37 Ruslan
I was shocked! A pink mush poured into my brain, and I immediately believed him. After all, I was a freak, so how could such a handsome guy like Ruslan look at me if I wasn’t truly his mate?
It was a perfectly logical explanation for everything… and I wanted so badly to believe it.
When I asked the question that bothered me — why was he then with Mia? — he answered, showing incredible sadness and regret, that he was a werewolf and a passionate man with his needs. He said he protected and cared for me, so he didn’t want to pressure or force me, while Mia was just a fuck-to-go for him.
It was during that meeting that we shared our first kiss. It was my first kiss ever — and with such a beloved, desired wolf. How could I not fall for him even more?
One day, the university students went on a hiking competition trip. Of course, I went too — because Ruslan would be there… and Mia.
After a full day of competitions, once Ruslan made sure Mia was sent off to sleep, he would come to me. And I waited for him. Like a fool, I waited until he came.
On the second night of the trip, I decided I was ready to take the next step in our secret relationship, and I told Ruslan so.
He didn’t need to be told twice. He immediately dragged me into his tent, whispering sweet nothings and declarations of love. Honestly, I hadn’t expected it to happen that night — and definitely not in a tent — but Ruslan assured me that his wolf was so overjoyed by his mate’s willingness to be intimate, he simply couldn’t wait any longer.
Like an idiot, I believed him. And that’s when he started taking me.
Why only “started”?
Because after just a few rough and painful thrusts of Ruslan’s cock into my virgin body — we got caught.
Mia walked in on us!
That was the moment the truth came out — that he had been feeding Mia the same exact lines about being his true mate.
I had no idea. Mia and I had never really confided in each other, so there was no way I could have known.
And then, he just admitted it — confessed without shame — that he had a whole list of fools like us. Girls he told the same story to.
It was incredibly painful and traumatic for me. That night, I drank way too much and nearly made the most terrible, unforgivable mistake — one that could’ve cost me my life.
I was literally saved… by Mia.
By some miracle, she was there at that early hour and pulled me out of the water.
It’s hard and unpleasant to recall that moment of weakness, but the most important thing is — from that day on, we became close friends and stuck together ever since.
Mia later took a leave from university because of her pregnancy and transferred to a university in the capital, where her husband took her. But we’ve stayed in touch to this day.
After everything that happened, I reevaluated how I saw envy.
Apparently, it’s exactly through experiences like these that we gain wisdom and life lessons. That feeling — that bitter jealousy — stayed in the past, in that cursed tent with Ruslan.
Because the very girl I used to envy… ended up in a terrible situation herself.
Mia became the target of mockery from countless spiteful people at the university.
And since she was — and still is — incredibly beautiful and striking, many found it satisfying to poke fun at her, as if it soothed their own insecurities.
And Ruslan? Ruslan got married.
Actually, let me rephrase — he was forced to get married.
Because after me, there was another incident — a girl who almost took her own life by overdosing on pills after he dumped her.
That was when the Alpha introduced an interesting law:
If a werewolf publicly declared a girl to be his true mate, then — with her consent — he was obligated to marry her.
Since then, the number of reckless declarations of “true mates” dropped significantly.