Chapter 108

KATHERINE.

The moment I hit the ground, I tried to grab onto the rocks I passed by, but they slipped through my fingers like sand. Just as I was about to fall over the edge of the cliff, I felt something that I could grab onto. It was a small, crumbling rock, but for me, it was a lifeline, as my life flashed before my eyes. I clung to the rock, my nails digging into the stone as I struggled to hold on and pull myself up.

“Look at you now. Not so high and mighty, huh?” Noah stated while walking over to the edge, looking down at me with a cruel smile on his face as he reveled in my fear. A yelp tore from my throat as my grip on the rock slipped a bit and I realized I was crying when I felt something wet sliding down my face. I didn’t want to die.

“Please…”

His smile widened at that and he crouched down in front of me. “Oh, don’t look so sad. You’ll get to see your parents again. Way earlier than you planned, but you’d be seeing them nonetheless.

“Noah–” Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I jerked to my right to see my golden-haired boy coming down the path, a deep frown on his face as he stared at what was ahead of him. “Blake!”

His brows snapped together as his gaze darted to me and surprise crossed his face before he glanced at Noah. For a moment, they all stood still, staring at each other, and another yelp escaped me as my grip slipped a bit again.

“Blake!” I called again before his gaze drifted to where Lenore lay and the color drained out of his face before he rushed over to her.

“Lenore!” Panic washed over his face when he saw that she was bleeding and he gently picked her up before he pinned Noah with a rage-filled expression I'd never seen on him before.

“Blake!” It seemed like he either didn't realize my slipping to my death was an urgent matter or he didn't care about my situation. I didn't want to believe it was the latter. “Help!”

Blake got to his feet with Lenore in his arms and before I could react, he rushed off. ‘What…’ I blinked twice at the spot he’d been standing in a moment ago, thinking this was a sick joke, but it wasn’t. Blake had left me here… with these people… in this situation, and he didn’t come back. ‘Oh my God.’

“Shit. Shit. I don’t want any fucking part of this. I’m out of here,” one of Noah’s friends said while more tears spilled out of my eyes. I still couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“Now you listen to me,” Noah started just before my grip finally slipped completely and I shrieked, expecting to feel air rushing past me as I fell to my death, but I felt a hand grab mine instead.

‘Huh?’ Theo was holding onto me tightly, his eyes wide with fear, and the relief that washed over me was immeasurable. “Theo,” I muttered, sounding out of breath before he began to pull me to safety.

“This is rather familiar.”

I laughed. I’d almost died, but I couldn’t help but laugh because the other option was to burst into tears. The moment my feet hit the ground, my legs gave out and Theo caught me before gently setting me on the ground. He then walked over to Noah who had an unreadable expression on his face and clapped him on the shoulder while smiling like they were friends.

“Dawson,” he said in a friendly tone, throwing his arm over Noah’s shoulder, and a muscle in Noah’s jaw twitched before I realized that his friends were no longer there. They’d abandoned their friend just like Blake had abandoned me. I was still in shock that he’d done that and I didn’t think I would ever recover it. I mean, I could have died, and ‘my mate’ didn’t even try to save me.

“How about you and your friends go stay somewhere you can be easily found because the Dean will be calling on you soon… That’s if Blake doesn’t come find you first. Oh, and–” Theo suddenly punched Noah in the gut, making him double over with a grunt, and clapped him on the shoulder again. “You also have me to worry about, you piece of shit, so be on the lookout, okay?” With that, he walked back to me, and I tried to get to my feet, but my legs still refused to work. “I got you.” Theo picked me up and I curled up against him, grateful that ‘he’ cared about me, before he fixed a look at Noah’s direction and began to walk down the path.

****

Theo had brought me to the school’s clinic, but there ended up being no need for it because the bruises on my neck completely healed the moment we got there. Despite that, one of the nurses still decided to keep me here for a bit to make sure that I was truly okay, and surprisingly, Theo decided to stay with me. I couldn’t even think of why he was doing this because I was still reeling due to what Blake did. He left me. He didn’t care. He didn’t come back.

For the fifth time, my eyes began to water at the thought that he’d left me and as the tears began to escape, I wiped them away, earning a look from Theo. From the second to the fourth time, he’d told me I was okay and I was safe when the tears began to fall, but now the expression on his face was one that gently asked ‘Why are you crying?’. So I told him.

“Blake left me.” I didn’t need to elaborate since he already knew Lenore had been with me and she got hurt and Blake had brought her to the very clinic we were in.

Theo frowned and hmmed before giving me an apologetic look. “Sorry. He wasn’t thinking,” he replied and I scoffed because he was clearly thinking well. It would have taken him less than ten seconds to pull me off the edge.

“I could have died.”

“He’ll apologize later.”

“Apologize?” I asked in disbelief, staring at Theo with wide eyes. No apology could make up for that shit he did. None at all. “‘I’ could have died, Theo.”

“I know.”

I scoffed again as what had happened flashed through my mind again before I shook my head sideways. He was in this clinic right now and though he hadn’t come out of Lenore’s room, it was clear he hadn’t thought of me. “You can go to your cousin. I’m fine,” I said. He’d already gone to check on her after the nurse confirmed I was okay, but my mate had abandoned me for her so why shouldn’t he?

He tipped his head to the side before glancing at the watch on his arm. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he got up before walking out of the room, and after he shut the door behind himself, I finally let myself cry properly.