Chapter 329
Chapter 329
Avery’s POV
In a few weeks, it was settled. Sebastian would host me in Evergreen. I was only going for two nights, just long enough to attend the banquet, tour the pack, and work out some preliminary business agreements.
I didn’t tell Bjorn the truth about where I was going.
I knew I should have, and I hated myself for not being able to do it. I felt like a coward. But when it came down to it, when I stood in his doorway the night before I was supposed to leave, I found myself forcing out the wrong words.
“Bjorn, I’m going to a business conference out of town. I’m leaving first thing tomorrow p>
“How long will you be gone?” he asked. He was sitting on his bed with his new game in his lap, the one I had bought him that afternoon at the electronics store downtown. He hadn’t looked up when I came in.
“Just a few days,” I said.
He nodded without pulling his eyes away from the screen.
“Grandma will be here the whole time,” I said. “And I’ll have my phone on. You can call me whenever you want p>
“M’kay p>
I stood there for another moment. He didn’t look up. I said goodnight and pulled his door shut and went to bed, and the whole time I was kicking myself mentally.
Ultimately, I decided that it was wiser to just get this first visit out of the way, see how it went, and then I could tell him after. At least, that was the rationale that allowed me to get some sleep that night p>
In the morning I was up before anyone else. stood in the bathroom mirror with a pair of scissors and did it quickly, before I could think too hard about it.
My hair had always been long, down past my shoulders, the same color it had always been. I cut it to just below my jaw, then opened the box of dye I had bought at the pharmacy and followed the instructions on the back.
When I was finished, my hair had gone from chestnut waves to a black bob. It didn’t really feel like me, but it felt different enough to keep myself from being noticed too easily by you-know-who.
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Just in case.
Of course, I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Afterwards, I loaded my bag into the car and went back inside to say goodbye. My mother hugged me for a long time without saying anything.
“Mom, I’m just going away for a few days,” laughed, pulling back. I kissed her cheek and told her to call me if anything came up.
Bjorn was in the kitchen eating cereal. I hugged him from behind and he let me, but he didn’t hug back. Just sat there with his spoon hovering in front of his mouth.
“I love you,” I said, ruffling his hair.
“Love you too,” he said around a mouthful of cereal.
I drove away before I could change my mind
The drive to Evergreen territory took most of the day. I stopped once for gas and once for cheap takeout food that didn’t fit into my diet at home (human women loved to be skinny and vegan, much to my wolf’s chagrin, who kept insisting that we needed more meat), and spent the rest of the hours watching the landscape change around
The human lands finally gave way to open country, and then to the kind of dense, heavy forest that you only really found in pack territories. The roads got quieter and narrower, and the trees and boulders felt bigger. The temperature in the air dropped by a few degrees, making my wolf purr with satisfaction.
“Finally,” she groaned. “Real fresh air p>
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I gripped the wheel and kept driving.
By late afternoon, I was at the border, There were two guards at the gate, and they checked my name against a list before waving me through without any fuss. I drove through slowly, taking it in,
Evergreen was larger than I had expected. I wasn’t sure what I had been picturing, but it wasn’t this.
The main settlement was substantial but quaint, small cottages gathered around a central square with what looked like a market still open in the late afternoon. There were wolves everywhere, going about their business, carrying baskets of produce and laughing, and everything felt so… idyllic
It reminded me a little too much of Nightwolf.
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I pulled up in front of the Alpha house and waited for a moment, wondering if this was a mistake. But then Sebastian came outside, waving, and I knew there was no turning back now.
“Ms. Rivers,” he said as I got out of the car. You came p>
“I said I would think about it,” I said. “I thought about it p>
He laughed a little and showed me inside.
The house was big and well-furnished, the typical home of an Alpha. He introduced me to a couple of the members of his inner circle who were around, showed me to the guest room where I would be staying, and gave me a rundown of the evening’s schedule. The event started at seven.
“It’s a good crowd,” he said. “A lot of people will be there who I’d like you to meet p>
“I appreciate it,” I said, “but I’m trying to keep a low profile p>
He glanced at my hair. “I can see that. Well, we’ll keep things casual p>
Once I went back to my room, I spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready. I’d packed something simple yet professional a tailored blazer and trousers in deep navy blue that I wore to important meetings in the city. It was good quality, and I felt confident in it at home. Human women loved pantsuits.
But I felt out of place the moment I stepped out of the guest room and into the hallway, before anyone even said a word. Two women were coming the other direction, dressed in the way that pack women dressed for formal events-floor- length gowns that were probably handmade specifically for tonight, completely elegant and utterly stunning.
They looked at me. Then they looked at each other.
One of them laughed softly, although she hid it behind her hand,
They kept walking.
I stood in the hallway and looked down at my blazer. Back home, I was often the best -dressed person in the room. I supposed I’d forgotten that I didn’t dress like a werewolf anymore, but a human.
A pang hit my chest all of a sudden. It wasn’t just the clothes and how they made me feel underdressed here, but the reminder of how catty and cruel werewolf life could be. Even back then, I had always felt out of place, and now it was even worse.
I turned around. The front door wasn’t far. My car was right outside. I could be back
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Chapter 329
on the road within ten minutes and home before midnight, and I could send Sebastian a very professional apology email in the morning and that would be the end of it.
I took two steps toward the door.
“Ms. Rivers! There you are p>
Sebastian appeared from a side room, already dressed for the evening. He crossed the hallway, offered his arm, and looped it smoothly through mine before I could object.
Why
“Come on,” he said, already steering me toward the reception. “I’ve been waiting so we could make an entrance together p>
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