<h4>Chapter 371: 371-Calm Before A Storm</h4>


    <strong>Hnie:</strong>


    I knew at that moment if I didn’t back down, he would get the wrong idea. And I could not start another journey right away, especially when all I was feeling was just a fleeting sensation in my body and not deep feelings for him or Penn.


    "Oi! Why did you two leave us behind?" Thankfully, Lamar’s loud voice andining tone gave me a reason to jump away from Rudy, who didn’t look very happy at the interruption but formed a smile on his lips when weing Gavin and Lamar.


    "We came here to get you food," I said, pointing at the apple tree.


    "Where’s the food?" Gavinined.


    "Is the food in the room with us?" Lamar continued, making me roll my eyes at him.


    "They’re tasty, trust me," I told them, giving them a look to not act like kids.


    "Hnie, when somebody says food, I imagine pizza, burgers, and burritos," Lamar hissed, but then reluctantly reached the tree and grabbed an apple. As soon as he bit into it, his eyes widened, and a shocked look took over his face. Before I could tell him, ’I told you so,’ his expression went back to normal, and he added, "But it’s definitely an apple."


    That guy!


    "You’re so rude," I elbowed him gently in his ribs, and heughed. Gavin grabbed apples too—actually, way too many—and I knew what he was doing. He was getting them for our friends. Gavin was really a nice guy. He just made mistakes in the past and got everyone to look at him like he was forever a bad person.


    "Now, shall we go home? I can’t work out another hour," Lamarined, gesturing for me to look at his phone screen. He had ordered a huge meal.


    I knew he wanted to get outside the academy to grab the food before the warden saw it.


    "Yeah, I think that will be it for today. We’ll continue from tomorrow, okay?" Rudy said, his hands on his waist.


    Now I understood why an alpha wouldn’t want to be trained by another alpha almost his age. Penn wouldn’t like Rudy’s tone when he’s in trainer mode.


    The alpha had such a big ego that it sometimes made meugh at them.


    "Alright, goodnight," Gavin yelled, with Lamar’s arm wrapped around his shoulder.


    "Thank you, Rudy!" Before leaving, I wanted to genuinely express my gratitude to him. It was truly amazing that while he could have spent that time resting or having fun, he decided to train us.


    "It’s nothing, not for you. I can do much more," he bent down, his hands on his knees while flirtatiously staring at my lips.


    "Oh, okay! Thank you!" Nervously, I stepped back,ughing awkwardly.


    "You look so cute when youugh, you know that, right?" heplimented again, making my cheeks turn red. I noticed Lamar and Gavin stop and turn to look at us.


    "Are you twoing or not?" Lamar was really not okay with Rudy and me being alone. And I appreciated it. It wasn’t like I wanted something to happen, but Rudy was so charming that I feared my clumsy and nervous shying away might give him the wrong idea.


    "Yeah, we’reing," I said, speeding up and gesturing for Rudy toe along. Once again, Rudy didn’t look too happy, but he silently followed us.


    This time, Lamar made sure he had me by his side so that Rudy wouldn’t slow me down and walk beside me.


    Now, that might be too much, but I wouldn’t judge Lamar until he told me what was going on. We arrived at the hostel, and Rudy stopped inside while we grabbed the food and decided to sit in our room.


    The minute we opened the door and got inside, my mood soured at the sight of Lucy, Sydney, and Salem sitting on her bed and having a meal.


    Lucy knew this is what me and my friends liked to do, so she brought them here to ruin the moment for us.


    Lucy gave me a very upsetting look when noticing Gavin behind me.


    Sydney turned briefly and smirked, "This is so yummy. We should do this every day," she said while still looking at me.


    Lamar gently nudged my arm and led us to the balcony instead. It was cold outside, but it was peaceful. But knowing Sydney now had open ess to our room, thanks to Lucy, I wasn’t veryfortable.


    "What’s going on with her? I thought it was a one-time thing," Lamarined, taking huge bites of his pizza.


    "Yeah, maybe don’t take your anger out on the food. You already ate two slices, while Hnie and I are still on our first," Gavin pointed at the pizza slices,ining.


    "Yeah, well, I’m angry. And—it’s a match. Whoever eats fast gets a good deal," Lamar argued back. They were such kids.


    "I’m amazed by Lucy myself. What’s going on with her? What’s her n, and why is Sydney being friends with her?" I gave my input since it wasn’t that shocking that Lucy wanted to be part of the cool group, but Sydney didn’t even like people who were lower in rank than her.


    "She’s pissing you off," Lamar exined, but that’s when Gavin gently shook his head.


    "She’s pissing off her sister," he finished, and our eyesnded on his face in shock.


    "She wants to create a wedge between me and Salem by causing distance between our group. Sydney knows the more she annoys you, the more I’ll ignore Salem," he exined, finally giving us the insight, and I’m sure he got it from Salem.


    We couldn’t talk about the topic anymore, mainly because I had seen the urge in Gavin’s eyes to go and talk with Salem, but I guess he was afraid of the mess it would cause with Lucy and Sydney.


    After we were done, we returned to our room, and Gavin left for his own. Sydney and Salem had left by then, so it was really just the three of us.


    Right before I was lying in my bed, I heard Lucy’s whisper, "You surely chose him over me."