Taming the Hybrid Mate: Desired by Five Alphas-Chapter 193: Need to find Jason

Andria’s POV

The room fell into a heavy, shared silence, one that didn’t need explanation.

We were probably all thinking the same thing, but no one wanted to be the one to say it aloud first.

Mel exhaled, rubbing her palms over her face. "I’m sure Liara is under Jackson’s spell. It has to wear off eventually."

I shook my head slowly. "It’s more complicated than that."

Both of them turned towards me. Mel’s brows were pulled tight. Becca’s face was tense with something like hope...but also doubt.

I leaned back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling for a long, quiet moment before speaking.

"The more I look at this whole thing, the more I realize something." My voice was steady, although I was struggling to maintain it, because I felt weighed down and troubled.

"Yes, the mate bond is fake. And yes, Jackson is clearly manipulating her. But her actions... they aren’t entirely his."

Becca blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," I said, sitting upright, "Liara never truly wanted to be our friend. Not really. She was competitive from the very beginning. Remember how she wanted me as her reading partner? After I won the argument in class?"

Mel nodded slowly, the memory flickering across her face.

"And I agreed to the partnership only if you and Arlo were included." I pointed to Becca. "She reluctantly said yes. That reluctance wasn’t about schedules or workload. That was her, revealing who she is."

Becca exhaled, almost defeated. "When you put it that way..."

"To me," I continued, the clarity settling bitterly, "it feels like she has always wanted the freedom to be the mean girl she actually is. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

She was just pretending at first because she was new to the school and needed a support system.

Now she thinks she has a mate, fake or not, she is letting everything else slide, showing her true self to everyone. Including us."

Mel shifted uncomfortably. "That’s... sad."

"No," Becca said, her voice oddly flat. "What’s sad is that now we don’t have a candidate for the prom princess election."

"We don’t have to have one," I replied with a shrug. "She can keep that. Or do either of you want to go for it?"

Mel and Becca both shook their heads immediately.

"Exactly," I murmured. "Then let it go."

Mel stood up, stretching. "Goodnight. I’m tired of thinking."

"Same," Becca yawned, waving as she headed to her room.

The apartment dimmed and quieted, the celebratory energy from earlier completely gone. I stepped into my own room and closed the door behind me with a soft click.

And that was when it hit me.

Jason has been missing for some time now, and no information has been provided regarding his whereabouts. It felt very fishy.

He held a post in the student council, and yet no one even noticed his absence during the sports festivities. Or, perhaps they did notice, but didn’t care to find out why, which was strange.

I sat on the bed, my heart tightening. The memory of Kaelric’s dismissiveness when I brought it up earlier alarmed me even more.

Was Sir Kaelric something I knew nothing about but thought I knew? Something was wrong somewhere.

Why was no one worried except Allison and me?

A hot wave of frustration washed over me. Then exhaustion settled on top of it. I fell on my bed, allowing myself to drift off to sleep.

**************************

It felt as if I just closed my eyes, and then it was morning already.

I woke up from sleep feeling exhausted, and that was weird for a creature like me. What was wrong?

I ignored the feeling and walked to the dining room. I was very hungry, I felt like I could eat everything I laid my eyes on.

But I barely tasted breakfast. My thoughts were tangled tight around Jason and the mystery surrounding Sir Kaelric.

As soon as I dressed and grabbed my jacket, I hurried toward the door.

Mel and Becca stared at me, confused and worried.

"Where are you going?" Mel asked, baffled. "It’s the weekend, and there are no exams or class tests to read for, no practice for any, and I’m sure there’s no council meeting today. So where are you hurrying off to?

"I have something urgent to attend to," I said, adjusting my sleeves.

Mel made a face. "You always have something urgent."

"I swear she schedules emergencies for fun," Becca added, sipping juice with dramatic disapproval. "It must be the effect of having more than four mates. They will keep her busy for life."

I rolled my eyes. "Goodbye."

I shut the door behind me before they could start another round of teasing.

The walk to Sir Kaelric’s office felt longer than usual, maybe because I was rehearsing what I would say to make him understand the urgency or to make him come clean about what he really is.

I stopped in front of his door, lifted my hand, my heart pounding hard against my chest.

I hesitated for a while before trying to knock again. Before I even touched the wood, his voice rang from inside.

"Come in, Aria."

My breath hitched; he sounded like he had been expecting me.

I pushed the door open and walked in, my heart still pounding loudly.

Sir Kaelric stood behind his desk, sorting a stack of files. He didn’t look up immediately.

"What if I wasn’t in my office?" he asked, his voice holding a subtle edge, as if he intended to make me feel unwelcome or foolish for even coming to his office on such a weird day.

"You can never not be in your office," I replied, forcing confidence into my tone. "This place gives you space to think. And your documents are always everywhere."

He finally lifted his head, eyes darkening with something unreadable. "You seem to have studied me quite well."

I shrugged, stepping further inside. "I’m good at mind-reading, remember. I’m..."

"Half-vampire," he finished quietly. "I know. We are supposed to be natural enemies. Yet here we are... mates."

We stared at each other for a while, my eyes unintentionally dropping from his eyes to his well-shaped lips and then to his arm and back to his eyes.