Chapter 5

• CHAPTER FIVE
• INDIGO.
• "What?" This cannot be happening, two mates was a stretch, and now three? "Gage..." I trailed off,
• "Indie, you have to believe me. I didn't choose to feel this way about you."
• Is this a prank? There was no way I believed that immediately my mate rejected me, there were three mates already waiting for me.
• I let go of his hand and pain flickered through his eyes. I didn't want to be hurt again, so I didn't acknowledge it, instead, I focused on the problem at hand.
• "You know that Alpha Valtor and Lyriq are already laying their claims on me, right?" I said, "I don't-"
• "Indigo, I felt the mate bond. It's there. I can't lie about something like this, it's too important. We were too young to feel the bond while we were still in contact, maybe that's why it's manifesting now."
• I looked at his eyes and my defenses dropped. He was telling the truth whether I wanted to accept it or not.
• "Hey, we will find a way around this." He responded when my body slumped, "There's this elder that we could go see, he would tell us the right direction to take."
• "Really?" I perked up, "When?"
• "7 pm today. I'll drop by your dorm room."
• "Thank you." He squeezed my palm one more time and then he left.
• What was really going on?
• ****
• "Indigo!!" I stood unnaturally still as I heard my name, the woman serving the salad growled at me before asking me to leave the line,
• These people had an obsession with growling.
• "Hey!" Someone tapped me on my shoulder, it was the girl from class,
• "Hi." I waved as awkwardly as I could with a plate of food in my hand,
• "I realized that I didn't tell you my name in class earlier. I'm Winter, nice to meet you, again!" She smiled, "You can sit at my table. It's just me, anyway."
• I smiled at her back, "Thank you, I would really appreciate that."
• And I did. I almost thought Valtor had ruined my last chance to make a friend when he interrupted our conversation, but I was grateful for another opportunity.
• "So rumor has it that you're secretly screwing Alpha Valtor." She whispered conspiratorially,
• "What?" I spat out my lettuce, "I've only been in this school for a few hours. I don't know Alpha Valtor, the only connection I even have with him is that-"
• I stopped myself before I could reveal that Alpha Valtor was my mate. But Winter's ears picked it up,
• "Is what?" She asked when I refused to tell her, she bugged me till I blurted it out.
• "What?" She squealed, "That's just...wow."
• I stood up from the table, "I need you not to tell anyone."
• "Hmhm." She said and did the mime of zipping her mouth,
• I rolled my eyes and left to find my dorm. I gave up after a few minutes because the school was very large. I was about to begin again when someone pulled me into a small closet, their hand slapping over my mouth immediately.
• "It's me, Lyriq." His gruff voice announced, his hand slipping from my mouth,
• My head was against his chest as he spoke again, "What's the meaning of that, Little Red?"
• "You pulled me into a closet, and you're asking me?"
• "Don't get smart with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about?" I was confused, I didn't know anything,
• "I don't know what you're saying?" My voice sounded muffled because my face was pressed against his chest,
• "You don't? Okay. The whole school is basically talking about how Valtor claimed you in front of everyone as his mate."
• I released a sharp gasp. "Stop being dramatic!" He chided,
• My heart raced against my chest, "I d-don't-"
• "How did they even know Valtor is your mate? Who did you tell?"
• "Just Winter, she asked, I can't- she promised to not tell anyone," I replied anxiously,
• "And you foolishly believed her?" She growled,
• "I'm sorry, I didn't think much of it."
• "Obviously." His breath fanned my nose, "Don't let this get out of control, Red. You've not spent a day in this school and you already have them talking about you. Stop drawing attention to yourself." He said and pushed past me,
• The door opened and he stepped out. I followed meekly after him. What had I done? Winter promised me-
• I could feel a headache start to form.
• I decided to transfer all my energy into actually locating my dorm room. I finally found it. The rooms were allocated to one person each, and I was thankful I didn't have to deal with a roommate, especially right now.
• I let out a yell as I turned on the lights, Valtor sat on my bed, his expression stern.
• Oh, goddess, he was going to kill me.
• I hesitantly shut the door and walked into the room slowly,
• "I guess you heard the news." I started shakily,
• "Heard what news, Indigo?"
• Oh, so no more 'Miss Lakspur'? I was tempted to ask, but I replied to his question instead.
• "I- it wasn't my fault."
• He got up and walked to where I stood, my back hitting the closet,
• "Then it has to be somebody's fault, right?" He said,
• "I'm sorry." I lowered my head,
• "Look at me when I'm speaking to you." As if on command, my head snapped up,
• His hand sat on my hair and slowly dropped to my temple,
• "What did you do?"
• "I told someone..." I replied, I didn't know what Lyriq was going to do to Winter, my hope was that he wouldn't find her,
• But that was on a thin line. Winter was literally in Valtor's class, he would find her within seconds.
• "Who did you tell? The whole school?"
• "Just one one person." I squeaked out,
• He scoffed, "I find that very hard to believe. Do you want friends, Indigo? Is that it? Do you want attention? Because I can give you any amount of attention that you want." He leaned into my body and buried his nose in my neck,
• "I didn't-"
• "Then who did you tell?!!" He yelled, his voice drummed at my core and I felt immediately compelled,
• "It was Winter! Winter, okay?" I sniffed,
• He studied me for a moment, "I'll deal with her."
• "Please don't." I pleaded with him,
• He stepped away from me and started walking out, "Don't tell me what to do."
• "You know what? I'm tired. I'm tired of this mate this, you, Lyriq, Gage...even the elder! I don't want-"
• "Who?" His voice sounded darker,
• I had stupidly blurted everything out.
• "I don't know what you're talking about." The wall clock above alerted me that it was six fifty-nine. Just a minute to seven and Gage would be here anytime soon.
• He couldn't meet Valtor.
• "You need to leave." I urged him,
• "No, I won't. Not until you tell me-"
• The opening of my door interrupted him, Gage and Lyriq burst through, already glaring daggers at each other,
• "What are you doing here?" Lyriq asked Valtor,
• "She's my mate," Valtor responded, a vein already ticking on his neck,
• The three of them faced each other, each wearing a look of murder,
• Before I could say anything, growls filled the room.