A Wolf's Tear

seven - at the dinner table

Selena couldn't be more thankful for her newfound friendship with Lively.

"Are you ill? Queasy or just discombobulated?" Eliza stepped in to place a caring hand on Selena's forehead and neck. "You don't have a fever. Perhaps a stomach bug?"

It was her heart, breaking into tiny pieces. That was the sickness that plagued her heart and no other thing.

"I feel like I'm getting sick." She reasoned, hoping Eliza should believe it.

"Well, if you are. We can get the pack doctor to give you some medicine but you need to eat first before you consume it. So muscle up, dear. I know for sure that the soup tastes great." She smiles at her. "After all, I helped make it."

Again, she was left with no other options. Everything sped by so quickly that her words remained unsaid, festering behind her tongue.

Lively and Selena exchanged glances. Her shaky fingers curled into the palm of her hands. She held herself and braved her heart, walking to where Eliza went. The mess hall was filled to the brim of happiness. The atmosphere around her was a stark contrast to the storm of her darkening emotions, brewing inside of her.

Eliza leads them to a long table covered with freshly cooked meals.

"Wow," Jacob beamed. "Finally, some home-cooked meals. The garbage I normally buy in restaurants cannot compete with everything in front of me."

"You're only saying that because it's free food." Eliza chuckled.

"Correction, mother. It's free and delicious." He took the seat next to his mother.

Eliza glanced at Selena. "Come, sit next to my son."

Selena begrudging smiled. Trying her best to conceal her pain. At least it wasn't Nathaniel who she was sitting with. But it seems as though her wishes came crashing down on her as the man himself sad directly across the table.

The strange pull she felt with just an arm's reach away was terrifying, to say the least. Besides him, there was Katie. The wolf was completely oblivious to the tension between Nathaniel and Selena. She leaned on his arm, looking up to him with a sickly overflow of love and adoration in her gaze.

Pursing her lip, Selena ignored Katie's actions towards him.

"The food looks nice." She says, turning to Eliza.

"But of course. When I spend from my personal pockets, I do so with gravitas, my darling wolf." The old wolf answered. "This is a special event therefore I am to make it extra special."

Jacob leans to Selena and whispered into her ear.

"As you can see, my mother is a showoff who has a spending problem." He chuckles.

Selena couldn't help but smile, finding the statement somewhat very true as evident to the magnitude of this event and the dresses the old wolf often wore.

Meanwhile, across the table, Nathaniel watched his mate's and his brother's exchange silently. Though he had his head lowered, he had his eyes pinned to only one person. A phantom cut on his side seemingly appeared out of nowhere when he dawned on Selena's restrained smile, completely vexed it wasn't him that caused her to do so. He groans absentmindedly.

"Either way, everyone seems happy."

Selena shrugged her shoulders, trying to ignore her mate's disappointment.

"They have reason to be." Jacob smiled lopsidedly. "This is the first party pack Morris held ever since my father died eight months ago."

She felt the space around her become stone-heavy, crushing her body. Selena never thought of Jacob senior, much more of him being dead. It was an idea that never crossed her head.