Chapter 8 - Aubrey
I sat at the island, still irritated about the drive home. But I wasn’t going to let Klaus’s grumpiness get in the way of finding out the answer and getting my freedom. He might want to drag his feet, but I didn’t. I wanted answers, and I wasn’t going to wait.
I finished my breakfast and set the plate into the sink.
I glanced at the time, knowing I had a little time before Julia was going to be here.
Klaus had asked her last night if she would be willing to drive me, and she hadn’t seemed exactly thrilled about the idea of being in another pack for several hours.
I glanced down at the address Elize had given me for the healing center where she worked.
She’d expressed that I could show up whenever, and they would be more than willing to help.
A little part of me was eager. I felt like I belonged with them, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt like that.
I heard my phone buzz and glanced down to see it was a message from Julia. She’s just pulled in.
I slipped my shoes on and headed out. I hopped into Julia’s car and offered a smile. “Morning, Julia. Thank you for doing this.”
She nodded, holding a casual expression. “Of course. It’s part of my job.”
Julia was never rude to me, but she hadn’t been exactly friendly either. It was clear there was a line in the sand, and I was just part of her job at this point. Another task she had to handle.
“This is the address of the healing center.” I handed her the paper, and she glanced at it. She gave me a nod before she pulled the car out.
It wasn’t hard to figure out why Julia worked for Klaus. They both liked quiet, and they were both reserved. I drummed my fingers on my lap, trying to think of something to say.
I wet my lips. “So, how have you been?”
“I’m fine,” she said, her eyes focused on the road. She drove like I wasn’t in the car.
I nodded. “We have nice weather.”
She nodded. “We do.”
I chewed on my cheek. I glanced out the window and sighed. “Have you always grown up here?”
“Yes.”
“And Klaus? Has he always lived here as well?”
“Yep.”
I glanced down at my phone, wishing I had someone to talk to. Klaus bought it for me the day after I arrived and popped in a few numbers. I had no one to text, no one to call when I felt alone. I found myself wishing I’d asked for Eliza’s number.
“Is it true you’re a sex worker?”
My head popped up, and my eyes widened. “What?”
She held a cool expression, her eyes still holding no emotion. Her voice remained the same, like she wasn’t asking an insulting question. “Word is going around the pack that you’re a sex worker.”
My jaw dropped. “God no! Where did that even come from?”
She shrugged. “Word is that Klaus purchased you at an auction, and he paid twenty thousand dollars for you. Logically…”
I cut her off. “I’m not a sex worker. I’m not a whore. I’m not a prostitute.”
She glanced at me, and I could see something shifting in her eyes. It was disgust mixed with contempt. “I saw his bank statement. Twenty thousand went out the same day you arrived.”
Anger hit me hard. Here I was trying to be nice, and she was speaking to me with no regard for whether she was insulting me. “I was brought there without any knowledge of why I was there, Julia. And you of all people should be on my side.”
Her lips pressed together. “I’m looking out for the best interest of Klaus. This has nothing to do with you.”
I felt like I’d just been slapped. I didn’t even know what to say.
She shrugged like she hadn’t just affronted me. “Klaus is our Alpha, and I want to make sure that his image isn’t being destroyed. So, if it were true that you were…”
“I’m not,” I snarled now. “And you’re a bitch.”
Her eyes widened, and she glanced at me, a little shocked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. I understand that you’re being protective of Klaus, but I’ve done nothing to deserve this cold, emotionless person who is supposed to be helping me.
How would you feel if you were thrown into a place you didn’t know, and someone was acting this way?
I have no one, and you are being heartless. ”
Her lips pulled in. “I wouldn’t have been in the position you allowed yourself to get into to begin with.”
I couldn’t help but think about all the events that led me here. Mike, whom I had thought would be the man I was going to marry. The flowers at my doorstep, and the romantic dinners. If there were signs, I hadn’t seen them. Or maybe he was just that good at covering them up.
“You must really want to fuck my husband.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“It’s the only logical reason you’re acting this way. You have a thing for him? I would understand, considering…”
Her face went red. “That’s ridiculous! Klaus is my boss and my Alpha. I do not have a thing for him.”
“Then why are you so damn protective? Why are you asking me these questions without even showing a little remorse about it?”
