Page 56 of Violet Moon
Diah shook her head.“Some mystery person that she’s apparently seen more than once already.Olive’s too good at keeping secrets.”
“There’s no secrets in a pack house,” Lock said with a grin.He glanced at Sera so quickly she nearly missed it, but it worried her all the same.
“Oh yeah, then who is Olive dating?”Harry asked.
Lock looked smug.“Pick up enough of her shifts and you’ll know who comes looking for her.”
“Wait.”Diah’s eyes opened wider.“You actually know?”She grasped Lock’s arm, pleading.“You have to tell me everything.Living room.Now.”She started pulling him away.“Harry, you’re coming, too.”
Sera watched them leave and waited until their happy chatter had faded before sneaking into the kitchen.She was glad to find it empty, but the moment she poured her coffee she wished for more pack gossip as a distraction.She wrapped her hands around her mug and drank it all in a few big gulps.She was going to Parisa’s office early — without flowers.Those didn’t feel right anymore.But she still wanted a chance to talk to her Alpha about nothing in particular and for it to feel somewhat normal before Wilma arrived.
She made it as far as Parisa’s door before that hope was dashed.
Parisa flew out of her study, looking frazzled.She nearly crashed into Sera, but caught herself with one hand on Sera’s shoulder.Sera jumped at the sudden contact and Parisa retracted her hand like she’d been burnt.
“Sorry, didn’t see you.”Parisa sounded out of breath.
“Aren’t we meeting this afternoon?”
“Not today.Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.Something came up.And we don’t need to meet every day, do we?”She smiled, but it looked out of place on her otherwise strained features.“I know we’re on the same page.”
“Sure.I guess we don’t.”
“Great!”She lifted her hand as if to pat Sera on the shoulder, but pulled it back at the last second.“I will see you later, then.”
“See you.”
Sera realized that she had no idea where Parisa was going.She used to know the ins and outs of her schedule.They were friendly again, but the wall between them was there.It’d taken on a new shape, but it was back and more impenetrable than ever.Parisa was keeping herself and the pack safe by keeping Sera at arm’s length.
Sera looked at her hands and wondered what to do with her sudden free time.
She tried to read the book Edgar had dropped off outside her bedroom door the other night, but found it hard to focus.She’d skim a page only to have no idea what she’d just pretended to read.
Edgar walked back into the house and through the den on his way to the kitchen, looking dapper in his professorial attire.He paused and smiled when he saw what Sera was reading.“Just started?”
“Trying to.It’s hard to focus.”
“That one does start a bit slow.”He settled in the armchair near Sera.
“This is more of a me problem than a book problem.”
“Understandable given how much has happened.”
“What?”Sera sat up straighter.News could spread like wildfire in a packhouse, but she thought her and Parisa’s conversation hadn’t been overheard.Now she wasn’t so sure.
“I mean, with the duel and everything.”
“Oh, right.Of course.Yes, it’s been a lot.”
“I bet.Even more reason to read, though.”He added.“A good escape.Plus that one picks up quickly once you make it through the first chapter.You’ll get invested in no time.”
“I hope so,” she replied, knowing she needed the distraction, but more than anything she wanted Edgar to stick around because this was the most normal she’d felt all day.She tucked a scrap of paper in the book and closed it.“Does the plot pick up quickly or does it get heated quickly?”She asked with a grin.
“Both.”Edgar sat back, crossing his ankle over his knee.“There’s a little espionage in that one.A lot of secrets.And it’s one of those books where the main characters sleep together fairly early in the book but the feelings take a lot longer.”
Sera wasn’t sure if she was in the mood for anyone else’s feelings, however escapist they might be, especially when it came to love.Maybe she needed a nonfiction book about boats or volcanoes or something.“Always a fun dynamic.”
“It’s so satisfying when they finally figure it out.”
