Chapter 105: 105-Wet And Under Scrutiny
Clementine:
The scent of his shampoo was mesmerizing. I felt the dampness from his clothes, but I didn’t let go. I couldn’t even lift my hands because his arms were wrapped tightly around me. After a while, he pulled back and cupped my face in his cold hands, probably from the shower he had just taken.
"Why the fuck did you stay behind without me?" he asked, his eyes scanning my face with such intimacy that I couldn’t speak. His thumb brushed gently over my cheek and chin, leaving me numb.
"Dude, do you remember Sadie? That’s her baby," Troy jumped in quickly, his voice urgent, as if trying to distract Haiden, and it worked. Haiden turned to him, and his hands slowly slipped from my face. His eyes landed on the baby before looking back at Troy.
"What do you mean? She died. Didn’t they tell us?" Haiden asked, mentioning the lurkers.
"Well, we found her in the woods," Troy explained, quickly handing over the baby. "She was in labor. She told us she’d been at the station on and off, and she never saw a train stop to look for her."
Haiden kept staring at the baby. I wanted to stay close, ready to help him if he broke down. He looked more angry than sad—his eyes held tears, but I had expected him to completely lose it. Now that I understood why he cared so much about her, his reaction seemed normal. He didn’t know Sadie deeply. He was thinking of his mother while looking at her. And even though he was hurt, he wasn’t throwing tantrums. Still, I could tell he planned to confront the ringleaders.
"And that’s why we couldn’t find her."
Miss Rue’s arrival was unexpected. Haiden turned toward the door and watched her stand there, looking upset.
"The train goes there and stays open for at least three minutes before leaving," she said. "We couldn’t leave our lurkers behind, you know that. It’s not their job. They can’t fight those monsters like you all can. You’re young, fresh, and know how to handle things. You have the urge to survive. These lurkers have lost their sense of living. That’s why they don’t speak or interact, they just follow orders. So they had to return quickly. We took the train a few times, but every time she wasn’t there. I guess it was one of those times she was on and off the station."
She spoke bitterly, probably because we had questioned their intentions toward us.
"I didn’t expect you to think we were such scum that we wouldn’t want someone back alive" she complained.
"If you care so much, why not give us weapons?" Haiden argued, while I took the baby from his hands again. Ian had finally turned around, but he only watched us.
"Because if we give you weapons, there’ll be a war between you all," she replied. "We saw how distant everyone became after returning from this task. You need to learn to survive, not kill each other the moment you step onto the station. And we’re preparing you for the worst. What if one day the train couldn’t retrieve you? Then what? Would you be waiting for us to send weapons and food?"
She tried to justify why young teens were sent out to survive, insisting that teens had more desire to live than older werewolves. It didn’t make sense to me, but at this point, arguing was useless.
"We’ll give her a proper burial, the respect she deserves. And her baby will be placed in a wealthy family, probably an alpha or royal household, because she was a crusader. Crusaders are worth respecting." Her tone softened as she stepped closer, smiling at the baby before taking him from my arms.
"His name is Hardin," I said, and she smiled.
"She seemed impressed by Haiden to choose a relatively similar name." As soon as she said that, he closed his eyes and looked away.
"Anyway, I’m glad you all came back, because Clementine, there are so many others who didn’t." She repeated herself softly before turning to leave, but stopped halfway.
"Yorick is doing fine. He’ll be discharged from the hospital in a few hours. He wants to transition and heal on his own. And Clementine, he’s been asking about only you," she finished before walking out the door.
"Yorick was asking only about her," Troy changed the subject as he mentioned Yorick. However, the bitterness in his tone shocked me.
"I don’t know. Back when I was taking him home, he kept saying her name in his sleep, even while unconscious," Haiden admitted, his voice tinged with sadness, almost like he was complaining that someone else was saying his mate’s name.
"These two have been left alone for a while. I mean, after you guys were separated, right?" Ian spoke up, of course he had to. If something was going on, there was no way Ian wouldn’t poke his nose in.
I shot him a sharp look, and he bit his tongue before winking at me. Now both Haiden and Troy were staring. I didn’t understand why Troy was acting so possessive. I have told him about my second fated mate, but I guess he wanted Haiden to know about it as well.
"Yeah, we were left behind for a while," I admitted. "We went into a shop and stayed there." I mumbled the words, trying to figure out how to escape their questioning gazes.
"And then? What did you two do there?" Haiden pressed.
"We stayed in the shop for a while, talking about different things," I paused, clenching my fist as I remembered that night. It had been special, because unlike Haiden, when Yorick found out I was his mate, his reaction was completely different, almost like he’d been given the world. I knew Haiden couldn’t have responded the same way, not with everything he was dealing with and the memories that reminded me of my father’s cruelty. Still, thinking about my own experience, it had been different with Yorick because he made it special with his smile. Sadly, I hadn’t made it special for him. I’d disappointed him that night.
After gathering my thoughts and mustering enough courage, I finally opened my eyes, met Haiden’s gaze, and told him.
"I felt the mate bond with him," I said. When I finished, he froze, and I could already tell he was going to have a hard time with this news.