CHAPTER 43: 43-SOMEHOW, I AM THE ISSUE AGAIN

Clementine:

When we found Haiden, he was frantically looking for his baby mama. I believed she had gone missing, or something might have happened to her, because the corner they had chosen to stay at was heavily infested with wild wolves. They were known to attack werewolves like their lives depended on it. I guessed they got the most energy from eating werewolves.

Watching Haiden care for someone so much was actually quite surprising to me. He had built a small nest for her, almost like a male bird taking care of his pregnant mate. And the little fences he had made all around the area made it seem like he had poured his heart and soul into it. I had no idea Haiden was capable of that. Even though I had never liked him, the small part of me that had felt the mate-bond with him felt slightly bad. I was kind of jealous. I couldn’t understand how someone could be so sweet to one woman and, at the same time, so bitter and full of hatred toward another, and not just any woman, but his own mate.

Then Ian told us that he had seen Sadie board the train.

I hadn’t seen her myself, but I thought I was probably looking in the wrong coach, and I might have skipped over her. So we were happy she was safe. But the real problem started when we were on the train and Haiden began asking Ian if he had really seen Sadie taking the train.

With his eyes staring blankly and no expression on his face, one arm bent with his index finger resting on his temple and his thumb under his chin, making a V with his fingers, Ian very casually responded once again, "We had to take you back home because the others made it clear they wouldn’t return if you weren’t boarding the train."

I noticed everyone staring at him. Just a few minutes ago, he had kind of confirmed that he never saw Sadie, but then he explained why he lied.

"Do you even realize what you’re saying, Ian? It better be a joke." Haiden’s voice was so loud, I felt goosebumps all over my skin.

The way Haiden lowered his head to glare at Ian through his thick eyebrows made it clear that his warning was serious. And I began to panic. I really didn’t want Ian to have lied about it. If he had told us she was left behind, I would have stayed with Haiden to find her. They could have left. Nobody was asking them to stay.

"Why would I lie now? I can only lie once. That’s the kind of rule I made," Ian said, weirdly calm, as if nothing mattered to him, as if it were some kind of joke.

That was when Haiden got up and lunged at Ian, grabbing him by the collar. He shook Ian for a minute, and Ian’s long hair started falling around his face and onto his forehead, even covering his eyes. I noticed the smirk that had been on Ian’s face began to fade. The finger that had rested against his temple now joined the others to form a fist.

"Hey, back off," Yorick said, trying to step between them. Troy was already moving in to stop them if things escalated.

"She was pregnant, you fucking moron! Now she’s out there on her own. I fucking promised her I would take care of her!" Haiden shouted, still shaking Ian.

But Ian didn’t do anything to defend himself. He just sat there, letting Haiden shake him violently.

"Okay, that’s it. And you were doing just fine. It was her decision to leave," Troy finally said. Both he and Yorick pushed Haiden back, their hands on his chest, making sure he couldn’t go at Ian again.

Now that Ian was free, he casually shrugged off his coat, straightened his collar, and began brushing his shirt. Then he stretched his neck and looked outside the window. We all watched him in silence, waiting for a response. But he never said a word. He just kept staring outside.

"Is he fucking real? What kind of an asshole is he?" Haiden screamed, pointing at Ian.

"Come on now, Haiden. He did it so that you could be safer. Don’t accuse him like he did something evil," Yorick said, the first to take Ian’s side.

Haiden turned to look at him, his eyes full of anger.

"Nobody asked him to do that for me! I was going to stay behind because I promised her I would. How can you make decisions for me?" Haiden yelled at Yorick, who nodded, understanding that the situation was murky.

"Who the fuck told you to come and fetch me, huh?" Haiden shouted again. In front of him stood both Troy and Yorick. It was obvious they weren’t going to let him attack Ian again. If Ian started fighting back, it could have turned into a very messy fight in such a small coach. And others would have noticed.

"Clementine did." Then, with a very calm tone, Ian replied, not even looking back at us.

I felt my skin crawl. Then Haiden steadily turned to look at me.

"I noticed you weren’t on the train. So I went ahead to look for you. I didn’t know you were looking for your baby mama," I said, trying to defend myself, to show that my emotions and intentions were pure.

"Oh, you fucking bitch," Haiden growled, lunging toward me. The side where I was sitting wasn’t blocked by Yorick or Troy. He came at me and hunched down, his forehead pressing against mine. He tried to bump his head against me like he did with other alphas, trying to challenge them.

"Dude," Troy complained, grabbing Haiden’s arm and pulling him away from me. "She did it because she cared," he said.

Haiden started laughing, clapping his hands.

"This bitch doesn’t care about anyone but herself. She did it because she knew that would hurt me," he said, confidently accusing me.