CHAPTER 73: 73-THE ALPHA EGO

Clementine:

"Yeah, so?" he asked, sounding defensive.

"I’m just asking. Did you know she was going to accuse me of stealing?" I asked, watching him nod.

"I was wandering around when I heard her speak to her mother about the evil plan. The great evil plan."

He rolled his eyes, using his hands as quotation marks.

"Oh," I groaned.

"Yeah, I bought the same necklace—just with a few more diamonds. After she left it by the bed, I swapped it with the new one, tossed the old one on the floor, and paid the maid to ’find’ it and bring it in at the perfect moment."

He shrugged, looking proud of himself.

"Thank you," I uttered, and his smile started to fade. Then, in a very serious tone, he mumbled,

"I told you, I will not let anyone bully you here."

At this point, I did not realize that Yorick had walked straight in our direction.

"If you two are done flirting, can we talk about business?" he intervened, taking a sip from the glass.

Even though he was trying to sound nonchalant, his tone suggested he was very tense.

"We are not flirting," both Troy and I said in unison.

Yorick only gave his eyes a hard roll, showing that he did not believe us.

"Anyway, she found a lead," Troy changed the subject quickly, eyeing me when he mentioned me.

"Good," Yorick said. Then he took another sip.

"Am I allowed to be a part of this plan, or am I going to just stand by and watch you all take turns flirting with the beauty of the night?" Yorick taunted.

His words were twisted, and his body language was so tense that even I was feeling negative around him.

"What is up with you?" I asked him.

"We are not flirting around, we are just working," I said, hissing at him.

"Oh really? First, he purchases you a diamond necklace. Then you assign tasks to everyone but me. And now you two are standing here, reminiscing on your old friendship. What is all that about?" he groaned, yapping in one breath.

"Dude, what are you so pissed about? Do you want a task? Just say it. Clementine, give him some task," Troy said.

His shoulders were wide with pride because he could tell Yorick was bothered that I was paying more attention to Troy and Haiden, which was honestly confusing to me.

It was probably just an alpha ego wanting attention for himself.

"You know what? Fuck you two," Yorick stated, making my eyes go wide.

"I always knew there was something going on between the two of you. But anyways, what is the lead?"

Just after he had stolen the world from under my feet, he hoped that we would have a normal conversation with him.

"Yeah, Yorick, you are out of the plan," I stated.

And the minute I did, I watched his hold on the glass tighten. However, Troy quickly stole the glass from him before he broke it.

"Clementine," Troy eyed me, telling me to not start another drama here and to focus on the main plan.

"No, it’s fine. I don’t want to be a part of it anymore either," Yorick hissed, turning around and walking away.

I would have said I felt bad for him, had I not remembered how he had believed Troy’s lies in the past and hurt me so much, and also that he dated me only for a bet.

So yeah, he did not deserve my sympathy. Neither did Troy. But right now I needed his help because he knew my pack, just like I did.

"You should have not done that. What if he causes an issue?" Troy uttered, walking behind me while I eyed Haiden to come and meet us in the corner, next to the small bar.

"It’s okay. I’ll deal with him," I said, watching Yorick storm towards the other bar on the other corner of the hall.

"What is going on? Did something happen? Did you find something?" Haiden asked me, and I began to nod my head.

"You see that woman over there? She’s the oldest maid, and her daughter told me that she must know something," I said to Haiden, whose face started to brighten up.

"Then let’s go have a talk with her." As he started to walk away, I held his hand, and instantly I regretted it.

His hands were so warm, so manly, that his touch made my body feel goosebumps.

I quickly retrieved my hand, but it was a little late. Haiden had already passed a full glance at his hand and then looked at me.

"Not right now. In two hours, we will be meeting outside in the royal garden," I stated, trying to compose myself.

However, I noticed Troy had been staring at my hand, even when I was no longer holding Haiden’s hand.

The tension these alphas sometimes created was so bad, I did not understand what they wanted.

I could only chalk it up to their alpha egos getting hurt when I paid more attention to one of them than the other.

And then, I watched Yorick grab a whole bottle and storm out of the hall.

"Oh my god, what now?" I groaned, feeling conflicted.

"He should not be left all by himself. What if he drinks too much and says something to someone?" Troy said, giving me a look.

"Wait, what is going on?" Haiden showed his annoyance towards the topic that sounded unnecessary to him.

"Yorick was feeling some sort of way for being left out," Troy stated quickly, in one breath, giving information just enough for Haiden to understand what was going on.

"Wait, he wants my mate’s attention?" It was just the way Haiden asked that question, with a finger pointing at his chest, that both Troy and I narrowed our eyes at him.

"Dude, you two are just mates. You’re not going to accept each other."

And then Troy shocked me even more when he confidently made that decision for us.

"Anyway, somebody has to go and fetch him or just check on him," I said, and my eyes moved to Troy.

"Why me?" he pointed at his chest.

Now that it was him who was going to be left out of the direct plan, he looked very offended. Well, I guess all the blame goes to me. I was the one who pissed off Yorick.

But I guess it was the collection of things, the fact that Troy had asked me to give Yorick a task as if he was some dog I would throw a bone to fetch.

I guess it all upset Yorick.

"Because I need to be there when we confront that woman," Haiden reminded Troy.

Troy grunted his first grunt. "Fine, whatever."

And just like Yorick, even Troy was now upset, as he turned around and started to briskly walk away.