Page 41 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Was that a joke? Did you just take a shot at me?” I asked, smiling despite myself.

“I don’t know what you mean. I don’t make jokes, remember?”

I couldn’t see him smiling, but I caught the whiteness of his teeth before he turned around.

“Good night, Violet,” he said, leaving the doors open a crack.

I managed to fall back asleep after a while, but still woke up very early after another nightmare. I listened carefully, but I couldn’t hear any movement from Chris’ room and I let out a sigh of relief.

I debated what to do. I could go down to the Luna office and get started with all the paperwork, but that meant I needed to find my way down by myself. The pack house was full to the brimright now. While it was only four-thirty in the morning, I wasn’t willing to risk it. Sighing at my own weakness, I got up and showered, closing and locking the door to Chris’ room, but not before I caught a glimpse of the man sleeping. It was a strange sight, to see him in such a vulnerable and relaxed position. His face looked serene instead of rigid and he was hugging a pillow.

What would it feel like to be hugged like that?I wondered, then shook my head. My mate was dead; that wasn’t in the cards for me. I was feeling a lot better after the shower, so I re-opened the door to Chris’ room and turned the TV on in my room. I flipped through the channels, and I couldn’t find anything good to watch. I mean what did I expect at four-thirty in the morning?

I finally set the TV on a cartoon channel, grabbed my tablet, and started drawing. It was just doodling at first, but after a little while, an image came to mind, and I started on a new page. Most of it was done by the time Chris woke up at six. I heard him shuffling into the bathroom before he knocked on my door after he was done.

“Have you been awake all night?” he asked, frowning as he saw me already dressed and wide awake on my bed, the TV on and the tablet on my lap.

“No, I woke up a little while ago, but I didn’t want to go down to the office by myself.”

“You could have just woken me up.”

“I did that once already. I thought it might be better to leave it to one a night.”

“That’s—”

“I drew something while you were sleeping. I thought you might like it. I can print it off at the office.” Chris walks over to me and his jaw dropped in disbelief, making me giggle a little at his reaction. “Don’t you like it?”

“You said you weren’t awake all night.”

“I wasn’t. I woke up at four and took a shower.”

“You did this in an hour and a half?”

“Well, I mean it still needs to be colored better, but—”

“You’re insanely talented,” he interrupted, making a warmth bloom in my chest at the compliment.

“So you like it?”

“I—I mean, it’s an old man and it’s got incredible detail. It looks great, Violet.”

“You don’t recognize him?”

“No. Should I? Is he a pack member?” He squinted at it for a moment, then hummed. “It kind of looks like my dad.”

“It’s you,” I told him.

"That’s not me.”

“It’s what I was picturing yesterday when I said you were a grumpy old man.” Chris looked back down at the drawing, speechless and I wondered if he was offended by it.

“You could have drawn anything and you chose to draw me as an old man?”

“When inspiration hits,” I answered, shrugging.

“Can you send this to me?” he asked.

“You like it?”

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