That was personal.
“You had one fucking job,” Rory yells.
“I thought you were dead,” Clemmens mutters.
“And that’s reason enough for you to betray the only family member I had left?” Rory snarls. “You promised me, Clemmens!”
“And you promised me to never leave my side.”
“It’s not like I had a choice,” Rory hisses. “I thought I could trust you. But you gave in under Jordan’s pressure and rejected me.”
“Wait… what?” I mutter, exchanging a glance with Forest. “You were… mates?”
“Yes,” Rory furrows his brows into an angry glare. “Unfortunately. Obviously, Jordan intervened. And you know, I get why you rejected me, Clemmens. He would have killed you.”
“We talked about it,” Clemmens blurts out. “We said we could revisit our mate bond later. Once Jordan was gone, we could pick up where we left off, and—"
“But Jordan isn’t gone. Instead, he almost killed me. But you know what? I couldn’t give a flying fuck about what he did to me. What I do care about is what he did to her!” He points at me. “He tortured and abused my cousin, the girl who is like a sister tome. Hetormentedher. And you didnothing! You did absolutely nothing! You just stood by and watched and helped him.”
“No, Rory, but I am here now! I can help, now!”
“Like I care,” Rory spits. “When Jordan forced you to reject me, we said we’d give it time and forge a bond later. But fuck it! There is no way I want you as my mate anymore.”
Clemmens looks horrified, and then completely devastated.
There are things that just can’t be forgiven.
A while ago, I might have felt bad for Clemmens, but I don’t anymore. He had plenty of chances to change something, but never did. He could have conspired with me; we could have planned an escape together. Anything. But he didn’t do it.
He just did one thing, and I still owe him for it.
“Rory,” I say. “He did not kill me when he had the chance to do so. He let me run. I thought you should know. So don't kill him.”
“She is right,” Forest says. “I promised you it’s your call, but do you really want his blood on your hands?”
Rory tosses one look of disgust at Clemmens before turning towards us. “What’s the alternative?”
“One of our elders, Dr. Francis, will deal with him,” Forest says. “You don’t have to see him ever again.”
Rory meets my eyes for a moment, then nods. “Alright,” he says. He looks up when footsteps can be heard, and some of our warriors arrive; then he turns to his former mate. “Goodbye,” he says, his voice detached.
He doesn’t look back anymore and instead just walks to us. I take his hand, and Forest pats his shoulder. “You will come with us,” I tell him. “No arguments! You can even keep your shady friends.”
Rory’s dark expression softens a little. “Not going to leave your side again, Rosea.” He looks at Forest. “Is that really okay with you?”
“Of course, I’d love to invite you to my pack—" Forest stops. “Ourpack.” He puts his arm around me. “Come, let’s get out of here. I want to make sure Rose isn’t hurt.”
Rory nods, following us outside, where I notice that we aren’t too far from the mall. “I wonder if Clemmens even thought this through,” I mutter.
“Judging by what Martin said, he was pretty desperate the last time they met. Apparently got wasted and all,” Forest begins. “By the way, it was Martin who heard the rumor that Rory may still be alive. He only told Griffin and Dr. Francis at first. They didn’t tell us so as not to raise our hopes.”
I sigh. “I kind of get it.”
“Yeah, but I will still kick their asses in the next training,” Forest says grimly.
“I knew you would say that.” Griffin’s voice reaches us from behind.
I turn to look at him, smiling slightly. “Choices, Griffin.”
