<h4>Chapter 527: 527-Snakes All Around Me</h4>


    <strong>Ian:</strong>


    Life has shown me many forms of grief. From childhood to adulthood, I was taught only one thing, and that was to be tough.


    To learn that, I had to pass through different kinds of pain. A mother who was not there. A father whose attention was lost most of the time or was always working. I had a stepbrother who was always thinking of ways to hurt me.


    Then I went to live with my great grandfather.


    My grandfather used to draw monsters. I would sit beside him for hours, staring at those monsters.


    For a long time, my life became nothing but monsters. Even my nightmares were filled with monsters. Every time he drew a picture, he showed it to me, then exined what the monster did and what kind of powers and weaknesses it had.


    Since I had nothing better to do, I just sat and listened to him. Then I would close my eyes and imagine the monsters walking around me.


    That is how I became deeply connected to them, which is why when I went to the north and started seeing them in front of me, I felt bored.


    In the beginning, I was really upset about being sent there. I was angry with my father too because I thought I had never done anything wrong, so why the heck did he punish me?


    I did not know about my brother’s condition, but I knew he hadmitted many frauds and many painful acts, even against me and others. So I thought if someone should be going to the north, it should have been him for his wrong deeds.


    Then she entered my life.


    My fated mate. My Clementine.


    The moment I saw her, I understood she was special. I also knew she would destroy me.


    I tried many times to stay away from her. I could not.


    She was like a ma and I kept getting pulled toward her.


    Eventually, I surrendered to her. I thought maybe this was the Moon Goddess’ way of redeeming herself.


    After giving me so much pain, maybe she was finally giving me a little happiness.


    But to take that happiness away, many enemies were created.


    "Ian, drink some water."


    Haiden spoke softly, holding a bottle out to me. I gave him a hand gesture to let him know I did not want it.


    The news hit me like a wrecking ball, but more importantly, I could not feel it. I just did not feel it.


    Even though the words were spoken with confidence, something else stopped me from believing them. My own heart. My wolf.


    I had been sitting on the road for a long time, silently feeling nothing.


    "I’m not feeling the loneliness," I said quietly.


    The moment I said that, everyone turned to look at me.


    I lifted my head and looked at each of them.


    I was even more surprised when I saw Leysa standing behind Troy. When had she arrived?


    Also, when did Troye?


    "What are you saying?" Haiden asked, giving me an apologetic look.


    His new mate was standing beside him. They looked connected.


    On the other side, Troy was holding Leysa’s hand.


    A lot was happening here. A lot was changing. It was a lot for me to register but my brain seemed to be cooked.


    "I’m not feeling the connection break," I rified, getting up from the road. Haiden had tears in his eyes. Fauna looked like she was about to cry too, but Troy and Leysa did not seem like they were going to cry over the news.


    They looked more puzzled and worried than sad.


    Everyone was still staring at me.


    "If she is dead, wouldn’t I feel the bond snap?" I asked.


    My voice began to crack.


    I looked at my father. He was staring at me.


    "Tell me, Father. Didn’t you feel the connection break?" I asked, walking toward him.


    He looked lost. As if he wanted to say something but could not say it in front of everyone.


    Finally, he spoke.


    "I mean, we have that poison inside us. We react differently than other werewolves," he exined.


    That was all he said and my eyes closed.


    I clenched my fists to the side of my body and then took a deep breath.


    It felt as if the more I tried to convince myself, the more they were trying to convince me that Clementine was truly dead.


    "No. I’m not ready to believe that she’s dead."


    I shook my head reluctantly. Then I looked around at everyone with anger, daring anyone to repeat those words to my face.


    "You think after all these weeks she would still be alive?" Grant pressed in a stern tone.


    He kept trying to convince me that I was wrong.


    My heart began to sink.


    I slipped into another trance.


    I knew the pattern. First, I would go into shock. Then my mind would convince me that my Clementine was perfectly fine.


    "You should tell him."


    Leysa whispered something to Troy and I snapped my head toward her.


    "What do you mean? What should you tell me?" I demanded, turning my attention to those two.


    Troy looked at everyone once before turning to me. Then he walked toward me in small steps, as if dragging his own body forward.


    "You probably don’t know the truth," Troy said in a soft voice.


    "What truth?" I asked.


    Troy turned to look at Leysa, and she gave him a nod.


    Once again, I noticed that the two did not look like they were going to grieve. They seemed like they were hiding something.


    I watched them in frustration, and I grew angry when I noticed they were still speaking with their eyes instead of being clear with me.


    "Speak. What truth?" My voice rose this time as anxiety filled my veins.


    "Where do you think Clementine was all this time?" he replied, his breath slow and his tone very soft but full of guilt.


    As soon as he said that, I moved closer to him.


    "Troy, what are you saying? Wasn’t she with Nook?" Haiden asked Troy this time, trying to get more answers from him.


    "No! She was not," Troy shocked us with his response.


    Grant gulped and I caught it.


    "Okay, Troy, without any break, fucking tell us what you mean," Haiden snapped, finally annoyed with him.


    While he spoke, I checked Grant’s expression. He looked like he had been caught in a lie.


    And somehow, that lie made me feel relieved rather than angry at him.


    I mean, of course I would beat the fuck out of him for saying something so scary to me, but I was d it had turned out to be a lie.


    "I recently found out that she..." Troy paused before finishing. "She was with Yorick."


    My head began to shake.


    I grabbed Troy’s arm and turned him toward me so his attention stayed only on me.


    "Look at me," I demanded.


    No one else mattered. I wanted the answer from him.


    "What do you mean she was with Yorick? What was she doing with Yorick?" I shouted.


    Troy’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His hesitation was obvious.


    Then he began to exin.


    He told me Clementine had been sold at Nook. After that, Yorick and his family pretended they were rescuing her.


    During that time, they killed the warriors but let Nook go because it was part of the deal.


    Then Yorick took her to his house, pretending to protect her.


    Everything else Troy said shook my mind.


    Yorick had kept Clementine as a hostage.


    "And you’re telling me this now?" I screamed so loudly that my own ears rang.


    "We found out only a day or two ago. I spent hours traveling. As soon as I reached there, we fought. After that, I took her somewhere safe," Troy tried to exin.


    I grabbed him by the cor.


    "So when you said you were going because of your mother, you were actually leaving because Leysa called you? You were going to get Clementine?" I shouted in disbelief.


    Others seemed to be shocked too. All this time, someone knew and didn’t fucking tell us.


    "Why didn’t you tell us?" I yelled at the top of my voice, shaking him by the cor.


    People started stepping between us, trying to pull me back and protect him.


    But I refused to let him go.


    "Wait a minute. That means Clementine is with you."


    The realization hit me all over again.


    "You said you rescued her and took her somewhere safe. She should be with you. So where is she?" I shouted.


    As I grabbed his cor again, my father stepped between us and forced us apart.


    "Troy, tell us quickly. Where is she? Where did you keep her safe?" my father asked, choosing his words carefully.


    Maybe he believed she was safe.


    I wanted to believe that too.


    But the way Troy avoided my eyes told me something else. The trouble was not over.


    "Unfortunately, I was about to bring her to Ian," Troy replied after a long pause. "But Messi abducted her."


    He answered with clear hesitation.