Clentine:
As soon as he leaned in, sothing flipped inside , and it wasn’t just the shock of feeling a mate bond with yet another alpha. A distant mory hit hard. That was how my cursed brain worked. I rembered the way he had flushed out the pictures of my family, and suddenly I found myself placing my hands on his chest and gently pushing him away.
"Whoa," he said in a shocked tone, almost like he had no clue what just happened.
"I’m so sorry," I said instantly, stepping back and rubbing my face with my hands.
"No, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have done that. I was just confused," he explained and I shook my head, letting him know with a hand gesture that I didn’t bla him.
"It’s not your fault. It’s just that I can’t stop thinking about the past." The minute I said that, I noticed him frowning, then narrowing his eyes at .
"Wait, what do you an by that?" he asked, "the past? What past?" he asked, tilting his head. "Wait, are you talking about our history?"
He hunched down even more, one hand out of his pocket as he waved it sideways between the two of us, his fingers sticking out in the gesture. I covered my face with my hands and rubbed it.
"I’m just confused how it’s possible for to feel a mate bond with three alphas," I muttered, stealing glances at him.
"No, Clentine, wait." He grabbed my arm, stopping from walking away. "You said sothing about the past. Are you referring to the bullying?" he asked.
At this point, I felt like I was going through too many emotions. I faced him and smiled sarcastically.
"One of you exposed my family, my weakness. Another grabbed the pictures and tore them apart. And then you flushed them out."
The mont I said that, I saw realization hit him, and he slowly loosened his grip on my arm.
"I..." he stuttered, because of course he had no response to it.
"I’m sorry, Ian, but I don’t care what the moon goddess thinks or why she believes I should be mated to you all. I’m nice enough to still be on talking terms with you. Don’t expect anything more than that."
My voice even cracked when I said it, the words coming straight from deep inside . It was true that I cared for my squad mates, but I cared about everyone. And even though I was concerned about them, and there were monts when I felt very attracted to them, I knew what a fool I’d be to forget everything they had done to and just give in.
Just because now we were mated, just because now they thought they were treating better.
As I spoke, as I told him how I felt, I turned my face away and clenched my fists, trying to calm my nerves.
I expected him to say sothing, but he stayed silent. Then we began to hear commotion outside. I looked to my side and saw Joshua and Suki returning to the sa spot. I figured they heard it too.
"Fucking get away from !" soone scread outside. Not just anyone, it was obvious who it was.
Jack!
The mont we heard him, we all exchanged a glance. We knew it was nightti. Those things were going to be everywhere, and they would stick around until morning.
"Did you hear that? It was Jack’s scream, wasn’t it?" Suki stepped forward, asking us. The look on her face made it clear this was the man she truly loved. She was panicking, disbelief written all over her face.
She kept trying to clear her throat, like it was clogging up, and then she lunged toward the exit. Neither Ian nor I said a word, but Joshua rushed after her, trying to stop her.
"What are you doing? You’re not thinking about going outside right now. It’s completely dark. Those things will be everywhere," Joshua hissed, grabbing her arm.
"Are you kidding ? Jack is out there. How can you suggest we stay here when our friend is there?" she scread. The way she said it made my heart sink.
"But you were too scared to help when I was under the rubble," Joshua shot back, making Ian glance at .
"Are you seriously suggesting we argue about who I care about the most right now? Are you fucking kidding ? Clentine was already helping you, but we don’t know what condition Jack is in. And I’m not going to sit here and let him die!" she shouted, louder than ever.
She pinched Josh’s arm, freeing herself and stepping away. It all happened in seconds. As she ran for the door, Joshua rushed from behind, scooping her up and pulling her back.
She instantly turned and smacked him across the face. I guess the fight she was putting up was enough for Joshua to realize the difference between her love for him and Jack.
This ti when Suki rushed toward the door, I don’t think Joshua could bring himself to go after her. But Ian and I had to. We needed to stop her from opening the door and letting those things in, but she was too quick. She had already opened it and jumped out. Joshua went right after her, trying to save her.
It was chaos. As she ran outside, we finally saw what was happening. Jack was fighting three Wendigos at once. He was badly wounded and didn’t look like he had a chance to survive. Ian and I exchanged a glance.
We had to jump in, because if we didn’t, we feared our squadmates would be lost too. So we rushed forward, swords in hand.
We fought with everything we had. At the sa ti, I noticed there were only four Wendigos in sight. Maybe there were others scattered around, but they usually ca in groups and huddled together to attack.
Even if they split up, they would just find each other and strike as one. I was really hoping that was it. After these four, the North would finally be free of Wendigos, since they were the deadliest monsters of all.
Suki hoisted Jack over her shoulder but stumbled and fell while trying to carry him to safety. That was when Joshua appeared beside her. While Ian and I kept the Wendigos back, they carried Jack together.
But as we rushed toward the subway, we saw one of the Wendigos slip inside, and we knew they were planning the sa attack they had used at the mansion. We had to find another way to survive the night.
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