Chapter 70

I could let her in from where I was standing but I’d told her to stay away from me. What was she looking for? Except she didn’t expect me to be in and had actually come to see Valens. Whatever her reason for coming here was, she could state it at the gates.

“I’m going to meet her outside.” I took the tablet with me to open the gates when I got there. Octavia halted me with a hand on my hand elbow.

“The gate is far and – and –“ she didn’t look comfortable at all that I was going to meet Clover at the gate. “Maybe you should call the Alpha,” she suggested. I snorted.

“Why do I need to call Valens? It’s just Clover. What would she do? Leak my nudes?” She’d done the worst she could and it hadn’t turned out the way she expected.

“Then let her leave then. She can come back when the Alpha is in.” She looked nervous all of a sudden, twiddling her thumbs. “I don’t think you should confront her.”

“I am not confronting her. She’s visiting me so I’m going to meet her at the gate to know what she wants.” My words weren’t reassuring her in any way. “Are you afraid of Clover?” I asked my new friend. She shrugged.

“She’s a good person. At least, that’s what she makes people believe.” Octavia looked away, rubbing her bicep.

“What do you mean? She’s a jealous person but she’d be stupid to hurt me.” I was positive that I was right.

She was still standing at the gate, even stretching to peer into the camera but I was in no hurry to let her in.

“You may not know this but she used to be involved with the Alpha.” I shrugged to let her know that it was old news. “She gets really possessive of him and she can be really mean. She must hate you right now so it isn’t wise to meet her alone. Maybe let her leave when she’s tired of waiting?”

I’d already become too lazy to go out to meet her anyway so I could pretend the house was empty until she went away. Yet, pretending didn’t sit right with me. It felt like I was hiding from my bullies and I’d vowed to never let myself be cowed ever again.

“I’m letting her in.” I pushed the button to open the gates for her. “I’m not afraid of her,” I said, taking a stance once and for all.

“I’m not saying you should be scared,” Octavia fixed her eyes on the door as if expecting Clover to walk in immediately. The gates closed behind her as she drove into our home. “I’m saying you should be cautious. You don’t know what she’s capable of.”

“I know some mean girls. I have firsthand experience with bullies but she’s at my house. If she’s here to bully me, I will throw her out.” I gave Octavia a smile I hoped would settle her but it didn’t work.

There was no way Clover could be worse than Skylar. That bitch was pure evil. She must have a special place in the devil’s heart because she loved to do his work.

“Come, let’s let her in.” Octavia followed beside me as we went to open to door for Clover right as she was about to ring the doorbell.

“Oh, hello,” she beamed at me. She didn’t notice Octavia at first but when she did, her smile didn’t dim. She gave my friend a beaming smile. “I didn’t know you had someone with you already. Valens told me you guys moved and I saw him at work so I assumed you would be alone.”

“What do you want?” My words were neutral. My feeling was neutral, actually. I’d expected to be angry every time I saw her or at least for a while but looking at her then, I felt indifferent to her existence, as if she hadn’t almost ruined me.

Maybe the talk with the goddess changed things. I stopped blaming people for my misfortune when I knew I was just an unfortunate inheritor of a family curse. Clover and the rest were just the people being used as instruments to torment me. They were like pawns the same way I was.

“As I said, I assumed you would be alone so I thought I could come and keep you company.” She continued to beam at me but her smile dimmed a little when I didn’t return it, only staring at her.

“I told you I want nothing to do with you but you still show up at my house,” I emphasized the possessive determiner and watched her face for any signs of change but she maintained her smile.

“Don’t you think we should get along?” Her smile finally fell from her face, leaving her looking solemn. “We are the two most important women in Valens’ life. It would be best for us to get along,”

She’d said the same thing to me before but it pricked my skin now more than it did the first time she said it to me. The way she said it made it sound as if we were co-wives and I was the jealous one trying to keep our husband to myself. Valens was mine, darn it!

“You can get along with Valens but not me. I don’t want to have anything to do with you.” Her expression turned dark and clouded in a split second. Her eyes looked like they would rain any second from then.

“I have apologized but why can’t you forgive me?” A lone tear fell from her left eye. My attention moved from her to the gate when it opened and Valens’ car drove into the house. “I told you I was just being a good friend to someone who has been there for me all my life. Why can’t you understand that?” She cried. I watched her in silence, wondering if this was what she wanted.

“Aysel, just forgive me. I am sorry.” To my surprise, she fell on her knees, and then she grabbed my legs. My mouth fell open and I turned to Octavia in shock. The other girl laughed behind her palms.

“What is happening?” Valens jogged over after he parked. His eyes fell on Clover and they darkened. “What are you doing here?” He pulled her off me and in response she buried her face in his chest and cried.

My fists balled.

“What the f**k is your problem?” He pulled her off him like a dirty rag, his expression grave. “What are you doing in my house?”

“I’m so sorry, Valens. Why won’t you or your mate understand that I’m sorry? I was only doing it to protect you. I know you would have done it to protect me too. When did it become a crime to look out for one’s best friend?” She sniffed, wiping tears from her face.

I watched in annoyance as Valens’ expression softened. For a split second, it look like he had taken pity on her and wanted to hug her to his chest. I crossed my arms. His eyes cut to me and his expression when he turned back to Clover was vexed.

“I told you to stay away from her but here you are, in her home.” He glared at her and she shrunk back. “You have overstepped your boundaries countless times and you still continue to do so.”

“It’s because –“ She interjected, putting away her handkerchief after she finished wiping her face.

“Do not interrupt me.” The steel in his words had me stepping back. “You have disrespected me for the last time. If you try to go against my words ever again, you will be banished,” he promised her in a hard, venomous tone.

I looked at Octavia to see I wasn’t the only one shocked at his harsh tone. He’d never spoken to Clover like that in my presence. And from the look on Clover’s face, I knew she’d never expected him to speak to her like that either.

“Get out.” He motioned to the gates.

“Yes, Alpha,” she answered in a monotone, and with her head bent, she walked away. She almost forgot she’d driven in as she left.

“Did you miss me, Sagira?” He pressed a k!ss to my l!ps as if nothing just happened.

“I – yeah – “ I blinked, dazed.

“I got some snacks.” He wasn’t holding anything. “They must be in the car.” He held up a finger and jogged back to his car.

I turned to Octavia who had a small smile frozen on her face with her eyes blown wide open. She looked comical. I laughed, regaining a bit of my senses.

“Wow, I haven’t done anything but I am terrified as if I did something awful,” she said, scrubbing a hand over her face.

As an omega, I related to that. I knew he wasn’t yelling at me but I was too in tune with the emotions around me that they always felt directed at me. The anger now was palpable and it still made my heart race.

“Well, she wouldn’t be disturbing me anytime soon,” I said.

“Clover?” Octavia snorted. “No one ever tells Clover no. Be ready for her.”