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“You’re the last person that would suggest a party,” Orson says. “You hate them nearly as much as I do.”
I shrug. “It’s just, this is a big moment for the pride.” I say, looking at Atticus, who nods thoughtfully. But it’s an even bigger moment for Nora.
After losing one mate, because he was a spineless cunt, she’s gained six new ones. That should be celebrated.
Even if a few of them are questionable.
“Maybe once things are sorted with the hunters,” he says, a little dismissively. I bet if it were Orson suggesting this, the party would be scheduled for tomorrow. Assholes. “I don’t really want her out in the public eye right now.”
Fair enough.
“I had almost forgot about those fuckers, even just for a minute,” I mutter.
Micah’s upset fills the air, the scent of it burning my nostrils since it’s combined with his familiar scent. “How are you doing?” I ask, looking at him so he knows I’m talking to him. “How are things between you and Nora?”
“Why me?” he asks.
“Well, I think we’ll all eventually need to have a turn and open up about it,” I say, hoping nobody sees through the bullshit. At the end of the day, Micah’s my baby brother. He’s innocent in ways we’re not, and no matter how much shit I give him, he’s one of the most important people in my life. He deserves to be happy. “Let’s start with you.”
He shrugs but truly considers my words.
“I think I was really upset about it, but we talked Wednesday night, and now I’m a lot more reassured,” he says. He looks around at us all, scrutinising Orson the most. “There’s nothing we could have done that would have changed her mindset.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, the words rushing out before I can stop them.
“Did she say that?” Orson asks.
“No,” Micah says, answering the bear first. “But I know that because of everything she did say. She made the decision in the heat of the moment, sure, but it was one that had been coming for six years.”
“Fucking hell,” Atticus mutters.
“She didn’t sleep very well, which is why I think she willingly took her sleeping tablet last night, but we had the whole night to ourselves, and we talked a lot. She shared a little bit of her feelings. I talked a little bit.” He gives me a grimace. “I may have stole your wise words about relying on the others for support.”
I shrug, not caring. I’m glad he took it to heart, though. Micah was very upset in a way that I just wasn’t. I was more angry at Kennedy, knowing that he is the reason that Nora feels so fucking low. But, again, it’s not like we can really fault him for it. She committed the action, she tried to kill herself. It’s shit, but that’s how it is.
“And by morning, we were on the same page,” Micah says and smiles.
“How are you doing?” Voss surprisingly asks, and even more strangely, he’s looking to Griffin for an answer.
“Fine,” he says with a shrug. Some people are just that easy going. They can take the hits and just roll with it. I’m glad Griffin can, and it’s probably good to have at least one person like that within Nora’s mates. “This isn’t our first time dealing with her having a depressive episode—”
“Is this a different depressive episode?” I ask, and the others seem to consider my words, but, unsurprisingly, it’s Griffin who answers.
“No,” he says. “I think this is the same one.”
“We just continue the way we did before,” Atticus says. “We support each other through it, we support her through it.”
“I swear to God, if Kennedy even does one thing wrong, I’m slitting his throat,” Voss says. “I hate the fuck.”
“We all do,” Orson says.
“If it wasn’t for her good heart.” Voss mimes squeezing his hands together as if strangling someone, and I smirk. The night kind of devolves from here where we all talk about the different ways we’d kill Kennedy, the hunters, or, honestly, anyone who wrongs Nora. By the time we wrap it up, and I head upstairs, Nora is already asleep.
The sleeping tablet Orson left out for her is gone, whether she took it or flushed it, I don’t know.
I shift into my tiger and lie on the bottom of her bed. She didn’t invite me in for cuddles, and I know she wouldn’t mind, but I don’t want to overstay when she’s sleeping so peacefully, so, instead, I will guard her as she sleeps and hope that she gets a good night’s sleep.
I’ll leave before she even wakes up. But this settles both my tiger and I.
