Chapter 495
Fauna:
Haiden was staring right at me, probably half believing me and half not.
“I’m not lying. I just heard it,” I told him as I stepped toward him, though it was unintentional.
I was not trying to reduce the distance between us, and I was not trying to be intimate with him, at least not in the moment when he had already insulted me so many times.
But it hurt me when he unintentionally stepped back from me.
That was his way, his body’s way, of telling me that he was repulsed by me.
“Oh,” I muttered under my breath, taking a deep breath and looking away.
“What else?” he asked.
“I have a feeling my father will tell you that Lord Nook is dead. But don’t believe him,” I said.
“He will also try to convince Troy to look at Mariana differently p>
As I continued to speak, I watched him look even more confused.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Why are you jumping from one topic to another? Troy is his own person. He gets to decide if he wants to get close to her or not,” he snapped angrily.
“Right, uh, you want to know about Nook. Got it,” I said anxiously.
It did not help that he had been glaring at me so hard that I was beginning to panic.
I also knew he was looking at me like he was trying to catch me in a lie.
As I paused to comfort myself, he let out a harsh grunt.
“So you did try to make up an excuse just to come here and speak with me,” he remarked, looking confident.
I began to shake my head and, with my shaky hand, placed it on my heart, trying to get him to believe me.
“I’m not lying, I swear. I only came here to tell you that I can help you p>
I watched him finally give me a look that showed he was now interested in listening to what I had to say.
“Hmm, and how will you help me?” he asked.
As I started to speak, he moved closer to me.
This time, I was the one who stepped back, but as I did, my ankle twisted, and I almost fell before he caught me.
“What are you doing? You’re so clumsy,” he muttered, though there was a softness in his voice that made me look up at him as he slowly helped me stand while forcing an angry look onto his face.
I noticed his eyes linger on mine before dropping to my lips for a brief moment.
I placed my hands on his chest.
It all happened in a matter of seconds, and when I did, I began to hear his heartbeat.
My eyes drifted to his chest and to my hand that felt his heartbeat, then I looked up at him.
Suddenly, everything went silent, too silent for my liking.
All I could hear was my own heartbeat and, strangely, his too.
Then it felt as if the entire world disappeared and only he remained, and I heard a very soft cry from my wolf p>
Mate!
“What?” I blurted, my eyes widening.
I guess he did not notice the strange look on my face because he gently shook me while still holding my arms.
“What are you saying?” I asked again out loud.
“Who are you fucking speaking with?” he demanded.
He did not grunt, but I guess it seemed to him that I was playing him, because he instantly grabbed me again to check my ears, making sure I did not have earbuds on.
“I’m talking to my wolf,” I replied.
The moment I said it, he paused.
Then, when I looked into his eyes, he shook his head.
“Why? What are you talking to your wolf at this time?” he asked, his voice hesitant, like he had a frog in his throat.
“Because she felt something with you,” I answered.
The moment I said it, he raised his finger to silence me.
But I was not going to stay silent anymore.
Last time, he had scolded me for saying that I thought there was something else going on between us.
Since I had no proof, he called me a liar and insulted me.
But this time, I was not going to step back.
I was going to tell him exactly what I had felt with him.
The rest, he could decide for himself.
“I felt the mate bond with you,” I said.
The moment I said it, he lifted his hands, almost like he was giving up on me, and stepped away.
“So I was right,” he muttered after he managed to return to his senses.
“You fucking came here just so you could spend time with me and then lie about feeling a mate bond with me? What a fucking liar p>
It was supposed to happen.
I knew he would be angry about the mate bond, but I did not think he would completely dismiss my feelings and my truth.
“I’m not lying to you, Haiden,” I snapped, even stomping my foot on the ground.
“I don’t fucking care if you felt it or not. You’re still mated to Clementine, so you didn’t hear it but I felt it, and you have no right to tell me what I feel or what I don’t,” I continued.
I spoke without hesitation, even if it hurt him.
“And enough is enough. You have been acting like I’m a clingy bitch, while in reality, you were the one who started everything.” I paused as a tear ran down my eye.
“You were the one who first became friends with me. You used to make me feel special. You used to tell me that we were best friends, and then you started the intimacy before you stopped because you realized there was a much prettier woman you could bully and then fall in love with p>
Since he had been bullying me too, I decided to return the favor by telling him exactly what he had been doing with his life.
He clenched his fist and pointed at me, and I knew he was about to say something else.
“No, not one more word. I felt the mate bond with you, and that is the truth. I’m not asking you to accept me p>
As I began to break down again, he steadied himself.
“And I will never,” he snapped, then grabbed my arm.
“I have heard your yapping enough. Get the fuck out of here p>
With that, he opened the door and shoved me out, not even letting me tell him everything I had heard from my parents about Troy.
At this point, I was afraid too much noise had been made and I noticed my bracelet was torn. I wondered where it had dropped.
Feeling the mate bond with him had left me shaken as well.