“Did he like the dress?”
Jenny handed her a cup of tea that was still steaming hot.
Ava thought of their frenzied lovemaking in the woods, the even better sex when they had finally made it up to their room where he had torn the dress of devouring her like she was dessert
Adrian had kept her up almost all night and she felt deliciously sore in all the right places.
Ava smiled sheepishly.
“Yeah. He sort of did. Thank you very much. I might need to commission more of them in the future.”
She took a sip of the tea.
.
“You said you wanted to talk to me about something?”
Jenny hesitated. “It’s about Cynthia… she’s not who she seems to be.”
Cynthia?
“What about her?”
Jenny shifted in her chair.
“Do you really trust that she has changed? I know she seems better and more stable now but you knew her, how she was before. Do you think she has changed completely?”
Ava frowned.
“Of course, Jenny. What sort of question is that? She has been of exemplary behaviour since her return and she saved my life at the expense of her and her child’s. I trust her completely.”
“I don’t think she is all she seems, Ava. She is hiding something from us. Last night, I overheard her talking about how she is in your confidence now and how she has to complete some job.”
Ava’s heart stopped for a minute. Could Jenny be right? Had she been duped?
She recalled how Cynthia had cried about losing Dorian and consequently about Calvin. That amount of emotion couldn’t be faked and the anguish she had scented in the air had been real.
There was only one way to confirm it.
“Did you see who she was talking to about it?”
Jenny faltered. “There was no one there. I think she was on a phone call. I didn’t hear the beginning of the conversation but I heard her talking to a Dorian.”
Ava could breathe again.
“Cynthia was a terrible person, Jenny. She picked on you a lot when we were growing up so I understand and respect your right to be sceptical about her. But I feel your past experience with her is colouring your perception of her.”
“But Ava, are you even listening to me?”
“I am. Dorian is her late mate. We all know how troubled she has been lately since Calvin found his mate. Is it a stretch that she would talk to herself assuming that her late mate could somehow listen in?”
“So she told him that we are buddies now and about a job she has to complete. Adrian and I stopped her from going after his murderers until she has put to bed and can shift again. That is the job she needs to complete. Not some nefarious deed.”
Jenny didn’t seem to wholeheartedly believe her explanation of Cynthia but there was no doubt in Ava’s mind that she had the wrong idea about Cynthia. In fact, she now felt even more sorry for her. Because of Calvin leaving her, her mental health condition was deteriorating.
She would need to talk to her to ensure that she was alright and remove the suspicions that Jenny’s words had planted in her mind, but for now, she took her friend’s hand.
“I understand you, Jenny. For some time now, we have been moving from one problem to the next but that is already in the past. I know for now it seems like the peace won’t last but trust me it will. We’ve worked hard for this. You can stop seeing shadows where there is light. We are safe now.”
Jenny smiled but it seemed a tad forced to Ava but she held onto her hand tight.
“I…If you believe in her then I do as well, Ava.”
******
Gabrielle started her day as usual. She swept, mopped and changed the firewood in the fireplace.
Then she went for the daily pack meeting and went to collect her list of duties for the day.
It was the same as it had been every day since the day she had ended up here. Laundry and bed dressing.
When she had arrived, nothing she thought could have prepared her for what she met.
Laura, the Luna of the pack, with her deep-set eyes and brusque manner had sat her down for a serious conversation the moment they had brought her in.
“Look,” She had said with her soothing voice. “You are an ostracised wolf. We are taking you in as our duty demands. This might be a small pack compared to what you are used to but we are an honest one.”
“You won’t be maltreated here but we want no trouble. All that bad blood with your pack ends now. If you try to escape or harm a member of this pack then you will be executed. If you bring any trouble here as you did for your last pack then you will be executed. I will do it myself.”
She looked like a matronly woman but the look on her face was that of a warrior. She would not hesitate to carry out her threat.
Gabrielle had wanted to protest to tell her that she hadn’t done anything wrong in her pack. That she would never betray a pack of wolves to hunters. Then she remembered what she had done to her sister. Had that been better or worse than betraying her pack to rogues?
So she held her tongue and nodded solemnly.
“You will pull your share of weight around here, there is no free food for anyone. You will attend the pack meeting and prayers. Hopefully, the goddess will have mercy on you and your pack will take you back soon.”
Gabrielle thought about her sister, the Luna who she had framed and her ex-fiance, Adrian, who couldn’t tolerate her. Yeah. She didn’t think that her return was possible any time soon.
Since then, she kept her head low and did her duties, the monotony of the routine made it easy not to think at all and when she was done, she just passed out cold in exhaustion just to repeat it the next day and the day after that. You get the drift.
At this point, she would have killed for a disturbance, a problem instead of this day-in, day-out dreary existence.
Instead, she went to load the washing machine, sorting out the clothes that would be washed first, the ones that needed mending, and the ones that needed to be thrown out due to irreparable tears.
It took her till almost noon to take care of all the laundry. By the time she began dressing the beds, she was bone weary and it was time for lunch. She decided to power through so that by the time lunch was done, only the guest rooms would be left and she wouldn’t have to excuse herself around anyone.
Laura had announced at the pack meeting that they would be expecting some guests at the pack house in the coming days so she couldn’t skip the guest rooms today.
Dragging herself up the staircase, she made it to the set of rooms.
She wondered how her parents were doing. How Alex and his mate were acclimating to each other.
She had a sudden urge to talk to her family. It was forbidden of course but she had access to all the rooms for dressing their beds. She could manage it.
The only problem was that she was scared. Scared that they wouldn’t want to speak with her after all she had done. Ava hadn’t been wrong to frame her. It was what she deserved.
She was working in the third room when it happened.
Gabby stopped mid-way making the bed as the most tantalizing scent hit her nostrils.
The bedsheet fell from her hands, forgotten as she straightened up walking towards the door as though in a haze.
The door opened when she was halfway across the room when a man stepped in with a bag of luggage in his hands.
He was tall and filled out the doorway, his blond hair was close-cropped to his head and his hazel eyes looked like molten gold. He looked equally shocked to see her.
Her legs carried her forward towards him as disbelief hit her. He didn’t move as she closed the distance between them, her hand going to his chest feeling his heart beating beneath her fingertips.
She tipped her head back to look at him.
“Mate.”
A tear dropped from her eyes and his hand wiped it from her cheek.
“Mate.” He agreed.
For the first time since she had been thrown out of her pack, it felt like she had come home.