Already thinking about it

"No."

"Yes."

Nori and Chloe responded at the same time, making Karina sigh tiredly and pinched the skin between her brows.

"What do you mean no? That is a very reasonable suggestion and you are saying no. I see you are bent on ruining my life." Chloe huffed, glaring at Nori.

"Who is ruining your life? Why are you scared of the police if you have nothing to hide?"

"Are you accusing me of something?"

"No. You are doing the accusation yourself."

"Nori," Karina called, hoping to get her sister's attention, but the latter didn't even glance at her. She kept her glaring gaze on Chloe.

"I don't even know why you are the one overreacting about this. You should let your sister make a decision for herself. She was the one affected, not you." Chloe sneered, agitated at Nori's insistence.

"It is no business of yours if I speak for her or not." Nori retorted, and Chloe snorted.

"Of course it is. She is older than you. Let her speak for herself. Stop acting like you're older than she is, or you're her mother."

"And I just told you to keep your nose out of our business."

"Nori—"

"Stay out of this, Rina." Nori cut Karina off, surprising her and at the same time, infuriating her.

"No, you stay out of this, Nori. Why are you blowing this thing out of proportion? We'll go to the school authority once it's morning to report this, and we'll head to the police if there's a need for that." Karina decided before she turned to Chloe.

"And you, don't talk to my sister like that again. As she has said, keep your nose out of our business. Who speaks for who should not concern you." Karina narrowed her eyes as she gazed at Chloe.

"The way you are acting is even enough for someone to suspect you have done something wrong. You both should quit giving me a headache. I want to sleep." As soon as the words left her mouth, she turned from them and moved to her bunk, taking off the jacket Veron gave her earlier.

Folding the jacket, she kept it aside, with the intention of returning it to him later in the day after class. Just as she was about to take off the dress, Chloe's words before they left the hostel earlier re-echoed in her ears. "Don't ruin my dress."

Well, the dress was ruined beyond repair now, and she wasn't going to pay for it. After all, it was no fault of hers. If she wanted to blame someone for her misfortune tonight, she would put the blame on Chloe.

Even though she understood why Nori was insisting on involving the police, she didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. There were so many questions in her head about everything that happened, but now was not the time to talk about it.

After changing into her own comfortable clothes, she climbed up to the top bunk, ignoring Chloe and Nori, who were still eyeing each other unpleasantly. She could hear movements around the room, and someone muttering some words angrily, but she turned her face to the wall to properly ignore them.

Laying on her side, she tried to blank out every thought from her mind, so she could fall asleep, but it didn't work.

One particular thought just refused to go away. Veron helps her and later acts so cold toward her. Why did he do that? If he wasn't comfortable helping her, then why did he do it in the first place?

After a few minutes, the sleep she so much sought finally enveloped her, and before she knew it, she was already in dreamland.

***

Veron drove away from the front of the hostel, but didn't drive very far before he stopped the car by the roadside. Gripping the steering so hard that the shape of the metal distorted, he mentally bashed himself as his anger soared.

Why he was angry? He didn't know. Or maybe he knew, but didn't want to admit it. He had broken his vow of never talking to or having anything to do with Karina. Today was another mating ceremony, making it one year since he found her.

One year of indulging in her scent without speaking a word to her or caring what she did with her life - even though there was nothing much happening in her life that he could see.

Only for him to get angry because she was talking to another man, and jump in to rescue her at the mention of her being abducted.

'What the fuck is wrong with you, Veron? Why the hell did you do that?' He mentally asked himself, running his hand through his thick mane.

"Why are you quiet?" Veron asked after some time, frowning, realizing it was unusual for Gerrard to be quiet at a time like this. His wolf would have laughed at his woes, berated him, or even said something to make him angry.

"I'm in love," Gerrard uttered in an excited airy voice, making Veron grimace in disgust.

"Tsk... Talking to you is useless." Veron deadpanned, releasing the steering from his deadly grip, and leaning back against the headrest.

"What? Am I not supposed to fall in love again?" Gerrard asked in an irritated voice.

"I thought you were in love already." Veron reminded.

"Of course, I was. However, the feeling I got from meeting her and inhaling her scent every day is different from the one I just got when you touched her. You touched her, Veron, and damn... I felt that."

Hearing what Gerrard said, Veron unconsciously moved his right thumb over the rest of his fingers. He would be lying if he said he didn't hesitate before letting go of her hand at the garage. It was ridiculous, but he wanted to hold on to that hand forever.

"Veron?" Gerrard called in a sweet voice, and Veron's hand froze as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Whenever Gerrard sounded like that, he wanted to make a ridiculous request or suggestion.

"You have to—"

"No, Gerrard. Don't even think about it." Veron cut Gerrard off, but the latter just laughed mischievously.

"Hehe... I'm already thinking about it, Veron."