Page 193 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
“As for resources and housing,” Tavi said, “we would need to consider moving families into Warg territory and having Warg families move into King territory. Once the pack has recovered from Troy’s attack, I imagine we’ll be able to take a better look at what space is available for new families to move in.”
The meeting ended shortly after that. It took everything in me not to smile too hard as Tavi and I said our goodbyes. It was such a relief to know that although the majority of the council wasn’t completely on board with our plans, they wouldn’t stand in our way. In the wake of such good news, the sickness that had left me bathroom-bound for so long that morning was a distant memory
“This is fantastic,” Tavi said as we walked to the cabin she shared with Violet. “If the council won’t be standing in our way, it’smore likely that the Kings will fall in line. That’s a great sign that things are finally coming together.”
“I agree. Everything is still up in the air until Night wins the challenge, but we both know his chances of winning are very good.” I grinned at her. “I can’t wait until he gets back to tell him the good news.”That, and the baby…
“Yeah, he’ll be excited.” She returned my smile.
“So, we didn’t get the chance to talk before we went in,” I said. “How are you today, Tavi? Are you holding up okay?”
“I have good days and bad days,” she said. “Today started out as a terrible day.”
“Really?” I glanced at her as we walked. It wasn’t easy to tell which days were bad and which were good. Before we were kidnapped, a day when she didn’t wear eyeliner or had bags under her eyes told me she was having a bad time. Now she looked tired and vaguely sad most of the time. Maybe there were other subtleties that I could watch out for.
She nodded. “Last night was a bad one for nightmares. I think I had maybe two hours of sleep.”
“Oh, I see.” I touched her forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry it was so rough on you.”
“Well, considering everything we’ve been through, a few sleepless nights is inevitable, right?”
“That’s true, but it’s still a bitch to deal with.”
She snorted. “You’re telling me.”
We walked in silence for a bit before Tavi spoke again. “So, do you ever get those? Nightmares about Troy?”
“Yeah, way more often than I’d like,” I replied. Lately, I’d been dreaming about my baby, but I knew the nightmares about Troy would come back in full force. “I’ve had bad dreams about Troy most of my life, but after he kidnapped us, they’ve gotten worse and more graphic.” I pushed my hair behind my ears as I quietly added, “They’re worse when Night’s not here.”
“I can imagine. I almost wish I had someone like…” Tavi trailed off, her cheeks turning pink. “Never mind. I think I’ll ask Violet if she has any advice on what to do about nightmares.”
“That’s a good idea.”
It sounded like Tavi was about to say that she wished she had someone around who could make her nightmares easier to deal with. I would have liked to tease her about Dom, who obviously still very much wanted to be with her. But it was too soon to joke with her like that. She had only recently started warming up to him again.
But maybe it would be okay to bring him up? No harm in trying.
“Have you thought about talking to Dom?”
“D-Dom?” Her head popped up, the pink in her cheeks turning bright red. “Why would I talk to him?”
“I don’t know. Just to talk. He might have some advice about nightmares, too.”
Her blush deepened. “No, I haven’t really considered talking to him about this. I don’t know if I’d want to get into personal stuff, but I think I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t exactly hate the idea of spending a little time with him.”
I smiled and bumped her shoulder with mine. “You’ve missed him.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I have.” She looked down and purposefully stepped on the leaves in our path. “It took me a long time to be near him without wanting to hide, but I miss his silly, goofy smile and stupid jokes.”
“I think you should tell him that. I think he’d love to hear you say that.”
“Well, we’ve both been busy with pack stuff lately, and I’ve been satisfied with seeing him around the compound.”
“I see.” Maybe it wasn’t too soon for the two of them to have a real conversation. They just needed some excuse to talk.
When we reached the cabin, Violet was having tea with Dr. Damon Stan. The two were giggling together, and Violet had her hand on his knee. They looked up as we neared the table.
“It’s good to see you both together,” she said. “Were you out handling pack business?”
