When I returned to the Pack, I started thinking of an alternative way I could help Jaris. There was no way I was touching his.. man organ to treat him.
1 made some research and drove out to Botanical Bliss to get some herbs I hoped would suffice.
**********
MARTA
She waited in the corner of the garden, looking around and wondering where the hell he was. What was he taking him so long?
She kept glancing at her watch. She had a surgery in less than an hour. She needed to leave.
Finally, he did come, walking casually like he didn’t just keep her waiting for thirty minutes.
“Marta, Alpha Zarek called as he took his seat. “I must say I am quite surprised you asked me here.”
“You kept me waiting. That is not so gentle of you.” She tried and failed to hide the irritation in her voice.
“Well, I never said I was gentle. But I apologize.” He reached for the glass of wine on her table, taking a sip. “You said you could help me. What did you mean?”
Marta glanced around. There were the only ones in the garden. It was completely safe. “I heard you’re on a little bet with Alpha Jaris.”
Zarek rose his brow in surprise. “How did you know this?”
“My father was at the meeting. He overheard you two talking at the wine counter.”
Zarek appeared thoughtful for a moment before he leaned back in his seat. “So…. how do you think you can help?”
“Well… what if I said I could you help you be the winner?”
“Hold on, Zarek chuckled. “I know who your grandmother is, Marta. She’s the great Priestess. So, I know you’re in possession of some really strong potions and knowledge. But if there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I like playing fair. And I’d like to win this fairly.”
Marta rolled her eyes. “I never said you weren’t going to play fair. I was only offering some assistance. I could make the process of winning… faster.”
Now, Zarek was intrigued. “So, what do you have for me?”
LYRIC
After long hours of research, I managed to come up with something I could substitute for Jaris. Although, there was no quarantee it would work, I was hoping it would.
It was evening when I finished making the tea and proceeded to his office to give it to him. It was insane that he was always working even when he was in the Pack. It made me wonder if he had any resting time at all.
I knocked repeatedly on the door of his office but got no response. Looked like he wasn’t in. But I’d already told him I’d be bringing the tea later on. So, maybe I could just go in and leave this for him.
I went into the office and carefully placed the tea on the very messy-looking table. I wondered what he was always researching on that made his table always look like a warzone.
Well, I do hope that this tea gets to work a little. It’d save me a lot of embarrassment.
I was about turning away to leave when something else on the table caught my attention. It was a photo, turned upside down.
I had no business checking it out. I had no business wanting to know who it was. Yet, there was a stubborn pull between myself and the photo.
I chomped down on my lower lip and quickly, picked it up. Breath alipperr away from my lungs in that moment.
I gasped, wondering if my eyes were deceiving me. What in Hades!?
It was me. My old self; clearly from a CCTV footage.
My head swam with the information. It was from that day I’d been leaving his hotel. What was it doing here? Why did Jaris have it with him?
*****
The new discovery gave me sleepless night and I kept wondering; should I tell Jaris the truth? That I was the same girl from the hotel? What difference would it make? He abandoned me. Wasn’t it obvious he wanted nothing to do with me?
But why would he have my old picture with him? It didn’t make any sense.
By morning, I was super nervous when he summoned me to his office. I wasn’t sure I could see him right now, but I didn’t have a choice.
I went in and found him talking with Kael and Nerion while busily arranging some files. I stood by the door and waited for some minutes until he finished with the two men and asked them to leave.
“Good morning.” My head was dipped, my eyes on the floor.
“Lyric.” His tone was abrupt. “I got the tea last night. But I didn’t feel a thing when I took it. None of the reactions you said I’ d get actually happened.”
I bit my lip, still avoiding his gaze. “I um… I’m sorry. I thought it’d-“
“Are you sure it was your best you gave?” He asked me with those accessing eyes.
Uh… nope. Not even close to my best. It was just a random remedy that I was hoping would work.
“I’ll come up with something else,” I muttered.
There was a prolonged silence. It became uncomfortable I had to look up at him. And there he was, watching me.
“What’re you hiding from me?” He asked suspiciously. “It seems you know something else that can help but don’t want to share.”
I was tongue-tied. He finally suspected.
“Lyric Harper. Tell me the truth. You know I hate disobedience.”
Ugh. But if I did, he’d want me to carry out the process on him!
Fine. I was fucked. I didn’t have a choice.
~
I was interrupted by his phone ringing. He rece
“How did this happen? Yes, I’ll be there soon.” He grabbed his jacket.
Oh, thank goodness.
I watched with relief as he started toward the door. Well, if it wasn’t the most relieving moment of my life.
He ended the call and glanced at me. “We’ll finish this when I get back.” Then, he was out the door.
At least, we had hours until evening. It was enough time to prepare myself for what was to come.
Later in the day, when the kids got back from school, I made Xylon some of his tea and performed a therapy on him. By the time I finished, he was deep asleep on my thighs.
I smiled as I stared into his sleeping face. Xyla was busy, playing with her tab nearby and paid no attention to us.
Oh, cute things. As much as I loved them, my heart ached each time I saw them, because they reminded me of the ones I’d lost.
My own babies.
If only they were alive, they’d have been around the same age as Xylon and Xyla. I was sure they’d have been pretty too.
“Aunty, are you okay?” Xyla asked. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized I’d been crying.
“I’m fine,” I smiled, sniffed and wiped the lone tear.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.