Avalon's Revenge

Beautiful?

AVALON

It never came, the pain. I waited, eyes closed and heart pounding, but it just never did, which did nothing but confuse me.

Anytime I waited for the pain, it always came, but not this time. Why was that?

One second I was waiting. The next second I heard someone yelp and by the time my eyes fluttered open, Renee was already halfway across the living room. She bumped right into their Uncle and Asher stood with his chest moving up and down, his breathing hard. It was clear his wolf had taken complete control.

“I will f*****g end you without breaking a sweat if you so much as touch my mate again...” He growled, scaring me as much as he scared her.

Renee whimpered where she was, straightening her dress while their Uncle held her still.

Asher hadn’t said much to me but here he was defending me from their fiancé. He wasn’t easy to read like his brother, Merrick was and a part of him reminded me a lot about Sebastian and how cruel he could be and was to me. It was the scariest thing.

Asher isn’t abusive, is he? A question reigned in my mind for a full second.

Merrick didn’t wait this time for anyone to say anything before taking my hand and pulling me somewhere. I got to realize it was the garden when we arrived.

The walk this time was not as long as the first when I was taken to my room.

Merrick exasperatedly sighed, before turning to face me. I could see that he was trying to calm himself down right now. And while he didn’t look like he was blaming me for what happened back there, he was because I had left my room. But how else was I supposed to speak to them when I didn’t have their contact?

“Why...” He took one more breath in. “You were supposed to be resting, Ava. Why were you out of your room? If Asher and I were far off from you,” he paused, took another breath before letting out an audible sigh.

I lowered my eyes to the floor. “I’m sorry if I caused you any trouble Merrick.” The first thing I had to teach myself in my past life when someone was upset with me was to apologize before anything else and that was exactly what I was trying to do now. “But I had something to speak to you two about that’s why...” Please don't hit me.

I paused for a moment, waiting to see his reaction. Merrick placed both hands on my shoulder, looking genuinely concerned about me. He didn’t have to say anything to get my heart to race. It just did.

“I need a job...” I blurted before the ounce of confidence I had ran miles away from me. His brows knitted, confused. So I decided to better explain myself. “I don’t own anything, not even a tiny piece of cloth and I cannot have my revenge with nothing. So if it’s okay with you and your brother, could you lend me some money? I promise I’ll pay you back with interest.”

Merrick said nothing but his brows relaxed. My heart was pumping hard as I waited for a response. His hands dropped from touching me, and he leaned against the wall close to him. All his movements, his eyes never left mine.

I got uneasy really quickly, not knowing what to expect and what he was going to say and that made me think that maybe this was the wrong approach, or perhaps it was too fast to ask such kinds of things.

He wasn’t thinking I was a gold digger, was he? I couldn’t help but ask myself, feeling insecure.

He was holding a smile I didn’t know if I should be worried about or not. Sebastian always had one, even when he was angry, and I learned quickly not to trust the expressions on his face because somehow the expression and the actions always turned out the opposite of each other.

He could be stone angry with me and have a smile. That meant that I could die by his hands. And other times, he would hold a frown and be as loving as a mate should be. It was really confusing.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I threw him a question, feeling my heart rate increase from being stared down. “Do I have something on my face?”

He shook his head and I thought, finally, a reaction.

“You’re so freaking beautiful...”

I almost lost it. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding while waiting for his answer and I took a harsh one in, couching in the process. “Excuse me?” I managed to croak out once the cough died down.

He was joking, wasn’t he?

“I’m not lying to you, Avalon. You’re absolutely beautiful. I’m surprised that you don’t know.” He answered with a smiling tugging the corner of his lips.

My face heated up in an instant, but a part of me didn’t believe him. Sebastian was the only man I had ever been with. And all the years I had spent with him, he made sure from the moment we met to tell me how ugly I was until I believed him.

Merrick lifted his hand towards my face and I flinched, backing away and shutting my eyes expecting a hit. Instead, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ears ever so gently, taking advantage of the mate bond to calm my racing heart. Goddess.

“You have nothing to worry about, Ava.” He whispered like he could read my mind or hear the thumping of my heart. “Not about anyone hurting you, or anything at all. You’re perfectly safe here. Asher and I will never allow anyone to hurt you...” This was the calmest anyone had ever spoken to me too. Not to mention the way that he was looking at me. Like I mattered to him. “... And above all, what is ours,” he slipped his other hand in his pocket and fished out a platinum card and held it up. “...is yours as well.”

He pushed himself off the wall and leaned in to peck my cheek. Once again, my cheeks reddened a crimson shade but this time, my knees almost buckled under me.

He winked at me, then walked away, leaving me alone. It took me a few heartbeats of smiling sheepishly to myself before I snapped out of it.

This was not what I should be doing if revenge was my goal.

“Get it together Ava.” I mumbled to myself, squared my shoulders and turned around, ready to leave as well. Only to come face to face with Asher’s cold expression.

My heart dropped at the sight of him, making the card slip out of my hand. What was his problem? He was my mate as well, but he always acted as though he hated me. Did he? Does he hate me?

We shared a look for a split second before he turned around and walked away, and I was once again left alone.

“What is his problem?”