A Matter of Convenience

Thirty

~Isis~

I let Rona take over and settle in the back of her mind. There’s too much going on right now, and it’s driving me insane. It’s one thing that I’m now an orphan; I’m still grieving the loss of my father. Now, I’m supposed to be bound to my enemy, the villain in my stories for so long.

He has done nothing but remind me of what a selfish prick he is. I can’t even begin to express how irritating he is, and now I have to deal with him for a year. I don’t just have to deal with him; I have to make people believe there’s more love between us than hate.

Rona stops in the middle of a field, breathing heavily. I was wondering how long it would take for you to stop. Rona turns, and I see Miles’ wolf, Deryn, behind me. Rona drops down to lay on her stomach as Deryn approaches. He rubs his snout against her head and then runs toward the trees. He comes back with a backpack in his mouth.

Deryn shifts into Miles, and he pulls some basketball shorts out of his bag. He tosses a summer dress at Rona and proceeds to get dressed. Rona pushes back so I can take over, and I shift into my human form. “It would be stupid to ask how you knew I was out here.”

“Correct. I know you well enough to know where you like to go when you need space. What I want to know is what’s eating you.” I sigh and tell Miles about my last few interactions with Ericson.

“I just don’t know what to do. The fu.cked up part is I need him so I can take over this pack. Just because dad is gone doesn’t mean they would skirt the rules for me.” Miles quietly nods as I let the forest sounds wash over me. This is such a fu.cked up situation, and there’s no easy way to deal with it.

“I know that Ericson is who he is, but you know the situation. He isn’t the first sh.itty person that you’ve had to deal with. You need to keep in mind what’s at stake and stay focused.” I know Miles is right, and I know my reactions have been amped up because of everything else going on. I just don’t know how to tone it down right now. “So I saw that Jovanni was here with his Alpha.” I scoff and roll my eyes.

“Yeah. Jovanni called himself getting angry because of Ericson. Alpha Felix says he needs help ridding his pack of some persistent rogues.” Miles turns his head and looks at me. I already know where he’s going with this. “I know. It sounds off to me, too.” Alpha Felix has a reputation for being tough on rogues. It isn’t a well-known reputation, but it’s growing. I happen to know people who know people, and I’ve heard a few stories that let me know he has no issues taking care of rogues. Alpha Felix has other motives, but I have no idea what they are. I agreed to help him because I want to find out more.

“So, you plan on playing the game to see what’s going on?” I nod. “That means Jovanni will be around a lot. Are you ready for that?”

“I’m ready for him to accept my rejection and let me go. I will do whatever I need to do to make that happen. He has no effect on me, except anger and irritation.” Miles throws his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer. He kisses my temple and squeezes me.

“I’m here for you. Whatever you need.” I wrap my arms around his torso and lean into him. “I think we need to get back, though. You left your mate alone in our packhouse.” My mate. I internally roll my eyes at the thought, but Miles is right. He pulls me forward, and we begin our journey back home.

~Ericson~

Sitting in Isis's office to wait for her wasn't the most comfortable thing. This isn’t my pack or packhouse, and I’m not in a position to answer any questions. I did take the time to clean up her office floor, even though it’s her fault it got stained.

I walk out of the packhouse, figuring that I should go home. A part of me wonders if that’s a bad idea since she spent days not answering me before. I don’t want to have to come here every time I need her to be a reasonable person and respond to me.

I’m not stupid; I get it. I let words fly out of my mouth without thinking. Even if I had thought about it first, I sometimes don’t give thought to how my words would be received. It’s an issue I’ve always had and never cared to fix. I’m starting to think I may have to be a bit more open since I now have a mate to think about.

I laugh in my head, a mate. It’s crazy to me to consider that I have a mate to keep in mind. I know that there was a mate before, and I was all in on making her a priority. Once she betrayed me, I’d decided that a mate was no longer needed. I didn’t want to open myself up to another person like that ever again. Isis and I may have nothing romantic between us, but I will have to consider her in all I do. Well, it will be that way for the next year anyway.

Friendly voices and laughing stop me. I look toward the treeline and see Isis with her arms wrapped around a guy. He’s about my height and has dark brown skin. He has a few visible tattoos on his arms and looks like he works out like a warrior. I have a flash of the past, the pain of betrayal. I feel the anger start to build inside of me. I clench my fists at my side, battling myself.

I swallow in an attempt to steady my emotions. “Should I be jealous?” I ask when they get close enough, causing them to set eyes on me. The guy looks me up and down, and I swear it’s in a s****l way. I must be seeing things, though.