CHAPTER 57: 57-HIS BODY IS IN HEAT

Clementine:

"You will put the smoke out, the cigarette out, or I will do it for you." And then Haiden was back in his alpha attitude.

"Really? I would love to watch you try," Ian said, holding the cigarette up for Haiden to grab it.

The minute Haiden lunged to grab it, Ian lowered his hand and then moved it up, burning the cigarette on Haiden’s bicep. Haiden groaned, then got on top of Ian’s bed to punch him.

He did manage to punch his pillow, though. Ian was quick to slip out from under him and push him away. Now the two were standing face to face, as Haiden had also crawled off his bed.

"Oh my god, what are they doing?" I groaned, stepping away from them.

"You know what, let them fight. Let them beat each other up so the lurkers can come and put a bullet through their heads," Yorick suggested, tired of them starting arguments over literally nothing.

But the two didn’t care. They grabbed at each other from the collars, hitting and shaking one another. They weren’t throwing heavy punches or knock-out blows, but they were being very aggressive.

And they were saying weird alpha-type things. One of the statements I caught from Haiden was when, in a dramatic and confident tone, he asked Ian if he had ever been punched by an MMA fighter. That was how they talked.

Then Ian was talking about how he would rip him open and throw his body parts into different regions. There was a lot of talk, and I hated the alphas whenever they did that.

The moment we thought the fight was over, because Troy got between them, Haiden suddenly turned to me and started staring like I had done something.

The others sat down, but he kept watching me. It was odd for Haiden to act like that. Then he briskly walked over and grabbed my arm.

"What are you doing?" I asked, but he didn’t listen.

"I will fucking leave with my mate. You guys fucking finish smoking or whatever you do here, because I’m not going to deal with messy alphas like you all," Haiden said, loud and clear.

And while he didn’t acknowledge it, I did. I saw everyone’s faces tighten when they heard Haiden’s words, specifically, when he called me his mate.

He dragged me out with him, and at that point, I let him. I didn’t want to stay behind and face the questions. I wouldn’t be able to answer them right now. Once we were outside, he took me to the same spot where there are no lurkers but barbed wires, which are active now.

I pulled my arm out of his hand and slowed down. He took a few steps ahead, not expecting me to stop. Then he finally stopped too. He turned around and looked at me, hands on his waist.

"What?" I said, rolling up my sleeves. He watched me do that. While he didn’t look particularly bothered.

"I was wrong," he uttered. I raised an eyebrow, folding my arms across my chest.

"About what?" I asked. There were so many things he had been wrong about.

"About accusing you of being the reason I had boarded the train when I wanted to stay behind," he said, his voice genuinely calm this time.

"And what made you realize that? Just to be clear, we’ve told you that before too," I said.

He looked away and shook his head.

"You need to understand, it’s really hard for me to look at you and not imagine your father," he said.

I understood because hearing about his mother being raped by my father was a massive, painful memory, I could only imagine how he had overcome it.

I felt bad for him. But I felt bad for myself too, because I hadn’t done anything, yet I was still being punished for it.

"Why did you bring me here with you?" I asked, changing the subject quickly.

When he didn’t answer, I added, "You do realized you made a big mistake by exposing the truth of our mate bond to them, right?" I said this while watching him slowly come to the realization.

He raised his head and then closed his eyes as if he were about to show disappointment. But then something changed. He opened his eyes and started to smirk, licking his teeth.

"Yeah, let them be jealous."

As he said that, I frowned. "What do you mean?" I asked, confusion evident on my face.

"I heard Yorick say something. Did you make out with Troy?" he asked and I shrugged.

"Yeah." I stood there, watching him put his hands on his waist once again. He would change moods so quickly it confused me.

"And did you not hear what I said? I don’t want anyone interfering in my business." I stated firmly, without hesitation or guilt. I was a single woman. I was allowed to do whatever I wanted. And it wasn’t like I did it because of body heat or anything. I did it because we were trying to capture the fun.

But of course, they wouldn’t understand that. As he kept staring at me, I felt uneasy.

"It was after you felt the mate bond with me. Are you seriously just as shameless as your father, or did you just want to follow in his footsteps?" It was the way he said it that made me feel so insulted. I knew what he was accusing my father of. For him to say I was the same made me really angry.

"As if you haven’t gotten someone pregnant." As soon as I said that, he clenched his jaw.

"That wasn’t my baby," he said, grunting angrily.

"Oh really? As if you can lie now? Just because she’s not here?" As I was about to argue, he hushed me with a hand gesture.

"I’m not lying," he said. "That wasn’t my baby. I saw her trying to cross the wires one day. She was crying and said she was scared. I gave her comfort, told her they wouldn’t take her to the North. But when they did, I felt responsible for her." He stated this, and this time I could tell he wasn’t lying.

So all this time, those assholes back in the room lied to me when they said she was his baby mama, and he also agreed.

"Why didn’t you correct anyone?" I asked.

"When I was with her, I got to know her a little more. She said everyone judged her because she didn’t get pregnant from her mate. They were calling her names and everything. So, when it came up that it was my baby, I noticed no one being grossed out by her anymore. Because nobody would call out an alpha in this hypocritical world we live in. But it was all for nothing. My claim or anything I could say couldn’t bring her back."

He started to move his arms around, stretching, but I could tell he was anxious and trying to release the tension.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked again.

"Because I remembered," he said, meeting my gaze. "I’m angry," he stated. "And I found a mate who’s going around kissing other alphas," He said, making me roll my eyes.

"And you brought me here to punish me?" I was confused.

He stretched his neck, and the more he did that, the more confused I became. What was he trying to say that made him feel so embarrassed?

"My body is feeling the heat. I want you to help me with it. And since you are my mate, it is your obligation," he stated shamelessly but with an amazing confidence.