Academy Of Mates novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Chapter 109

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He had me in his arms in the blink of an eye, holding me gently but tightly, holding me close like he’s never held anyone before. “I love you more than life itself, my Vareesa, but you already know that. You know the lengths I would go to have you safe in my arms.”

“Seventeen years?” I softly teased, holding him with my bandaged hands. “It took us seventeen years for this.”

“I would have spent another seventeen more just to look for you. And more.” He admits, pressing a kiss on top of my head. “There is no one else for me but you, Vareesa.”

We held each other for a long time, soaking in the feeling of us together again. We were separated for all but two days and a half of that I spent sleeping, but it felt like forever without Sebastian.

It felt longer.

Much longer than it seemed.

My eyes widened, suddenly remembering. “Where’s Andrew? You didn’t leave him, did you? Because you promised. You swore to me that you wouldn’t hurt him. He did his best to protect me. He showed me how to escape and-”

“He’s safe.” Sebastian cuts me off from my panic. “He’s being treated in another tent. His injuries are severe but he will survive. But I think you should see someone else first. He’s been worried about you.”

I wasn’t all that surprised when Benedict came into the tent, hesitant and looking everywhere but at me, even when I knew that all he wanted to do was look at me. I waited for my neck to hurt at the sight of him so close yet far enough away that I couldn’t touch him, but there was nothing even when I stared at him, even when his eyes finally met mine.

There was nothing.

Nothing at all.

And for a few seconds, I felt like I might cry because that meant our tether that connected us as mates was now gone. Completely. With just one look, I knew he felt the same. I know that he knows he felt nothing too.

Sebastian didn’t stand around, giving me one last glance over his shoulder before leaving the tent until there was only Benedict and I.

“How are you feeling?” Benedict started, swallowing nervously, keeping his eyes on my hands.

“Better.” It was not better, but I didn’t want him to worry. We had enough things to worry about. My wrapped hand reaches for my neck- for my mark, to try and feel anything, but there was yet again nothing. “What..?”

“I don’t understand it either, but it seems that after you shifted into your wolf, you’ve decided on your mate because I can’t feel anything as well. The moment you saw Sebastian, I felt something cut you from me. And I think it’s permanent.” His eyes were sad, sorrowful, but they were not in pain anymore. Not like before where Benedict just looked like he was always suffering. Now, he was free, free of this invisible connection that bound us together. “Are you happy with him?”

It was such a fleeting question, a soft one that was heavy with meaning.

The tether connecting us was long gone, but this question only proved that he still loved me despite it all.

Benedict still felt something for me and if I answered this question that hinted at my feelings for him, he was finally going to

choose me.

For the first time.

I thought long and hard about my answer, not because I didn’t know what to say, but rather, I wanted to test myself if I was

10:49 Mon, Apr 20

Chapter 109

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going to waiver, if I was going regret or have those phantom emotions surge through me but there was nothing of the sort. Only a steady heart that beats for one. “I’m happy with him. Really happy.”

“And I’m happy for you.” Benedict’s expression was a mix of both genuine happiness and hurt, as if his mind was truly happy for Sebastian and I, but his heart broke for it all the same. “He always put you first, above everything else, and you deserve to always be first.”

My lips shook. “I want you to be happy too, Benedict.”

He sucked in a breath, his blue eyes closing and when they opened they were no longer sad. “I am happy. I found someone.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, surprised but strangely excited for him. “You replaced me that quickly, huh?”

“Not in the way that you think,” Benedict mused, the brightness back to him, that same brightness that pulled me to him during the School of Love, but instead of wanting him like before… I just felt contented to hear more of this story, a friend listening supportively. “For a very long time, I was lost like a piece of me was missing.”

“She must be quite the girl.” I teased, wiggling my eyebrows.

Benedict laughs along with me. “He’s a boy, Vareesa.”

I shrugged, getting comfortable in bed. Outside, I could hear a lot of movement like an army was setting up. “Who am I to judge who you love?”

“It’s your father.” He adds like it was an afterthought.

My mind raced with confusion and things I shouldn’t think about. “Please explain faster because this doesn’t sound as good as I thought it was.”

“It’s a long story but I found out that my father, who was killed by the city Alpha when my mother was pregnant with me, had a brother and it turns out that he’s your father.” Benedict is quick to rebound on that. “At first I thought, holy shit, I’m fated to my cousin but he assured me that we are very much not related.”

This time, I really did laugh out loud and as much as it painfully pulled at my skin, I was so happy that I didn’t really care. “No. We are very much not related in that regard. He found me in the woods when I was three.”

Benedict looked to be in deep thought, a conflicting expression on his face. “You don’t remember your parents?”

“Not well.” I noticed his hesitation, his slight unease when his eyes met mine. “What is it?”

“You’re not from the farm pack.” He simply says, thinking hard. “Your wolf is light colored. Too light colored. A trait only one pack has.”

One pack.

His old pack.

The famous city pack that prided themselves on their light fur and how they considered it purity to have such a coat.

I had never really thought of it since the only other times I shifted, I was dirty and malnourished, and didn’t look like much.

But now…

“Maybe it’s nothing then.” Benedict quickly says when he notices my horror. “I’m probably just wrong.”

Why did I feel like he was not wrong?

For Benedict was raised with the city pack and he knew what they all looked like in wolf form. But surely there’s just a mistake-

10:49 Mon, Apr 20

Chapter 109

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