"WHAT?"
Veron could not believe his ears. Start school again? What did that even mean?
"You heard me. I won't force you to talk to her or even accept her. But I need you to always be close to her, and what better way to achieve that than to start schooling here, and not only that. You also have to be in the same class as her." Gerrard explained, breaking down his thoughts so that Veron would understand what he meant.
"You're crazy. I came here to buy the school, not enroll as a student." Veron pointed out, wishing there was a way to get rid of this stupid wolf inside of him.
"I don't see anywhere it is written that you can't be a student in your own school."
"What makes you think she is a student here?"
"Why else will she be here if she is not a student?" Gerrard asked back, and Veron felt like slapping his head to put some sense in his wolf.
"I am here and I am not a student." Veron pointed out, but Gerrard smirked.
"You are about to become one."
"No, Gerrard. I am not doing that shit-argh…" Veron groaned as his bones resumed cracking.
"Veron? What is going on? There are people heading this way. What are you doing?" Skye called out and questioned in panic. He could hear several footsteps coming toward them, and he didn't want to even imagine what will happen if they see what was going on.
"It's not me. It's Gerrard." Veron revealed with gritted teeth. Shifting into his beast form was always smooth and painless whenever he and Gerrard were in agreement. But whenever Gerrard tries to force himself out without Veron's permission, it always hurts like hell.
"Gerrard, please stop—" Skye paused his speech when a sudden chill ran up his spine as Gerrard's voice echoed inside his head.
"What did you just call me?" Gerrard queried, forcing Skye to lower his head and almost kneel as his knees suddenly weakened out of fear. The only reason he forced himself to remain on his feet was that he was blocking Veron from view of anyone approaching.
"I'm sorry, Alpha. Please forgive my thoughtlessness." Skye quickly apologized, keeping his head low.
"Leave him alone, Gerrard," Veron warned weakly.
"Shut up." Gerrard's voice rang out, both in Veron's and Skye's heads. "The fact that you choose to drop your title does not mean I should drop it too. I will not condone disrespect. As for you, Skye, the next time you repeat that mistake, I will forget our relationship and teach you a very valuable lesson. Is that clear?"
"Crystal. It won't repeat itself."
"Good." Gerrard withdrew the suffocating aura he released, allowing Skye to breathe in a non-toxic air and lifting his head.
"Now, as to why I'm torturing your boss. He is trying to reject our mate, simply because she is human. Can you imagine that?" Gerrard asked in a disbelieving tone.
Skye's eyes stretched subtly, realizing he had been correct when he attributed Veron's weird behavior earlier to him finding his mate. But she's human? It was extremely rare for a werewolf to be given a human mate. The few who had such experiences were weak shifters who experienced difficulties shifting into their wolf form. Veron was anything but weak, so why?
"… Focus, boy. Don't let your mind drift away when I am talking to you." Gerrard warned, realizing that Skye was thinking of something else while he was talking.
"Yes. I'm sorry, alpha. I was just wondering why a human mate." Skye voiced his thoughts.
"Only the moon goddess can answer that question. Now back to our predicament. I offered a simple solution of him starting school here so he can be close to her, but he is still refusing."
"You want him to enroll as a student?" Skye asked, wide-eyed. "He is through with school and he came to buy the place."
"Thank you." Skye almost jumped when Veron's voice echoed inside his head. He now had two voices in his head. How is that possible? This was the first time something like that was happening.
"You don't agree with me?" Gerrard asked in a threateningly low voice, and Skye could almost picture him narrowing his eyes until they were mere slits. "Would you like your mate to reject you when you find her? Because I can make that happen." Gerrard added, and Skye just knew there was no way he would side with Veron in this case.
"I think you are right, Alpha." Skye agreed, and again, he pictured Gerrard grinning from ear to ear triumphantly. "Please your high- I mean, Veron, just agree with him. Only a few seconds and they will be here. We can't let anyone see you like this."
"I am not agreeing to that rubbi—arghh…" Another groan escaped Veron's lips as Gerrard resumed the painful shifting process.
"Damn you, Gerrard." Veron cussed before agreeing. "Fine. But I'll never talk to her or have anything to do with her." He said, and just then, he felt Gerrard retreat.
As soon as Veron straightened, breathing out heavily, three students passed by them, throwing them a brief look before facing the direction they were headed without a word.
"Pheww… That was close." Skye commented, breathing out in relief while Veron rested his head against the wall, trying to regain his composure. If he knew this was how the day would turn out, he would have just remained at home and insisted that Skye rescheduled this meeting for the fourth time.
"Skye, find out everything about her and report back to me. Thanks to Gerrard, we are about to return to school." Veron instructed, and Skye frowned. Two things were not adding up. First, he didn't know the person who was Veron's mate, and did he just say we?
"What?" Veron probed, seeing the look on Skye's face.
"I don't know her yet," Skye revealed, deciding to ignore the other problem as he realized there was no way Veron would return to school and he wouldn't. After all, he pledged to stay beside him always.
"Yeah, right. Follow me." Veron instructed, then started walking back to the hallway where he believed she would still be since he didn't see her leave.
But as soon as they got there, the scene they met made them freeze.