Chapter 65 THIS IS CORMAC GRAVES
MERRIELYNN.
Monday morning rolled around, and I still hadn’t heard a word from Cormac.
I had spent most of the weekend staring into my phone, but his presence could not be felt anywhere.
With each passing day, my frustration only increased.
I tried to push it all aside; it wasn’t that important, right?
I had bigger things to focus on than my moon-given, unhinged mate potentially losing his cool and marking me forcefully—or worse. More important things like my education.
The school day dragged on, each class blurring into the next, and I found myself lost in thought, my mind wandering to everything but the lessons.
There was this one class where the teacher realized I had zoned out and asked a question, but I didn’t even hear it.
“Huh?” I blurted when someone sitting next to me tapped my shoulder.
Of course, whispers filled the classroom after that, but I didn’t care.
Pariah was practically my middle name.
Who would be surprised, when I’d roomed with Cormac during camp, drove his car which I’d destroyed once upon a time, lost his race, oh and lets not forget that he saved me from drowning then proceeded to threaten the entire school on the account of keeping their mouths shut about what they saw.
The class was over in no time, and as I stepped into the courtyard with Emorie, my breath hitched.
There he was—the one person I couldn’t stop thinking about all weekend.
The one person I’d been worried about, which made it impossible to focus on anything else.
I stared at him, my heart racing as a mix of emotions swirled inside me. There he was, lounging back on a bench, looking effortlessly calm as his fingers ran through his hair.
“Wow,” I thought aloud, unable to hide my surprise and frustration.
“What?” Emorie asked, following my gaze until her eyes landed on Cormac as well. “Ohh,” she whisperedl.
Valtor sat across from him, animatedly talking as Cormac listened. My heart raced, and I was torn between the urge to walk over and the instinct to retreat.
Cormac was always bending the rules of dress code—slackened tie, rolled-up sleeves, something to make him stand out. But today, he was dressed to the nines, his collar buttoned all the way up and his tie perfectly in place.
Perfectly hiding my mark.
He took enough care to ensure that, yet he couldn’t bother to give me a phone call? Something inside me snapped at the thought.
“Give me a moment,” I said to Emorie as I began to walk towards them.
“Mere!” She half-yelled but I was too pissed to listen.
As I reached him and Valtor, he looked up, his expression so much more tamed than I’d seen it days ago.
Of course, I noticed. He looked better than the last time I laid eyes on him.
“Can we help you?” Valtor’s voice cut through the silence, but I ignored him, my focus solely on Cormac.
“I thought we had an arrangement,” I said in a voice which I managed to keep steady despite the whirlwind of emotions inside me.
Cormac glanced at Valtor before turning his attention back to me. “Change of plans,” he said casually with a shrug of his shoulders.
My lips parted, ready to spit the first thing that came to mind, but I quickly reminded myself that we were not alone. I shot a look at Valtor, who was watching us closely, then turned my gaze back to Cormac, planting my hands on my hips.
“So you waited for me to approach you before making that clear?” I asked in a tone that conveyed my displeasure.
But the jerk looked away, not responding for a moment, before a bored half-grin lifted one corner of his mouth. “I didn’t think you’d be sitting around waiting,” he replied in the most nonchalant tone.
My face flushed red and I closed my eyes, drawing a deep breath to calm myself.
Yes.
I’d almost forgotten.
This, was Cormac.
Why on earth was I surprised?
He understood the circumstances, knew about my reluctance, but now, after his silence, he was twisting the narrative to make me seem… desperate.
I wondered if Valtor knew what we were talking about, and the thought alone was embarrassing. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks as I stood there.
I watched Cormac fold his arms across his chest, boredom creeping onto his face, like he had grown tired of our conservation. Of my frustration.
I realized how deflated I felt at his words.
To think I was only trying to make him better.
I had only agreed to all of this because I wanted to help him, help myself too in a way. But now, looking at him, I remembered how much worse he had looked just days ago.
I imagined he looked better because he probably got someone else to ‘help him out’. Thoughts of him finding relief elsewhere intruded my mind—maybe with Juniper or some other nameless girl.
Was that why he’d blown me off?
Or was it something else?
And goddess, it didn’t escape my notice that I was standing in front of him, trying to figure all this out while he paid me no mind.
Something twisted in my stomach.
But that wasn’t how it worked right? I thought again.
I marked him.
I was his mate, so I was the only one who could help him out of his rut… Right?
"You’re still here?" Cormac’s voice came, interrupting my thoughts and I glared at him.
He looked at me again, his gaze lingering for a long moment.
The tone of his voice stung. Before I could stop myself, the words spilled out, "Go fuck yourself."
I turned on my heel, storming away from him.
As I walked away, I met back with Emorie, who sensed my sudden mood shift.
She linked our arms, offering silent support as we left the courtyard.
We didn't exchange words, but her presence was comforting as we headed out the main building.