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Chapter 80
~Jade’s POV~
I barely made it halfway down the hallway before Xavier caught up to . "Jade."
I turned, surprised to see him leaning against the wall like he had been waiting there for a while. His arms were crossed over his chest, and the serious look on his face made my stomach tighten.
"What?" I asked quietly.
"Relax first," he replied with a tired sigh, his eyes glancing around before settling on . "You look like you’re about to interrogate ."
"I am about to interrogate you," I shot back. "Where were you yesterday? You just disappeared. I didn’t see you before I left the house."
Xavier rubbed the back of his neck. "I had to make a trip."
"To where?"
He hesitated a mont before answering. "To see the star elf."
My eyes widened instantly. "You did what?"
A few students passing by slowed slightly at my tone, and Xavier gestured for to lower my voice. "Calm down," he murmured.
"How am I supposed to calm down?" I hissed. "What did she say? What was the report?"
His shoulders lifted in a rough shrug. "I couldn’t see her."
All the tension and hope that built quickly, drained out of at once. "Oh." My shoulders slumped slightly as disappointnt settled in my chest.
Xavier studied my reaction for a mont before speaking again. "Listen, that isn’t why I stopped you."
"What is it then?"
"I wanted to talk about your training."
I blinked. "My training?"
"Yes." He nodded toward the arena outside the hall. "I watched the entire assessnt."
That surprised and didn’t as well. I didn’t think he was in school until now. "You did?"
"Of course I did." His mouth twitched faintly. "You think I wouldn’t?"
I crossed my arms, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "Then you already know I ssed up."
"You didn’t ss up," he said calmly. "But you could do better."
I sighed. "I know. I should coordinate with my teammates more."
"That’s part of it." Xavier leaned his shoulder against the wall. "You have good instincts under pressure, Jade. Your leadership kicked in when things started going wrong."
"When things started going wrong," I repeated with a groan.
"Exactly." He raised a finger. "Which ans your weakness is the beginning. You hesitate before taking control because..."
"I didn’t want to overstep."
"You’re the one with the clearest head in chaos. If you wait too long, everyone else acts first."
I nodded slowly. "I’ll work on it."
"I know you will."
Then sothing changed in his expression. His eyes narrowed slightly as if rembering sothing. "Speaking of yesterday..." he said slowly.
I frowned, suddenly recalling my own shenanigans. "What about it?"
Xavier looked straight at . He wasn’t having this cold air around him anymore. "Did you have sex with Xade?"
I nearly choked on air. "What?!"
Xavier didn’t even blink. "Tell ," he continued bluntly. "Did you two fuck while I was away?"
"No!"
He stared at , clearly caught off guard. "But I was..." He pointed vaguely in the direction of their house. "I slled—"
"I know what you slled," I muttered quickly, glancing around to make sure no one nearby could hear.
His brows shot up. "So you admit—"
"I admit nothing happened," I whispered harshly.
Xavier crossed his arms again. "Then explain the scent."
I hesitated before leaning closer.
"He just..." My voice dropped lower. "He ate out. That’s it."
Xavier blinked once, then twice. "...That’s it?"
"Yes."
"But your arousal was everywhere in the gym," he said, clearly confused. "So why didn’t things go further? Did Xade stop or—"
"Xander happened."
Understanding dawned across his face. "Oh."
"Exactly," I muttered.
He looked like he wanted to ask another question when sothing past his shoulder caught my attention.
Isadora.
She was walking slowly down the hallway with her bag hanging loosely from her shoulder. Her expression looked distant and tired, but the mont her eyes landed on , her face hardened.
She turned imdiately as if planning to leave the other way.
"Isa," I called, but she kept walking. "Isa, wait!"
"I’m busy," she replied without turning around.
I looked at Xavier. "Give a second or more."
Xavier gave a small nod. "Looks like you need more than that. Go. I’ll see you later."
Thanking him, I hurried after her and grabbed her wrist before she could disappear around the corner. "Please don’t walk away."
Isadora pulled her arm back sharply. "I don’t want to talk right now."
"Well I do," I replied firmly.
