CHAPTER 64: 64-FACING MY FAMILY

Clementine:

Haiden looked visibly upset, and Troy and Yorick were already starting to get angry. But just as we thought Ian was going to sign under his own pack, he switched to mine and signed it there. After he was done, he put the pen down and turned to look at us.

"Not everybody is like you," he said to me, reminding me of how I had betrayed them at the last minute.

"Well, not everybody gets you a good deal," I muttered back, almost under my breath so the ringleaders wouldn’t hear. But we were already walking away.

"Okay, everyone, the lurkers will escort you back to your packs," Lenora said. "Our lurkers will remain stationed at the pack borders to ensure none of you try to escape. You will also wear these bands so we can track your location and confirm that you are in the designated pack you signed under."

She held up the bands, each in a different color. For the Black Squad, the bands were black with our names printed on them. They handed them to us, and we put them on right away. They started beeping as soon as they were fastened.

"Now go back to your rooms and pack your bags. We’ll see you in a week," Rick said, not sounding particularly excited to be sending us off.

And we didn’t even know when we’d next get to return to our packs, probably after the next mission. But who knew how difficult that would be?

Once we made it back to our rooms, we began to grab our bags. It wasn’t like we had a lot of stuff. In fact, we had less than what we came with because much of it had been destroyed in the process. They also told us we wouldn’t be allowed to take any luxuries from our pack when we visited them, so it was pretty much impossible for us to get new clothes from anywhere.

But obviously, they wouldn’t let us walk around naked in the future, so I was expecting some good news about getting clothes. We all waited impatiently. Others had already left before us. And then finally, it was our turn.

They had a black SUV parked outside for us. We all left the passage and finally made it to the road by following a lurker. As the journey began, an hour in, I started to get anxious. I began playing with my fingers, even scratching the sides of my nails.

"Are you okay?" Troy asked, sitting in the back seat with me.

"I’m fine," I replied, quickly looking out the window again. We were in the back seat, with him beside me and Yorick next to him. Ian and Hayden were in the front seats.

Don’t ask me why Haiden contradicted himself, saying he was my mate and wanted to accept me, yet choosing not to sit with me. I didn’t want to focus on that. And I guess neither did Ian, because he had been pretty quiet the entire ride.

"I know you’re anxious. Stop trying to hide it from me," Troy said, making me roll my eyes.

I could only show him attitude for now because I didn’t know how I’d feel once I was back there.

"You don’t want to face them again, do you?" Troy asked, and I swallowed my tears. I didn’t like crying in front of others. I believed that if someone truly cared, they would never make me cry.

"You know what, think of it as your victory. You’re finally returning to face them again and let them know that you have survived," Troy said, trying to cheer me up with his words.

I noticed Yorick shift in his seat, almost like fixing his posture, but he did not turn to look at us.

"You know what? Forget it. We will be there with you. I am pretty sure nobody will bully you in front of us," Troy added, as if he forgot he was the one who would bully me, along with the others.

"Yeah, right," I said, turning my face to look out the window again.

"I didn’t know you would be so anxious going back to your pack. I mean, I get it, all of our pack members betrayed us when they pretty much kicked us out. But we’re not scared of going back," Yorick finally turned to talk to me, and I guess he failed to understand that things were different for them than they were for me. They were never bullied before. They were fine, treated with respect until the last moment, and it was only then announced to them that they would be leaving. As for me, I have suffered constant pain throughout my life. So in the end, when they won after they kicked me out of the pack, it kind of made me feel like I could have never won against them.

I did not continue to talk with them about my personal issues because I had a feeling that once we were back in the dorm room, they would bring up the issues or my behavior to mock me. So the rest of the ride was in silence. We did not make any stops. The lurkers were not allowed to offer us food or anything, so we were starving by the time we arrived at my pack’s main gate. I wasn’t even sure how they would treat us, to be honest. Maybe they would just stand in a line, trying to stop us from getting inside. However, I was wrong. The minute we got out of the cars and the gate opened, I saw the pack members holding bouquets, and I was shocked to see my father standing in front of everyone. My stepmother and stepsister were not around, so I guess my father was the one who had decided to welcome us, only because now he could proudly say his daughter was fighting in the North.

"Welcome back home, my pride, my warrior—my fierce crusader," my father announced, making a chill run up my spine.