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Chapter 121
~Dristan’s POV~
The hallway was too quiet.
Kai had gone to check with one of Valerie’s team members again, leaving me alone in the corridor outside Isla’s wing.
I sat on the stone bench by the window, elbows on my knees, the silence around me only amplifying the war in my chest.
Was I a terrible mate?
The thought had been gnawing at me since Valerie walked away without a word. And no matter how many times I replayed it—her silence, her glare, the way she didn’t even hesitate—it all came back to that one painful conclusion.
"You’re not going to say it out loud?" Soren’s voice rang through my mind, low and sharp like flint striking steel. "Because I will."
"Don’t start," I muttered mentally, running a hand down my face.
"You’re acting like a lovesick fool who just got rejected. You’re more than that. We’re more than that."
"She’s ignoring me. Blocking me out like I never mattered."
"Do you?"
I glared at him internally.
"Because you let her feel like she didn’t." His voice turned into a growl. "You made your claim. You said the words. But what have you done to prove it?"
"I—" I hesitated.
Exactly.
I hadn’t touched her since the bond flared. Hadn’t marked her. Hadn’t even chased after her properly.
While Ash had moved fast, clear, decisive—I’d held back, too proud, too careful.
"You waited. You watched. You assumed she’d come to you."
"Because I thought we had time!" I snapped. "I thought the bond—"
"The bond doesn’t guarantee anything." Soren’s voice was ice now. "Do you think she’ll wait while the others fight for her? While the Lycans burn for her?"
I closed my eyes.
He wasn’t wrong.
"You said you didn’t want to rely on others to protect her," Soren continued, more calmly now. "Then don’t. You want her to feel safe? Claim her. You want her to trust you? Show her she’s worth breaking the rules for. Not just the ones your fathers made. Yours, too."
I felt my jaw tighten. My hands clenched on my knees.
Soren didn’t stop.
"She’s not just a prize to win. She’s not a trophy. She’s the Alpha Queen of us all—even if she doesn’t know it yet and especially when you can win her heart. So act like it. Or lose her to someone who will."
My heart pounded harder.
"I’ll mark her," I whispered aloud, voice low and firm. "Before the others do."
"Good." Soren’s tone flicked into a calm satisfaction. "Because I won’t let you lose our mate to hesitation."
Kai returned just then, spotting the look on my face.
Without speaking much, we moved till we got to the training area and I leaned against the marble pillar just outside the training block, arms crossed, eyes fixed on nothing.
Kai paced beside me, checking his phone every few seconds like the screen would magically spit out Valerie’s number.
I was still trying to make peace with the fact that we—her mates—were the only ones in her circle without access to her. How did we mess up this badly?
The vibration in my pocket startled me.
I pulled out my phone to see an unknown number.
My brows furrowed. "Strange number."
Kai stopped pacing and glanced over my shoulder. "Could be Valerie."
Without hesitation, I accepted the call and brought the phone to my ear.
But it wasn’t her.
"You want her number?" the deep voice rumbled, smoothly. "Meet me at the last block of the school building. All of you."
Click.
The call ended before I could respond. I stared at the screen, still processing the weight behind those words.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Why aren’t you moving?"
"Does it matter?" he said, already turning toward the path. "Let’s go. We need to make it up to Valerie."
"Dum-dum," I muttered, falling into step beside him, "he said all of us. That means whoever it is knows she’s our mate."
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