<h4>Chapter 465: 465-Saved By A Friend</h4>


    <strong>Clementine:</strong>


    "I do not understand," I told the old man, my eyes widening in shock.


    "You will find out soon. For now, sleep well, my princess," he whispered.


    That was all he said before I felt something strike my arm. It did not feel like a wolfsbane, but more like a sedative, because my eyes immediately began to feel heavy. Before I knew it, sleep took over.


    During the car ride, I woke up a few times. Each time, someone gave me water and asked if I wasfortable.


    It was different from before. That earlier journey had been painful, but now I was treated differently. I was even given a nket and a pillow.


    After what felt like hours, I finally began to regain consciousness. I expected to wake up in a basement again, tired, with cold chains and silver pressed into my skin. But that did not happen.


    Instead, I found myself restingfortably in a bed. The mattress was soft, and the nket covering me felt warm and fuzzy. The scent of fresh flowers filled the room, settling quietly in my chest.


    I forced myself fully awake and looked around. The walls were not empty or dirty. The room was filled with beautiful decor and soft lights. I had to blink a few times to understand where I was.


    For a moment, I thought I had been found. Maybe Ian had saved me.


    But as I tried to sit up, panic set in. The room waspletely unfamiliar, filled with decor, a couch, and arge window. And still, something held me back from getting out of the bed.


    My legs were still bound together, almost like handcuffs, but my hands were free. I tried to pull at the restraints, but I did not have enough strength to break them.


    "Mint,e on, you need to use your strength," I urged my wolf.


    That was when I realized something else, something I had already noticed before passing out. My wolf was no longer awake inside me. And then it struck me.


    Could I really be pregnant? That was when a wolf fell asleep.


    "Is anybody outside?" I screamed as I got off the bed and hopped toward the window.


    The window was boarded shut from the outside, which meant there was a small terrace beyond it, a narrow balcony. But my strength was gone. My wolf had fallen asleep, and whatever had been injected into me still left me weak and drowsy.


    "Is anybody outside?" I screamed again.


    I began hopping toward the door but slowed halfway there. That was when I heard footsteps approaching the room. Panic surged through me, and I jumped back just as the door finally opened.


    "Do anything, and I will—" I started to warn them, but the words died in my throat when I saw a familiar face. The fear drained out of me at once.


    "Yorick?" I asked, smiling widely.


    "Oh my Goddess, Clementine!" he yelled, rushing toward me and wrapping his arms around me.


    Everything suddenly felt normal. I lifted my arms and wrapped them around his neck, holding him tightly. I did not know how many days had passed, but seeing a familiar face again, my mate and my friend, felt like the right ce to start.


    I broke the hug because I needed to tell him what had happened over thest few days.


    "Yorick, what is this ce? You need to get me out of here," I told him, my voice trembling as my eyesnded on a wedding gown in the far corner of the room. Panic settled in again.


    That was when I noticed the blood on Yorick. I stepped back from him. He nced down at himself and then looked up at me.


    "Oh no, no," he said quickly.


    "I was looking for you with my family. We found you and came to save you. I fought the man who bought you," he whispered, making me look at his face with hope.


    "Do not worry. You are fine," he added as he stepped toward me again.


    This time, I did not move away.


    "I do not understand. That man was my father’s friend. I remember himing to our home. How could he buy me?" I asked Yorick in one breath, my voice breaking as tears streamed down my cheeks.


    "You never know what those old men are capable of," he replied softly.


    "But first, I need to get you out of here. We do not know if his guards wille back."


    I nodded, and he understood immediately. He had already noticed my feet were tied, so he quickly lifted me into his arms.


    As he carried me out, he paused for a moment, ncing at the gown, before hurrying out of the room. I realized we were in a small but luxurious condo, filled with dead bodies of fallen guards.


    I recognized the man who owned the ce. He was someone who used to visit our home when I was a child, when Leysa and I were young. He had been my father’s friend back then. The thought of it made my stomach turn. After I grew up, he decided to buy me.


    Had he carried those thoughts about me all this time? The idea filled me with disgust.


    "Wait, Yorick, what about the man? What if he does this to someone else?" I asked anxiously.


    "Do not worry, my friend," he replied calmly. "He has been taken care of. I killed him myself. He will never hurt anyone again."


    The moment he said that, I finally began to rx. It was a feeling I had not had in a long time.


    "And do not worry. You can trust me. When you wake up, you will no longer be tied to anyone," he added as he carried me outside.


    The fresh breeze hit my face, and for a while, it felt like freedom.


    The next thing I knew, Yorick set me down in the car. I wanted to ask him for a pregnancy test, but I was so drowsy that I fell asleep the moment I settled into the seat.


    That was what happened when you were with people you trusted.