#Chapter 162 – Beach Plans

At the beach the next day, Evelyn leans back, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin.

Though Delia had paid for the hotel, and its quality reflected her therapist paycheck, Emma had sprung for the beach facilities and here her wealth was…evident.

The three women stretch out on lounge chairs in a beach cabana, little tables next to them sporting their morning cocktails. Evelyn had borrowed a suit from Diana but Emma had insisted on buying one for Ian, and he played a few feet away in his swim trunks and rash guard t-shirt.

It wasn’t as hot as it would be in the summer, but there was a warm snap currently and the women were five hours south of their home city. To them, the sunlight and moderate heat is paradise on a February morning.

“Let’s just stay here,” Delia murmurs, her eyes closed behind her sunglasses. “Just live on the beach until the money runs out. And then we’ll swim into the ocean and become mer-people.”

Emma frowns at her, turning her head slightly in her direction. “No more breakfast cocktails for you,” she says, but Evelyn laughs. She can tell that Emma’s joking.

Evelyn sighs a little, enjoying the physical sensation of being on the beach. Part of her can’t believe that she’s stretched out in the sunlight, smelling the salt air with her sister and her best friend. If someone had told her yesterday that this would be her reality, she’d have called their bluff in a moment.

But here she was.

The comfort and safety of this day, this moment, offers Evelyn a little space in her mind to consider her next moves. Although Delia’s idea sounds appealing, Evelyn knows that she can’t stay here forever. Nor can she return to the city with Delia – Victor would find her in a moment and she was determined – absolutely determined – to stand on her own two feet once again.

For a moment, though, laying there in the sun, Evelyn considers her determination.

Was it, really, what she wanted?

She bites her lip, knowing the answer. That if she could go home, that if Victor would accept her apology, that she’d do it again in the minute.

But he had banished her. He doesn’t hold her paperwork – she’s still part of her father’s pack – but if he did, he would surely make her Rogue. In essence, even without the paperwork, it was done already.

Evelyn was on her own again – no matter what she wanted, she couldn’t go back home. And if she couldn’t do that, then whatever she did, she wasn’t going to live by anyone else’s rules.

“What are you going to do next, Evelyn?” Emma says gently, sitting up a little on her beach lounger, perhaps intuiting the sense of her sister’s thoughts.

Evelyn sighs, looking at her companions. “I don’t know,” she says, sitting up herself and shaking her head. She picks up the mimosa sitting next to her and takes another sip, enjoying the sweetness alongside the bubbles. “I can’t go back, that I know for sure.”

are you sure? When I was at your house the other night – he was so

“He told me to go and leave the kids, Delia,” she says. “In…in that very Alpha way that means that

as she leans back on the pillows. “Geeze, Evelyn,” she murmurs. There’s a beat before she says, “that must be a record. How many banishments

Emma, once she sees that Delia knows how to play Evelyn’s heartstrings,

Evelyn says, taking a big gump from her drink and finishing it. “Maybe I can go back to dad’s pack and get banished from that one too. That would be three, if I can count getting

sighs with chagrin. “Whatever you do,” she says, “don’t go to daddy’s pack. You might not want to hear it right now, but

miss the little glance that Emma throws Delia’s way at

that come to her mind

ridiculous, Evelyn,” Emma murmurs, picking up her own

“Why?” Evelyn asks, frowning.

wife,” Emma says, looking over the tops of her sunglasses at her. “I

did it this weekend,” Evelyn says, shrugging. “Or are you going to tell me that Joyce really

Evelyn a little look that clearly says don’t

Evelyn says, sitting up fully now and putting her feet down on the sand. “What the hell is stopping you?

take her sister’s. “Come with me, Emma. I know how to disappear.

out of Evelyn’s grasp and looking over to Delia for support. Delia, however, is biting her lip, worry and

You have

why not,” Evelyn says, laughing a little. “Maybe it was fate that I found you on this weekend – came knocking on your

head, but Evelyn continues,

with

Delia gasps, spinning in her seat and looking

at the closest bank – drain your account before Joyce has any idea what’s happening – it will be so much easier than the last time I did

leave…” her voice fades off, but she again looks to her other

her sister’s face like an open book. I can’t leave

face. “I could…come. If I’m invited? If this isn’t like,” she

stares at her, shocked.

such love in her eyes that Evelyn’s heart swells. “I’d have done it a lone time ago,”

I have going on at home? The two of us can start a therapy practice anywhere. People are having mental breakdowns all over the

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