I walked away from Crystalline Spa with my chin high and my shoulders squared. However, my hands shook as I shifted the shopping bags and after a minute of aimlessness down the sidewalk, I had to stop moving entirely - because while I was ’here’ I was still doing the sa thing as in the forest.
> I need sowhere dark and safe where I can think. Don’t believe there are too many caves just waiting in the city for . <
Vrika whined softly in agreent, sending impressions of curling up sowhere protected and licking wounds until the hurt passed. It might not feel the exact sa emotional complexities as I do over everything, but it didn’t like hearing what it did.
That it might be wrong about its potential mate’s depth of kindness. Soone with more history with the woman could know her reaction to my pregnancy better than we would. The thought sent my feet moving toward the Oak Knot before I even realized it.
Back to that northeastern district where no one bothered , where I could hide and process this ss in private. The strange fact that she openly denied a child’s existence to the Duskpaw without even asking if it is the truth or not...
I can’t understand that. That is, I understand that she feels I am her fated mate and is going out of her way to protect . So much that it feels a bit controlling in so areas.
So picking the option that denies them any possibility of... ugh, retrieving like I’m so sort of livestock to be traded back and forth does make sense. But to say nothing or ask nothing?
"Unless that’s why she wanted to et in person again. For dinner."
Halfway to the motel, I passed a beautiful glass building. The sign suggested it was a luxury hotel - and even ca with a genuine doorman like the spa. I stopped dead on the sidewalk, earning annoyed looks from other pedestrians who had to step around .
But I didn’t care. Sothing inside had begun to rebel. Why was I running back to that stupid, low cost motel? Just because it’s already been paid for? No.
> Because Victoria made feel helpless for a mont. Because she confird that this protection I’ve been enjoying has a condition I can’t et. <
Vrika’s tail flicked with irritation in my mindscape - not at , but at the situation. My wolf understood pack dynamics well enough to know that staying hidden at this point isn’t going to do favors in the long run.
The Alpha of the Ricoat has been nothing if not restrained and protective. Making her out to be so master manipulator looking to trick and force into debt had been paranoia and bias. But that was my problem, wasn’t it?
> I just can’t look at what she is offering without my prejudices... <
Everything Kyrie Voss has given was based on her believing - because why wouldn’t she, toward an unmarked woman she just t - that I wasn’t carrying another wolf’s child. The mont she asked and I told her the truth?
> I’ll be left exactly where I knew it would end up and I won’t go through that again. Watching soone’s feelings change when reality has thrown them a ’curveball’ that they refuse to swing for. <
Helene didn’t even like baseball, so I’m not sure why that phrasing ca to mind. Shaking my head, I turned around and started walking back the way I ca. Pushing the few mories trying to tell I’m wrong aside.
Of how she remained restrained after I’ve constantly reacted in ways she must not have expected. After all, restraint was easy when you thought you knew what you were restraining yourself for.
When you thought what you waited for was worth your ti. When it was exactly what you needed and wanted. Until, like a temporary room you’d tried to make a little bit your own, it becos sothing you do not want and have no use for anymore.
"Things change all the ti. Including what we want. It’s just the nature of life."
Flopping down on an empty bus bench, I pulled out my phone. If I was going to be in this city up until everything eventually fell apart, I wasn’t going to do it by cowering at the edges of werewolf society.
> If she’s going to protect until she doesn’t, I might as well live sowhere more worthy of a princess. While it lasts. <
Vrika huffed at my bitter tasting logic, but didn’t send back any argunts. Already, my wolf knew well enough. Well enough to recognize when I was making my practical decisions wrapped in emotional bravado.
Scrolling up the ssage thread with Kyrie, I found that list of ’safer locations’ she’d sent almost a week ago now. One of the listings high up that which I’d refused before caught my eye.
[Perigee Residences - Luxury Furnished Apartnts At The Argent Quarter]... the information she sent went on to list the building’s anities and other important details. The rooftop pool especially catches my eye.
> Well, even if I don’t go swimming with her, I’ll get to swim when I feel like it. <
But most importantly out of everything I read was one particular line - [imdiate access to digital locks with successful online booking]. The listed monthly rate made wince, especially when factoring in the required deposits.
If I thought I hadn’t spent more than $8800 on her card altogether before...
"Well, I’ll be doing it now. But it’s fine, I still have more to sell. And who cares about debt anyway? I certainly don’t."
Mumbled curses in my native tongue went out alongside tapping the keyboard. The whole process required to use the individual numbers on the bank card. For the first ti ever, technically, I’d be ’online shopping’..
It also involved using the prior residence listings and the official dates on my new driver’s license. I hadn’t really thought about it, but this BK actually got Helene’s birthdate exactly right, I think.
"They must have found Helene’s actual birth records. At least that will be sowhat less suspicious if people look into ."
Collecting my bags of bought clothes and jewelry box, I started the hike through the city toward the ’Argent Quarter’. When the access code and link to their app finally arrived, a feeling of satisfaction solidified around my choice to upgrade my accommodations.
And when I was starting to feel a little more put back together... with distance from the spa and that woman... my phone buzzed with two new ssages.
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