Chapter 41

Iris & Arthur

Iris

The Beta stops in the middle of the sidewalk, his shoulders tensing. I storm toward him and grab his arm, forcing him to turn and look at me.

“He told you to follow me around, didn’t he?” I growl, folding my arms tightly across my chest. “How long have you been following me, hm? Have you watched me go to the bathroom, too?”

Ezra’s face flushes. “I didn’t—”

“Just tell me the truth,” I insist.

He stares at me for a moment, clearly battling between his duty to his Alpha and not getting decked in the face by a woman half his size. Finally, he nods. “Yes. Alpha Arthur asked me to keep an eye on you when you go out. It’s just for safety purposes, though. Nothing more.”

“Safety purposes,” I echo with a wry scoff. “Yeah, right. He’s trying to build more of a case against me in court, isn’t he? So he can get custody of Miles, or force me to get back together with him, or whatever the hell his angle is.”

The Beta blinks. “Not as far as I’m aware,” he says. He pauses, then adds with a slight curl of his lip, “Although, it’s not like you can afford a lawyer anyway, so I’m not sure what ‘case’ you’re referring to.”

My stomach drops. “How do you know that?” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

Ezra shrugs. “It’s sort of obvious. You couldn’t even afford those art supplies just now.” He gestures to the bag in my hand.

“That’s unrelated,” I retort quickly. “Someone reported my card as stolen and the bank closed my account.”

“Regardless, you still can’t afford a lawyer. That’s why you were running around the other day, trying desperately to sell your artwork in every pawn shop in town before you gave up and started hawking in the park.”

My cheeks turn red. I realize there’s no use lying now, and my shoulders slump as I mutter, “Does he know?”

“I haven’t told him yet,” Ezra says.

“Are you planning on it?”

“I am.”

I swallow hard, my throat bobbing with the motion, and look away. Truthfully, I’m embarrassed. I talked this big talk about having a successful career and being a good mother without any help, and meanwhile it’s been my own actions that have gotten me in this situation.

But it’s not all hopeless. “I’m going to have enough money soon,” I manage.

Ezra’s eyes narrow. “That’s assuming you sell any artwork at that exhibition.”

I glance up at him, and almost laugh at the incredulity of the entire situation. Following me for ‘safety purposes’, and yet he seems to know every detail of my personal life.

“I will sell artwork,” I say, taking a step closer to him. “And I hope you’ll do the right thing and avoid telling Arthur about this.”

“Why should I lie to my Alpha for your sake?” Ezra asks.

Honestly, I don’t have much of an answer for that. If Ezra goes against his Alpha’s wishes, then it could come back to bite him in the ass sooner rather than later. But I don’t want Arthur to know the truth about my struggle with finding a lawyer, because he’ll just use it against me.

For all I know, he might use my financial issues as leverage to get custody of Miles, or to force me to get back together with him. If he was willing to arrest me over a twisted contract clause just to get me to stay, then I wouldn’t put this past him.

“Tell you what,” I finally say, pulling my shoulders back. “Just give me until the exhibition in a week and a half to get the money together to afford a lawyer. Don’t mention this to Arthur, and in exchange, I’ll…I’ll paint you a portrait.”

His eyebrows shoot up, although I’m not sure if it’s amusement or surprise. Maybe both. “A portrait?”

I nod. “For free. Of whatever you want.”

“Why the hell would I want a portrait?”

“Because a ‘Flora’ original is going to be worth a fortune someday,” I reply, not caring how haughty I sound at the moment.

The Beta stares at me, clearly not buying it. I don’t blame him, of course; lying to Arthur is a big deal for him, and a painting is, well, a painting. But I hold up the bag of supplies and say, “Besides, I owe you for these. And… Thank you, by the way.”

Ezra glances at the bag and sighs. “I’ll consider it,” he says noncommittally.

That’s good enough for me, I suppose. For now.

With that, Ezra and I make our way back to the apartment building side-by-side in silence. It’s not the most comfortable silence, but I have to admit—it is sort of nice to have some company on my walk.

When we arrive, however, we come upon a scene that I wasn’t expecting. There’s a line of cars outside the building, drivers shouting and honking their horns.

And there, standing in the middle of the street, is Augustine in her nightgown.

…

Arthur

It’s been a long day—a long week, really—and I’m eager to get home. In fact, I leave the office a few minutes early, looking forward to making dinner with Iris and Miles. It’s strange having them in the apartment, but it also feels right. I just wish Iris would stay without a fuss.

Just as I’m rounding the corner to the apartment building, I notice an ambulance and a police car sitting outside. My heart lurches. Are Iris and Miles hurt?

I quickly park the car, slipping on my hat and sunglasses, and rush inside.

Iris is sitting in the lobby, Cliff and Ezra and a few EMTs standing nearby. Augustine is sitting beside her. They’re both… laughing.

I hesitate, not sure what to make of the scene. Augustine, the elderly landlady, has been battling the first symptoms of dementia for some time now. The once bubbly, intelligent, and feisty woman stopped smiling once Iris left, and as of late, she’s hardly even left her apartment.

But now…

Cliff hurries up to me, pulling me aside with Ezra. “What happened?” I whisper.

Ezra nods his head toward Augustine. “Iris went to the art supply store, and I went with her. When we came back, Augustine was standing in the street, confused.”

I look at Cliff, who’s wringing his hands nervously. “She was having one of her episodes,” he says softly. “I tried to get her to come in, but it just frightened her more. While I was calling an ambulance, she ran into the street. It’s a good thing Iris showed up when she did.”

“Iris managed to pull her out of it?” I ask.

Ezra’s face pales slightly. “It was uncanny,” he says, glancing over at where Iris is still sitting with Augustine, laughing and smiling like old times. “The moment she saw Iris, her whole face lit up. She walked right over, lucid as can be.”

I blink, surprised. I’ve been around to witness a couple of the elderly landlady’s episodes, and none of us have ever been able to calm her down once she gets in a state. She gets paranoid sometimes, claiming that people are plotting against her. Even Cliff, who she’s known for decades, is some sort of secret government spy in her eyes at times.

But now that Iris is here, she snapped out of it right away? It doesn’t make sense, and yet…

I can’t quite believe it, but at the same time, I can. Iris is a kind, sweet soul at her core, even after all these years of resentment and heartbreak. Even Augustine can sense that in the midst of an episode.

And it’s moments like this that make me wish even more that she would just stay here with us.