I squeezed my chest tightly. The excruciating pain, as if stabbed by dozens of daggers, made me freeze. There was a bright red thread still tied tightly around my wrist, and I couldn't understand why it was there. There was nothing there before, and after meeting Dexton, it just appeared.
Rona had said that we would be bound to our mate's thread and that it would be cut off if we rejected him. However, why was this thing still attached and seemed to be getting stronger even though I already rejected Dexton?
"What happened, Shenna?" asked Mr. Levy as he examined my body, which was leaning stiffly against the back of the seat beside him. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"
I nodded weakly. Why did he care? Was he happy that I had rejected Dexton? What was wrong with him? Why did he force me to reject my mate? Did he really want to protect me? Or was there a hidden rivalry between him and Dexton, so destroying that guy's life was his main goal?
"It will be excruciating for a few days. However, you will survive. I'm sure."
"Why the hell are you so sure?! You're just an asshole who's happy on top of another asshole's misery. All men are the same bastard, just in different versions," I snapped—almost out of breath—which made me open my eyes and forget about the pain that had been tormenting my chest to shut my mouth. "Oh my! I'm—I'm sorry, Mr. Levy. I didn't mean to–"
He froze but then turned his body to refocus on the steering wheel he controlled with full concentration. His silence made me feel all wrong.
Was it wrong of me to think that men were all the same? Gerald, who I thought really loved me, betrayed me too. If he ended up hurting me and showing the same thoughts as everyone else that I didn't deserve to be accepted and loved, why wait for a few years?
I staggered to my room, ignoring Mr. Levy's call, which I could hear clearly. However, I no longer seemed to have the energy for any negotiation. I'd already done what Mr. Levy told me to do—reject Dexton—and I'd had enough.
"Meet me in the study after you change. I have something to discuss with you," Mr. Levy said, to which I only responded with a nod. Once and for all, I did as he asked and was now in the modern classic-style room, sitting across from him as if we were having a meeting to discuss a client issue that had gone unresolved.
I waited for him to speak, though he just looked at me with a look I didn't understand.
"Are we just going to stand silent like this, sir? I have to do other things, and again, somehow communicating with Mr. Elmer has become the most tiring thing," I said casually, not sounding scared or stuttering as usual. Actually, I was just trying. Wouldn't Mr. Levy hate to hear me stammer?
"Are you sure you rejected him correctly?"
"Is there a right and wrong rule for rejecting a mate? I did it the way I was supposed to. But..." The red thread was still tying my hands until now.
"No, there isn't. There are no specific rules. You're right. Since you've already rejected him, then I'll tell you some things that might be questions in your head about me and everything that happened to you so far." Here we go! This was the moment I'd been waiting for, and I had to confirm whether what I'd been experiencing was a dream or actually a reality that was really happening.
Imagining it as a dream felt real, but if I believed too much that it was all reality, Dexton was no longer afraid whenever he saw me. That meant I wasn't really dead.
"Have you ever experienced rising from the dead?" asked Mr. Levy. I shook my head after gasping for a long time at his question. Was this a prologue to the story he was going to tell later? Or... what? "That's what you experienced a while ago. And you came back from the dead because of me. So before I continue this story, ask or tell me what has been bothering you, and we'll see if there's a common thread between your story and mine."
***
What should I say? Telling the dream I had would definitely make Mr. Levy chuckle. I was just a lowly omega weighing 200 pounds, suffering from albino, which most people would say was a curse, without a wolf, so what else?
I didn't even have the heart to mention all my flaws. That alone was enough reason why it was strange that alpha and beta breeds like Dexton and Gerald would rape me. It just didn't make sense.
"Shenna? Why have you been ignoring my questions? You've been silent for almost an hour." Mr. Levy leaned closer to the table, noticeably getting closer to me, and instantly, I couldn't move as if frozen. "I can see you've been unsettled and thinking about something for some time now. You know, your duties after this are quite heavy. In addition to taking care of everything related to me, you must also start training with the other omegas. There will be no exceptions even if you are a newcomer."
"Thank you for accepting me, sir. That means a lot. In my pack..." No, no, no. I couldn't look back anymore. Let's speed things up. He was going to say that I had risen from the dead. I was intrigued enough to hear that part, but Mr. Levy insisted he wouldn't say it before I told him what had been bothering me for some time. "I had a nightmare."
This time, he straightened up, either surprised or ready to accept the rest of the story I was about to tell.
"Dexton and Gerald, my ex-fiancé, raped and killed me. Then next, I was in your room in a state that... I don't think I need to explain." My face heated up, and I tried to hide it in the other direction, but I couldn't shake my curiosity about how the man in front of me would react. He didn't look awkward at all. Didn't he find the night embarrassing?
"Why are you looking away? Are you ashamed of that night? The night we made love?" Oh, Moon Goddess... just hearing him say that word made the other side of me tremble, including the parts of my body that were not supposed to react. That night was the most embarrassing night of my life. And, of course, also the most lustful night I'd ever had.
"Don't you want me to talk about it? I'm afraid you'll feel I've crossed the line."
"Indeed. You crossed the line that night. However, it was my fault. They were going to rape you that night. But I took you away before that happened and messed up their plans and thoughts a bit," he said, which made me turn back and look at his face.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Do you remember when you were a teenager, and Dexton intended to harass you? I remember it was spring, and after they bullied you, Dexton saved you only to harass you. If I hadn't restrained myself to kill him back then, he and Gerald wouldn't have been able to rape you that night. And I didn't have to work twice to save you." What? Worked twice to save me? And how did he know the details of that incident?
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't understand what you're talking about. Were you the man in the hoodie who saved me back then?" He nodded. "Then why were you never seen after that? I even thought all this time that Gerald was the one. Your postures are similar. Even your body scent—oh, I'm such a fool."
"Yes, you really are a fool. I was quite surprised when I found out that you were in a relationship with Gerald. However, since I saw everything was fine, I didn't act. I'm sorry for fucking you that night. It wasn't because I wanted your virginity as Dexton wanted; it was to save you—though, of course, it was still unjustified."
"Wait, wait. I'm dizzy from your story, sir. What are you talking about?"
For the first time, Mr. Levy, which I thought, unconsciously took my hand and squeezed it gently. A strange feeling ran through my body, giving me a thrill I could hardly express. He looked at me with a pair of hazel eyes and succeeded in making me unable to move.
"I have the ability to travel through time, Shenna. I realized that ability right at twenty and saw how they bullied you. I always used it to watch over you from a distance until one day, when I found out you were in a relationship with Gerald, I decided to stop. However, I suddenly woke up one day to find you lifeless in my bed. This was a conspiracy. So I decided to go back to the night before your death, render you unconscious, and fuck you to prevent Dexton's evil intentions towards you."