CHAPTER 50: A BETTER OPTION...

Charis

Rhett turned back and went to the living area, accepting the cup of coffee Kael was offering him. He dropped onto the couch with a big sigh and started sipping it.

As both of them chose to ignore me, I went to sit on the other bed, which had my things at the foot, waiting for them to finish. Rhett was the first person to finish. He took the mug to the sink, rinsed it and came to where I sat.

His eyes looked more focused. The coffee must have sobered him up.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Ready for what?"

"Your room. You said you didn’t have one. I told you, remember? I have an extra bedroom in my quarters, and you mentioned you’d consider it. You’ve had enough time."

My eyes widened as the memory came flooding back. Earlier that day, before the induction, I’d poured my heart out to Rhett about Kael’s behaviour to me that morning and expressed a strong interest in leaving his room if I had another choice.

Instantly, Rhett had offered a solution. His quarters had an extra bedroom that hadn’t been used. He’d suggested I could stay with him instead of dealing with Kael.

At that time, the offer had felt like a lifeline. Having my private bedroom would solve so many of my problems. I could change clothes without fear, manage my physical needs without constantly looking over my shoulder, and have space where I don’t have to be Eamon all the time.

"Oh," I reddened, turning to Kael, who was busy with his coffee. "You mean the room situation."

Staying with Kael made me feel safe, but I couldn’t deal with his irritable attitude towards me at all times. With Rhett, I was more comfortable and didn’t need to walk on eggshells.

"I accept," I said brightly to Rhett. "I’ll just need a minute to gather my things."

I turned to Kael, who was at the sink now, staring at me blankly. He still hadn’t said a word.

"I appreciate everything you’ve done for me," I said warmly. "I know having me here has been an inconvenience, and I apologise for that. But this seems like a good solution for everyone."

Kael said nothing.

I gestured toward Rhett, who had flopped onto my bed, rubbing at his temple.

"Rhett has an empty room in his quarters, and I think staying with him will work out much better."

Still, Kael said nothing. He just stood there with an unreadable expression.

"I just wanted to say thank you," I added, gentler now. "For the bed. The key. For letting me in."

"Have you told your brother?" Kael asked suddenly, turning back to the sink to rinse his coffee cup.

"I will tomorrow. I don’t have a phone, so..."

"Then if it’s what you prefer," he cut me short. "It’s fine."

NovelBin

I blinked. "Fine?"

"Yes," he glanced at me once. "You don’t need to explain it to me, Eamon. You don’t owe me anything."

"I just feel so guilty that you went through all this pain to..."

"I said it’s fine," he repeated.

"Are you angry at me?" I heard myself blurt.

Rhett groaned from where he was on the bed, sitting up. "Eamon, don’t rub it in," he muttered. "Of course, he won’t be happy with you. He rearranged his room to make room for you. What do you think?"

"I’m sorry," I said, looking at Kael. "I didn’t know you wanted me to stay here. You were so..."

The doorbell rang, swallowing the rest of my words.

Kael hurried to the door and opened it. When he did, five bulky men stood in front of the door. They weren’t dressed like the school sentinels. They looked different.

"Is Rhett Thatcher here?" they asked.

Rhett groaned again, rising to his feet. "How did you guys find me?" Rhett asked, walking towards them. "I removed the tracking device."

"Which you shouldn’t do next time, one of them told Rhett quietly. It’s way past your bedtime, c’mon."

Rhett rolled his eyes and said, "Fine." Before turning to me. "Are you ready to go?

I nodded, grabbing my bag at the foot of the bed. Kael had gone back to the couch, and he seemed to be scrolling through his phone. I found myself hesitating to leave, and it bothered me that Kael was acting so cool with everything.

At the door, one of the bulky men stopped me. "Where do you think you’re going to?" he asked.

"He’s with me," Rhett turned and said to me. "He’ll be staying with me from today. Eamon, that’s Ted... say Hi."

"Hi, Ted," I waved at the muscular man, who shook his head and turned back to Rhett.

"I’m afraid, Alpha Rhett, but this goes against security protocol. You know the drill, if this were just a normal visit, we would have allowed it, but staying with you, he would need security clearance."

Rhett backed up into the room with a frustrated look on his face. "Security clearance? That takes a month. He doesn’t have a month."

"If you apply tomorrow, I can help you reduce the processing time by seven days, but that’s the most I can do. Due to the sensitivity of your health and the agreement your father entered with the Academy, I’m afraid he won’t be able to stay with you."

"But..." Rhett was about to protest, but I placed my hand on his, stopping him.

"It’s fine," I said quietly, relieved that I won’t be going again. "I will just make do with what I have for now until there’s a better option."

Rhett hissed, "I hate this so much. My father doesn’t even like me like that much, yet he won’t give me freedom."

"Hey, don’t say that. I’ll be fine, okay."

"We need to leave, Alpha Rhett, it’s past your bedtime and the curfew," Ted reminded him softly.

Rhett sighed and turned to glare at Kael, who wasn’t even bothered by what was happening at the door, then he turned and walked away with the uniformed men. I closed Kael’s door softly, feeling ashamed.

I walked back stiffly to my bed, setting my bag down.

As soon as I sat on my bed, Kael walked over to where I was.

"So, Kael..." I started to say, but he interrupted me, thrusting a piece of paper into my hands.

"That’s the list of the chores you need to do while living here, goodnight!"

He turned and crossed over to his side of the room, lying on his bed, leaving me standing there with my chore list and annoyance in my heart.