32. Raine
32
Raine
“Okay, so I got you these.” A few sets of clothes are tossed onto my bed, followed by a pair of practically new shoes. “And these. Oh, and I didn’t know what kind of scents you liked, so I just got you the variety pack.”
Rose tosses a large gift-sized pack of body oils onto the bed on top of the clothes and then digs around in her bag to produce more stuff. Honestly, when she offered to give me some of her things, I’d been expecting some ratty clothes she no longer had use for.
But even just looking at that fabric without touching it, I can tell that this is all high quality and expensive.
“You didn’t have to do all of this,” I tell her, rubbing one of the t-shirts between my fingers to marvel at the softness of it.
“Oh please. What are you going to wear? That curtain they sent you in?” She scoffs. “No offense, but we can’t have you walking around the pack like that.”
That curtain… honestly, it’s not that far from what it is. I wouldn’t be surprised if Daniel had ordered one of his maids to grab an unused bedsheet and throw some stitches in it to give it some kind of form before dressing me in it and presenting me to my new alpha.
It’s not a bad material per se , but it’s definitely quite sheer. And scratchy.
“Besides.” Rose grabs the bottom of her duffle and upends it, dumping the rest of the contents out onto the bed. “Don’t you want to be in something comfortable with the baby?”
My hand instinctively hovers over my stomach.
With Nyx not giving me anything to go off of when he told me we’d talk about it later, it had me feeling both relieved and worried. Sure, it pushed off the inevitable events to sometime in the future that I don’t have to think about quite yet, but it also isn’t giving me the proper time to prepare myself.
Rose turns to me while she zips up her bag, watching me for a minute. “He talk to you at all about it yet?”
I shake my head. “Just told me ‘later.’”
She sighs. “That man…I swear.”
“What does he mean? Is he…when do you think he’ll want to do it?”
Her brows knit together. “Do what? Talk to you?”
“And bring me to the healer. I assume that’s where it’s going to happen.”
“What is?”
Am I speaking in riddles? I think it’s pretty obvious what I mean. Even to someone like Rose who seems younger than me, she can’t be that na?ve to not know the ways a pregnancy can be terminated. We have all sorts of herbs and medicines to do so.
And even if we didn’t, I’m sure we could go into the human town and get something. Our DNA isn’t that different from humans’.
“To terminate the pregnancy, Rose.”
The surprise on her face is not what I was expecting to see. “Is that what he told you?”
“How else is he going to get his heir?” I ask.
Her mouth falls open but nothing comes out, just a soft exhale that deflates her shoulders while she continues to stare at me in bewilderment.
I really don’t think I’m being that obtuse about this. Sure, maybe I could stand to be a little more polite in my wording, but this subject hurts to even think about. However I want to describe it shouldn’t be a damn crime.
Especially when I don’t want it to happen but will inevitably be forced into doing it.
“Huh” is all she finally says.
“What?”
She’s making me nervous with her reaction.
“It’s just…I’m surprised he hasn’t told you.”
“Told me what?”
Rose sighs and rubs the back of her neck, looking away from me. “It’s not really my place. Actually, it’s no one’s place but his to say anything. No one really knows. Well, besides Wren and me. And Eris now too, I guess. But anyway, you should wait for him to talk to you. Nyx, I mean.”
What the fuck?
I feel like I’m in the middle of one of those dreams where you wander around aimlessly searching for the door to get out, only to find that it’s miles and miles down a long hallway with no hope of ever reaching it, no matter how hard or fast you run.
Obviously I need to talk to Nyx, but what hell does she mean “no one knows?”
Oh.
They must be keeping it a secret that I’m pregnant and not ready for him.
My teeth gnaw at my bottom lip.
I’m still early on in my pregnancy, when my hormones aren’t that obvious yet, not enough to smell on me unless you’re standing really close. Outside of Wren, Rose, and Eris, the rest of the pack must be getting kept in the dark.
Which I suppose makes sense. It wouldn’t make sense to go around advertising that the breeder you bought has already been tainted.
The thought makes me wince.
Yeah, tainted by my own damn fated mate.
“Look.” Rose grabs me by the shoulders. “Just wait to talk to him. Stop worrying about it for now and just get yourself settled in. I’m sure my brother will kick him into bringing it up again in a few days if he doesn’t before then. So don’t worry.” She smiles at me.
I wish I could return the gesture, but all I feel is my anxiety making my hands sweat.
A few days to prepare myself for Nyx inevitably taking me to the clinic to abort my baby, the future heir to the North’s king.
Even thinking about it makes me want to cry.
Rose pulls away from me, giving me space to breathe again. “You probably don’t want to come down to dinner, but I figured I’d give you the invitation anyway. It’s at six, so come down if you’re feeling up for socializing. It’s usually just me, Wren, and Nyx.”
“Do you stay here too, Rose?”
She shrugs. “Sometimes, if I feel like it. But if you want me to, I’ll take over my old room.” She grins.
“You don’t have to.”
That has her rolling her eyes. “Will you stop with that? Ugh, yes or no. You want a sleepover or what?”
Honestly, I’d love the company.
Even though I should take up her, and Nyx’s, advice in getting myself acclimated, the thought of spending the night alone with my own thoughts sounds like pure torture. Even if I can only have company for the first night that I’m here, I’ll take it.
“Yeah, I’d love to.” I smile. “Maybe we can go through your clothes and see what fits me?”
Her eyes light up. “Oh, like a fashion show. I love your brain. Okay, I’ll bring dinner up for us. Wren’s going to be annoyed but whatever. He can get over it.”
“He doesn’t like having dinner with his pack alpha?”
“Well, it’s more like it’s been a tradition for the three of us to have dinner together since the dawn of time. He’s a stickler for rules, like I was telling you back in Northwood. But you know what? He’ll manage one night. It won’t kill him.”
My smile widens. “As long as you don’t wake up to find your brother dead on the floor tomorrow morning.”
She laughs. “Good one. Okay, I’ll be back around six-thirty. Can you survive until then?”
“I’ll try. No promises.”
“Try the tub while you’re hanging out,” she says while walking to the door with her empty bag slung over her shoulder. “It’s nice and deep so you can completely soak and relax. I think there are candles in the linen closet too.”
Actually, that sounds pretty nice.
I’ve never had a luxury bath before. Delilah was always telling me about hers whenever she got stressed out, and I’d always had to hold back my jealousy. Since I’m here, I might as well take advantage while I can.
“Thanks, Rose.”
She winks at me before leaving. “No problem.”