Chapter 66: Grace
I left the office with Sawyer and headed straight back to my room. I wanted to change into one of my cuter outfits and do something with my hair if I was going to go out into the real world. I knew it didn’t really matter how I looked, but I was the Alpha King’s mate now. I didn’t want to unintentionally embarrass him on my first real outing.
Sawyer patiently waited till I was ready and then we headed down to meet Arlo by the car. The car still scared me a bit, but I wasn’t going anywhere that was a threat to me. Rhys wouldn’t have allowed that, so I tried to breathe as I stepped into it. However, I couldn’t stop myself from bouncing with anxiety and excitement as we neared the city. The only time I could remember going to anything that even resembled a city was when I was probably about 8 when my dad took me for ice cream. It was my only real memory of anything and even it was blurry.
“Are you excited?” Arlo asked as the streets began to get more crowded and the building quintupled in size, forcing me to look up if I wanted to see them in full.
“I don’t know.” I answered nervously. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I shouldn’t have come, but I knew that was just my anxiety talking.
“The city is one of my favorite places,” Arlo told me with a smile as he met my eyes through the rearview mirror. “I grew up not far from here, so I came all the time.”
“Why?” I asked with a frown. There were so many people and so many streets and so many things, I couldn’t really understand why anyone would want to come here.
“It was something to do.” Arlo laughed as we pulled into a parking garage. “The city was big and exciting and as a young pup there was so much to do here and so much to see, and me and my friends found all sorts of trouble in the area.”
I smiled, imagining a younger Arlo running down the streets of the city with his friends. It must have been nice to have a normal life, a normal childhood.
“So why are we here?” I asked.
“Well, the pack needs some supplies,” Sawyer answered, getting out of the car and opening my door for me. “We like to be self-sufficient the best we can, so we own several businesses in the area which we will check in on, and I need some medical stuff that I can only pick up here.”
I nodded feeling immediately overwhelmed. The cars around us were all parked, and if I felt this terrified in a parking garage, then I was not looking forward to how terrifying the street was going to be.
“Just stay close,” Sawyer said as he offered me his arm which I took gratefully. “The city is as safe as a city can be, but it does still have dangers. If you want to leave at any time, just say the word and we’ll go. But if you see anything you want, feel free to grab it. This is Rhys’ card,” He handed me a little black card that I had never seen before. I had never had money before. “It will buy you literally whatever you want, and there is no spending limit.”
“No limit?”
“No limit.” Sawyer smiled. “So, whatever you want to get, it’s yours.”
“That’s sweet, but I can’t spend Rhys’ money.” I argued.
“It’s your money now too,” Sawyer laughed as we made our way to the street.
I nodded, but knew I wasn’t going to spend a dime of his money, especially without him here to know it. It was too much for our brand-new relationship which felt rocky and stable all at once.
“First thoughts?” Arlo asked as we started down the street.
“Busy,” I said immediately, curling myself a little more into Sawyer. “And smells funny.”
“That is the smell of business,” Arlo laughed.
“And fun,” Sawyer added as we turned and entered into one of the big buildings.
But I didn’t see the fun part, and that feeling only intensified as we entered what I assumed to be a mall even though I had never been to one before. I could see entrances to stores lining the hallway for as far as I could see, and people just pushed their way past us without a second thought. I curled my fingers into Sawyer’s shirt. I did not want to get separated from him and Arlo. I would never find my way back.
We entered a store a little ways down the hallway, and I immediately saw a little bit of everything. There were clothes to my left, toys to my right, and anything else I could imagine further down. Arlo grabbed a cart, and with my free hand I held onto it for dear life.
Arlo gave me a reassuring smile, but I felt overwhelmed. Even though the store was slightly less crowded than the corridor, it was still busy. Why would anyone find this fun?
We didn’t really shop in the store though, instead, we went straight to the back and picked up several large packages and loaded them to the cart. We then moved on to the next store and did much of the same thing, though this time, we browsed what was in the store a little more and any time the guys saw my eyes linger on anything, they asked me if I wanted it and I’d have to politely decline.
“You’re not having very much fun, are you?” Arlo asked after a while.
“I’m fine,” I squeaked out.
“Come on, I know a spot,” Arlo said, passing the cart off to Sawyer and taking my arm the way Sawyer had.
I followed him out of the store, and then out of the building. We took a side street to a much less crowded area, and he led me into a beautiful bookstore that was filled top to bottom with books and next to no people. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Go on,” Arlo smiled as he let go of my arm. “Go explore. I’ll be here.”
I nodded and gave him a smile. I knew my reading was limited, but the books were all so beautiful. I hoped to find some books that would help me better my skills. I casually browsed the shelves before finding myself in the non-fiction section. There was a book with a dragon on it, and I wondered if it was about mythical creatures.
I turned to ask Arlo about it, but he was no longer in my line of sight.
“Arlo?” I called out as panic began to set in and I raced among the shelves. No Arlo, no Arlo, no Arlo. I was nearly to the end of the shelves when I began to feel abandoned. Had he trapped me?
I rounded the last corner when I saw him face down on the ground, unmoving, with Kinsley standing over him with the biggest smirk on her face.
“Well, hello, sister,” She smirked, and I couldn’t help but scream.