~Celine~
~A week later~
“Pass me the salt, Celine,” Betty uttered as she tasted the pottage one more time. I reached for the salt that was near me and passed it to her as soon as I could.
“Thank you.” She responded with a smile, causing me to smile too.
Weird. I know that too. Since the pack meeting where I apologized, it’s been like this. She has become so unproblematic and is even teaching me how to cook. This disturbs me sometimes.
I try to see beyond the lovely act she has on, but I see nothing. At some point, I told myself maybe all I had to do was apologize to her.
We were now at peace in the house. No one looks at the other person with hate stares. This is what I’ve always wanted, but why do I feel there’s more to it?
‘Has Betty really let bygones be bygones?’
“… Celine, I said it’s ready now. Come and have a taste.” Betty’s excited voice crawled into my thoughts, jolting me out.
“Oh! Right.” I moved closer to her, picked up the spoon from the pot, and took some hot pottage in it.
“Careful, it’s hot.” She warned, and I looked at her with a smile and nodded.
“I know. I wasn’t going to put it in my mouth just like that.” I responded, blowing air on the spoon with my mouth.
I finally took it in and when the food was in my mouth, I raised my brows as the taste satisfied my tastebuds to the core.
“Argh!” I groaned in ecstasy. “This is so good,” I mumbled as I chewed.
“You’re not a bad cook after all.” She responded with a smile.
“But you still had to add some salt,” I muttered, putting the spoon back in the pot.
“Yes, but that doesn’t make you a bad cook. I added just a pinch. You did this, and you should be proud.” She added, causing me to smile heartily, which was very rare.
Sometimes when she said good words to me, I forget I’m supposed to keep suspecting her and just let her words sink in.
‘Don’t you dare let your guard down?’ Kiara warned almost immediately.
“We should serve it now,” I uttered, and she bobbed, walking to the zinc to wash her hands. I watched her while she did this.
She moved from the zinc to the large fridge and opened it. She stared at the almost empty fridge and turned to look at me.
“We need to restock before the next meal. We should head to the market after we finish eating.”
Hearing her say this caused my heart to sink to my belly out of fear and the expectation of the worst thing that could happen if I went out alone with her.
It was the first time, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out with her. But if I said no, she’d know I was yet to trust her.
And if she knew that and does have a pure heart now, she’d be very hurt and could start causing problems again. I don’t want that.
“Sure. I’ll eat as fast as I can. It’s evening already.” I responded, and she nodded.
Before we could start dishing out the portions, Kendrick's loud crying reached my ears, causing me to halt.
“Oh! I guess our baby needs your attention.” Betty uttered with a smile.
“Give me a minute. I’ll be back soon, okay??” I answered as I hurried out of the kitchen.
“Don’t worry! I got this covered.” She answered from inside the kitchen.
I hurried down the stairs and met Kilhan petting Kendrick. He saw me and sighed with relief.
“Thank God. I’ve tried all I can to make him stop crying, at this point, I think he hates me.” He uttered tiredly as I took Kendrick from him with a chuckle.
“He doesn’t hate you, Kilhan. He just wants to sleep, okay?” I responded, sitting on the couch. I proceeded to breastfeed him and looked at Kilhan again.
“Betty wants me to go with her to the market. We are low on groceries.” I uttered, and he nodded with a smile.
“That sounds really nice. You two are becoming best friends.” He responded, and I breathed out deeply.
“I don’t know, Kilhan. I don’t know if that is it. I have a feeling that there is more to it, and I can’t shake it off.” I mumbled, shaking my head.
“Celine.” He called softly, moving to the couch I sat on. He squatted in front of me and cupped my face in his hands.
“I know you still find it hard to believe that Betty has changed…”
“People don’t change overnight.” I butted in.
“I know, baby. But it’s been a week and you haven’t seen anything to hold against her. There is peace and happiness in the house. Isn’t this what we’ve always wanted? All our lives, when we are happy, there’s a fear that it will end so quickly but maybe this is different.
“Our enemies are gone, Celine. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Not even Betty?” I asked, and he shook his head.
“Not even Betty. I have always kept Betty in check, I won’t stop doing that now. For now, let go of all the bad thoughts and embrace this peaceful time. You, of all people, deserve that.” He uttered as he planted a kiss on my forehead, causing me to close my eyes.
“Okay,” I uttered in a whisper.
*
After eating, Betty and I headed out for the market. Kilhan wanted to send guards out with us, but we refused. The last thing we wanted was to draw attention to ourselves.
“Take care of Kendrick. Make sure no one wakes him up.” I said to Drex with a smile, and he nodded in obedience.
Walking out of the compound, we hit the street. “Are you trekking?? Or we’re going to take a cab?” I asked, and she smiled.
“Of course, we are going to take a cab. We would have taken a car but driving isn’t on my list today. Is it on yours?” She asked, and I shook my head.
“Not really. A cab will do.”
We waved down a cab and the driver took us to the front of the nearest local market to us. After paying him off, we headed in.
“Let’s get the potatoes first, then the vegetables, milk, and the others.” She said, and I nodded in agreement.
We walked up to the woman selling potatoes and Betty started talking and negotiating with her, while I stood behind her and watched.
I looked around every now and then, praying and hoping I didn’t walk into a trap Betty had prepared for me. It became so worse that I began to think of who would be a mother to Kendrick if something bad happened to me.
‘Definitely not Betty.’ Kiara muttered.
“Thank you.” Betty’s voice jolted me out of my thoughts again. She looked at me and I quickly feigned a smile.
“What next?” I asked.
“Vegetables.” She uttered as we started walking again. “Cabbages, Carrots, Broccoli, Green Peas, On…”
“Argh.” I groaned as my shoulder collided with someone, causing Betty to immediately stop talking.
“Watch where you’re going, okay?” Betty uttered angrily at the man who hit me. His eyes were fixed on mine and I slowly saw anger overwhelm him.
“It’s okay. Let’s go, Betty.” I uttered fearfully, turning to leave when he grabbed my arm aggressively, pulling me back.
“Argh! You’re hurting me!” I cried in terror.
“Not so fast, Gomez!” He groaned with gritted teeth. “You think I’m just going to let you go after what your father did to my brother?” He yelled, raising his hand in the air, and in a twinkle of an eye, a heavy punch landed on my face.
“Let her go!” Betty yelled as she faced the man, throwing a punch at his face too. I saw this while I was on the ground, holding my throbbing cheek. He hit me so hard that I saw blood stain my hand.
“Are you alright?” She hastily reached for me, trying to help me get up.
“Betty, watch out!” I yelled as he charged towards her while she was trying to help me.
“Stay away from this woman!” He shouted, grabbed her by the neck, and just before he could strike again, Betty threw her fist at his face very hard, causing him to release his grip.
“Get behind me right now, Celine!” Betty yelled as I watched her eyes turn blue. Her claws slowly protruded out of her fingers and her veins evidently grew darker.
I had almost forgotten she was a Beta.
“Now, Celine!” She yelled again, and I hastily rushed up to her and hid behind her.
“Call Kilhan, right now.” She ordered again, and I bobbed, reaching for my phone.
This time, the whole market was watching. And this man that picked up a fight seemed to not be alone. There were about seven hefty men with him, ready to fight.
“We should run,” I whispered from behind her.
“I am giving you the last chance to stay out of this, young woman. This is none of your business. Give us the girl, and we can all go home.” The man said to Betty, and she smirked.
“You’d have to kill me first.” She answered with clenched jaws, lowering her upper body as she took position to strike too.
“Betty?” I called in shock.
‘Is she normally this crazy?’ Kiara asked in surprise too.