A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 68

Chapter Sixty-Eight 

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 t o find themselves as the next subject of our focus for too long. 

V 

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 in this case, wolves. 

| peeked around, watching as he frantically searched the crowds of people conversing outside. Searching for something or *someone* in particular. 

“Why are we hiding?” Aleric asked quietly behind me. 

He was close, his body right next to mine so he could whisper and not draw further attention to our location. I was grateful given the keener senses of our peers around us. 

“Because Alpha Fredrick is going to try to speak to me privately,” I explained. “And he‘s going to demandt o know where I heard those rumours about him from; something he couldn‘t ask me in that meeting without looking further guilty in front of the other pack representatives.” 

“...And are they true? The rumours?” 

| spun my head around and smiled wickedly up at him. “Who knows? They‘re just rumours after all.” 

“Aria, what the hell,” he laughed. “It‘s a pretty serious thing to infer about someone.” 

| shrugged, turning back to see if Alpha Fredrick was still looking for me. “He deserves it even if they are false. And besides, I‘m pretty sure that fighting a rumour with another rumour is far better than attacking him, like what you wanted to do.” 

“I‘m sure that he is wishing right now that I actually had hurt him in order to save him from that social execution you just served him–.” 

Alpha Fredrick‘s eyes then started searching towards the general area we were hiding, perhaps catching our scent in the wind change. 

“Crap, time to go,” I said, grabbing onto Aleric‘s hand, and I ran towards the back of the building, all the while dragging him behind me. 

“Aria, wait,” he called out, intending to sound disapproving over my immature reaction but his laughter betrayed him. 

Behind the large hall was a grassy slope that led all the way down to a small pond at the bottom. Perfect for resting while I caught my breath for a minute; the lack of my own strength and endurance painfully obvious, courtesy of the collar. 

I doubled over, both hands on my knees as I breathed in deeply. All the while, Aleric simply watched over me. I could see the amusement in his eyes at my state, something that was probably bad for even human 

standards. 

Chapter Sixty Eight 

“Give me a break,” I whined. “I haven‘t trained, nor done anything even close to that in months.” 

“I‘m aware,” he said, walking past me to seat himself by the water‘s edge. 

I followed only a moment later once my breathing was back under control, plopping myself down on the grass beside him. 

in the dying light. I felt I could stay here for hours, relaxing as I continued to neglect all the problems mercilessly

think I know why you brought me here,” I said after a few minutes of silence, now staring intensely at the lily pads.

“Is that so?” 

to my chest and hugging them. “But which was your train of reasoning... fresh air and a change of scenery? ... Or taking met o

thrills from thinking of things in meetings that no one else had. I thought if I brought you here with me, it might help ignite that passion inside you again.”

my brows. It seemed he knew me much better than I realised.

get my input on those pack matters yesterday,

the actual discussions today, I still got to see you in there. It was like you came alive again, Aria. Something I was beginning to think I‘d

finally and found them full of only genuine concern. The orange-toned light around us had made the green in them appear as if they were more saturated. How crazy that those eyes were so innocent in comparison to

to pretend that this Aleric didn‘t care

what I was trying to tell him, before making his own mind up. He might not be ‘under control‘, but perhaps I didn‘t need that after all. The fact he at least considered what I had to say

the pack, loved his work… it was just me that he hadn‘t loved. As if he was incapable of seeing me for who

become so blurred that I felt my uncertainty shift on any given day. Did I enjoy his company now? Yes... but at

attention back to the pond. “It‘s just a hard adjustment, everything considered… and I don‘t like the room. The

it hard to distinguish between two lives,‘ I elaborated in my head. The absence of having anything to do or focus on, mixed in with those quarters... it was like living inside my nightmares. Slowly, day by day, losing a piece

but laughed a little. “Given how much time

but it‘s actually the lesser of two evils,” I said with a small reciprocating smile, my chin resting o n my

once more, and I flicked my eyes back to meet his now

can talk to Tytus about switching your room to another one and I doubt it would be that bigo fan issue. The only problem

that was one

in the hundreds of issues I‘d

sun was then almost completely down and a cool breeze came through, sending a small shiver through me. It looked as though the scarf came in handy for more than

standing back up Td say we were at the top of the list for being

front of me. They were almost

held his hand out for me and I happily took

start training squats again at this

we started our ascent back up

said slowly. I‘ve been meaning to talk to you about

him as we were almost at the

about

behind his shoulder, immediately taking precedence over anything else Afigure standing by

figure i recognised

“Surprisingly, I‘ve just seen someone i know.”

was

it okay if we talk about your thing later?” I asked but i was already walking to where the person was waiting “I‘ll see you tomorrow morning for the

“Aria, wait...” 

late. I‘d already ran off without wasting any

focus was elsewhere. Or, more accurately, it was on the person who i never expected to see here.

almost as it

surprise, she immediately engulfed me in her arms, her dark curls falling onto my face as she hugged me

for small packs within the Winter Mist alliance. The Hidden Moon pack is by far one of

pulling away, “I know that

“For me?” 

to the registry of guests staying here,” she explained. “I came as

repeated, folding my arms over my chest. “You could have just

The one living Saintess goes missing one day and the only public updates provided were coming from the same sketchy Alpha some weird rumours were involved with. Do you realise how worried we

her whereabouts during a kidnapping for my own financial benefit.

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