“You know what, let’s just be silent the rest of the drive.”
I looked outside the window. “Fine. Would hate to thaw out your ice heart.”
The drive was silent until we got to Troy’s pack. Julia drove me to the healing center. It was a nice building that looked like it had been built not too long ago. I opened my car door, not bothering to even glance at Julia as I got out.
I headed inside and found Elize sitting at the front desk, flipping through some books. Her eyes were focused, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Hey, Elize.”
Her head snapped up, and she beamed. “Aubrey! I didn’t know you were going to be coming in today.”
“Well, I figured, why not. I thought I would take you up on that proposition you offered.”
“Of course! Just let me find what I’m looking for, and we can go chat with Victoria.”
I turned, looking around the space. The area was warm, and the room was flooded with light from the windows. There were beds lining the wall, but most of them were empty. It was quiet but not silent. I could hear someone laughing down the hall.
I looked back at Elize. “What are you looking for?”
“Just a spell that someone was asking about.” She ran her fingers down a page. “And there it is.”
She pulled her eyes up. “Alright, let’s go see Victoria.”
We headed down a hallway and into a small room that was set up like an office.
There were two desks facing different walls and a round table in the middle of the room.
Books were piling up on the table and all over the floor.
There was paper everywhere, and the room smelled like ink mixed with something I couldn’t put my finger on.
“Victoria.” Elize chirped as we stepped inside. An older woman who was sitting at one of the desks turned. She had white hair and a sweet face. “I have Aubrey with me. She’s here to see if we can unlock her magic.”
Victoria gave me a big grin. “Of course! It’s lovely to meet you, Aubrey.”
“You guys have a lot of books in here.”
They both nodded. “We recently unloaded all of the books from our old healing center. We haven’t gotten to an agreement on how we want to catalog them. I want to go by Alphabet, but Elize wants to go by Genre.”
“It would be easier when we are in a hurry.”
“Yes, it would be easier when we are in a hurry to go by alphabet.”
“Alright, we aren’t going to argue about this right now,” Elize added. “Do you have time to help with this?”
“Of course. Take her to room four so we can have some privacy. “
Elize and I continued down a hallway until we pushed open a door. It was a simple room with a smaller table and a couple of chairs. There were stacks of papers and test tubes next to them. The room smelled of disinfection.
I sat down, and Elize moved around with a skip in her step. “Alright. We are going to try a few spells first. Hopefully, we can get something to come out.”
I nodded. “Is it going to hurt?”
Elize shook her head. “No, but you might feel some tingling. Everyone is a little different.”
Victoria joined us a few minutes later, popping a book onto the table. “Alright, let’s begin.”
After a couple of hours of nothing happening, we decided to call it a day.
I still had a drive home, and they had patients they needed to help.
The car ride back with Julia was awkward, but I at least had Eliza’s number now so I could text her.
I didn’t think I could stomach being stuck with Julia in a car another day, so Elize and Victoria agreed to come down every other time until we could finally come to a conclusion.
They said it would take a few different tactics since their first idea hadn’t worked.
Over the course of a couple of weeks, we worked.
Victoria tried using spells to pull my magic out, which showed nothing.
Elize was looking in every book they owned to see if there was some way to unlock someone’s magic.
Victoria even suggested looking through my body to see if she could pinpoint where the magic was.
I found myself growing physically and mentally exhausted every time they were there.
I was trying to pull it out and focus. Even when they weren’t around, I was trying to see what I could learn.
We went into the woods because we hoped being in nature would help, but it hadn’t.
We spent some time in the library trying to see if our pack had any books they didn’t.
We were outside in the backyard today, and Victoria grew a circle. “Alright, this is my last attempt. We are going to place you in a bubble, and Elize and I will use our magic to search you. It should be able to detect it.
I nodded, feeling like I’d been pulled every which way. I was starting to lose hope that this would work.
“Shoot, I forgot the book in the car.”
“I can grab it,” Elize said.
Victoria shook her head. “No, I have it. You two stay here.”
Victoria rounded the house, and Elize softly smiled. She turned to me. “We will get there.”
I sighed. “I feel like a lump of clay that won’t form.”
Elize snorted and nodded her head. “Oh, trust me. I understand the feeling. I thought I was going insane until it all clicked.”