CHAPTER 149: 149-STANDING UP FOR ME LIKE A BRICK WALL

Clementine:

"And now you’re all up for gossip? Didn’t you say this is an academy for crusaders, not a high school for kids to gossip?" Haiden hissed, throwing their own words back at them. Mr. Rick’s face hardened.

"What does that have to do with our tasks?" I demanded, noticing the white squad exchanging looks after hearing I had a mate bond with Haiden.

"It has nothing to do with your task, but the fact that you’ve all been breaking rules makes me believe White Squad isn’t the only one who should be punished." Mr. Rick shifted the attention back to himself, and we all stared at him in disbelief. Was he really trying to take revenge for us calling out his squad?

Then his eyes dropped to Bodhi. "Where is it?" he asked.

Bodhi swallowed hard. "I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir."

The next moment, Mr. Rick did something none of us expected. He grabbed Bodhi by the collar, yanking him almost out from behind Ian. "I said, where the fuck is it?" he barked, shaking him as panic spread through us.

"Hey, let him go!" Ian slammed his hand against Mr. Rick’s wrist, and silence fell. Mr. Rick lifted his gaze, locking eyes with Ian.

"Ian, please step back." Miss Rue rushed past Mr. Rick, sensing the tension, and gently pushed Ian away. At last, he released his grip.

"It’s not our matter. Bodhi stole something from the office, and we have to retrieve it. There are rules and regulations even in the packs, do you not know that?" Miss Rue argued, but Ian didn’t even glance at her. His eyes stayed locked on Mr. Rick, who glared back just as fiercely.

"Please, Mr. Rick, I’ll speak with my team members." Brian finally stepped forward, placing a hand on Rick’s arm to free Bodhi. "Come, Bodhi, we need to talk. Yale, Eben, come with me."

His voice was softer this time, almost fatherly, and the boys obeyed immediately. But before leaving, Bodhi looked back at me, giving a glance that reminded me not to forget what he had wanted to share. Then the green squad was gone.

Left behind were the white squad, Ms. Lenora, Miss Rue, and Mr. Rick, who kept glaring at Ian. Suddenly, Rick’s expression broke into a smile, and then that smile twisted into laughter.

"What’s so funny?" Troy asked, looking at us before turning back to Mr. Rick.

Rick took a deep breath, nodded, and stared into the distance. "You should really think twice before breaking rules. I’m not just a helpless ringleader. I’ll fuck you up so bad." His eyes locked on Ian, then shifted to me. A strange numbness spread through my body as he moved past us, staring at each of us for a few seconds before finally looking down again.

"Anyway, we should all rest. Who knows, a new task might be waiting tomorrow." With that, he turned and left.

We were furious. And the white squad, the way they sized me up and down like I was disgusting, only made it worse. The fact that they’d been spying on us all along, even catching Troy kissing me after midnight, was insane. I guess at the start we’d been so wrapped up in each other that we forgot other crusaders even existed. Our focus should have been on them too.

As everyone left and it was just us with Miss Rue, Haiden turned to her. "So, you have no say? Literally none?"

The way he held her accountable shocked us.

"Haiden, don’t forget I’m your ringleader," she shot back, clearly offended. "But it’s not a lie, is it? I try to help you as much as I can. Then you forget and do things that offend the ringleaders. Tell me, which other crusaders have you seen disrespecting ringleaders and breaking rules?" She gave us all a sharp, challenging look.

"The white squad has been fucking up everyone this whole time," Troy said.

"And they got punished, didn’t they? They even went on a mission. They returned just a few hours before you guys arrived," she replied, throwing the North mission and punishment in our faces.

"Well, our misbehavior has nothing to do with what they do. They’re risking lives while we’re just trying to stand up for ourselves," I said softly, reminding her it was unfair to compare us to them.

"I understand, but still, my squad is the only one that doesn’t even talk to me. You’re doing things behind my back, going out, talking to other squads, breaking the small rules. It makes you look rebellious," she said, waving her hands for emphasis.

"So what do you want us to do? Carry a weapon on our shoulder and march North whenever we’re told, like we have no free will to question anything?" Troy asked, hands on his waist, staring her down.

"I’m just asking you to at least report to me when something happens. For example, the mate bond thing—do you know how big of an issue that is?" she hissed. Before we could respond, she went on. "And then for her to get kissed by you," she pointed at Troy, pausing before continuing, "it complicates things. Because the white squad also claims they’ve seen her with Yorick too. You need to understand it doesn’t look good."

Her words hit me hard, making me suddenly feel ashamed of my character.

"There’s nothing wrong with it." Ian suddenly stepped in, hand on his waist, pushing his leather jacket back. "We’ll deal with whoever tries to make her feel some type of way," he said firmly.

"Ian, you’re not getting it. There have been rumors about squadmates doing things, and even those rumors led to severe punishments for everyone. If it actually happens, it’ll be worse. These things aren’t allowed. We already know that Alphas, Gammas, Betas, Omegas—men in particular—can have too many mates. Even that’s forbidden here. If an Alpha or anyone is found with more than one mate, they’re forced to reject the others. So imagine a she-wolf having a mate and boyfriends–" She pointed at me.

Yorick snapped his fingers in front of her face to pull her attention back. "Like Ian said, no one will dare to point a finger at Clementine."

Miss Rue, who had been trying so hard to make us understand, suddenly pulled back, watching our faces.

"And if anyone does, do you think we can’t handle simple werewolves after fighting monsters in the North?" Haiden asked, shaking his head slowly, his eyes fixed on her.

Then Troy smirked. "So if there’s a rule like that, it should never apply to Clementine. Because we’ll turn the South into the North if anyone questions her character."