Chapter 131

Wendy ushered me into the elevator, waited for David, and then pushed the button for the lobby. “You absolutely need to attend to Theo,” she said. “You can’t let a tasty little piece of man like that sit all by himself.”

“I already have somebody,” I pointed out. “And he’s got a girlfriend.”

Wendy waved a dismissive hand. “Details,” she said. “Wait! That’s what you should do. You should fix dinner—”

“Beans,” I reminded her, cutting her off before she really got going.

“Oh. Right,” she said. “So, obviously, if we can’t grow coffee beans here, we’re importing all of the beans that we use for our coffee. I don’t think we’re having too much trouble with getting the beans from some of the nations, but there’s rumors that the vampire and the human coffee growers both have strong biases against werewolves.”

She made a face. “Figures, the shifters don’t care, but the others do. Anyway, the beans coming in from the other countries are supposedly way more than the ones coming in from the shifter nations. So we’re going to interview the coffee shop owners and see what kind of biases they’ve been dealing with. We’ll ask about their suppliers, and then tomorrow, our investigation will take us to the suppliers, and we’ll find out their side of the story.”

I internalized a sigh. At least this story didn’t involve corruption within the Orlune or Packhaven governments or have anything to do with the Alpha King. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stomach another of those stories or keep my feelings quiet if I found additional corruption.

She let me out the door and headed for her car.

“If you want, I can drive today,” David offered.

Wendy giggled and hooked her arm through mine. “Just show me where your car is parked,” she practically sang. “That sounds like an awesome idea. It’ll be like having a chauffeur.”

She stopped and paused. “Oh wait, you’re dating an alpha. You probably already have a chauffeur.”

“I’m not an alpha,” I said. “I don’t have anything like that. But we can go with David and sit in the back. As long as that doesn’t make him feel uncomfortable.”

He chuckled. “Not the slightest. I’d be happy to drive you ladies around today. But… It’s not a free limo service. Someone is buying me coffee.”

“Done,” Wendy agreed, and we set out to interview the shop owners.

By the time I finished the interviews, I was in such horrific knots that I begged David for a few extra minutes out. After we dropped Wendy off, we had gotten a text from Theo saying he was back at the apartment and resting, so I could go back and stay with him, and David could join Charles at the office, but I really wanted to get things off my chest.

“Is there a temple to the moon goddess anywhere nearby?” I asked. “I really need to pray.”

“If you’d like,” David answered. “There’s one not too far from our apartment complex. I can take you there before I take you back to stay with Theo.”

“Yes, please,” I said.

Sure enough, the temple for the moon goddess was only a few blocks from our apartment. I would need to keep that in mind. It had been a while since I’d gone and properly offered my respects. I really wanted to do that more often.

“Do you mind if I have a little privacy?” I asked David.

“You know that I can stay by the entrance, but I’ll need you to be where I can see you.”

I quickly agreed.

Inside the temple, silence ruled, the shadowy recesses offering peace from the outside world. I drew in a deep breath and shuddered. Someone had lit incense in the temple, and it was vetiver. It was like a sign that I was meant to be here. Thankfully, the smell brought nothing but comfort to me now.

True to his word, David stood at the door to the temple, and I wandered deeper into the recesses by myself, soaking in the peace around me.

A likeness of the moon goddess graced an altar at the front. It was carved from soft gray stone that was nearly the shade of the moon and lit with a light that gave it a luminous look, as if somebody had pulled the moon from the sky, shaped it into the goddess herself, and placed her on the altar. This was an amazing work of art and not something I had seen anywhere else in Orlune. Of course, they would have the very best in the capital.

I knelt in front of the moon goddess and bowed so low that my head nearly touched the floor. I had meant to just give her one bow and come up and offer her prayers, but the weight of everything kept me with my head to the floor.

I bit my lip and silently sobbed out all of my woes. “Goddess, please,” I begged. “Forgive me. I didn’t want to hurt Theo. Please let me believe that this was for the greater good, that I haven’t become the sort of person that I’m trying to expose. I don’t want to be someone willing to hurt others just to get what they want.”

“And please don’t let me be pregnant,” I begged. “I’m in so much danger, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I brought a child into this world. At least not as it stands now. Let me make it better first.”

I don’t know whether it was the peace of the place or just my desperate need for connection with the moon goddess, but I swear a whisper of a breeze wrapped around me, whispering in my ear.

I glanced up, but the room was still, and no one was anywhere near me. I let out a sigh and sat back on my heels. Admittedly, I did feel better. Coming here was definitely the right decision. I just needed to do one last thing before I left. I stood and went to the other end of the temple, making sure to stay out from behind the pillars so that I wouldn’t bring David close trying to find me.

I had one last prayer I needed to offer. But this one I wanted to send up with an offering. I purchased an incense stick in vetiver, lit it, and returned to the goddess. Poking it in the sand at her feet, I clasped my hands together and bowed my head over them.

“Goddess,” I whispered. “One last thing. Now that you’ve stilled my heart and given me a little peace, please help me help werewolf kind. We’re your children and I want to see us thriving the way you would like.”

I let my hands drop to my sides and let out one last sigh. I turned and smiled and waved at David. With this newfound peace in my heart, it was time to get back to work.

Halfway home, cramps stabbed through my stomach. I scooted uncomfortably, only to have horror zip through me. I was sitting in David’s car with its pale gray seats, and I had started my period. The utter mortification sent heat steaming up from underneath my collar.

At least we were almost home. I tried to make sure my black skirt was between me and the upholstery and leaned my head against the window to cool my cheeks.

“Are you feeling all right?” he asked.

This only made me blush harder. “I’m fine,” I said.

He gave a short nod and focused on parking the car. I hurried from the vehicle, trying to take care of my situation before anyone noticed.

But once I had my situation in hand, a massive feeling of relief crashed over my head. Normally, the first day was the worst, uncomfortable with cramps and feeling icky and emotional. But this time, the tears were tears of relief. It was like the goddess had actually granted my prayer request in real time. With this, I had proof that I would not be risking a child of mine and Charles.

I’d also bought myself a week to get all of this mess in hand before Charles would want to do anything in the bedroom again. I splashed cold water over my face and neck and patted myself dry. I said a silent thank you to the goddess and turned to go back and start facing some of these deeper problems.