She rolled her eyes and adjusted her glasses before placing her hands on her waist. "I’m sorry, Isadora. I didn’t an to. It wasn’t intentional to hurt your—"
"Classic move, Jade," she said sarcastically. "Not intentional, right? I think you were pretty intentional when you said those last words about everything not being about ."
I exhaled slowly. I did not know how to get myself out of this ss. I hated us not talking to each other, so, I went all in. "You’re right." She blinked. "I deserve that," I continued quietly. "I know I was a jerk."
Her jaw tightened and she exhaled, crossing both hands in front fo her chest. "But things haven’t been easy for lately."
"I’m your best friend!" Isadora burst out, her voice rising slightly. "We promised to share our worries. How can I help you if you won’t let ?"
The hurt in her voice twisted sothing in my chest. I understood her pain. Letting out a sigh, I slowly lifted my hand to the collar of my white shirt and pulled both it and my jacket slightly aside.
"What are you doing?" she asked impatiently. Her voice cut off mid-sentence and her eyes widened behind her glasses as she stared at the mate mark on my neck.
For several seconds she said nothing. Then she whispered softly, "No. Bloody. Way..."
I gave a small helpless shrug. "Yup."
Her gaze snapped back to my face. "Jade..."
"And there’s more," I admitted quietly. "But it’s not my secret to tell, bestie."
A slow smile gradually spread across Isadora’s face, though disbelief still lingered in her eyes as she looked between the mark on my neck and my expression like she was trying to process the reality of what she had just discovered.
"Well, your first ti is sothing I do not want to miss out on. And you geting marked..." she fanned herself with her hands as her cheeks flushed.
"You’re naughty, Isadora."
"Having those hunks for a mate is enough to make you remind go bunkers. So yes," she giggled.
Just seeing her this way, brought back old mories of tis we fantasized about fictional n.
"You know," she finally said, shaking her head with a soft huff of laughter, "I think I missed you more than I realized."
Relief settled quietly in my chest at the familiar tone, and the tightness that had been sitting between us all morning finally began to ease.
"You also have a lot of catching up to do," she added, pointing at accusingly.
A sheepish smile tugged at my lips as I rubbed the back of my neck. "I know, but I’m not really going to have much ti for long conversations right now. Training has been getting intense."
Isadora blinked at in confusion before tilting her head slightly, freeing her hands. "There isn’t any more training today."
A tired sigh escaped as my shoulders slouched a little. "For most people maybe, but not for ."
Her brows knitted together instantly. "What?" Understanding slowly dawned on her face as her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Jade, a private training?"
I nodded once. And rather than feel jealous or sothing, she twisted her lips.
"Too bad. They are your mates," she said imdiately, folding her arms across her chest. "You can cancel. They have already stolen you from long enough."
The exaggerated accusation made a quiet laugh escape my lips before I could stop it.
"If you really want my forgiveness," she continued with mock seriousness, "you are treating to lunch."
My eyes rolled automatically. "Fine."
A short while later we were seated at a small restaurant a few streets away from the academy, surrounded by the warm scent of cooked food and the soft hum of conversations drifting between tables.
For the first ti that day, everything felt almost normal again like how were were before my life turned to this.
Isadora was halfway through complaining about one of our teachers when sothing inside my chest suddenly shifted.
Javelin stirred restlessly inside . My body felt strangely hot—different.
The unexpected movent of my wolf sent a strange ripple through my body, and an uneasy feeling settled in my stomach as if sothing important or wrong had just entered the room.
"I think I need to use the restroom," I murmured quickly.
Isadora waved a dismissive hand without looking at while she picked up her phone. "Go."
My chair scraped against the tiles sharply as I pushed it back and stood, but the mont I straightened fully and took two steps away from the table, a sudden wave of dizziness hit .
My feet wobbled beneath , and before I could steady myself my shoulder slamd directly into soone walking past our table.
The instant our bodies collided, sothing powerful snapped into place inside my chest. My breath caught sharply.
Inside my mind Javelin exploded with a triumphant roar that echoed through every corner of my thoughts. "Mate!"
At the exact sa mont, the guy I had crashed into froze and breathed the sa word aloud.
"Mate."
Behind , Isadora stared wide-eyed at the scene before muttering under her breath, "No fucking way."
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