Chapter 5

Nina POV

“Y-you’re back…” I gasped, calming my wolf with a hand on my chest and some light breaths.

The last thing I needed was another misunderstanding from her. Another ‘mate’ situation.

No more boys, remember?

Jace smiled at me. His devilishly handsome smile was one of the things that attracted me to him when we were younger.

The Brooks family had boys that could take a girl’s breath away, that I didn't argue, but they were evil.

Or at least only Aiden was.

“Yeah. I got back a few hours ago. I'm a transfer student here. So glad I ran into you on my way to my locker room. How are you doing?”

“I'm good. Transfer student?” I repeated, my brow raised with questions. He was staying longer?

Jace nodded, his eyes left me as they wandered round the hallway, outside the window, and then back.

“It's been a while since I've been here, so I decided to come back. No place feels like home, you know?”

I didn't. I had always been home.

“Right…”

I asked if he had seen his best friend, Killan– my brother. Jace said he hadn't, matter of fact, he was searching for him and thought I could help him out.

His eyes were glued to me, his lips still tight at their corners.

“The last time I saw him, he was in the principal's office. He should be in the locker room now, maybe preparing for a match or something.” I shrugged.

“Thanks, I'll go there right now.”

I nodded with a slight bow. Our conversation had ended, and I took my step to leave when I heard him call my name again.

“Hey Nina.”

I froze, my neck gently winding in his direction.

“Yes?”

“You know you look beautiful, right?”

I swallowed hard, except that the saliva got stuck at the back of my throat.

My wolf's voice came back playing in my head. “Mate. Mate. Mate.”

No.

“Thank you. After all these years, you look good too.”

Jace thanked me. He blamed it on his mother, something about sending him food all the way across four packs and actually making sure he ate it.

“That's so nice. She's so caring.” My smile was plastered on my lips, photographic and yet insincere.

“Alright. I’ll talk to you later, then.”

This time, I didn't wait for his response; I skimmed right out of there as fast as I could.

I came to the hallway where I found Kate. My best friend was standing before her locker room, texting 

“Looks like you're having a good day?”

Her head shot up. She slid her phone into her pocket fast, her forehead wrinkling with confusion.

“You're back?”

“I wasn't supposed to be?”

She swung her head, a slight sense of hesitation in her movements. “No. It's just that I thought you were leaving the school. You know…after the Aiden thing.”

The sting of his rejection awoke inside me. I shoved it away. “I'm fine. He has his life to live and I have mine.”

Kate looked at me pathetically.

“You sure about that? I know you loved him so much.”

I did, but talking about Aiden was the last thing I needed right now.

Speak of the devil. My phone buzzed inside my bag, I took a look at the screen and found a text from a strange number.

“Save this number. It's me, Aiden. I'll be sending you messages through this line, can't risk Maya finding out about us.”

Another round of pain tucked at my chest, but I was casual about it. I even smiled.

“Is something wrong?”

I shook my head and then met Kate's interviewing gaze. “It's just a text from my mom telling me how much she loves me. She's so funny.”

“Alright. Well, I'm just about heading to class, want me to keep a seat for you?”

The day has toiled on me a lot. I was on the edge of a breakdown. The last thing I needed was to be around people.

“Maybe next time, I need to go somewhere.”

Kate agreed, “You look a little exhausted, so I understand. Anyway, I'll send you some notes when we're done.”

“Thank you.”

I wrapped my hands around my best friend, her warmth giving me the strength I needed.

We pulled away when the bell rang for the next class, and she was headed her way.

I didn't go home like I had imagined. No, not when mother actually texted that she was home and making a meal. 

I couldn't risk her seeing me break down comfortably.

No, my mother couldn't handle it, and I didn't want to make her cry. Instead, I found my favorite spot to cry at the back of our school's football field.

No one ever came there, and if they did, they did not make it that far to the back of the dumpster. They always stopped just by the entrance of the lonely streetlight there.

I had the dumpster area to myself. All for me to cry as much as I wanted. And I did.

The sun had just started disappearing, its horizon orange and red, the air windy a little, when I cleared the space near the dumpster to sit.

‘You don't have to cry. He's the bastard for not choosing you.’ my wolf whispered in my thoughts.

She was right, but it didn't take away the sting of betrayal and pain from the situation.

No. The pain was more intense.

I must have sat there weeping for more than half an hour when I heard someone call my name.

“Nina?”

I froze.

My name came again.

Quickly, I wiped my tears clean and hid my puffy red eyes behind the tiny scarf I carried as I awaited the caller.

It was probably my brother, Killian. He never joked about being protective. I was sure he had sniffed my scent out when he didn't see me after school.

The footsteps lingered for a while near the dumpster until they found my secret entrance. I stopped sniffing, expecting Killian's head to pop up in front of me.

But it didn't.

Instead, another familiar pair of eyes found me, and when his face came into full view, I found my heart pounding so fast it felt like it would explode.

“Jace?”

His forehead wrinkled when he saw my puffy face.

“Mate? Why are you crying?”

I froze.

“What did you just call me?”