CHAPTER 59: 59-WE ARE TAKING REVENGE, BABY.

Clementine:

"You said you have a plan?" He asked me again after we both sat down on the grass. We were quite far from our passageway, but we could still see some of the lights flickering in one of them. It could have been ours; it might not have been. I couldn’t tell, there were too many trees in the way.

The place where we were sitting was a kind of slope with no trees, but before the slope, there were quite a lot of trees. After the slope, there were the wires. It was the same area where he had tried to toss me over and where he said he had found Sadie. Now we were sitting there, and we decided to call this spot a meetup point.

"Yeah, I have an idea. You know, when I said that the ringleaders gave me a few of the deals—" I watched him nod, almost too eagerly. However, before I could continue, I heard someone emerge from behind the trees. It didn’t sound like they had been hiding, more like they had just passed through. They were moving briskly and clapping.

Actually, Yorick was the one clapping, while Troy followed behind him in a sleeveless shirt, his biceps bulging.

"So all that anger and fighting was just a trick to get away from us?" Yorick made me instinctively stretch my hand behind my neck and rub it. I didn’t want to argue again. We were in the middle of a very important conversation, and this mattered more than them getting upset over something.

"What do you want?" Haiden asked, looking at Yorick, clearly irritated.

"What did you say back there?" Yorick asked.

"What?" Haiden responded, and I knew exactly what they were referring to. I noticed Troy looking at me, arms folded across his chest, still looking muscular. But there was something else in his eyes, almost like he was upset with me.

"What did you say about her being your mate?" Yorick continued, unfazed by the look I was giving him. I wanted him to know it had nothing to do with him, that it wasn’t his business, but he ignored me.

Troy, however, kept one eye on me. It was odd because they were standing right behind me, and I had to turn around to look at them. Eventually, I just straightened my back to face Haiden, because Troy’s gaze made me uncomfortable.

"Oh, so that’s what’s bothering you. Why would you care? You broke up with her a long time ago. And as for you, I don’t even understand why you’re bothered. She was just your friend to begin with. You’re lucky I’m not the one tearing you apart for kissing my mate in the north," Haiden said in one breath, getting under both of their skin with just his words.

"How dare you," Troy hissed, stepping forward. I stood up so I could face all three of them.

"Neither of us have accepted each other as mates," I told Haiden, who grunted and narrowed his eyes at me. "Don’t forget, we’re just mates and not marked. And you felt the mate bond with me the night you tried to toss me over. You wanted to get rid of me, so don’t act like we’ve accepted each other. We’re mates for reasons I still don’t understand."

I reminded him that just because I was starting to feel bad for him or because we had the same enemies, it didn’t mean I would let him go around telling everyone I belonged to him, especially when I knew he didn’t want me, and I didn’t want him either.

"I don’t want you either. I was just saying it to piss them off," Haiden snapped back. I rolled my eyes and rubbed my face with my hands.

"Can we talk about the main deal?" I said, reminding him that before the two of them showed up, we were actually making progress on helping each other with our issues, more specifically, his.

"Wait, what is going on? If you two are having a meeting, we should be informed. We’re also crusaders. And since you already mentioned there’s nothing going on between you two, I don’t see a reason for you to be talking alone in secrecy."

Then Troy found yet another reason to argue with us.

"Because it’s none of your business," I snapped at him.

"What do you mean it’s none of our business? We want to know. If you’re making any plans for future missions, then we should be aware of them too," Yorick grunted, clearly unhappy that I told them to mind their own business.

Haiden was silently watching until he placed his hands on his waist and groaned. "It’s about my sister."

Suddenly, everyone went silent.

"The one that’s missing," he added, and I watched both Troy and Yorick exchange a glance.

"Are you sure you want to tell them?" I asked Haiden, avoiding eye contact with the two of them because I could tell they weren’t pleased that I was reminding Haiden to be certain about sharing such a big secret.

"You stay out of it. This is between alphas," Yorick said, gesturing at me.

Then he pointed between himself and Haiden.

"Excuse me, I am an alpha," I said, bobbing my head.

"Yeah, that’s where the ego comes from," Troy muttered, rolling his eyes.

The thing is, many of the alphas’ children aren’t even alphas, only the males are. I was the only she-wolf who managed to beat many alphas in general contests or races. That’s why my father considered me a suitable alpha for the pack, until my stepmother reminded him that I was a tomboy, not traditionally feminine, and that a she-wolf shouldn’t be an alpha.

It was actually my stepmother who convinced him, though my father was also at fault. I now understood how messed up he was. I knew a lot of things, but I digress.

As for a she-wolf being an alpha, most of the werewolf pack officials and royals agreed with my stepmother that a she-wolf could never be an alpha queen. They believed the better daughter should become alpha until she marries and brings in a male wolf who can take over with her support and she becomes the Luna of the pack instead of an alpha.

So with that reasoning, they decided I wasn’t feminine enough, and no great alpha would want me. They thought the pack would suffer under me, possibly marrying some omega or someone beneath their standards. They had no real hopes for me.

"I want to let them know, but I want to ask you first. Do you want to let them know? Because part of it relates to you," Haiden said, almost in a whisper.

For the first time, I was shocked that Haiden actually considered my comfort. I gave him a nod.

"Sure, go ahead. I don’t want you to hold it back because of me. I am not my father, and the one who did it all, he should be shamed publicly," I said, standing my ground.

I didn’t care about my father anymore. He was a messed-up man anyway.