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Chapter 201
~Xade’s POV~
The rest of us just watched him carry her away like she weighed nothing—typical Dristan.
"Dristan, you better sleep in her room with how you are monopolizing our mate," Axel enunciated, and Dristan chuckled.
Once they disappeared upstairs, the rest of us dispersed slowly. Axel left to make a call. Kai returned to the music room. I lingered.
Two hours passed.
Most of the house had gone quiet again. But something pulled at me—an instinct I couldn’t ignore.
I made my way upstairs, stopping in front of the fifth heir’s door.
It was surprising how everything just fell into place beautifully and easily with Valerie being here and staying here.
She was meant for us and right now, if she loves it and Principal Whitmore agrees, then she would make an addition to our quad.
My hand hovered on the knob. And for a moment, I wasn’t even sure why I was doing this.
Yes, I wanted to check on her, then use the opportunity to discuss the party or simply to confess something.
I threw those thoughts away to the back of my mind, and as soon as I opened the door, Valerie’s voice came immediately, stopping me cold.
"I’ve been expecting you."
I froze, halfway inside. Valerie sat on the edge of the bed, still in her oversized hoodie like she’d been waiting for this, waiting for me.
"Valerie."
I didn’t know why I was hesitating at her door. Scratch that. I did, but the truth was that Valerie Nightshade had a way of knocking the wind out of people without even trying.
And after everything that happened today—her collapsing on the field, the way she’d barely looked at any of us since—I wasn’t sure if now was the right time to deliver the news of Kieran’s party without actually mentioning Kieran.
I know she’d kill me for it later but she may also want to protect Dristan. However, how do I play a good friend and mate without risking the whole idea of her going if I told her the truth?
But something told me I needed to tell her now that she wasn’t surrounded by her other mates, especially Dristan and Kai.
Ronan was in on it too, wanting me to spill the deets to our mate.
"Stop being a pussy and just go in," he chided, and I smiled.
I opened the door slowly, already preparing some half-assed excuse if she looked too tired but her voice stopped me mid-step.
"I’ve been expecting you."
I froze.
She was sitting at the edge of the bed like she’d been waiting. Her voice wasn’t sharp or cold. It was soft—like the kind of softness that made you want to confess things you weren’t ready to say.
"You’re not surprised?" I asked, trying to sound casual. I wasn’t sure I pulled it off.
"I’d be more surprised if you didn’t show up."
I let out a soft chuckle. Not the flirty kind. Not the one I used to disarm people. This one was smaller, but just as quiet.
I stepped inside, shut the door behind me, and shoved my hands deep into my pockets. Not because I was cold. Because I didn’t trust them not to fidget.
She patted the bed beside her. I sat carefully, not too close. My usual confidence had fled the second she said my name.
Damn.
"You okay?" she asked, tilting her head. That knowing look in her eyes was too sharp, too kind. Like she saw right through the sarcasm I hadn’t even bothered to use tonight.
"Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?"
Silence.
Just the faint tick of the wall clock, and her eyes on me.
"I’ve been watching you since I came," she said. "And you’ve seemed... different."
I scoffed. "Different how?"
"You haven’t made a single sarcastic comment. No flirty jab. Not even a wink. You’ve been weird."
That made me laugh, dry and short. But I didn’t deny it.
She was right.
"Fine," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "You caught me."
Valerie waited—like she always did, like she knew there was more.
I sighed and looked away, out the window. "I wanted to ask you something. And I didn’t know how to say it without sounding like a complete idiot."
She didn’t blink. "Try me."
"I want you to come to a party with me tomorrow."
There. Said it.
Valerie blinked. "A party?"
I nodded. "Yeah. It’s mid-terms. There’s a party. Off-campus. I figured... you’ve had enough stress to last two lifetimes, and I’m not exactly great at pep talks, so..." I trailed off, then added, "It might help you unwind. Dance. Drink. Laugh. Maybe remember you’re not just the girl everyone wants a piece of."
She didn’t answer right away. Just asked, "Where is it?"
That caught me. I hesitated. "Outside the school."
Her eyes didn’t narrow. Her voice didn’t raise.
She just said, "You don’t need to be so fidgety about things. I’ll go."
I blinked. "Wait, really?"
She smiled—barely, but it was real. "Yeah."
I let out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. "Huh. I thought you’d shoot me down. Or throw something."
"You still can try to bribe me," she said, lips twitching. "But it’ll take more than drinks and bass drops."
Now that—that was the Valerie I knew. I grinned. "Challenge accepted."
We talked after that. Nothing earth-shattering. But it meant something.
She told me she hated mint chocolate. I told her I once broke a chandelier trying to impress someone. She laughed—head thrown back, eyes shining—and for a second, the world felt right again.
Like all the chaos didn’t matter as long as that sound existed.
Eventually, I stood.
"I’ll let you sleep," I said, brushing my knuckles across her jaw, slow and gentle. I didn’t linger.
"Big day tomorrow. Dress hot. Or don’t. I’ll be watching either way."
She muttered, "Stalker," under her breath, but she was smiling.
At the door, I paused. Looked back.
"Val?"
She glanced up.
"I’m really glad you said yes."
"We’ll see about that."
I smiled as I locked the door behind me. And that was it—no grand ending or kiss. Just a weight was lifted, and more pressure was put on me regarding her future reaction tomorrow.
"Idiot," Roanana hissed.
"I’ll live with that."