Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 42: Grace: Lyre’s Strange Behavior

When Lyre slides into the chair across from me, I lose track of the strange cat. It disappears as if it was never there at all.

"White?" Lyre asks between bites, completely unconcerned as I tell her about a bizarre cat only I can see.

"Yeah."

"Don’t worry, it’s harmless."

Andrew’s out there now; I watch through the window as he sniffs the air, turning to shrug his shoulders at me through the glass. He must not smell anything.

Having a stalker is annoying, but hey, if he wants to brave the strange and mysterious for me, I’m not going to complain. If I have to suffer through his constant unwanted presence, I may as well get something out of it.

I nibble at a French fry, enjoying its salty potato goodness as I watch her eat. "What do you mean by ’harmless’?"

Lyre shrugs, her slitted eyes narrowing slightly as she takes another monstrous bite of her burger. Ketchup dots the corner of her mouth. "Exactly what the word means."

She’s already halfway through her meal, and she’s only been sitting here for a minute. My stomach growls in response, my appetite suddenly returning now that Lyre’s here.

The burger’s greasy and generic, but for some reason its flavor rivals the food the pack offers. Freedom is the best seasoning.

"Our plans are going to be messed up, though," she muses between chews, staring out the window. Andrew paces a few more times, nostrils flaring, before he heads back to the entrance, presumably to come back here.

"What do you mean?" Mustard gloops out the side of my burger, and I wipe at it with a napkin. It isn’t that I dislike mustard, but too much of it is just... well, too much.

"It means what I said." Her tone borders on patronizing, as if I’m asking a stupid question.

I blink, waiting for elaboration that doesn’t come.

"Well, that’s why it’s always best to expect the unexpected." Lyre’s voice comes out languid, lazy almost. She stretches in her chair, leaning back as she finishes the last quarter of her food. "We won’t go far tonight. I’d rather have a comfortable place to stay."

bringing me along at

end. Lyre seems perfectly content to exist in her own bubble of certainty while I flounder in

before I’m even halfway through mine. While I continue to eat, she plucks fries from

against the screen as she huffs. "Damn it. If I’d known we were going to camp properly tonight, I wouldn’t have bothered dumping

response. Somehow, I feel responsible

head snaps up. "Why are you

last French fry dangles in midair as I blink at her. "I don’t know.

when there’s nothing to apologize for. It makes you

strong, but

as if the weight of the entire world rests squarely on her shoulders.

weak," I say

don’t have to be strong. Just

"You want me

her finger at me. "Don’t think I don’t know you’re doing this on purpose. Be strong of mind, Grace. Don’t lower your head for just anyone. You’re a queen,

strange behavior aside, the lines she’s spouting now belong on some sort of TV melodrama. "You’re being

tosses her phone onto the table with a clatter. She scratches at her head with both hands, completely mussing her rainbow-colored hair

she says,

at me with her unsettling slitted eyes. "If you appear weak, then

for a long moment, my burger forgotten in my hands. "Did you major in saying things

"Just

slides into the chair beside me, a scowl etched

nor I acknowledge him. I take another bite of my burger, chewing slowly as I study the strange woman across from me. Her hair looks like a rainbow exploded on her head, especially now that she’s messed it up,

camping tonight?" I ask, trying to understand

before returning to me. "Yes. There’s a little place about twenty minutes from here. Nothing fancy, but it

straightening in his chair. "Is something

We ignore him.