A loud knocking sounded at my door the following morning, instantly waking me up.
It was dark, maybe dim morning light, but definitely earlier than I had expected to be disturbed that day. It was so early that I knew even Lucy wouldn’t have arrived yet.
Despite my best efforts, my brain had refused to quieten down after I’d gone to sleep the night before. Figuring out a possible theory to do with Thea had awakened a new spark within me, one which had prevented me from settling my mind down. As a result, I felt exhausted from the little rest I had managed to get.
I pulled myself out of bed sluggishly and made my way to the door, opening it to see a dishevelled looking Aleric on my doorstep. It appeared that early mornings still disagreed with him even after all this time.
“...Aleric? Why are you here so early?” I yawned, too tired to conduct the required formalities.
“So you just open the door for anyone without checkin
“If we can request a forty per cent decrease to our alliance tax for just the next five years, I believe that this amount alone would allow us to grow exponentially,” the Alpha from the Red Star pack said. “You’d easily see the missed returns back in full from the tax break, though I think easily more than full, once our annual revenue grew further. Currently, we have several plans in place for expanding our business interests, but we’re just short of the funds required to implement.” Aleric took a moment to consider before finally replying. “I’m happy to allow that,” he said, “but I would expect an increase of trade goods to come through the Winter Mist during that period of discount, something that would assist with both of our economies. In addition to that, I will also add the condition where, should you fail to increase your total gross income after ten years, the Winter Mist will reserve the right to claim the amount in missed taxes during the initial five year
The rest of the meeting went without further incident and soon everyone disbanded from the meeting hall to congregate outside. It was sunset by this point and I could feel everyone’s exhaustion around me as they waited for their sleeping arrangements to be made available for the night. Aleric and I stood to the side, avoiding further interaction after the events that had occurred. Not that I imagined anyone would be upset by that. If anything, they would be grateful for our distance, not wanting to find themselves as the next subject of our focus for too long. But there was one individual I had a feeling wouldn’t pick up on that obvious social cue. An individual who had just left the building, their eyes beginning to scan the area around them. Without hesitating, I quickly pushed Aleric around the corner of the meeting hall building to hide ourselves from none other than Alpha Fredrick. Only he would be brazen enough to not let sleeping dogs lie. Or i
'Reach for it…' 'Stretch...' I dug deep within myself, searching where I had felt that familiar energy first stem from. Before it used to always feel like it was just out of arm's length, as if only the tip of my fingernail could graze it, but now it felt as though I needed several more appendages just to get anywhere near it. But it was there. I had to believe that it hadn’t just been my imagination. 'Stretch just a little further…' But then I exhaled quickly in release, panting from the strain it had caused to my body. I’d been sitting on my bed practising ever since arriving back at my guest lodgings. However, since starting over an hour ago, there had been little to show in progress. I knew there had to be a trick to this, some sort of internal cue to summon it. Elder Luke had mentioned that this energy was something that could be trained but I was now trying to accomplish it with a sever
…. With a sudden lurch inside my chest, my eyes flew open. I was gasping heavily, trying to compensate for the suffocation that had afflicted me only moments earlier. … Except I wasn’t mounted on the glass shard anymore.... I was in my bed. My hands frantically grabbed at my body, inspecting for any sign of damage… but there wasn’t any. So it wasn’t real? But I had felt it. It couldn’t be a dream. I know it wasn’t a dream. But it ended up easier than expected to figure out exactly what had happened. The nausea hit me first, forcing me to throw myself over the side of the bed and empty out the contents of my stomach. Then the ringing in my ears followed… then, finally, the bloody nose. ...It was a vision. Easily the longest one I’d ever had; the realest one I’d ever had. Somehow it had been strong enough to show itself even with my collar, now punishing me with the worst side effects I’d ever had to date.
I awoke the next day sometime in the mid-afternoon. Not that it was very surprising given the events that had occurred the night before. Confusion was my initial reaction, finding myself in a strange bed, before my mind finally caught up. It still all seemed so crazy that, had it not been for the aching in my body, perhaps I would have thought the entire thing was just a nightmare. Or maybe I could have at least pretended it was. I changed into some clothes that were left for me and made my way into the living room, my movements all still incredibly stiff… only I found the quarters to be completely empty. I knew it was unreasonable to expect Aleric to be here but a part of me was still on edge from almost being kidnapped. Had he left to speak to Tytus in my stead? A knocking then came from the front door, making me jump, and I approached it warily. “Yes?” I called out. Without any warning, the door then swung open to reveal Alexander behind it
“...What’s her name?” I found myself asking politely, though I didn’t really feel present.Truthfully, I didn’t feel much of anything. My body had gone completely numb, falling into autopilot responses as I struggled to come to terms with what Cai had just told me.He found his mate.But he was only nineteen. He shouldn’t have found her so soon.‘Caius knight dies at the age of twenty-one with no Luna, mate or child’. That was the future for Cai I had known. Yet somehow this timeline had changed enough that he had met her earlier. It was a cruel slap in the face as reality reminded me, once more, that it would refuse to ever let me be happy. Even for just the few years I thought I might have had with him.“Caitlyn,” he replied awkwardly. “She seems… nice. Sweet.”‘Nice’? Really? That was the best he could say about the woman
“...What the fuck are you doing back here?” Aleric asked. He stood in my doorway, arms crossed, staring at me like I was insane. But I didn’t care. My mind was made up. There was no way I was going to have this conversation tonight. “No,” I answered flatly. “‘No’?” “No, I’m not doing this now,” I clarified. “I’m too tired. We can talk later.” I rolled onto my side, facing away from him, and pulled the blanket up over my shoulder. Maybe if I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, he would just leave on his own accord. “Aria, you need to tell me what’s going on,” he pressed. “Joseph told me you came back over the border and I thought he was joking until I caught your scent by the stairs. Did something happen? Were you caught?” “No,” I mumbled, repeating myself once more. “Stop that. Regardless of how tired you are, this is more important. I need to know if something went wrong.” I groaned out in frustratio
'Was last night real?' I asked myself, staring up at the ceiling in bed. So many things had happened, so many truths had finally come out. ...And I felt… lighter. I’d woken up after deep sleep, unsure how long had passed, but my body had been grateful for the uninterrupted rest. Though a part of me was angry at myself for taking the risk of their reaction, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t happy with the outcome. Or I at least meant that in Aleric’s case. Cai… well, I had to believe that what I did was for the best. The fact that I wasn’t locked away in a hospital right now pending a psych evaluation meant that Aleric had actually believed me. It was something I’d been worried about the entire time I’d been back. I knew how insane it sounded when being told the first time. Some days even I still couldn’t believe it. I slowly got out of bed, my body still aching in several places, and got changed into some clothes. T