The Story That Followed After

• 27. The Story That Followed After •

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Arnelle had been at the back of the room, eyeing Adriel's reactions once 12 o'clock hit. His back had been towards them, but Janice's expression had changed.

And when he said that he hadn't found his mate, she scrunched her eyebrows together and tilted her head to the side.

"He's lying." She heard someone say right next to her. She turned to look and saw a young man with dark brown curls and deep green eyes. He had been looking down at her expectingly and she breathed out before turning to face forward.

"I know." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Do you know why?"

"Of course I do." He had said, then shook his head slowly. "But, his reason is ridiculous. This generation alone has been, or will do the same mistakes as he does."

Arnelle turned to look at him questioningly and he nodded at her. "You will, too."

She had rolled her eyes and, in a flat tone, said, "I'm not going to have a mate. I don't know why you keep insisting that."

He had smiled a little and shook his head. "Having a mate is something beautiful, not something to take for granted, Arnelle. It's your job to take care of this mess right now."

"But, Ma—"

"I mean it." He had told her, his green eyes turning back to silver. He nodded his head and said, "Until we meet again."

And he had disappeared from her sight.

When the party started, Adriel had excused himself and had gone upstairs to his bedroom. That's when she took a few steps forward to follow him, then stopped once she remembered something.

She had walked immediately to James, who had been speaking with Nya about how it had been the first time to see a celebration for the werewolf tradition, then said something about how 'Riley' didn't know what to do for 'Alina's birthday.'

Maybe they're other vampires? She thought to herself, then shrugged her shoulders. There had to be more that James knew that they didn't.

At the mention of his name, he turned his attention from his soulmate to hers and her knees started to feel like jell-o.

Oh goddess. She thought to herself. She thought she would be used to him... but that had been proven to be a lie.

She saw him mumble something to Nya and she smiled, nodded her head and kissed his cheek, then walked past Arnelle, and ruffled her hair a little while doing so.

"You have something to ask me?" He began crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow.

"Y-yes. I..." she cleared her throat and chastised herself for stuttering. Think about Zachary when thinking about his dad!

She relaxed a little more. It wasn't enough, but it was still helpful. She straightened her back up and looked him in the eyes before saying, "I do have something to ask you—wait... how'd you know?"

He smiled at her and the Zachary-reminder popped out of her mind. He chuckled before continuing, "You finished speaking to Marcus about Adriel just now. Are you here to ask me if I would speak about Adriel's decision to Michael?"