Chapter 146 Fated
TESSA
I was halfway through chopping onions when Cameron’s voice carried from the living room.
“Tessa, get me some food.”
I didn’t even look up. “In a minute.”
Before I could blink, Myrna’s voice floated in from the other side of the kitchen. “Just do it, Tessa. Cameron’s tired. Finish that up and go.”
David grunted in agreement from his spot.
My grip tightened around the knife. Tired? Cameron was tired? We had one class together today!
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I dragged myself through them while Cameron leaned on every excuse to coast. But somehow, he was the one too drained to get up and walk to the kitchen?
I swallowed the words before they could escape my mouth. I didn’t have a death wish.
Wiping my hands on a towel, I turned toward the fridge, already mapping out what I could throw together fast enough so he’d stop yelling for me. Myrna and David doted on him like he was some rare gem. Meanwhile, I was more like a tool they remembered to keep sharpened because it was convenient.
The door opened.
I froze for a second–because along with the sound came a scent that stopped me cold.
Warm, clean, but edged with something wild. Familiar in a way I couldn’t place immediately. My body moved before my mind caught up, my feet carrying me toward the hallway.
The door swung open, and Zaria was there. Next to her was Ellana. And next to Ellana… was Rowan.
Damn. He really was handsome. How could a face be sculpted like that? His lips, too, were.very plump and kissable…
No. No, no, no. I shouldn’t be thinking this. That was Ellana’s boyfriend.
I shook my head slightly, hoping to clear it.
Myrna and David leapt from their spots. “Alpha,” Myrna greeted, bowing her head. David followed suit, his expression eager.
Meanwhile, I just stood there, hands pressed to my sides, unsure if I should vanish back into the kitchen or keep staring.
Ellana waved. “Hi, Tessa!”
I managed to wave back. “Hey.”
Zaria rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue. “Come on,” she muttered, grabbing her arm. With that, she led
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Chapter 146 Fated
them upstairs.
“Tessa, where’s my food?” Cameron called out again.
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1 sighed and went back to the kitchen, pouring some cereal and milk into a bowl. With that, I went to the living room where he was and set the bowl in front of him.
“Get me a drink too.”
“Get it yourself,” I mumbled, too quiet for him to really register, and walked away before he could add anything else to his royal list of demands.
My feet carried me up the stairs.
I already knew where Zaria would be–her enormous room at the far end of the hall. The door was closed, but faint voices slipped through the crack beneath it.
I shouldn’t be doing this. But my curiosity was louder than my conscience.
Leaning against the wall, I tilted my head to catch their words.
“Happy 17th birthday to the two of you,” Zaria’s voice chimed.
Two of you?
“I can’t believe you even have the same birthday,” she continued.
My brows shot up. Same birthday? Was it Ellana’s and Rowan’s birthday?
I pressed my lips together. They were really fated for each other.
I was going to be seventeen in three months. Most of us started high school at seventeen and ended at nineteen, then took up specialized education at twenty. It was nice, in a way, not having the massive human curriculum hanging over our heads. I’d read about their system in books. Ours was simpler.
“One more year before you can find out you’re mates,” Zaria added.
Right. Mates. That, too.
I glanced down at my hands. Was there a mate for me out there? Someone who would look at me like I wasn’t just here to run errands? Someone who’d see me? Love me?
Inside the room, Rowan’s voice cut through my thoughts.
“Of course she’s my mate,” he said without hesitation. “If she’s not, then… I won’t accept anyone.”
My breath caught again.
If Rowan’s mate wasn’t Ellana, then whoever it was would be… what? Lucky? Unlucky? The thought twisted in my chest.
Whoever that girl would be… she’d have to live up to the way he looked when he said those words. And if it wasn’t Ellana, that girl would probably have the weight of the world on her shoulders.
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Chapter 146 Fated
Shuffling sounds broke the moment.
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Panic jolted through me, and I spun on my heel, my footsteps quick and silent as I hurried back to my. room. I shut my door softly, my back pressed against it.
I sighed in relief the moment I was in my sanctuary.
It was a small room, barely large enough to hold a single bed and the stack of boxes shoved against the wall. Technically, it wasn’t even a bedroom–it was storage. Myrna had shoved me in here after Cameron decided he “needed more space” and took my old room. I had tried to fight it once, but it hadn’t even been worth the shouting match that followed. Now, my “room” smelled faintly of mothballs, old paint, and dust, no matter how many times I aired it out.
The walls were so thin I could hear everything. Worst of all, my tiny room was right next to the third–floor bathroom, which meant I was far too aware of every little… business… anyone decided to do in there. Sometimes, when Cameron was in one of his moods, he would bring a girl home and terrorize me with their moaning.
I pulled my thin blanket tighter around me and stared at the ceiling.
Would my parents react if they knew this was my life now? Would they be angry at Myrna and David? At Cameron? At me? The thought made my chest ache in that deep, old way I hated–because it meant the tears weren’t far behind. I pressed the heel of my hand to my eyes, forcing them back.
Crying here was a mistake. If anyone heard me, it’d be another round of mocking.
It wasn’t even like I had the small comfort of a bathroom attached to my space, the way everyone else did. Cameron’s room had one. Zaria’s, of course, was practically a palace.
I sniffed and decided to wash my face before the tears could spill over. The last thing I needed was to walk around with puffy eyes for everyone to see. Maybe the cold water would wake me up… or at least make me feel less like breaking down.
My bare feet padded softly against the old wooden floor as I turned the knob and cracked my door open. The hallway was quiet. I stepped out, hugging my arms to myself, and made my way toward the bathroom.
I twisted the doorknob and made my way inside.
But at that moment, the breath in my lungs simply vanished.
Because right in front of me was Rowan in all his shirtless glory.
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