Chapter 5

Why me? Why did this happen to me? 

I ran away from my home only to jump in the lap of the person I was running from. 

All my efforts…

The Alpha checks me out from top to bottom, making me feel conscious of my attire and the revealing sections of my clothing. Tears swell up my eyes. No! This can't be happening. This should be a nightmare.

But it isn't. 

He's standing a few inches away from me, his lips moving apart to speak what I dread the most. I can't be his property! I'll run away again if necessary. Closing my eyes shut, I wait for my impending doom to fall upon me. He'll claim me as his. 

"Nachos?" 

Huh? I flick my eyes open, not allowing my tears to slide down my face. He holds a packet of chips in front of me, munching some himself. 

"What?" Astonishment and doubt cloud my mind. 

"Do you want some? They are good." He forwards the chips packet to me. 

I... what?...how? I look down at the packet of nachos, the spicy smell wafting my running nose. Why hasn't he said 'mine' by now? Didn't he feel my smell? Or is it the magic of the academy that hides away the smell? 

"Hello? Barbie doll? Do you want them or not? It's a limited-time period offer. I usually don't share my Nachos with anyone. Especially freshers." He shoves another chip in his mouth, his beautiful eyes not leaving me. 

"Umm...no, thank you," I say, my throat feeling hoarse. 

"As you wish." He gives another glance at me and then turns his back at me. I exhale in relief. 

But how is it possible? Maybe... Maybe he has never seen me! That's why he didn't recognise me. I look at his receding muscular figure which stops after walking a few minutes away from me. 

"Welcome to SpellMoon Academy…" he doesn't look at me. He certainly hasn't recognised me. Phew! "...Miss Aurora Hemsworth." I feel my breath hitching at my throat. 

I can sense the challenging smirk formed on his face. He knows me. Then, why? 

And he walks away, his figure disappearing into the sea of students in the garden. What just happened???

**********

"Hey! Here's your drink. Why are you sweating?" Alex frowns at me. 

"Nothing. Do you know where Tessa is?" My eyes scan the entire garden. I need to tell her. That idiot was right! 

"It's easy. She must be near the food counter." A lopsided grin forms on his face.

"I searched there, but I couldn't find her." 

This girl knows when to run away. 

"That's strange. She's always in search of food," Alex's eyebrows knit, his green eyes wandering into space. 

"Exactly! We need to find her. Come on!" I command.

"We need to split up. You go that way, I'll go this way." Alex runs away before I can stop him.I walk towards the row of tables, holding my dress so I don't trip and fall on the grass. It's difficult to sense her energy under the ocean of so many strong waves. And one particular wave of energy sticks to my memory. 

Argh! Focus! 

I close my eyes and visualise Tessa's energy wave. The voices in front fades away and a tensed energy crawls on my skin. I immediately open my eyes and walk towards the source of the energy. Strange that it's coming from within the row of tables. After passing through a few tables, I find a figure crouching behind one table. I walk towards her and tap on her shoulder. 

A pair of steeled hazel eyes stare up at me in stress. "Salty sugars! It's you, Cinn. Thank the MoonGod!" She stands and pulls me in a hug. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" I ask her in confusion. 

"I–I found my mate." Tessa sighs. 

"What??? Are you serious?" I gape at her with dilated orbs protruding from my eye sockets.

Tessa rolls her eyes in annoyance. 

"Do you think that I wanna joke about something like this? Really?" 

"Yeah, but who?" I ask, my situation at the lake forgotten.

Tessa looks around her and then leans in. 

"It's a Rogue." She says. 

"Bloody hell!" I gasp.

A Rogue in this case doesn't mean a Rogue wolf. But the Rogue bloodline, one of the five royal bloodlines. "That means...two fated bloodlines. The witch was not joking." I remind Tessa about the prophecy that we heard as kids from a carnival witch who said that…

"The bloodlines originate from one source. Nature will mate every two bloodlines together, only leaving one bloodline that will have the freedom to choose their mate outside the bloodlines." Her creepy voice mixed with laughter resonates in my ears. 

