Auden walked into Violet's shop for the second ti, which was two tis too many. No one saw that man walking around talking with anyone outside of the council, so why did he have to co bugging her?
The elder always gave her the creeps. His eyes were large and protruded out of his round face like a bug, and he fidgeted with his hands like he was eager to be doing things with him that he shouldn't. No wonder he didn't have a mate.
He leered at Violet and leaned over the counter. "We need your help again, pretty one," he said in that strange gravel he always used.
"If it's involving Grae, I don't want to help," she said quickly. His eyes narrowed, and she began tidying things below the counter for an excuse to avoid looking at him.
"That's not what you said last ti," he reminded her.
"He doesn't want to talk to , Elder Auden. He shut down that day at the council, and he made it very clear the other day that he doesn't even want looking at his mate, so…"
"His mate is not his rightful mate. She is a witch," Auden spit.
Violet flinched. For so reason it hurt to have Auden say that.
She didn't buy into the prejudice against the witches. She had seen how much Grae and others had hurt after the alyko were killed, but she also didn't feel strongly enough to ever object when they were disparaged in front of her either. She always let others fight those battles.
"That might be true, but he believes she is. I'm sorry there is nothing I can do to help you," she said quietly.
"Violet," Auden sighed. "I didn't want to bring this up. But we let you in on so very sensitive information in the council. Information that most are not aware of."
Violet nodded silently. Previously when they had invited her to visit Grae in his new role at the council, she had discovered that there was a secret team headed by soone nad Zoe. But she didn't know what the team did.
It was all very strange and unsettling. That's when she had found Grae in a room looking over his parents' file, so she assud the team had sothing to do with that.
"Being aware of that information cos with a price. You agreed to help us, and only you can do it," he added. She watched him nervously as he continued explaining.
"What we need from you isn't involving Grae directly. This is a vital ti for our pack. What happens now will have huge implications for us all," Auden said. "I am sure you of all people know how fickle the boy's feelings are. How can any of us truly trust his choices when he abandoned you—the one who carried his child—to roam amongst the humans?"
Auden gave her a pitiful look, and she set her jaw. She didn't want this man's pity.
"All you have to do is be your beautiful, charming self my dear. You don't even have to see or talk to Grae or the witch. But if you can help us, we can expose her before she hurts him or anyone else. Don't you want to help open his eyes to the truth?"
Violet sighed heavily. What if Grae's mate really was a danger and Violet could help prevent her from hurting him?
"What do you need to do?" she asked reluctantly.
———————
"Look at that! You're nearly healed," Greta smiled and stepped back from checking on August's wounds so that she could button up her shirt.
August didn't know how to feel about it. Of course she was relieved and pleased to heal at an accelerated rate like Grae—it was as if he were here protecting her even when he wasn't—but this was so surreal. Had her physiology really changed so much? She felt different, but she didn't feel THAT different.
Everyone said labels weren't important, and as much as she agreed with that ideal, it was… unusual finding yourself changed so drastically. It made her feel set adrift. Grae anchored her in a way, as did the pack, but she was still different from all of them in ways that no one fully understood. The ambiguity of not having one label to identify with was hard. Not that she wanted to be known as 'the witch' or even 'the human,' but her own sense of self was in question.
"I bet you never thought you would be able to take on a full grown bear and be walking around the sa day, huh?" Greta giggled.
"That's for sure," August agreed.
"We're still going to have you take it easy today to make sure the healing completes before you run into anymore bears," Greta joked.
"Speaking of which, Sam and Jack are working on luring the mama and cubs out of the basent today, but in case the family decides to make a return, maybe we should co up with an alternative project for the pups tomorrow."
August nodded. "That's probably a good idea. Are there caras for the pups to do photography?"
"Yeah. I got a few of those little caras you had texted about for the ti being. The Holgas?"
"Perfect," August smiled. "Has Finn been able to get ahold of Grae?"
"No. Do you sense that he is any kind of trouble?" Greta replied.
"No. Would I know?" August's eyebrows shot up in surprise. For so reason she imagined that the distance would be a factor in how connected they were.
"It's harder when they're further away," Greta replied. "Instead of being alerted to fluctuations in feelings and physical conditions of your mate when they happen, you have to kind of dial in. It's similar to ditating, I guess."
"Now that you say that, I felt sothing from him last night," she smiled thinking about it. "Like he was…" she thought about the sensation she had, as if he had strumd a chord that connected them, and she felt it vibrate softly in her chest, "…like he was checking in," she smirked and looked down at her shirt to smooth it.
"Good," Greta rubbed her arm reassuringly. "Regardless, Finn left this morning to see if he could get a signal on the other side of the Grimm."
August exhaled deeply in relief, hoping Finn was successful. She didn't want Grae to worry about the bear situation, but she wanted to know for sure that he was okay.. Who knows what job the council had sent him on.
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