Chapter 21
Clementine:
“Okay, guys, listen,” Yorick took the spotlight as soon as we entered the dorm room. He rushed in front of us and turned to face us. “This is our mission. Let’s go one by one, and focus on coming back alive. All five of us p>
I would’ve loved to agree with him, if only one of them wasn’t staring at me with a smirk on his lips.
“And I mean all five of us. Right, Clementine?” Yorick drawing attention to me made me square up, not to fight, just for the debate.
“Maybe tell yourself that. You Alphas have been on my back ever since I arrived,” I said, and for the first time, they didn’t come at me for speaking my mind.
That wasn’t odd. I wasn’t a child.
They were doing it for the sake of the first mission. None of us really knew how much teamwork would matter once we were out there. So any help would be great.
“I’m not interested in speaking with her,” Of course Haiden wasn’t. I didn’t care about him either. But unfortunately, the Moon Goddess thought I should.
I felt a different kind of vibe whenever he was in view now. And I blame the mate bond for it. But it won’t be an issue in the long run. Once two fated mates hate each other, they can disobey the pull of the mate bond and despise each other.
So once that bond cracks from our constant bickering and hate, I’ll finally be free of these feelings.
A knock on the door was all we needed to break the ice. Yorick rushed to check, thinking it must be a Lurker, and he was right. But the Lurker hadn’t come here to invite us to join him. He carried some bags as he walked in. Asking him any questions wouldn’t get us answers, so we silently watched him place the bags down and leave.
Once he was gone, Troy jumped up to check the bags.
“There’s a note,” Troy said, showing it to us.
I remained behind while the three of them checked the bags. Ian didn’t seem too bothered either. He was staring at me.
Someone please give this man a job so he’ll leave me alone for once.
“Crusaders, these are some uniforms I’ve been preparing for my squad. I think I’ve perfected them. You can’t fight in shorts, can you? Please pick whichever suits your style and join me in the hall again after an hour—Your Ringleader, Rue p>
Troy read the note, and that’s when Haiden and Yorick started fighting over a bag.
“There are four bags. Come on, pick any,” Troy complained, watching the two huff and grunt, fixating on one bag for far too long before Yorick finally let it go.
Sometimes, Haiden reminded me of a child no one wants at their birthday party.
They pulled some outfits out of the bags and after examining them, they picked what they desired. I was not sure what was in store for me because I truly loved what I wore.
They all seemed satisfied, until the last bag came into question. I walked among them, approached the bag, and unzipped it.
They were all staring at me as I stared at the uniforms.
“What is this?” I wasn’t happy. It’s not that she hadn’t put her heart into the outfits, I could tell she had, especially for the female crusader. But the fact was, they were all well-fitted and dramatically gorgeous. The kind of thing other students would look good in, but not me. Not so much.
I’ve never worn tight clothes. I’m not even sure I’d feel comfortable in them. And then—there was the fact that it wasn’t my style either.
“Someone’s going to cry today when the outfits don’t fit,” Haiden commented as he walked away toward the bathroom.
“Maybe she should work on her confidence, and her body—more,” came from Yorick.
I grunted under my breath. I was seriously done wrong.
I hated every minute of it. I watched them leave for the bathroom one by one while I stayed in the room, feeling so annoyed.
There were three outfits in front of me, and I wasn’t even sure which one would make me feel the least uncomfortable.
One even has a tiniest skirt that would expose my butt entirely with teeny tiny panties underneath. They seemed more like something a fashion icon would wear when doing an adventure movie than a crusader would when fighting monsters.
“See you later, potato,” Haiden joked, leaving the room with the others. I took a deep breath and got up from the bed. I watched them walk away. I had been so caught up in my own worries that I didn’t pay attention to what they were wearing. All I could think of them was three towering men, broad and buff wearing clothes that made them look like models.
’We must check out their outfits later,’ Mint commented, trying to ease me up after I have exhausted myself with countless thoughts.
’Clem, we’ve already attracted a mate, or at least a mate bond. I don’t think dressing any certain way will change anything anymore. If anything, dressing like we do is probably getting us more attention than dressing normally like the other cool girls.’ Mint tried to comfort me with some sense.
Mint was right. The reason I always wore baggy clothes was because I didn’t want attention, but somehow, I got a lot of it anyway. Even if it wasn’t the positive attention, I still got it.
And now, I had no choice but to change my preferences, and probably my outfit too.
I closed my eyes and picked one and went into the bathroom to change.
When I came out, I put my hat on, so at least something would still feel like me.
Once I stepped out of the room, I realized everyone had already been introduced. Which made things even worse because now I would be introduced in front of every single fucking person in the academy.