[02]

AUTUMN:

Beta Maddox and my eyes met. Then, he opened his mouth, but I could not make out what he was saying. The woman who was kicking me suddenly dispersed and ran away. 

In a blink of an eye, he was suddenly in front of me and helped me get up. His mouth opened, but I could not hear anything. 

‘Mate,’ Trisha whispered.

Images of our childhood resurfaced of him promising me to take me as his mate and rejecting anyone if it was not me.

This time, this was no longer our decision, but the Moon Goddess herself.

Did the Moon Goddess pitied me this time?

“Autumn,” he called, glancing at the surroundings. We were in the secluded part of the pack house, where only a few would pass. This was the part of the house going to the utility room where it was also rumored to be housing a lot of ghosts.

Beta Maddox helped me stand and nearly released me when we both felt the strong flow of electricity when our skin contacted.

It was undeniable and without a doubt he was my mate.

Finally.

“You are my mate,” he acknowledged. I nodded. “Can you stand alone?”

I nodded again, even if I was still in pain. It will take a couple of minutes before Trisha will heal me completely.

Beta Maddox released me automatically as if he was dying to do that. 

He released a couple of breaths as he continued staring at me.

He looked so good right now. He rarely visited Sunny Pack since he and Hugh were focused on training to become warriors so that they would be able to lead the pack well. That was the very reason why I only found out about our connection. 

We are mates.

The pain felt like they were subsiding.

“Follow me. We need to talk,” he declared. I did not want to get affected by how his voice turned cold after showing me a glimpse of how concerned he was. 

I was about to pick my cleaning materials when he said, “Leave them. This conversation will be quick. You need to change. You smell of dust and dirt,” he spat. “Follow me. Be quick.”

He seemed to forget that I was still in pain. “Where are we going,Beta Maddox?”

“An omega does not question her beta. All you do is follow. You hear me?”

‘Do what he said,’ Trisha exclaimed.

He started walking and I just followed him while my heart was pounding like crazy.

He walked to the deeper part of the packhouse where only a few would go.

We stopped in the corner of the third floor  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? I asked in anticipation. 

He saved me from those bitches earlier. So it might mean something, right? 

‘Are you kidding me? Why would you mean something to him 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, muttered. 

Yeah. She was completely different from the other she-wolves. Let’s just say that she was more practical and realistic compared to me. 

‘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. 

I blinked a couple of times while admiring him openly. He was already the beta of Sunny Pack while Hugh became the alpha. They had achieved so much in life. They became successful in their own fields. I heard that the two both took up business in some prestigious universities while me? I was stuck here with my position as the omega of the pack.

While they were both achieving all their dreams, I was stuck in Sunny 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 leaning on the dusty wall and that I was still dirty. 

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

It had been a couple of days when I noticed the connection between us. I wanted to confirm it, but there was never a time when we had time for each other. He was always busy. Or maybe he noticed it, too, 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. I am still enduring the pain from earlier.”

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. He said he would reject his mate if it was another woman.’

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. I have been debating about it a couple of times."

Which meant including the mates thingy?

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

Maybe Trisha was right earlier.

“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. Earlier, he saw my pathetic side. The bullied of the pack. If others found out about our connection, our packmates would laugh at us. 

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

‘He deserved someone else,’ I responded. ‘I am weak.’

‘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. I’m sorry, Autumn. But it’s time to move on from the past.”