Wrong Way, Wrong Mate Chapter 09

Lacey clings desperately to Nathan’s sleeve, tears mingling with raindrops as they stream down her face.

“Nathan, do you understand? I’m jealous of her!”

“Willow has everything. She has a loving family, the glory of being the top SSS-Rank warrior, and you, her mate who’s been by her side since childhood.”

“And what do I have? I have to beg for your attention and act cute just to make you look my way!”

Nathan stands in the doorway, letting her clutch his clothes.

For once, he doesn’t reach for a towel to dry her hair.

Instead, his expression grows colder by the second.

Lacey looks into his icy eyes, her voice beginning to tremble.

“But you like me, too, don’t you?”

“Otherwise, why do you always give me your umbrella when it rains? Why do you always choose me first whenever something happens?”

Nathan’s face turns deathly pale.

Because he realizes he can’t deny a single word she’s saying.

Seeing his reaction, Lacey suddenly lets out a bitter, almost hysterical laugh..

“Even without me, you would still find her boring!”

“You’ve always loved excitement. You love being admired and fawned over. You never liked someone as quiet and dull as her!”

“All I did was give you an excuse to act on the impatience you’d been feeling toward her all along!”

Her words pierce through the last layer of self-deception Nathan has clung to.

He has always believed Lacey was the one who manipulated him.

Only now does he finally wake up to the truth.

Lacey merely brought out the arrogance and selfishness that had always existed inside him.

The person who truly pushed away the girl whose eyes once held nothing but him was Nathan himself.

Nathan slowly pries Lacey’s fingers off his sleeve.

“Choosing you doesn’t mean Willow deserved to be hurt by us.”

“From now on, don’t come looking for me again.”

He closes the door, shutting out Lacey’s sobs and desperate cries.

Nathan spends the entire night writing me a three-thousand-word email.

He writes about the promises we made as children and how he’d lost his way over the years.

Most of all, he pours out his crushing regret.

After clicking Send, he waits anxiously for my reply.

One second later, a cold system notification appears on the screen.

[Email rejected: The recipient has enabled filtering for messages from unknown senders.]

Nathan stares at the red text. Then he covers his face and lets out a muffled sob in the silence of his off-campus apartment.

Paxton and Zane try to contact me, too, but neither of them ever receives a response.

Time slips through their fingers like sand.

Before they know it, a year has passed.

The final shortlist for the annual International Lycan and Werewolf Warrior Selection Trials is officially announced.

At the very top of the rankings, one name stands out.

Willow Bellrose.

I’ll represent Apex Fang Academy and lead its team back to the werewolf realm to compete in the finals of the International Lycan and Werewolf Warrior Selection Trials.

Selection Trials.

On the day of the finals, the arena is packed to capacity.

I’m standing in the center of the ring, dressed in a lightweight white combat uniform, my hair neatly tied

back. I wait for the referee to signal the start of the match.

The whistle blows, and I immediately shift into combat mode. With precise judgment and extraordinary

speed, I dodge my opponents’ attacks one after another, striking back the moment they leave themselves

open.

The judges in the stands nod approvingly, their eyes filled with admiration.

Paxton, Zane, and Nathan learn I’m competing through Lunaris Academy’s livestream.

They rush out like madmen, running two red lights on their way to the arena.

By the time they come sprinting through the entrance, gasping for breath, the final round has just ended.

I’m standing in the center of the ring without so much as a serious scratch on me. The referee is announcing

my victory.

Eloise runs over excitedly and offers to carry my training gear.

Another girl hands me a bottle of water, smiling as she asks if I’m injured and whether I’d like to stop by the

medical area for a quick checkup.

Watching them, Paxton feels a sharp pang of bitterness stab through his chest.

He’s always believed I was too quiet and dull to win anyone’s affection.

Now he finally understands.

It’s not that I’m incapable of being liked. It’s that when I was with them, they never treated me the way I

deserved.

During the awards ceremony, the host proudly announces me as the champion of this year’s International Lycan and Werewolf Warrior Selection Trials.

As the host introduces my accomplishments, they make a point of adding something else.

“Willow Bellrose turned down invitations from several elite Lycan academies. Instead, she chose to reach this point through her own strength, one step at a time.”

The word chose brings,tears to Paxton’s and Nathan’s eyes.

After the competition, I leave through the athletes’ exit, only to find them blocking my path by the revolving