Chapter 29 The one who’s making me feel weird
>>Mael
“Mael!?” Laina shaking my shoulder brought me back to my senses, “Are you okay?” She asked with a concerned expression.
“Huh?” I looked at her all confused.
“Your cheeks are getting red.” She poked my cheek
“What?” I took a step back without thinking.
“Hey…” She looked at me weirdly, “You seem sort of out of it.”
“I-uh,” I moved her hand away from me, “I’m going to the bathroom.” I began to move because I genuinely felt weird.
“Uh-” She stepped towards me probably wanting to come after me but I wanted to be alone.
“I’ll be back.” I raised my hand to stop her and then briskly walked out of the hall. I didn’t go to the bathroom though, I felt like I needed some air, something cool against my face so I went to the courtyard.
Unfortunately though, before I could reach my destination, I came across some people talking about me.
“I never had the intention of bullying Mael but don’t you think he’s cute?” Whoever it was made me stop in my path and hide behind the staircase.
“I know right” There were three-four people talking on the other side of the big staircase.
“Without his glasses, he looks like a completely different person.” I recognized that voice.
“You’ve seen him without his glasses?”
“I have,” I sneaked a glance at the person who was talking, “It happened on a recent trip we all went on.” It was Niel, he’s in Lieglo’s group, with Naima and Lia.
“Right, you’re all in the same batch of the Alpha Academy.” The one with glasses said as he puffed his cigarette.
“Hey!” A guy with freckles nudged Niel, “Alpha Eli has marked him as his, he won’t tolerate anyone else picking on him.” They all were smoking here.
“What kind of logic is that?” The glasses guy said.
“He’s awfully selfish, he doesn’t like sharing, even if it’s sharing a bullying target.” Niel scratched his neck.
“Sheesh!” He adjusted his glasses, “Talk about being possessive.”
“Yea,” Niel whistled, “But everyone’s saying he’s the one who put those four in a hospital so it’s better to stay away.” My heart shuddered at his words as I remembered what happened on the trip near the river.
But it also reminded me of how Eli saved me. He also ended up saving me in the bath too.
“Hasn’t he been doing that since they were kids?” Freckles said.
What?
He’s been doing this since we were kids?
I felt weird. My chest squeezed and I felt odd.
“Oh, yea!” Niel snorted, “And he’s been beating up the kids who’ve tried to get their hands on Mael.” He threw his cigarette in the trash can, “That’s why I’m definitely not going against Eli. He hates it when anyone tries to hurt Mael.”
I don’t know why, but it made me sort of happy.
“What?” The one with freckles frowned, “One might say he’s in love with him.”
They all laughed.
“It does sound like that, doesn’t it!” They all tossed their nicotine intake in the bin and began to make their way back to the hall while I stood frozen in my place.
I didn’t know what to think of that.
Because I’m his, others aren’t picking on me? Should I be grateful that I only have to deal with one jerk? But then again, his bullying is nothing compared to what he did to others…
Of course his words, him throwing paper balls at me and constantly saying I’m ‘abnormal’ hurt. He was the one who made me popular as ‘the abnormal one’. It’s because of him that I became a topic of gossip and everywhere I went people called me defective.
My feelings were conflicted.
Yet somehow, he’s also the one who has been protecting me from serious danger. And now I’m learning that he’s the reason no one else came to bully me? Just what has this man been doing? How much is there that I don’t know?
Why would he do all that?
Why would he risk so much for me?
I sighed and brought my hands to the nape of my neck. It’s getting awfully tiring now. I’ve been playing pretend for years but nowadays, everything is getting so confusing.
I took another deep breath and decided to go back to the hall since my father was bound to look for me and Laina was probably waiting too.
I walked towards the hall with an absent mind, thinking about Eli.
He’s been on my mind the whole day. I mean, if you think about it, how can he not be? There’s just so much about him!
And for some strange reason, I don’t seem to hate him anymore. I thought I’d always hate him but then he protected me and now he’s at risk of going to jail too. All because of me?
I felt giddy inside.
Being together at the Alpha Academy seemed to have changed a lot between us.
I shook my head at myself and turned the corner without looking, the result of which I crashed into a servant.
It wasn’t a bad crash since we were both walking but the teacup he was carrying landed on my hand and the hot tea drenched my skin.
“Young master!” The male servant panicked while I hissed in pain, “I’m so sorry!!” He went into panic mode, “I-I,” He looked at my hand which was turning red, and the cutlery that had shattered on the floor, unsure what to look after first.
“Hey,” Someone grabbed my wrist, “You take care of the cup.” I shot my head towards Eli, “I’ll take care of him.” With the declaration, he pulled me along with him.
“I’m sorry!” The servant did a 90 degree bow as he apologized but Eli didn’t stop till we reached the mansion courtyard. He brought me to the fountain and dipped my hand in the cold water, making me hiss once more but it soon felt better.
“Why?” I tried to remove my hand but he gripped it tightly.
“You’ve always gotten in trouble.” He said as he kept my hand under the cold water, “As far as I can remember, you always manage to get yourself in some mess.”
He didn’t even look at me but he seemed sort of mad. But why is he mad when I’m the one who’s hurt? Come to think of it, anytime something happened to me, he was always furious. I glared at him but my frown softened pretty fast.
Why? Just why? My heartbeat began to accelerate.
Why? Why is he here helping me out? And why is he so handsome?
While he was looking at our hands, I couldn’t stop staring at his face and neck. We were so close that I could smell him.
Ahhh~
The sweet smell of rain. I leaned in closer to take a better whiff but the closer I got, the more I felt weird. There was something stirring inside of me.
I was in pain and tense until a minute ago but now that I’m near him, I’m calming down.
The scent of his pheromones feels so nice and while my body relaxed, my heart began to act odd.
Then, I heard a howl in my mind.
My wolf!?!?!
My eyes glowed as I started losing my rational thinking. I just wanted to be closer to this man right in front of me. Something drawing me in, a force I couldn’t fight at all.
Closer!
Closer,
Closer..
And, before I knew it, I had my lips on the side of his neck.
His eyes went wide in shock as I landed a gentle kiss in the middle of his neck.