childhood. That’s what we, Alpha Hugh and I had agreed.”

I shook my head. “Why are you doing this?”

His expression turned dark. “Are you this stupid that I had to spell it out for you? We no longer want to connect with you even if you are my mate.”

A single tear fell from my eyes.

“Is this something to do with my family? You also believed that I killed them?”

He stared at me for a long time and asked, “Are you capable of doing it?” 

Even if I defended myself, he would not believe me anyway. So I keep my mouth shut.  His expression tells it all. He did not care about my statement. He won’t listen to my reasons. 

It was better to let him do whatever he wanted. Whatever we had, it already ended when I killed my family. 

‘This man does not deserve you,’ Trisha stated.

‘He deserved someone else,’ I responded.

‘No. We deserve someone else. Remember that. You’r not going to lower yourself just because someone thought lowly of you, you hear me?’

I wished I was as brave as my wolf. 

Beta Maddox heaved a long breath.  “I, Maddox Barnes, reject Autumn Kim as my mate.”