Chapter 40

Third-Person Narrative Ethan, Calix, and Zane stood in the parking lot, outside their car. They all had gloomy faces. The scene that had happened inside the cafeteria with Jasmine kissing Noah replayed over and over in their heads.

Even though they were furious at her, she was still their mate, and she didn’t have to cheat on them. They couldn’t bear to watch her any longer, so they had to leave the cafeteria to avoid any one of them losing control of their wolf.

The girls that they left the cafeteria with were looking confused as they stared at the brothers. It’s been five minutes since they stood in the parking space, and the brothers were not showing any sign of leaving soon.

“What’s going on?” One of them asked.

“I thought we were going to have fun,” another added.

“We don’t feel like going anywhere,” Calix said.

“What?” The girls asked in shock. “You guys promised that we were going to have a fun night tonight,” one of the girls whined, disappointment evident in her voice.

“Well, it’s canceled,” Ethan said as he dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

“Here’s some money; take it and go and have fun by yourselves. Like he said, we’re not in the mood,” he said to the girls.

The girls stared at him and then at the money. He was offering them a pretty large sum, and they would be crazy not to take it, so one of them snatched it out of Ethan’s hand.

“Thank you,” they chorused and sashayed away.

The brothers all sighed in relief at the same time. They didn’t plan to have anything with the girls; they had only accepted the girl’s company because they wanted to make Jasmine jealous.

Ever since they found out that Jasmine was their mate, they had never even looked at another woman in that way.

But Jasmine didn’t know that. She never believed them when they told her that they would never hurt her again. She believes whatever was shown to her, and nothing they said could change her mind.

They didn’t understand why they were always faced with different challenges, especially at moments when they felt they were in a good place with Jasmine.

They may have been an a*s to her over the years, but the goddess knows their heart because all they want to do is love her and claim her as theirs.

It was frustrating getting to see her with Noah every time, and her openly cheating on them with him made them super sad.

They almost lost one of their dads because of her silly games, and that hurt was not something to easily go by.

“We should go find Mia instead of just standing around here,” Zane suggested.

His brothers nodded their heads and put their thoughts aside to look for their sister.

They tried calling her phone, but she wasn’t picking up. Her phone was probably set to silent, they thought.

*****

Mia had found herself a quiet place in one of the school buildings and was crying there. She felt bad for what she had said to Jasmine, but there was nothing she could do.

She couldn’t still be friends with someone like Jasmine. She had changed so much that she could hardly recognize her.

Even though Mia’s cries were subtle, they didn’t go unnoticed by passersby. The school janitor, who was passing by, heard her sobs and stopped to find out where the sound was coming from.

She entered the room, where the sound was coming to search for her, before finding Mia curled up in the corner, her face buried in her knees, and her arms wrapped around her.

She was shocked to see Mia crying there all by herself, so she walked towards her and bent down by her side.

“Hey, Mia,” she said softly. “What’s wrong? Would you like to talk about it?” she asked calmly.

Hearing her voice only made Mia cry harder. She was taken aback by Mia’s loud cries, so she placed her hand on her back and rubbed it, trying to soothe her. It seemed to work, as Mia’s cries reduced, so she decided to speak again.

“Are you crying because of your best friend who’s missing?” She asked her, and Mia looked up; her tear-stained face was red.

“My friend isn’t missing; she never was. She ran away from her problems like a child and ended up staying with her stupid lover all this while, without contacting anybody to let them know of her whereabouts,” Mia explained, frustrated. “She put my whole family in danger, and now one of my dads is injured and has to sit in a wheelchair for a while.”

Elina gasped, not expecting what Mia had said to be the problem.

“I’m sorry about that. I hope your dad’s okay,” she asked with concern.

“Yes, he is, and I’m thankful for that,” Mia said, resting her back against the wall.

Elina sat on the floor and assumed the same position as Mia.

“But if you don’t mind me asking, why do you hate your friend’s lover so much? Did he do something wrong?” Elina asked.

“He did everything wrong, but he wasn’t the only one. My best friend’s mates are my brothers. They found out that they were mated to each other a few months ago, and since then, it’s just been a back-and-forth battle between them. Jasmine’s just been running between my brothers and her lover, and it’s all very annoying. I’ve never seen my brother so hurt and betrayed before,” Mia seethed. “I wouldn’t take such an attitude from anyone if I were to be mated to them. Being so indecisive…

Mia took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“Would you like to have your friend back?” Elina asked with a comforting smile on her face.

“I miss my old best friend, who wasn’t so selfish and indecisive. I can’t stand her right now. She’s playing games, and they sure as hell won’t end well.”

Just as she said this, the door to the room burst open. In came Mia’s brothers, their eyes wide in relief as they saw her, but when they noticed that she had been crying, worry crept its way back into them.

“What the hell are you doing here? We’ve been searching for you all over the school for over an hour,” Zane exclaimed.

“Were you crying?”

“Did anyone mess with you?”

“Is it someone we know?”

Her brothers bombarded her with questions and didn’t even give her time to answer them.

“Stop asking too many questions. No one hurt me. I was crying here on my own, and she found me and stayed with me,” she explained to them, and they nodded.

“Thank you, ma’am, for taking care of our sister and keeping her company. You always look out for us, and we’re grateful for that,” Calix said.

“There’s no problem. I’m glad that I can always be of help,” she smiled at them.

“Let’s head home, Mia,” they said to her, and she followed them, but not without waving goodbye to Elina.