Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Kas's POV

The next few days begin to form into a comfortable schedule for us. Bronx goes to his office at MasonCo most days. Just like he promised when | first moved into the apartment, he wakes me every morning up to let me know he’s leaving. And every morning he gives me a passionate kiss that leaves me missing him until he gets home. Somehow he seems to have an endless supply of flowers too. | don’t know where he gets them from, but he brings a few for me every evening and places them in a vase on my nightstand. He takes out the ones that are starting to wilt, so | always have a fresh bouquet to look at.

| start to focus on searching my mind for Lex. | d******q some calming music on my phone and spend my mornings meditating. |

feel her deep within the farthest corners of m y mind, but the harder | try, the more difficult it is to reach her. The closest way | can describe it is that | feel like she is trapped in a cage in a dark room in my mind. The problem is, | can’t find the room and | don't know how to open the cage. Delilah occasionally joins me. Having her there is helpful to guide me when | get frustrated. She is also good company. | love Lenora and Ashley but they are a little older than me and sometimes it's hard to vibe with them.

“Kas, | can’t imagine how frustrating it is for you, but think of it this way. When a person goes missing and they send out a search party, it is important for everyone to stay calm. If people in the search party panic or get angry, they lose focus and miss out on clues they would see if they were concentrating. Keep yourself controlled for Lex’s benefit, especially when it is the most difficult,” she advises with a sympathetic tone to her voice.

“Thanks, Delilah. You're right. Every time | get frustrated it’s because | feel like she is just out of reach. | need to focus on staying calm,” | appreciate her guidance. She is much more familiar with practicing meditation than | am.

An excited look comes over her face. She scrunches her face, trying not to burst into a smile.

“What? What's that face for?” | can't help but smile at her.

“James is taking me to meet his parents,” she squeals, shaking her hands in front of her with excitement, “I mean, they only live twenty minutes away in the human town outside the pack territory, but still. | am so excited | could burst. We are going to spend a long weekend there.”

“Oh my Goddess! That’s so awesome!” | exclaim, “Have you decided what you’re going to wear to meet them?”

“Oh yeah, the last of my things arrived from the shipping company yesterday, so | have my full wardrobe to pick from finally. | don’t have many winter clothes though. | had no idea how cold Montana would be,” she laughs, “I ordered a winter coat online and some boots. Other than that, my clothes are made of thin cotton.”

with wool sweaters and heavy peacoats that would suit her. We go to my closet so | can give her a couple of sets of winter hats, scarves, mittens and things like that. |

if it's supposed to be a surprise, but James and Marco asked if they can come back to work on Monday. James says they're bored. | think they miss

Delilah leaves, | go to the kitchen to see Mrs. Miller. We finalize the menu for the Winter Solstice party, coming up with some special desserts | know everyone will love. As we are finishing up, a large pair of arms snake themselves around my waist and pick me up while backing away from the kitchen. Mrs. Miller giggles as she waves goodbye. “| guess we're done!” | call out, with

neck. He carries me like that, nuzzling my neck, all the way to his office. “So what's the meeting about?” | ask. “Coverage,” he says, like that one word should tell me everything | need to know. Before | can ask

table. Ashley hands us each a sheet of paper. It is a complicated

Reggie has to leave for a week also,” she clears her

Reggie going?” | ask,

Classified,” he

even get to tell me Kas. Milo is the only one who knows. That's the nature of their division at MasonCo,” Ashley frowns. She erases her expression and gets back to business, “I had already planned a trip to see my parents in Cheyenne, so we are going to need

Milo, Bronx, and | will

my stomach as she speaks. “Alright, today is Wednesday. Lenora and | leave tomorrow, Reggie leaves Thursday. Lenora

night. James is back Tuesday,” Ashley says, looking at some additional notes in her book. | nod, feeling a bit numb listening to Ashley rattle off the information as | look at the

kinda pale,” Bronx

stomach. I'm going to go lay down. Ashley, do you need me for anything

you feel be-” | don't hear

door. No panicking in the hallway. | keep repeating to myself as | make my way quickly down

door and pull out my key fumbling to get