Chapter 140
HANNAH
The school's hallway had never seemed so long because I had a lot on my mind I wanted to unload on Edward. Yet it was so short because, frankly, I didn't want to be there, having this awkward conversation with him.
We walked past my classroom. The doors were closed. I could hear the math teacher droning on about deriving a formula. Every other student had returned to class, but the Lycan Queen had something else in mind for me.
She had given me a steady stare. Without breaking eye contact, she had beckoned to Edward.
"You and Hannah have to talk," she had said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Do it now."
And then she had marched off with the principal, her guards falling into line beside and behind her.
So here we were, Edward and I, walking the halls yet not saying anything to each other.
I couldn't help but wonder what his mother wanted from me. She said I was too ugly for her son, yet she wanted to force me to marry him. Was it because I was the white wolf? Was she also power-hungry?
"I have to tell you something," I said at exactly the same time Edward asked, "How have you been?"
Edward smiled. It wasn't the open, pleasant smile of when we had just gotten to know each other. It was a little strained now. I could tell.
"My apologies," he said. "Go ahead. I'm listening."
"It's your mother," I began.
Edward's broad shoulders sagged a little. He unconsciously tugged at his earlobe. "Yeah. About that... I'm sorry. She shouldn't have been so harsh to those girls. It's just that... my mother can be a handful sometimes."
"I wasn't really referring to that," I told him about our meeting at the mall and all she had said, especially the ultimatum she had just given me.
Edward's eyes widened as he listened. Obviously, his mother hadn't told him what she had done. She was just planning to arrange our marriage by forcing me into it. How crazy.
When I had finished, he scrubbed a hand across his face. "Damnit Hannah. I had no idea. She didn't say anything to me about all that." He suddenly turned to me with a sharp look. "Wait a minute. Is that why you've been a little distant? You don't think I had anything to do with it, did you?"
"Well, I didn't think so, but I wasn't sure."
"Come on, Hannah. You should know me better than that." He smiled a little wistfully. "Actually, you would know me better if you agreed to spend some time with me once in a while."
"I can't date anyone else," I said, bringing his attention back to the issue at hand. "And I certainly can't marry anyone else. I have mates. I've been marked and taken, and I love my mates. I really do. I don't want to be with anyone else... But then there's your mother. I don't want to defy her. She's the queen. I know refusing her will have consequences, but the decision of a mate is not supposed to be one someone else should make for me."
I twisted my hands in front of me nervously.
Edward nodded. "You're right, of course. Again, I apologize for my mother's behaviour. I promise I'll talk to her and tell her to back off. I like you, Hannah, but I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do."
I exhaled. It felt like a physical weight I had been dragging around for the last few days had been taken off my shoulders.
I felt loads lighter and chatty enough to ask as we rounded a corner, "What happened to your mate? Why don't you want to be with her?"
Edward did that earlobe-pulling thing again. A flush crept up his cheeks.
"M-my mate?" he said, and I got the feeling he was groping for something to say.
I eyed him curiously. Why should he suddenly be embarrassed? He was always so at ease around me.
"Did I say something I shouldn't have?" I asked slowly.
"No. No. The thing is... I've not found my mate yet. I don't think I'll ever find her. So many years have passed. If we were ever destined to meet, we would have met by now."
"Oh." I considered this. "Because of what your mom said, I assumed..."
"That I had found and rejected her because maybe I didn't like her?" he finished. He shook his head. "It doesn't work that way for Lycans. Werewolves have chosen mates. When they meet, the mate bond is mutual. Lycans find someone they feel a connection to and imprint on them. Doesn't have to be a mutual thing all the time."
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