Chapter 108
Clementine:
His lips wrapped around mine, his hands holding my face in place. For a moment, I couldn’t even respond. Instead, my hands gripped the corners of his open jacket. My eyes closed as he pressed his lips harder against mine. The way his lips moved over my mouth made my knees weak. But it wasn’t long before I started to pull away once I realized what we were doing.
“Troy,” I said as I pushed him gently. Once he noticed my struggle, he let go. “What are you doing?” I asked, trying to steady my breathing. He just stared at my face silently before snapping out of it and looking around.
“What was that?” I demanded. “You can’t just kiss me and act like nothing happened. This is a huge deal, I have two fated mates, and you are my ex-best friend.” I tightened my voice. “I need to know why you did that p>
“Don’t you already know?” He finally looked at me and snapped, his voice loud as hell. I had to motion for him to lower his voice before anyone else heard us.
Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and started dragging me out of the hallway toward the open ground, the place where we always meet to talk.
“Why? Why are we walking away? What do you want to say to me?” I complained but didn’t try to pull away. I wanted to leave the room too. If Haiden or Ian saw us talking, it would cause problems.
Once we arrived at the area next to the bars, he let go of me. One hand went to his waist while the other pinched the bridge of his nose. I noticed the anxiety in his body and felt worried, I didn’t want him to do something stupid.
“Now, will you tell me? What do I know?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest, trying to sound stern even though I was still avoiding the fact that my ex-best friend had just kissed me. I never thought he’d do something like that.
“First the professor, then Yorick, then Haiden. Why?” he asked, making me frown in confusion.
“Professor Sawyer? Did you seriously think I had a crush on him? Like I would even pursue anything with him? Sure, I talked about him all the time because he used to take care of me, but there was nothing weird going on between us.” I started to yap, as if the frustration had been building inside me for so long that I needed to explain. That rumor was disgusting to me.
“No, Clementine, it wasn’t just you being grateful. The way you spoke about him, the way you wrote about him in your diary—with all the details about how he acted, moved, and talked—it did seem like a crush,” he said, grunting. I sighed deeply and shook my head, zoning out.
“Fine. Even if I was impressed with him, I was only 15, Troy. Did you seriously think I was planning to grow up, pursue him, and marry a man who was already engaged? And why are you bringing him up now? What do Yorick and Haiden have to do with you?” I asked, frustrated by his behavior.
He put both hands on his waist, staring at me like I was some crazy creature.
“Why is it always somebody else?” he asked. I braced myself to argue until he added, “Why not me?” Then silence fell between us.
I couldn’t even process what I’d just heard. I stared at his face, and after about ten seconds, I narrowed my eyes.
“Wait, what do you mean?” I asked, lost and confused.
“What do I mean? Are you that naive? Don’t you know? Why is it that you get to be with everyone, you’ve made bonds with two alphas, but whenever it comes to me, I’m just a friend p>
That night, he was bold, asking questions without hesitation or beating around the bush. He was completely open, questioning me.
“I don’t get it. Do you want to be the one?” I asked, hoping he was just angry because he used to be my friend. Friends sometimes get jealous.
But then he surprised me by openly dismissing my excuse with one simple word, “Yes.” That’s how he made clear what he wanted.
“Troy, we’ve been friends forever until you broke that friendship. I don’t know where all this is coming from. Is it just because of the Alpha ego?” He hushed me, pointing a finger at me.
“Don’t bring that Alpha ego to me. You know that’s not the case. And that’s exactly why, and the fact that you don’t even know this, it hurts me so much.” He pointed at his chest. His eyes started to turn red with tears.
“All these years, you only saw me as a friend. I waited and waited for you to realize that while you were crushing on others, I was crushing on you,” he said, his lips quivering slightly. His jaw clenched, and so did his fists as he confessed his feelings.
Right then, my eyes started to get teary too. That was a lot coming from Troy.
“You had a crush on me?” I asked, a lump rising in my throat.
He nodded, smiling through the pain. “And the Moon Goddess was cruel enough to put us back in the same dorm, just to show me you’d be with others—even though you’re the first she-wolf in history to have two mates. I could never have that. I should’ve never come back from the North p>
His words were too heavy to swallow. He was making big claims, big accusations, and big decisions, confessing his feelings to me, blaming the Moon Goddess, and saying he wanted to stay in the dangerous North, all for me. It was something I never imagined.
“And of course, you have nothing to say.” He nodded, stepping back.
“I’m such an idiot. Even after you betrayed me, I kept falling for you,” he said louder as he walked backward, the wind mixing with his voice. I just stared at him, watching him go.
“Just forget it,” he said, waving his hand before turning around, defeated, and heading back to the room while I stayed where I was.
“Why don’t you tell him?” Mint spoke up.
“Tell him what?” I asked, a single tear rolling down my cheek.
“Why not tell him that all this time, when we were friends with him, we had a crush on him, and we thought he would never fall for us?” she confessed.
I couldn’t bring myself to say it to him. I wasn’t as brave as Mint, and things were about to get really complicated, especially with three of my squadmates openly showing interest in me.