I wake in the morning with a start.
“Ingrid”, I shriek.
“What” Kyle shouts as he runs out of the wardrobe, still in his boxers. he scans the room protectively, but when he sees no one there, he relaxes.
“What the h.ell Faith. You scared me half to death.” He stares at me in utter disbelief.
“I'm so sorry, I was having the weirdest dream, but then I woke up so suddenly, and I was all dazed, and then I remembered that Ingrids coming today and it just sort of slipped out,” I explain, feeling a little embarrassed.
“Slipped out? Babe, you shouted.” He cocks an eyebrow and smirks. But the look on my face must have told him that I wasn’t really up for teasing right now. I feel like so much of our future rested on today and whether or not Ingrid agreed to help us. Not just because of the possibility of my future pups, but more than anything, I wanted Kyle to truly let Eloise and all the pain she caused him go. He told me he could feel the weight of the curse on his heart. How could he forget about her completely when he could still feel her. “Try not to stress, baby. Let’s just take this one step at a time, hey.” He tries sympathetically. “Step one, go get dressed.” He ushers me towards the walk in. It helps me settle the storm in my heart to see Kyle remaining a cool head right now. If he wasn’t panicking, then maybe I shouldn’t be.
“How do you feel?” I ask him regardless.
“Look, I’ll be honest. I’m feeling pretty anxious. It does worry me that Ingrid won’t be able to help us. Or that she just doesn’t want to. I don’t want to turn to dark witches. You just never know what they're capable of. They can’t be trusted. But I have worried about this for months now. I’ve taken all the steps that I can, and now it’s up to Ingrid, even if she can’t do anything. I promise I will never give up.” His hand caresses my cheek lovingly, and I stare into his green eyes. There were so many words left unsaid between us, but I could understand them all through the connection that we shared.
“We’re in this together,” I assure him as I turn to kiss his palm. He drops his hand and spanks my bum as I turn away.
What do you wear when you are off to meet a green witch who is supposed to be gifted and powerful but also the enemies mother. Was she the enemies mother, or was she my mate's ex girlfriends mother? Maybe she was both. I don’t know. Still, I wanted to look impressive, dignified even. I haven’t the faintest clue what Eloise actually looked like, Kyle had tried to describe her to me, but it was largely up to my own imagination as he hadn’t kept any photos of her. Looks aren’t everything, I know this, but I didn’t want to give Ingrid any reason to judge me or frown at me like Eloise was the better choice.
“Are you alright, baby? You have been in here a while, and your breakfast has gone cold?.” Kyle hovers at the door while I shift through the limited outfits I have here. I hadn’t the heart to go back to Amy’s yet to collect the rest of my things. I am afraid of seeing all the damage Declan left, although Kyle promises he’s had it cleaned. When I still refused to return, he offered to have someone else retrieve my stuff for me, but I wanted to do it myself when I was ready. I didn’t want to hide from it forever.
“Yeah, sorry, I’m just having a dilemma” I shrug.
“Can I help you solve it?” Kyle offers.
I look over at my buff mate. He’s wearing another button down with the top to open, flashing a little chest. I was tempted to lick the exposed skin, but now wasn’t the time, and I didn’t want to start something that we couldn’t finish right now. His shirt, as usual, was tucked into the top of his pants, all haltered in place by his thin shiny leather belt. His hair was gelled to look messy but purposefully so, and the back and sides were neat.
“I’m just undecided. What should I wear.” I flip through my outfits.
“I had a feeling you’d stress about this. Here I had one of the omegas pick you up something.” He walks out only to return moments later with a hot pink paper bag with thin white handles.
“Here”, he offers it to me with a smug look.
“When did you even find the time?” I was impressed.
“Yesterday as soon as we found out. I didn’t exactly find the time. As I said, I had omega do it.”
I pulled out a gorgeous light blue silk sleeveless blouse and a knee length black pencil skirt, with a small split on the side. It was the right amount of classy and casual. It was perfect.
“Thank you,” I say appreciatively and place a small kiss on his cheek.
I slip out of my clothes quickly and put the new ones on. I tucked my shirt neatly into my pencil skirt so that I looked just as Sophisticated as my mate. I fixed my hair with some Bobby pins to keep the front pulled back but the back of my hair long and free. I brushed my teeth and sprayed a quick spritz of deodorant on.
I walked back into our room once I was done to find Kyle sitting on the end of the bed, going through his phone. He had offered me one of my own, but I still didn’t see the point.
“What now?” I ask. Ingrid didn’t exactly give us a time. All we knew was that she’d be here sometime this morning. I hated waiting. It made me feel like I was stuck in limbo to be ready but had nowhere yet to go.
“We go meet David in my office, and we wait, I guess.”
We walk in to find David already in Kyles office. His irate or nervous maybe, it’s hard to tell. He could be both. Did he have something against witches? He looked worse than he did night. His hair was a mess, but at least he made an effort to dress nice.
“Geez, man, you look like shit.” Kyle looks over at his friend with sorrow.
I slap Kyle in the arm in a gentle warning. He shouldn't tease David. The man truly looks devastated.
“David, I know we don't know each other very well, but if I can help in any way, please let me know.”
His mouth tugs for just a moment as if he's trying to force a smile but can't put his heart into it.
We all startle when a piece of smoking paper lands in Davids lap. How the hell did that get in here? He wasn't holding anything a moment ago. Why was I the only one who looked surprised?
“She is at the border. She's asking for permission to enter our lands.” David reads out monotonously.
“How the hell do we tell her she has it?” Kyle replied, a little frustrated. He had a point.
“Uhm.”
David stutters
“Ahhhhh”, I jump with a small scream as there's much more smoke and a woman appears right in front of me, almost nose to nose.
“Oh, I'm so sorry, dear, I didn't mean to startle you.”