The Arrangement |1|

Chapter Nineteen

    The next few days were hectic as the Pack learned of what happened. There was talk of leaving, distrust among the members, the number of guards increased, and a lot of confused children.

   Madeline had to put on her brave face. She remained strong, cool, and collected in front of her people. She spoke to many of them, trying to reassure them. It worked on some, though not all. Emerson and she had made a couple announcements to the entirety of the Pack. Together, they remained strong.

   But in the bedroom, he held her shaking form. They tried to distract each other by watching movies or reading books aloud to one another. It worked enough that Madeline was able to find sleep sometime in the night. It also helped that she was exhausted by the time she could go to bed.

   The only good thing about what was happening was that she was too distracted to think about her feelings for Emerson. The downside was that she was worried about Benjamin and the threat of the Rogues.

   A scream brought Madeline back to reality. She sighed.

   Why did she agree to work at the daycare?

   She picked up the noisy child and bounced her in her arms. She patted her back gently. The child calmed down and soon enough she was wriggling to get down.

   The little girl ran off with her fellow friends, playing some cute little game of Family. Madeline wished she was young and carefree as they were. Unfortunately, she was a twenty-three-year-old with many responsibilities. She just wished that there were times where she could stop adulting and act like a kid again. But alas, she was Luna and there were always things for her to do.

   "You look tired dear," Edna crooned.

   She nodded. "I am. With everything that's been going on, I've been none stop running around. It's hard to sleep with everything on my mind. I just..."

   Edna nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "If you're tired, go rest. Go drink some tea or hot cocoa, go watch a movie, or hang out with your friends. I can handle the horde today."

   "Are you sure? I know how much they love me being here and I don't want to disappoint them by disappearing."

   "It's quite alright. You've been running around with the weight of the world on your shoulders. You deserve to have a break. Now go. I'll be alright on my own."

   Madeline felt guilty about not being there, to help and to be there for the children. But...Edna was right. She needed a break, no matter how small. She would crazy if she kept running around the way she was.

   "Thank you. I'll try to come by this week if I'm not too busy."

   "Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head about it. I understand how busy you are. It's okay if you can't make it this week."

   "Alright," Madeline said wearily. "I'll see later then."

   She waved and just awkwardly walked out of the daycare center. It was strange but nice, to finally have some time to herself.

   She walked into the Pack House. She knew better than to try and find Emerson. He was either in a meeting, or checking patrols, or whatever else he had to do. She just knew he would be impossible to find.

   Madeline was surprised by the number of people in the kitchen. It was usually empty in between meal time. It was strange to see so many people there. She would have questioned why if she had been bothered to care, but with everything that was going on, she just couldn't bring herself to care. This was their kitchen as much as it was hers, they could use it if they wished.