CHAPTER 18: 18-I HATE MY MATE

Haiden:

"What?" I turned to look at Ian in disbelief. When the hell did they start to care for that sack of potatoes?

They had been complaining about her this whole time. They talked about how much they hated her and how she was the reason we didn’t have a hot girl in our dorm room, and suddenly they were worried about her well-being?

These hypocrites.

"I said, someone should clean her wounds. Come on, Clementine, take off your shirt and show us where he hurt you."

It was when Ian explained his comment to us that I began to realize what he was trying to do.

He was the only one who didn’t show fake care for her, unlike the other two. The look on Clementine’s face said it all. She knew Ian was never on her side. He either didn’t believe her story or he wanted to embarrass her because he knew she wouldn’t show her body to anyone.

’But she did show us her boobs, and I have been—’ I shut Dane down for a very good reason. He was spared for his remark because I understood it was the mate bond fucking with him.

"I will not take off my shirt in front of any of you losers." And just like that, I hoped she had shown the two losers that she did not deserve anyone taking a stand for her.

"Ian, please stay out of it. We are not going to make her strip again after last time," Troy hissed, making me scoff and raise my eyebrow at him. What had happened to him overnight?

"Which, by the way, was a deal we made, and you broke it," Yorick agreed with Ian.

I was pondering their behavior. Something was going on in their minds. There’s no way even one of them was truly concerned for her.

"I did not hurt her. When tossing her over the barbed wires, she landed on the wires and that’s how she sustained those injuries. I was the one who got her freed and that’s how she escaped," I explained, watching them steadily realize I did not take her out there to assault her.

’That is not how it happened. Let me jog your memory a bit. So you tried to toss her over, she fought and freed herself. Oh, and we also felt the mate bond with her. And then she won when racing against us once again.’

Every word Dane said made me clench my jaw. I ignored him once again.

"I get it," Ian suddenly started chuckling, shaking his head and lighting a cigarette.

"They are trying to be in the good books of Miss Rue," he said, his eyes having this wild vibe every time I looked at him.

I don’t know, he seemed crazy to me. But I couldn’t agree more with him.

"That is not true," Troy suddenly started shaking his head.

"Huh," Yorick grunted.

And just like that, I’m sure Clementine realized all this concern wasn’t for her.

"Excuse me," she hissed, walking past all of us to the bathroom.

For a moment, I noticed everyone went silent and watched her walk among us. She was short, probably 5 feet 6, shorter than most of us. But it was at that moment I noticed something.

Her presence had a huge impact on the surroundings. When she walked among us, we just stared. Even when she didn’t wear revealing clothes or had her hair done to show off how amazing she is. In simple words, there was nothing flashy about her, yet I saw them watch her walk away to the bathroom.

And only when she had slammed the door shut did we all break our stare and look at each other.

"You guys are assholes. We should have confronted her for complaining against us," I hissed at Troy and Yorick, who rolled their eyes and walked back to their beds.

"Dude, we’re not sure. I mean, it was all fun and games until the ringleaders came in. I think we should get serious about this now. I heard someone from the Red Squad talk about our first mission. I don’t want any bad blood when I’m in the North," Troy clicked his tongue, speaking in his usual nonchalant tone while lying down in bed.

"He’s right. And Clementine, even though extremely annoying and an easy target for bullying, can be very unpredictable. She can be a good crusader too. So we’ll need to work together to complete our first mission. I don’t want to go in there acting like a bully. Now that I’m here, I want to be a crusader that can’t be defeated," Yorick said, making me watch his face in disbelief.

I then turned to look at Ian, who was chuckling to himself while puffing out smoke from his cigarette.

"You all are losers," I commented, leaving through the door to get some fresh air. I was seriously annoyed with them.

How dare they make me toss her over just to complain and then act like I’m the only one who hasn’t grown up—like I’m still stuck in my high school bullying era.

’Can you believe them? They’re so annoying,’ I hissed, wandering farther away and taking the route I knew didn’t have lurkers around, at least for now.

However, I soon noticed the barbed wires and realized I had come too far. But that wasn’t the only thing that made me stop dead in my tracks.

It was someone standing there, facing the barbed wires.

"Umm, I heard they’ve got these live now—because of what happened last night," I said, shoving my hands into my pants’ pockets and uttering the words awkwardly. I couldn’t exactly say out loud that it was because I tossed someone over, or at least tried to.

The person staring at the wires slowly turned to me, and I was stunned for a moment. Her short black hair danced in the breeze, the freckles on her face made her green eyes stand out even more. And then, her timid body in a baggy sweater almost reminded me of someone I hated the most.

"I can’t be a part of this academy," she whispered, her voice breaking, silent tears leaving her eyes.

It was odd, but I was fascinated.