The Dark Side Of Fate by Karima Sa'ad Usman

89 Come Back To Me

~Avery~

I looked at Max with his pleading eyes.

What was he doing in my booth? Was he crazy?

He walked to where I was, and I stood up and punched him right between the eyes.

Now I see why I dreamt of him last night.

Everything he did to me came rushing back to me, and I slapped him.

He did not say anything; he just stared and me with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"What do you want, Max? You are trespassing," I told him, and he went on his knees.

"Avery, I am sorry," He said, and I wondered what had gotten into him. Why was he telling me sorry? There was no word to describe what he did to me, so there shouldn't be a word to take it away.

"What do you want?" I asked him, and he bowed his head.

"I want you to come back to me, Avery," he said, and I could not believe this guy.

"Are you sick or something? How the fuck do you think I will come back to you after all you did to me because of Michelle?" I said, and he stood up.

"I am sorry, Avery. I later found out that she was lying. She wasn't pregnant, and you were not beating her. Doctor Alice said Michelle had never been pregnant in her life. All the miscarriages she claimed to have because you beat her were lies. I am sorry," he said, and I was shocked.

I wasn't shocked at what he said, but because he was stupid enough to not figure out she was lying about her pregnancy.

"I have scars to show for it, Max. Scars that would never heal on Mia's body. My body. How do you think that would make me feel?" I asked him, and he bowed his head in shame.

"I do not know what came over me, Ave. I lost it. I lost my mind," he said in tears, and I could not believe this psycho.

"You did it so much, Max. You did it every night. Every night you fought with Michelle, you came for me; whenever I refused to agree with your actions, you came for me. Whenever I did something you disagreed with, you came for me. I was your punching bag. Your rag. You maltreated me; anything is better than being with you," I said and looked at him in disbelief. Had he lost his mind?

"How could you even expect that I will leave someone who loves me wholeheartedly and fixed my broken soul? What made you think I would return to you? " I said, and he looked at me.

I knew he never expected it to come to this. He saw me as a commodity, an object. He even saw his fated like that, too. That was the only reason he requested a swap.

He thought it would be easy. He thought all men were like him and saw women as objects.

It was either that, or he had lost his mind completely.

"I am doing all this for you, Ave. I came here to humiliate myself, so I can see you. If you tell him to give you back, he will, and I will cherish you for the rest of my life. I will let you do whatever you like." he said and looked away.

"I have executed all the men that lied against you and banished their family members. That is how desperate I am," he said, and I laughed. I knew there was more to the story. I knew he wasn't telling me the entire truth.

"Not all of them, Max; can't say you dealt with all the men that hurt me when you are standing in front of me," I said, looking him straight in the eye, and he bowed his head.

"I will do more if you promise to tell Sidorov to send you back to me. There are many women out there for him, but you are meant for me. My life was better when you were in it. My world is coming apart without you, Avery. You are my lifeline. Please," he said, and I did not understand why he would want me back. He had his fated.

"You do not need me, Max. You have a mate," I told him, and he shook his head.

"What about Echo, Max? Does Echo not need his mate badly?" I asked, and he was ashamed of himself.

"Please, Avery," he said in tears. I knew he had no words to plead his case. So I looked him dead in the eyes to make my demands. Demands I knew he would not be able to deliver.

"Go and lock Michelle up in the garage and repeatedly beat the shit out of her wolf for three years.

Starve her and humiliate her over and over again.

Fuck her out of pity and let her know that is why you are fucking her; let her know you touched her because you can't let a wolf in heat roam about your house.

Degrade her and make her feel like shit.

Then, make her a spectacle to your men and pack members. Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Go and do that, then come back in three years," I said with a grin, and he bowed his head.

I had told him to do all he did to me to Michelle for the time he did it and return.

I knew he couldn't. He did not have that luxury of time, but those were my terms; an impossible task he could not achieve.

I wanted him to hear what being with him sounded like, and he knew.

He needed to hear what he did and how long he did it. He needed to see the extent of his wickedness toward me.

"My pack is in shambles, Avery. I will lose my pack if you do not come back. Michelle can't do shit.

I do not know how to handle the arsenal and the shelters.

Your food preservation schemes and safety schemes have died.

People are moving to Leo's pack, where the luna is active. Please.

That pack was left to me by my father. I can't lose it," Max confessed, and I realised why he wanted me back. The very reason he did not let me go.

"Let Michelle do it," I said.

"I will happily draft you a plan for old-time sake so she can have something to follow, but I am not coming back to you. I can have this conversation with you because I have moved on. I have healed. My heart is in the right place. I am getting married soon, and Marcel and I plan to start a family. I have too much going on for me here. I can't return to that hell hole. I will advise you to walk away," I told him, and he shook his head.

