CHAPTER 46: 46-THE RAPIST AMONG US.

Clementine:

"Hey, I know we haven’t had a chance to talk about it, but thanks for picking me for the task. It made me realize you were more comfortable with me, and that maybe some part of our friendship was still there. I just hope you regret ever spreading lies about me." However, Troy had the nerve to come up to me and say that. Haiden was in the bathroom freshening up, Ian and Yorick were busy unpacking their clothes from their bags.

I had actually walked out onto the patio to stare at the trees swaying in the wind when Troy approached me. I turned to look at him, my hands on the railing.

"I didn’t pick you because I was most comfortable with you," I said in a very calm tone, watching him playfully narrow his eyes as if he didn’t believe me.

"I did it because I knew that would torture you the most."

The moment I said that, I watched his smile begin to fade.

"You know what, Clementine? Just because you caught me spreading the lie about you doesn’t make me guilty or make you any less guilty. You know what you did to me. You know what you caused me," he said, repeating the same things he had said before.

There were moments when I would try again and again to speak to him in the past, to explain myself, but he never let me talk. Eventually, I promised I wouldn’t say anything anymore. He didn’t want to hear it. After everything he put me through, I was sure he was praying I was guilty because if I wasn’t, he would be the one who was wrong in the friendship.

"It’s okay, Troy. You don’t have to wait for me to apologize, because I won’t. And I’m not asking you to apologize either for spreading the rumor. You actually helped me understand that I’m better on my own. So go ahead and enjoy the rest of your night. I’m not going to explain myself to you," I said, watching him clench his jaw and walk back inside.

I didn’t go in even after an hour. When I finally did, once I was freezing cold, I saw that everyone had already gone to bed. I went straight into the bathroom and took a shower. I scrubbed myself hard, as if I could clean everything off my skin. I hated that we had gone a whole week without a proper shower. It was disgusting, but the adrenaline was so high we hadn’t focused on hygiene.

Still, I believed that once we got settled in the North, we would find places to take care of ourselves.

For now, I had changed into a black oversized sweater and my baggy jeans. This time, I didn’t wear a hat. It had lost its meaning. I wasn’t going to put in the effort to keep it on.

The moment I walked out of the bathroom, I saw the bedroom door slam shut, as if someone had just left. I quickly did a head count and noticed Haiden’s bed was empty.

I could have left him alone, but my wolf was growling in pain, and I felt bad for him too.

"Are we going after him or not?" Mint asked, letting me know she was hurting because he was hurting.

"Fine, but you know it won’t help. He won’t let us do anything for him," I reminded her. "He’s arrogant."

"Well, we can at least try. It might help me with the pain too. We can’t just leave our mate like that," she said, making me grunt.

"I’m pretty sure he doesn’t care about his mate either. Is he not feeling the pain or what?" I groaned. "It’s not like I’m a lower rank. I’m an alpha too."

I was the kind of alpha who didn’t get the crown. The alphas sent to the Crusader Academy were never called alphas. We were just crusaders. But back home, our rank still stood, we just wouldn’t get the title. It was a fancy way of saying, "you are an alpha, but nobody sees you as one."

"Fine, I’m going after him. But if he attacks us, you’re going to defend us. Okay? No feelings. No falling for emotions," I warned her, knowing there was a chance he might attack. He had tried before on the train.

"I promise," she lied. She probably wouldn’t even be able to defend herself, feeling as sorry for him.

I began to follow him. I could see him in the distance. He was taking the same path he had last time, when he tried to kick me out of the academy by throwing me across the barbed wires. We were only a few feet from the fence when he suddenly stopped and turned.

"Why the fuck are you following me?" he yelled.

I froze in my tracks. The wind was harsh. I took a deep breath and started walking toward him. I saw his fists clenched, so I prepared to defend myself, as long as Mint didn’t back down. But I knew she wouldn’t. The pain wasn’t enough to make her just let him beat her.

"I was just coming to check on you," I said. He narrowed his eyes, not believing me.

"You were coming to check on me? Or were you coming to see how much I was hurting so you could enjoy it?" he groaned, as if stating a fact.

"Haiden, please just tell me one thing tonight for my peace of mind. What the fuck did I do to you?" I asked, my patience thinning.

There had been moments when I asked his friends, when I tried to research why he hated me so much. Why he bullied me. But I never got answers. This time, I hoped he would finally be serious enough to tell me what I did wrong.

Because there had been so many rumors spread about me that I started to believe someone must have lied to him.

"So you have no answer? You were just bullying me for fun, and now you’re acting like I have some kind of agenda to hurt you?" I yelled, even though I knew it was the wrong time. He was already in pain. I should have focused on calming him down instead of bringing up my own issues with him. But I couldn’t, not when he still wouldn’t tell me what I had done to make him hate me so much.

Then, he finally told me.

"Your fucking father raped my mother right in front of my eyes."

The way he said it made my body go numb. And the shock wasn’t over. He stepped forward and pointed at me.

"And my sister..."