CHAPTER 67.
HARA.
I'm lost in staring at Roland as he approached us. His all-black attire made him look breathtaking and much of a hunk. I couldn't help but think that he looked more hotter and handsome than he used to.
The shirt he wore hugged his body tightly, showing off the intimidating bulge of his muscles. He didn't have a ripped body like this back when we were still together. It seems like he has been hitting the gym frequently for a while.
My throat has gone completely dried from staring and I continuously gulped to get it a bit wet. His whiff passed through my nostrils, striking up a few of my intimate memories with him. Memories of us, entangled in sheets and having the best time of our lives. Why did these memories have to surface now that he was not so far away from me? They're only making it harder for me to ignore him.
“That's Roland, right?” Hailey asked in bewilderment and I nodded in confirmation. She scoffed, “What's he doing here? Is he stalking you now? How shameless of him!“
”Uh–Hailey, you know he can hear you, right?“ I tried to remind her again that we weren't humans, just like her. We are werewolves, and we got enhanced hearing abilities. Roland might be meters away from us but he can still pick up every bit of what we say.
“I don't care if he hears me or not. I just wanna know what he's doing here,” She mumbled in a breath as Roland finally got to where we stood.
His hands were stuffed in his pockets, his sandy hair was now dyed jet black and his eyes held a certain dose of softness that I haven't seen in them for ages. The last time he stared at me with eyes that held this much love and softness was In our early years of being a couple.
”Hi,“ He smiled at me, but I didn't smile back, nor did I say a word to him. His gaze went to Hailey and he flashed her a smile too. ”Good to see you, Hailey,“
“Now, that's a surprise,“ Hailey scoffed out a burst of stifled laughter. “You've never thought of seeing me as a good thing. You always treated me as a pest that you wanna get rid of. Now all of a sudden, you're saying it's good to see me? How hypocritical of you,“ Hailey backfired on him.
”Girl, that's enough, please,“ I tugged her arm, begging her not to be so harsh.
“This isn't even close to being enough. For every pain and heartache he caused you, he deserves much more than my harsh words,“ Hailey said.
“Hailey, you got every right to be mad at me, I treated you wickedly and I'm sorry,“ Roland said in a calm, soliciting voice that surprised both Hailey and I. Roland has never spoken this calmly in ages, and he doesn't apologize for anything. But now, he's apologizing? Wow!
“Did I hear you correctly? Did you just apologize to me?” Hailey asked, still shocked by his quiet and calm approach to her.
“Yes. I just did. I regret everything I did in the past, believe me. What I did to Hara was wrong…“
“What you did to Hara wasn't wrong,“ Hailey cut him off brashly, squirting fire from her eyes. “Wrong would be blaming her for something she didn't do, forgetting her birthday, or misunderstanding her friendship with another man. What you did to her was inhumane and monstrous. You were a devil and you made her life hell. That's what you did, nit-wit!“ She yelled in his face, pointing a finger at him.
“Hailey, please, that's enough,“ I pulled her away from him but she was still struggling to break from my hold.
”You better crawl back into whatever hole you crept out of. Hara is finally happy with her life and she doesn't need you anymore!” Hailey shouted, stretching out her hand to pull his shirt. How had she gotten so berserk in just a minute of seeing Roland?
“I know how much you hate me right now and I understand why. But I can't just leave. Hara is my mate and we need to be in each other's lives, despite the problems we've faced,“
“Remember I came to your house searching for Hara after she disappeared?“ Hailey continued her verbal attack on Roland, “You didn't even give a damn about her, all you cared about was fucking this bitches and having them disturb the neighbors with her moans of stupid pleasure! Why are you suddenly in need of her now?“
”Like I said, she's my mate. I might have been horrible to her, but that doesn't mean I stopped loving her. I love Hara and I need her back because we are fated mates, created to live beside each other,“
“Now I can say you're wrong. Hara doesn't need you anymore, she already has someone who completes her and makes her feel loved,“ Hailey blurted out.
Roland's brows creased in confusion at her words. ”What do you mean by that?” He asked and glanced at me. ”What does Hailey mean by what she just said?” He asked me.
I felt burdened right now as I didn't want to talk about Ryder. Instead, I pulled Hailey and hiked down a taxi.
“Hara, wait!” Roland yelled coming after us.
“Don't come any closer to us,“ I said firmly to him and he stopped. Hailey and I got into the taxi and we zoomed off.
We were already far from where we stood earlier with Roland but Hailey hasn't stopped for a minute to catch her breath. She's been rabbling about Roland and his guts to show up now and demand to be in my life like he deserves it. She was fuming and cussing at him, but I just tuned out, lost in my thoughts.
I recalled the hurt in his eyes when Hailey mentioned that I had another man in my life now. Seeing him feel hurt made my heart ache. I didn't wanna hurt him more, that's why I pulled Hailey and quickly got into this taxi.
I know it's stupid of me to consider how he feels, but I can't help it. No matter how much Roland has hurt me, I can't seem to be able to hurt him in return. I just can't.
”Hara, are you even listening?!” Hailey snapped in a high pitch, and I was forced to turn to her.
”What? I'm sorry. I toned out again, I'm sorry,”
”It's fine. I'll repeat myself, so listen closely. The next time Roland shows up, make sure you won't be as quiet as you were today. Be bold to tell him that you've moved on with your life and he doesn't have a place in your heart anymore. Make sure you tell him about Ryder, he needs to hear it from you. Only then will he stay away from you. Do you understand?”
I nodded and stared out the window as we reached Ryder's mansion. He was standing outside the main gate, pacing back and forth.
”Hailey, can you do me a favor?” I quickly turned to my best friend.
“Sure, what is it?“
”Please don't tell Ryder that we saw Roland a while ago,“
“What? Why not?“ Hailey disagreed with my proposal. “Roland might be plotting something evil against you and you need Ryder to keep you safe. So you need to tell him everything,”
"And I will, okay? But not now. He has a lot of things to worry about and I don't wanna add to it,“
”But you two need to talk about this. You promised me that you're gonna talk to him,“
“I will, but not here, and not now. Please, “
“Oh, okay.“ She agreed grudgingly and we got down from the taxi.
His face brightened the second he turned around and saw us.
“Hey,“ He mused, stretching out his arms and I didn't hesitate to go in dor the hug. I hugged him and he held me so tightly, nuzzling his face in my hair. His hands ran up and down my back in a soothing manner.
But all of a sudden, he stiffened and his hands stopped moving. I disengaged from the hug to see what was wrong.
He went pale and was looking at me like he just saw a ghost. His expression scared me a bit.
”Ryder, are you alright?” I asked him, holding his hands but he didn't move. He was just staring at me and his eyes twitched like he was on the verge of crying.