Chapter 235
Clementine:
Few Years Ago:
“He went out to discuss a few things with his father and the council, but if you want, you can stay here in the guest room and wait for his return, Troy’s stepmother offered, handing me a glass of water.
“Um, it’s alright, thank you,” I replied, stepping back, ready to head home.
I had come to speak with him. He told me a few hours ago that his father had called a meeting and said he was going to make him the Alpha.
I knew what it meant for Troy. He must be overjoyed with excitement. So I wanted to meet him personally and congratulate him.
I even brought him a cake and cupcakes. I baked them myself for the first time, though I knew they weren’t shaped well.
I wasn’t really a good cook. This was actually the first time I had even stepped into a kitchen.
Even though almost everyone in the pack had told me to go work, I never worked for anyone.
Even when they cursed at me or punished me in different ways, they could not lay their hands on me, they still couldn’t make me do chores for them. Except for my father, he was a different case.
All they could do was bully me or glare harshly, because I always fought back.
I would give them such a hard time.
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait for him? I can tell you baked him something. Did you?” Troy’s stepmother asked, carrying a sweetness in her voice.
Gracie was an impeccable woman. I had heard all sorts of things about her, but more specifically, that she was not at all what she appeared to be.
Troy had told me about her, about the things she did to him and the way she acted with him. It was brutal, and I did not like it.
So I didn’t fall for her sweet manner. I didn’t even accept a single glass of water from her hands, because Troy had warned me not to.
I looked down at the box, then looked up, biting my bottom lip. It was true. These things would spoil. I didn’t even have a refrigerator at home.
And if I placed it in the pack’s refrigerator, where the alphas and betas kept their things, they would probably just eat it or throw it out.
“Okay, do you have any idea what time he’ll arrive?” I inquired, not really wanting to.
I didn’t want to communicate with her. I would rather speak with Lydia, Troy’s mother. She was kind and gentle to me.
I wondered what really happened to these men. Why would they go for second or third mates? I understood that they were given too many mates by the moon goddess.
But if they were going to accept that, wouldn’t they have to ask their first mate’s permission, whether she was okay with it or not?
And then came the part that upset many people, after they found their second mate, they would completely discard the first one.
Many women felt belittled once their mates found another. Their mates would stop caring for them, leaving them in so much agony.
Because men had too many mates, the pain of losing one barely affected them. But all the suffering fell on the women.
“I don’t know. They have turned their phones off, you know, they’re having sacred conversations. But if you wait for him, I’m pretty sure they’ll be arriving soon,” Lady Gracie remarked, offering me a seat once again.
At this point, I realized that Lady Lydia had left with Troy. Obviously, she must have been so happy. Finally, her son was going to earn her the kind of respect she deserved.
I stared at her and then slowly strolled over to the guest room. I sat down on the bed, looking around awkwardly.
“I would have asked you to wait for him in the living room, but we’re renovating it, so it’s kind of busy and there are a lot of men there,” Lady Gracie explained as she walked in, holding a glass of juice for me.
“Oh, you don’t have to do all that. I’m really not thirsty,” I uttered awkwardly, realizing it came out wrong.
“Well, of course. It’s just the way we Royals greet special friends,” she replied with a smile.
But I knew her. It wasn’t like this was my first time interacting with her. I had faced her before, and it was safe to say she was just acting nice.
Previously, when I came to her place, she didn’t like me. She didn’t even want to look at my face. So I refused to believe she was suddenly being kind. She was up to something.
“It’s okay, you know what, I’ll just leave. I don’t know when he’ll arrive, and I have to return home before curfew,” I said awkwardly, instantly getting up. But she stepped in my way.
“Maybe you can wait. I think I know when Troy is coming back,” she added.
I stepped back, watching her leave the room. I slipped a note inside the cake box, realizing that even if she didn’t hand it to Troy, I’d let him know later that I left a cake for him. I figured it was the thought that counted.
As I placed the box down on the bed and turned around, I saw Gracie standing in the doorway, smiling, holding her phone.
“Actually, Messi came home, and he said his father asked him to come to the council’s office as well. So why don’t you go there with him?” Her suggestion sounded odd.
I didn’t understand why she was suddenly so nice. Maybe it was because Troy was about to become alpha of his pack, and she realized she had to act nice if she didn’t want to step on his toes.
“No, that’s alright. I’ll just head home,” I responded, not feeling comfortable about it.
“Oh, come on. I’m sure Troy would appreciate his friend being on his side,” she pressed, flashing the same awkward, almost insane smile as before.
“Well, come on, don’t delay. I already told Messi that you want to be beside Troy when he gets his official confirmation as the alpha of the pack,” Lady Gracie stated, stepping aside and gesturing toward the door.
At this point, I just wanted to get away from there. It wasn’t like I hadn’t traveled with Messi before, and since he was going to take me to the council office, I decided it was fine.
So I walked out of the room to sit in the car with Messi. That was the biggest mistake, the first mistake I made that night.