CHAPTER 162: 162-THE GUNSHOTS

Clementine:

"Yeah, I figured. Is that what happened last time when you were on call with her?" I asked, bringing up another time when he took me to make a call to his pack.

"No," he said. "Not really. It was just the last straw after she asked me to give her a chance."

Since Ian wasn’t a very talkative person, I could see why it was hard for him to find the right words.

"Why did you break things off with her? Is it because you can’t be with her and live a normal life now that you’re here?" I tried to help him open up, like I always did. I didn’t want him to feel like I wasn’t paying attention.

But the way he shook his head and pressed his lips into a straight line told me it was more than that.

"I caught her sleeping with my brother last time I visited," he said bluntly. "The first time I went back to my pack after being forced into the academy."

I didn’t even know how to respond. It’s already bad when your lover cheats on you, but for it to be with your own brother? I just kept staring at his face.

"It’s okay. I wasn’t a very nice boyfriend either," he said with a laugh. Even that laugh felt heartbreakingly strange.

"Why? Did you cheat on her?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, I would never. I’m not a cheater," he muttered.

"Well, then you’re not a terrible boyfriend, trust me. Unless you abused her," I said, trying to keep the silence from getting too heavy so he wouldn’t feel alone.

"I never abused her either," he replied.

I didn’t understand how he could call himself a bad boyfriend then. That is, until he added, "I was kind of getting distracted by someone else. I didn’t act on it, but it made me feel terrible too." He looked around, then spared me one quick glance.

It was so brief, but it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"It’s not the same as cheating if you didn’t act on it," I said, clearing my throat before deciding to ask, "May I know who that person is you were getting distracted with?"

I didn’t know why I asked, but it felt like I needed to. And I was right, because the second I asked, I saw how uncomfortable he looked. He muttered, clearing his throat.

"It’s you," he said under his breath, making me narrow my eyes before the words sank in. I tried my best not to gasp.

"Oh," I whispered, clenching my fists around the edges of the sweater. "That is bad." I tried to joke, but no one laughed. He didn’t. I didn’t. I couldn’t.

"When I first saw you, I was shocked that someone could be this beautiful. But I never planned to cheat. I just knew you were different. I never intended to act on it. So I tried to be meaner to you, because that made it easier to hold on to my urges."

I noticed his body tense up at the confession.

"That’s why whatever happened in the North happened. I was never going to say it because I figured you had your own problems. Too many suitors. And obviously, I’m not the type to be anyone’s boyfriend." He looked down, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Anyway, it shouldn’t change anything between us. That was just my thought process. I looked at you and thought you were cute, you were beautiful. That’s it. Other than that, nothing should ever happen between us again."

I didn’t know why he had to turn so harsh at the end. But I guess it helped. It would bring us back to normal with each other. Because he was right. I had two mates. One best friend I used to have a crush on, who still admitted he had a crush on me. Yet so much had happened that we couldn’t be together, even if we wanted to. So I didn’t want another guy added to the list.

But it still made me feel weird. I didn’t want to tell him that, or even admit it to myself. But it made me feel —

"Special?" "Mint-asked, snickering.

I didn’t respond to her and kept staring at Ian.

"You’re right. Nothing will ever happen. We should forget about what happened in the North," I agreed, and I noticed he began to nod. Almost like he hadn’t expected me to say that.

I didn’t understand. Did he want me to convince him there was a chance? Or what was going on? Or maybe I was just overthinking.

We stood there awkwardly. And then everything went silent, just for a split second.

No noise, nothing. Even the storm stopped before one gunshot stole our attention. My eyes opened and I gasped, but my body was still numb. We rushed into our dorm room just to see the others were waking up. Then another gunshot. I jumped up in bed, watching my squadmates get up as well.

None of them had their shirts on, so they started quickly looking for them. Troy didn’t care. He rushed ahead toward the exit door without a shirt. I followed him, with the others coming behind us. Yorick slipped into a sweater, while Haiden was putting on a white t-shirt.

Once we were all outside our room, the weather hit me again. It was so fucking bad. Windy, dusty, chaotic. Then another gunshot. We shared a look. We couldn’t even tell where it came from because the noise was so loud and the wind was suppressing the direction. We ran toward the main hall. While doing so, we saw the red squad doing the same. We sprinted like our lives depended on it.

After a while, we saw the white squad meeting at the entrance of the hall from their passage. The passage got extremely narrow near the hall, and we stormed inside from our door, stopping to look around, watching the ringleaders rush upstairs. But Mr. Rick and Mr. Brian were absent. It was only the three ladies here. The other squads had also arrived, except one.

"Where is the green squad?" I asked, eyes widening. The looks on Miss Lenora and Miss Rue’s faces told me something bad had happened.