Fated

Chapter XIV

Adira sighed as she pulled out another weed from the wet soil. Sweat dripped down her face in the burning sun. It had been exactly three days, four hours, and - she checked her watch - twenty-five minutes since she had walked out of the packhouse with Sebastian. For the millionth time, she wondered what Adrian was doing this very minute. Did he miss her? Had he decided she wasn't worth the wait? Yet, she couldn't bring herself to apologize. Deep down, she knew that she was right. If Adrian truly cared for her, he had to show it in his actions, and he could start by apologizing.  

As usual, her right hand began to hurt in phantom pain as she thought of him. Her chest ached. These days, every breath felt labored. Adrian hadn't come to visit her since she had left. Although Adira had told him to stay away, she had hoped that he would be as desperate for her presence as she was for his. Clearly, that wasn't the case. Despite the hurt, she didn't blame him. He was respecting her choice and for that, she respected him.

Adira was snapped out of her musings as she saw two wolves approach. Looking at her clock, she realized it was time for her guards to change. After the first day, Adira had stopped trying to befriend the guards because no guard protected her more than once. She guessed that this was a way to protect her from the mole in the pack if there was any. The wolves were really paranoid about her safety. Both her guards checked in with Sebastian every hour. Additionally, Sebastian came to visit her every three hours or so. Adira really appreciated the extra effort, though a large part of her felt guilty for the amount of extra work everyone had to do. Should she just go back? 

The chirping of the birds brought Adira back to the task at hand. She scored herself for getting distracted again. At this rate, she was not going to be alive by the time she finished this garden. Actively trying to stop thinking about Adrian, she restarted her gardening, pulling weed after weed. After an hour of mindless work, Adira realized that Sebastian would be visiting her soon. She hurried into the house to take the banana bread out of the oven. Cooking was Adira's way of showing gratitude, and Seb was very easy to please. The empty house seemed melancholic as she began to plate the food. As if the universe heard her thoughts, the doorbell rang at that very moment.

When she opened the door to Amor's face, Adira was a little taken aback. Seeing Amor smiled at her as if they were best friends ensured that Adira was taken aback a lot. Regardless, she opened the door wider, guiding Amor to the table. At this point, she was desperate for any company, no matter how sour this wolf maybe. But, Amor actually squealed when she saw banana bread making Adira wonder what kind of parallel universe she was in. What was up with Amor being so nice?!

Digging in without waiting for Adira, Amor spoke with her mouth full. "How have you been? It's been a while since I saw you."

Adira shifted in her seat, "I'm good. Starting some passion projects. I've decided to try gardening so I'm just sprucing up my flowerbeds. How's the pack?" She carefully avoided Adrian's name and hoped Amor would too. She was not ready to hear about him. What if he was okay? What if he wasn't suffering like she was? What if he was thinking of moving on? The thought itself was physically painful and made Adira want to puke. 

It seemed like Amor agreed to her silent plea because the next few minutes were filled with idle small talk about the pack. Amor spoke about the reserve forces' training (which made Adira's heart hurt because she missed Cassie) and how the pack had majorly reacted to it, the fact that Eden forced her to take bodyguards (Amor was highly offended because she had a theoretical understanding of fighting and truly believed that the practical part would be very easy), and the pack breakfasts (Jonah had added board games to the mix and Amor's team had a three-day winning streak in Scrabble).

In the lull of conversation, Adira finally picked up the courage to address the elephant in the room. She said quietly, "Have you come to ask me to take him back?"