"You were mine. You will always be my Avery," I saw the possessive rage in his eye.

Where was it when he maltreated me for three years?

Where was it when he repeatedly chose Michelle and his men over me? Where was it when he hurt me to my soul?

"You know I didn't give you up. You told people I gave you up, but we both know what happened that day. You deliberately stopped fighting and let them overpower us. You knew I would have no choice but to let you go... You told everyone that cared to listen that I threw you to them like you didn't mean anything, yet we both know it was a lie," he said accusingly.

"I could not die for a pack that maltreated me and a man that destroyed me. I had to get away from the beating. It was a saving opportunity, and I took it.

I knew you wouldn't give Michelle to them, she claimed to be pregnant, so I knew you would give me up instead.

I was the useless Luna that wasn't your fated. Your biggest mistake," I said boldly, and he opened his eyes in shock.

He did not know I heard all the things he said about me.

"Yes, Max, I heard most of your love discussions with Michelle. How you found me repulsive. How you wished you never had to fuck me again. How you only sleep with me when I am in heat out of pity. How you wished you waited for her," I said and hearing me say those words brought tears to my eyes.

"Where was Echo when I met you?" I asked him because we had known each other before we got our wolves.

He was two years older than me, but it didn't matter. I had known him since I was fourteen years old.

We didn't date until I was sixteen.

Max never touched me until we married when I turned eighteen, and I got my wolf. I was twenty-six now, and he was twenty-eight.

"In those passionate nights with Michelle, you made all the time we spent together, all the memories we had and shared into nothing. You made it seem like nothing and claimed to regret it, so should I return it to you? You had used your words to cancel every ounce of affection I had left for you. You took it away every time I heard you say those things to her Max, so I will ask you nicely to leave before my mate returns. He isn't patient, just like me, and he won't take your proximity lightly," I warned him, and he stared at me, speechless. I guess he did not think things through as always. He had acted on impulse.

"Go home to Michelle and build a life with her," I told him, and he bowed his head and then looked at me.

Something he always did when he had something difficult to say.

"She is dying, Avery. That was how I found out she had never been pregnant. She has a few months to live," he said, and I realised Karma had caught up with them. I guess their forever will never be. He threw away a love he had for twelve years for something fleeting.

"Answer me this, Ave," he said to me.

"If you were not with Marcel, would you have come back to me?" He asked me, and it was only fair that I tell him the truth.

"No, Max. I would never. I would have remained a sex slave or a servant in the north. I would have chosen that life over being with you. I stopped loving you a long time ago, Max. I stopped caring.

I had become numb, so it was easy for me to forget you. Go back home and spend time with your woman. There is nothing for you here," I said, and he began to weep.

Max should have Listened to me and left the booth when I had told him to because I saw Marcel advancing towards our booth with rage in his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me that bastard was here? Someone had to link me that a man was disturbing you in the booth," Marcel Linked me approaching, and I knew Max was in big trouble.

Marcel got into the booth, and Max turned to face him, only for Marcel to knock him to the ground and bash his head with his booth repeatedly. I had never seen Marcel with so much anger before.

"You fucking prick. What do you want with my mate! Haven't you done enough? Why can't you leave her the fuck alone?" He said, kicking Max on the floor.

"Marcel, please stop," I said, close to tears because Max wasnt fighting him. I had a feeling that Max did not mind dying by his hand.

"He is a broken man; leave him alone," I pleaded with my mate, but Jax, his wolf, was in charge.

"Jax, please, leave him alone; his mate is dying. Please," I said, close to tears. I was afraid, and everyone was looking at our booth.

Jax looked at me and then stopped. Max remained on the ground, coughing.

"You are not fit to be Alpha, you fucking bastard," Jax roared at him, and the pressure of his command was much. I never knew that Marcel could be this angry.

"Stay away from my mate. You had your chance, and you blew it. I know all that happened and all you did, and you are lucky I did not come for your pack. Get the fuck out of my booth!" Marcel yelled, and I saw Leo approach us.

Was he watching all along? But then again, the eastern booth wasn't far from ours, and they could easily see what was happening in our booth from across the field.

"Please forgive him, Sir Sidorov," Leo said humbly and helped his friend. Max refused his help and got up himself. I could see that he had given up, not just on me but on everything.

"Watch him, Leo; he isn't in the right frame of mind," I told Leo, and he nodded at me and walked away with Max.

If anyone told me the first day I met Max, this was how our story would end. I would say it was a lie, but fate had dealt us a dark card, and his love was not pure enough to see us through.