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Reyne watched her face in the mirror in the washroom. She could have gotten into a bad cat fight if Zander had not pulled her away.
She was hurt and annoyed but when his eyes met with her, she had completely frozen. He really had a bad effect on her and resisting it was not possible either.
"I disgust you right, fine... Let it be that way."
She stared at the redness covering the whites of her eyes. They were not just small veins popping up and making them look swollen and deeply hurt, but also showed how much they had cried for a mate who didn't give her a damn.
She placed her hands on the counter of the washbasin whilst allowing the brine she had held back till now. She did cry there in the canteen but not as much as she had wanted to do.
"I hate you, Zander Brown. I hate— loving you." She brought the eyelids over her red eyeballs and seethed.
The bell for the next lecture
68Reyne's POV"What the! Where the fuck are you lost? " I elevated my head and looked at the person."Ryley?" my breaths normalized as I set my eyes closely on his face.Relief and calm washed over me. I had not assumed to find anyone in school at this moment for it has already been an hour or two since the lectures got over.His pupils were glaring down at me in vex but they eventually softened perhaps after noticing my condition.My eyes were thrilled and scared. I can see him read my facial expressions and see how vigorously I was shivering. My cheeks must be flush red for he stared them insanely before bringing his hands to hold me by the arms and ask, "What's wrong?""Ryley, there..." I pointed behind my back but words won't come out.My lips quivered, I stared back at him as I could not put my feelings into verbal exp
69Zander's POV"Wendyyyyy, I told you she's mine," I grabbed her by the back of her neck and dragged her out of the chair.She kissed the cold white floor with a thud but it did not affect my grip on her."I will kill you today." All of our friends' eyes popped out, mouths dropped open and eyebrows elevated as they watched me kneel down beside her body which was lying on the stomach and pull her hair as if I was her twin brother.We often fought like this. We all. Our bond is as strong as an iron statue but our fights are as dirtier as the pigs who jump in mud. We pull each other's hair, give damned scars and scratch each other's skin like how little cubs scratch out the flakes from a thermocol sheet.And I was madder than ever today not because she dared to hurt MY mate but because it was just my right to freak her out like that. I don't want to admit but it hurt me to see her like that. She
70"Zander?""Umm, I am teamed up with your daughter for an assignment in school so," Biting the corner of his mouth, Zander faked a disinterested look at her father as he stood on the door before him. "I came here to discuss the same with Reyne.""Okay, come in." Zander exhaled out the breath he had kept holding inside his chest and strode inside after her father stepped aside.Throughout the day before the dawn he battled with his heart and the thought of meeting her. But then he eventually decided he wanted to see her and came here by using the assignment as an excuse.Yep, the same assignment he had created a fuss in the school about and humiliated Reyne."She is in her room," Mr. Stark pointed at the long corridor in front as he showed Zander the way to her room. But when he finished his incomplete statement a rush of anger and jealousy crept in his chest, ".. With Brandon. Th
71 "Yes Zander? Tell me, what is it that brings you here?" her voice sliced the quiet, thrilled and lingering air mercilessly, exasperation rippling midst her statement. It seemed peculiar to her that Zander came here. To her house. What for? To see her disheveled state post his friends troubled her? Or to see if she still was waiting for him like the previous time? Or was it because he wished to know how it felt to see your mate with a filthy bitch for a girlfriend, sitting in his lap? The remembrance of the morning incident only brought fresh tears and more and more vex to her. Her cheeks turned crimson, eyes oozing redness alongside a thick layer of glistening brine. It lingered at the edge of her lowered eyelashes, accumulating there before they cascaded below to the curves of her cheeks after transforming into a big thick droplet. "Yes, Zander Brown, I think I asked you something?" fluttering her lashes, her hands cl
72 As much as it shivered her, it soothed her soul for her mate bond and instincts were desiring his one gaze. The sound of his deep breathing developed a steel rod in her back. She sculptured there, under his scorching gaze that oozed hatred, despicable vex and a warning that clearly meant— run away! Yet all she did was, settle in a seat and open her bag, and drag out a book and her pouch. She pretended her best to seem she landed here unknowingly and acted as though sitting under his dark disturbing gaze was nothing. However, it worried her. His presence and his unblinking stare made her feel uncomfortable. She felt herself at his radar, but then also, she remained there, acting as if studying, engrossed in her book. The pretense seemed almost real. Real as if she was into books, yet all where her attention remained rooted was him... In the farthest corner, certainly stabbing her with the pointed daggers of his stare
73"His eyes were the darkest shade of blood red, skin extremely pale like a dead corpse and lips... His lips had a sinister grin. I freaked out Zander, he had gripped my wrist so tight that for a moment it felt like he would twist it and break it apart from my hand." Reyne cautiously said, her hands now clutching on his collars.She was engrossed in his scent, his dark raven eyes as she narrated her experience to him."I thought... I thought he would... Kill me right then and there." That was an extraordinary experience she added, something she had not really felt but gladly communicated to him.And she pouted too... Another cause to make him believe it. Though it was not true.And to her expectation, he stirred.His lips tightened into a thin traumatized line.His gaze darkened on her innocently projected facade.His
74Reyne opened her mouth to say something. Anything. But her voice didn't comply with her. She had nothing to say.Hence, she literally melted to the ground. Her hands rounded around his neck tightly, and echoing of her sobs was the only sound that flared in the air.This had to be a dream. A beautiful dream because Zander the jerk Brown was not an easy nut to be cracked!He could not accept her so easily, could he?"Zander," She tried to acknowledge his words but failed.Her voice failed her. Her thoughts failed her. Her feelings. Her Strength. All of her failed her.This was too good to be true.She swallowed hard and hiccupped. The very moment she fell, he pulled her in his lap. She stayed in his arms and cried for good while his hands consoled her by rubbing her back up and down.
75Amidst the quiet rippling of dust in the atmosphere, Zander's steps shuffled on the tiled floor of the school premises. He wandered from here and there, peeking inside almost every second classroom as his mind sought to look for his other half.Oh no, not the other half he just got closer with!But the other half he basically grew up spending his life with. The other half he shared all of his secrets, memories and zealous moments with.That person was not his mate.Um, you can call him his mate... But a mate for a friend.It was his best of the best friend. Brother from another mother. Alpha companion aka Ryley the rascal Shine.Zander eagerly searched for him. His deep eyes held excitement. Though there was some fear of being thrashed by Ryley, his hunt did not die. He had manifested his hopes about finding his best friend cum brother c