Chapter 93
I walk inside the shop, taking in everything inside it. Nothing has changed in the past three years since I’ve been away. The walls are still the same warm yellow color they were, although it seems a fresh coat has been added. The chairs and the
tables are still the same.
I walk further in. I’ve come here to forget my worries for the time being, just like I did since I was about twelve years old. The only difference this time is that I have my wolf and I can actually smell the different flavors of ice cream.
“Sadie, is that you?” a low–pitched, feeble, and scratchy voice asks, making me lift my head.
I smile, seeing a familiar old face. “Hi, Mrs. Walter.”
She wobbles over to me before pulling me into her arms in a warm hug. I wrap my hands around her, hugging her back,
feeling myself relaxing as her warmth surrounds me.
“Where have you been, dear? You disappeared without a word or a trace. I’ve been so worried about you.” The concern in her voice holds my heart in a tight grip.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you. I got a scholarship to study abroad. I didn’t expect it, and it was so sudden that I didn’t have time to come and say goodbye. I didn’t have your contacts, so I couldn’t even call you and let you know I was
fine.” The lie spills out of me so easily that it shocks.
I was never one to lie. Mostly because I could never keep a straight face. Over the years, I have learned to. I needed to
know how to if I wanted to survive. We weren’t locked up in our pack, and once in a while when we did go out, one or two people would recognize me. I had to learn to lie and be really convincing, because if I couldn’t, it meant that I had to kill the person that recognized me. Unlike the first hybrid that I killed, the others were innocent. I couldn’t kill them because they recognized me, and I couldn’t let word get back to Alec that someone had seen me.
“I didn’t know you planned to go to college,” Mrs. Walter mutters, her brows drawn in confusion. “If I remember correctly, you told me you were waiting for that boy you had a crush on to reciprocate your love so you could get married and settle
down.”
I groan. This is the third person to mention Alec today. Why is it always like that? The more you try to avoid someone, the more their names keep popping up everywhere.
“I know, but I gave up when he got himself a girlfriend,” I answer truthfully.
“That’s so sad; you were madly in love with him. How could he not see how pure your love was? Men are such blind fools. My husband was the same too.”
She told me about her husband on one of my visits here. They had an arranged marriage, and at first Mr. Walter treated her horribly because she wasn’t the woman he wanted to marry. Even though he hated her guts, Mrs. Walter couldn’t help but fall in love with him. Well, that is until he hired the love of his life as his secretary and started spending more time at the
office.
He rarely came home, and when he did, he was cold to her. It went on like that for months, and the other woman started taunting her and causing havoc in her marriage. Mr. Walter always took the woman’s side instead of his wife’s. His affection and care for the other woman broke her. Shattered her in ways she never thought she’d be whole again.
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Chapter 92
I couldn’t help it. I give him a small smile before taking the keys from his hands and standing up. “Thank you, Micah. I promise to return it in perfect shape.”
He waves his hand dismissively. “Even if you crush it, don’t stress. It’s just an object.”
After waving him goodbye, I head to the garage. Pressing the unlock button on the key, a black Jeep beeps, its lights. flashing while its side mirrors unfold. I walk towards it, open the door and get in.
1 buckle up and turn the ignition. Before pulling away, I mind–link Martha.
I’m going out,” I inform her, just in case she comes looking for me.
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“You are not taking Aspen with you?” there is surprise in her voice. Probably because I don’t normally leave Aspen behind when I am going somewhere.
“Yes. I just need some alone time,” I reply, while slowly pulling out of the garage. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“I understand. I’ll keep her busy until you come back. Take care.”
Martha behaved like a mother to us. The way she worried about us left a certain warmth encasing my heart.
Despite all that happened three years ago, I found people who were able to drive out some of the darkness that almost
consumed me.
“I will,” I finally reply, shaking myself from those thoughts.
Once I get out of the garage and cut off the mind–link, I peel out of the parking lot. Heading for the small city that boarded
our pack.
When I get to the entrance gates, one look at me, and the guard there opens the gate without a question.
Humans that lived around us never questioned our settlement. They always thought that it was an exclusive community
for the rich. A community where families were accepted only after a thorough background check. They also thought that we were snobs and didn’t like interacting with others, only preferring those within our community.
Like I said, I didn’t want to think about anything or anyone, so I drive with absolutely no thought in my head, I am an overthinker, so I put all my energy into blocking out my thoughts. I usually overthink things, which usually leads to stressing about them and then finally gives way to a minor depression.
I put some calming music on and sing along to it until I get to the city. It’s around forty minutes‘ drive. I head straight to one of my favorite ice cream shops. It’s one of the places I would go to when I was stressed. I truly believed that getting a brain freeze from eating ice cream relieves stress and cures migraines.
I park Micah’s car and turn off the ignition. After taking a deep breath, I get out of the Jeep before locking it. I walk towards the shop and enter, the bell above ringing to announce my arrival.
Once inside, something inside me calms. This place feels like home. I’ve probably spent more time here than I’d like to admit, and every time I did end up here, it was because of Alec.
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