EMBER's POV

I stared at my phone as it rang for the umpteenth time. I didn't need to check the caller ID to know who it was. It was the same person it had been, the past couple of days, and my feelings remained unchanged. I did not want to speak to Paris.


I didn't want to listen to the lies, nor did I want to have my emotions dragged. He was capable of doing both. I was more than happy to live without the two.

So I stared at my phone while it rang one more time, and when I'd had enough, I turned the phone upside down and got up to walk away from the phone.

"Paris again?" Axel asked when he stepped into the room and heard it ringing and I nodded,


"somewhat unrelenting, he is. It would have been romantic, to be honest. If the man wasn't so damn good at hurting me, every chance he gets."

"let him stew, then."


I looked at the phone that had gone quiet and shrugged, "did you need something?" I asked, looking back at my brother.

"yes. I wanted to speak to you about the vandals."

"The-” I looked at him in confusion, "you know about that?"

"not, nearly enough. I know William's men were after them, I know that they got away." he made a face after that, "I know I know about the little 'misunderstanding.'"

I shook my head, "William tells you a whole lot more than I expect him to."

"I'm his whole world," Axel said in a matter-of-fact tone and I rolled my eyes,

"so, the vandals… what about them?"

"We found them. But the thing is, some of them are a part of our pack."

"really. " I said and turned away from the window to look at him closely, "is there something you want me to do about it?"

"I was wondering if part of your project included youth reformation."

I snorted, "youth reformation?"

"Long shot?"

"not entirely. I sort of focused on sending youths back to school, even destitute ones, but youth reformation was never the main vision. But I suppose, sending them to school is actually a way to achieve reformation. But the last thing I'd want to do is send someone to a school whether he or she would only be a menace to the ones around them. So I only ever took on people who were interested, the ones who had no one to see them through, that kind of thing."

"Then how about you consider partnering with William on a reform project? He's been talking on and off about it. I might have taken it up with him, but this seems to be more your fort than mine."

"you want me to take on destitute… and reform them?" I asked blankly and Axel nodded slowly,

"I figure that you have your own fair share of anger you might be feeling that will give you the iron hand you need with these people. It is also bound to provide the outlet you need for your emotions. And all."

"How thoughtful." I said, my voice devoid of emotions and I looked at my phone which had begun ringing again, "Indeed though, it just might be the thing that both I and those vandals might be needing."

PARIS's POV

I tossed my phone to the side of the bed, because for the thousandth time, I had called Ember, and for the thousandth time, she was ignoring me. It might have been a comfort if she had simply kept ending the call, then I'd know that she was actually acknowledging the way my ID popped up on my phone. But she didn't do that. Instead, she let it ring and ignored me to no end.

"damn it!." I swore and fought the urge to take out my anger on a vase

"It's becoming worrisome how often you make calls to Ember….even embarrassing," Kate said, picking up my phone and looking at it.

I ran a hand over my hair in aggravation and turned to look at Kate.

"We're partners for a project she's working on," I said and stretched out my hand to her, so that she gave me back my phone, but she didn't budge,

"you manage a lot of things, Paris. I've never seen you so worked up over them. Not even when there's a level of truancy among the workers. You deal with it with your strength and authority and move the hell on. I don’t see you trying to deal with Ember with either strength or authority. I don't see you trying to move the hell on. What I see is a man pining over a woman who won’t give him the time of her day. Aren't you tired of making me suffer?"

I sighed and took a long look at her,

"you know what? " I said and nodded, "I think I actually am and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to actually do something about it," I said and rose,

"what are you-"

"Kate, I Alpha Paris, reject you as my mate." there, I'd said it, and the world didn't fall apart.

Nothing happened to the world around us, but something was definitely happening to the world within Kate. I watched as her eyes grew dark, and her hands balled into fists,

"you've simply been dying to do this one, haven't you?"

"Kate. You just spoke about how I'm always making you suffer. It's because I know longer wish to see you suffer, that's why I'm doing this. I'm incapable of loving you the right way. I'm incapable of loving you the way you deserve."

"Oh, bollocks to all that. You're incapable of loving me? No, Paris. You're incapable of letting Ember go. That woman has a profound hold on you."

"I'm not disputing that. In fact, I think you might actually have a point. It's because I know you have a point, that I need to do this."

"no."

"What?"

"If Ember has any kind of hold on you, then you should know that you have a hold on me. I'm not letting you reject me, Paris. Neither am I rejecting you in turn. "

"Kate, please don’t do this. You're only going to make this hard."

"I don’t care. I really don’t give a damn. I truly believe Ember has you locked in a spell. She wears a moonstone around her neck, have you noticed? We can undo it."

She was babbling, I could tell, and I hated myself profoundly for causing her the amount of pain I seemed to have been causing her. But what could I do? This was the only way. In the end, she was bound to be happier without me in her life.

"Kate." I reached out to take her hands in mine, but she withdrew, and my hands fell to my side,

"I'm not rejecting you. I'm not letting you reject me," she said, jutting her chin out toward me, her eyes fierce, "so you'll just have to deal with that." with her eyes set, and her hands balled at her side, she turned away from me, and angrily walked out of the room we shared.

I swear it was hard seeing her that way, but I was tired of lying. To her and to myself. At the very least, once the pain of all of this was over, there could be healing. There could be starting over, whether or not Ember finally decided to forgive me. Although, I know this was something I should do right from the very start. It was wrong of me to have waited this long to do something about it. Perhaps if I had been a little bit more early with this decision, I would still have a future with Ember.

Nevertheless. Better late than never. Right?

But I couldn’t even answer my own question. At the very least, I no longer had to deal with the guilt of not being enough for Kate. But then again, something still didn't feel right about the situation with her. First of all, there was the fact that she had refused to accept my rejection, much less reject me in turn. Then there was the fact that she was angry, I had never seen her so angry, nor her eyes so cold, and it made me worry about something going wrong.