I don’t know how late it is, but there is a small window at the top of the room, with sunshine still coming through, so it’s not evening yet.
My eyes search through the room until they catch the silhouette of a person. I straighten my posture, making sure not to come off as weak and scared. Hopefully, my two guards noticed my disappearance soon and alerted Forest. I am sure he will do everything in his power to find me. Now is not the time to fret.
“Who are you?” I ask calmly, my eyes still pinned to the silhouette. It looks to be a man, pretty tall, strong build.
Jordan?
My heart freezes at the thought, but then I remember he is stronger built than this man who stands in the shadows. This one is not of alpha build, but definitely stronger than the regular wolf.
A ranked wolf, probably.
No way.
“You have to be kidding me,” I mutter, feeling yet a new wave of disappointment surging through me. I thought I couldn’t get any more disappointed, but it seems I still haven’t reached the bottom of the barrel. Granted, I can not be entirely sure it’s him, but I decide to take a wild guess now. “Clemmens.”
I can see him startle, immediately knowing I am right.
“You can stop hiding,” I say. “I know it’s you. At least show some backbone, now.”
He hesitates, as usual. He always hesitated, even when he was still on my side. I do wonder if he ever trulywason my side, orjust had my back at the beginning because it was convenient for him. He changed his mind pretty fast and followed Jordan.
Sure, he hesitated sometimes. He hesitated when Jordan hit me, and he demanded Clemmens to look away. He hesitated when Jordan humiliated me. He hesitated when Jordan framed me for cheating. He hesitated when Jordan forced me to break our bond.
He always hesitated.
But to put it into Griffin’s words, he can shove his hesitation to where the sun doesn’t shine.
When Clemmens finally steps out of the shadows, I can see it yet again in his eyes.Hesitation.
“I can’t believe you,” I sigh. “You attacked and kidnapped me. Really, Clemmens? Just how much lower do you want to sink?”
“I had no choice,” he mutters.
“You had plenty of choices,” I tell him. “And you are responsible for the decisions you’ve made. You could have left Jordan long ago, but you didn’t. His promises must be good.”
“He did not buy me with money,” Clemmens exclaims.
“How did he buy you then? With his formidable personality? With his high values? With his ethical regiment?”
Clemmens clenches his hands to fists, pressing his lips against each other to a thin line.
“You didn’t have any noble reasons,” I say. I still don’t know why he really changed sides, but I don’t think I will ever be able to fully understand his reasoning and forgive him.
He unclenches his fists, trying to look more chilled now. “The pack needed me,” Clemmens says.
“No, it didn’t. It doesn’t. Jordan doesn’t either. You are replaceable. All of his close men are. You guys just don’t see it,” I shrug. “I was his luna, and even I was replaceable to him.”
“Damn it, Rosy—"
“Don’t call me that; I am not Rosy anymore.”
“You will always be Rosy to me,” he argues.
“No, I won’t.” I pause, fighting back the fury for the sake of staying calm and level-headed. The more composed I am, the more I’ll be able to throw him off. Hopefully. “Are you here to argue about my name, or will you tell me what I am supposed to do now? Do you want to sell me off to Jordan, to another alpha?”
“No, that’s not it!”
“Then what is it?”