"It means that the four of the bloodlines will be mated to each other and only one will be lucky to stay out of this." Tessa looks at me, terror reflecting in her eyes. 

"And you've already found your mate," I say, remembering how I felt when I saw Tristian. 

Oh, no, no, no…

This can't be happening! 

"By the way, I need to tell you something. " I start when another voice interrupts me.

We both turn around, Tessa gasping in horror at the tall guy in a shining black tuxedo and glistening brown orbs staring back at Tessa. His light brown hair is styled neatly as if he's just preparing for a photo shoot. And he did. I mean he pulls out his phone and takes a selfie. 

"Peter," Tessa says, her voice barely audible. Poor girl will run for the hills if given the chance. 

"Tessa! I've been looking for you for so long. My lovely mate." He smiles, showing his white set of teeth and approaching her. 

But I put myself in front of him, protecting my Tessa from evil. 

"Not so fast, Mr Whoever-you-are." I blink my eyes, trying to remember his name. 

"It's Peter Rogue. And you are?" Peter asks, keeping his smile intact. 

"Barbie doll!" The familiar voice comes from a few metres away. Tristian joins Peter and snakes his right arm over Peter's shoulder. Now it's my turn to run for the hills. 

"Barbie? Wow! I thought they weren't real. Is it true? Are you seriously made of plastic?" Peter asks in genuine curiosity. 

I cringe at the question. 

"Who's this?" Tessa asks me through the mind link. 

"My nightmare." I answer. 

"Salty sugars!" Tessa says out loud. 

Tristian arches his eyebrow at my hiding friend behind. "Sugars are salty nowadays? Interesting." Tristian smirks, his blue eyes turning towards me. 

Sia starts jumping inside me. 

"We meet again, what a coincidence. Small world, eh?" Tristian doesn't shift his glance from me while I try my best to not run towards the forest and hide behind the trees. 

"Again?" Tessa looks at me.

"You didn't tell me," Tessa complains through the mind link. 

Idiot! 

"Leave that! Will you take a selfie with me? I'll let my followers know that I met the real Barbie." Peter pulls out his phone in sheer excitement. Another idiot! 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tessa keeps nagging me through the mind link. 

Argh! 

I can't take this anymore! 

"Shut up, all of you!" I silence all three, not missing the amusement lighting up in Tristian's defined face."You!" I glare at him.

"Me?" Tristian points towards himself, his face feigning innocence. 

"Yes, you! What is your motive?" I get to the point. 

"Woah, motive? What did you do bro?" Peter looks at Tristian questioningly. 

"Hey! I did offer my Nachos to you. You're the one who rejected my limited-time period offer." Tristian raises his eyebrows and waves his hand in the air. 

"He shared his Nachos?" Tessa asks. 

I'll give this idiot a great beating inside the dorm.

"Yeah, I did. Ask her." Tristian says, pointing at me. 

"I'm NOT talking about your Nachos! You know who I am. You know I am here. We were supposed to get married, remember?" I state. 

"Yeah. But we didn't. So?" Tristian acts unperturbed by the situation. What the hell? 

"So, didn't you want to claim me or do anything that those dominant Alpha's do?" I ask, getting irritated by this topic. 

Why do I care if he's not caring at all? 

"Woah. Harsh. I think there's a tiny bit of misunderstanding going on here." Tristian flexes his arms to narrate. Peter nods his head as if understanding everything. 

"Look, Barbie doll. I know we were supposed to be married and all, but I have no interest in this marriage crap. Your father is a respected Alpha king of the Hemsworth bloodline, so I thought to talk about it after I travel to Melbourne and explain to him that I am not interested in marrying you." He says nonchalantly.

"What? You didn't want to marry me?", I ask, my voice defying me. I don't know why but I feel bad. I should be happy. 

"Nope." He mouths, pressuring on the 'p'.

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