Chapter 89: Nothing But Kind to Me_A Mate To Three Alpha Heirs

<h4>Chapter 89: Nothing But Kind to Me</h4>

 {Elira}

 ~**^**~

 I lingered for another full minute, silently willing it to appear. Maybe I’d just overlooked it. Maybe someone had shelved it incorrectly.

 But deep down, I felt it—that unease, creeping in like fog under a closed door.

 I exhaled and turned on my heel, making my way back to Rennon’s desk. The soft shuffle of students behind me seemed unusually loud in the heavy silence of the room.

 He looked up from the form he was filing, his warm expression lifting slightly when he saw me. "Did you find it?"

 I stopped at the desk and steadied my voice. "The 1988 yearbook... It’s missing."

 His eyebrows furrowed faintly. "Missing?"

 I nodded, clutching the edge of the desk like it could anchor my nerves. "I checked three times. It’s not on the shelf. It’s supposed to be between 1987 and 1989, right?"

 "It should be," he said quietly.

 He reached for a thick, leather-bound logbook and flipped it open, his finger trailing across rows of handwritten names and titles. The pages made a soft rustling sound—almostforting.

 "It hasn’t been borrowed recently," he said, frowning deeper now. "No one’s signed it out at all between ."

 I nced back toward the tall shelves, where the other students continued browsing. Something about this felt wrong—off. A strange, tightening weight pressed against my chest.

 Rennon stood and stepped forward. "Excuse me," he called out gently to the others. "Has anyone removed a yearbook from the shelves today? Specifically, the 1988 volume?"

 The small group of students looked up, blinking in confusion. A girl with thick sses shook her head.

 "No, sir," one of the boys added. "I’ve only been in the magical nt catalogues."

 Rennon nodded once, his tone still calm but firmer now. "All right. Thank you."

 He returned to the desk, his gaze meeting mine again. "I will look into it personally," he said. "It might have been misced during reshelving. But it shouldn’t be missing—not without a log entry."

 I nodded, but my hands were cold.

 Misced? Or stolen? Hidden?

 I tried to keep my breathing steady as I looked down at the polished wooden desk. My voice felt small.

 "It’s just... that yearbook might be the only thing that can tell me more about my mother."

 Rennon’s gaze softened, but there was a flicker of something else in it too—concern. Maybe even suspicion.

 "I will find it," he said with quiet conviction. "But for now, you should rest. Don’t overthink this."

 I nodded again, because what else could I do?

 But as I left the Archive Room, my thoughts were anything but still.

 The hallway felt cooler, even though the sun still filtered in through the tall windows, casting gold on the tiles.

 My footsteps echoed faintly as I walked, but the pounding in my head was louder.

 Someone doesn’t want me to see what’s in that yearbook.

 That thought kept repeating like a mantra.

 I rubbed my arms absently. ’Was this connected to the sealed channels in my body? To my mother? To the way her name had never oncee up in conversations about ESA alumni?’

 I didn’t know. But suddenly, I had more questions than ever before.

 I rounded a corner, heading toward the south wing staircase, when I spotted her.

 Just up ahead, a slim girl with a familiar build turned the corner—her hair twisted in a neat updo, her silhouette striking something too familiar in me.

 I paused mid-step, watching her walk toward one of the admin buildings.

 Before I could call out or move closer, she pushed through a side door and disappeared inside.

 My brows knit. Was that...?

 No, it couldn’t be. I didn’t even know who I thought it might be.

 Still, something about her profile tugged at a part of me that refused to rest.

 I stood there a moment longer, torn between curiosity and exhaustion.

 In the end, I turned away. I’ve had enough mysteries for one day.

 By the time I returned to the main dorm building, the weight of everything pressed into my shoulders. I rode the elevator in silence, watching my reflection blur in the trimmed walls.

 Something was being hidden from me at ESA. Maybe by the school. Maybe by someone else.

 But I wasn’t going to stop searching.

 And now... someone clearly didn’t want me to keep looking.

 Or perhaps, was this all just a coincidence?

 ---

 When I stepped into the dorm room, I hadn’t even closed the door yet before I was met with surprised expressions.

 "You’re back already?" Nari asked, raising an eyebrow from where she was seated on her bed, peeling the stic off a new set of sticky notes.

 "I thought you said you were going to be gone for an hour," Cambria added, ncing up from her textbook. "What happened?"

 I shut the door gently behind me and walked over to my bed, setting my backpack down by the chair. I didn’t answer immediately.

 "I didn’t find what I went there for," I said after a moment, lowering myself onto my mattress.

 Juniper tilted her head. "That’s odd. The Archive Room’s probably the most organized ce on campus."

 I sighed, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my thighs. My fingersced together as I debated saying more. Do I tell them?

 A part of me still wanted to hold everything close, but these girls... they’d been nothing but kind to me.

 "I didn’t say this earlier," I began, "but that day I didn’t join you for lunchst week Friday—I went to the Archive Room."

 That caught their attention.

 Juniper gave me a sharp look, a sly smile curling her lips. "So you weren’t on a secret date like Nari suggested."

 Tamryn let out a softugh. "Guess the ’important thing’ you had to handle was flipping through dusty old books."

 Nari groaned dramatically and flopped onto her back. "You made it sound so mysterious! All that buildup for a bunch of shelves?"

 Cambria grinned. "I can see how disappointed you all are."

 Despite everything, a small smile pulled at the corner of my lips. I hadn’t expected their teasing to feel...forting.

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Chapter 89: Nothing But Kind to Me