Chapter 218

Almara’s Pov

I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t relieved to have Cathy walking beside me. I didn’t realize how much I needed to have a companion right now. At least this way I can project my thoughts rather than keep them trapped inside my head, just bouncing them around and driving myself crazy.

We walk side by side, our footsteps fall into a matching pattern. I almost can forget we’re on a journey to vampire lands to save my daughter and restore the wolf nation and just pretend I’m going on a nature excursion with my best friend. Almost.

“How are you feeling?” Cathy had asked me ten minutes ago and I’m still trying to unpack this loaded question. I wish I could say that everything is fine and nothing is new, as so many used to be able to automatically reply.

Like when checking out at a store and the worker asks how you are, they aren’t really asking and you don’t actually want to tell. But that’s not how it is with Cathy. I know she’s genuinely wanting to know how I am and I couldn’t hide anything from her even if I tried.

I don’t know where to begin and unfortunately, none of it is good. I think the least complex of it all is my physical pain. I’ve walked and ran more miles in this past week than I have in the past months combined.

At first, it was great. I was tapping into primal instincts and it was almost fun, despite the situation. Now, with my belly growing ever bigger the extra weight is becoming a burden, not to mention the food in my bag is becoming scarce.

If I wasn’t seven months pregnant, I think I could tolerate the bit of hunger that I feel and the achiness in my feet in back, but once I begin to feel even a little hungry I know I have about five minutes before I become starving.

I’ve already had to slow down the group to catch more prey, but the achiness of my body has made me embarrassingly clumsy. The soldiers now take turns hunting for me, and while they don’t complain I know I’m slowing us down.

At least Cathy is staying behind with me, slowing herself down to be at my pace. The soldier men leads the way. They’ve loosened up on the hand signals and the concerns to be totally silent.

It doesn’t seem anyone is after us as much as they were a few days ago, and even if wolves are I think the military-trained soldiers could take them down easily.

Though we haven’t even run into others in days, I’ve started to wonder if we were lost. Though I know we’re not, and the follow-up question is far more unsettling. What does everyone else know that we don’t? Why aren’t we being hunted anymore?

I want to contribute to the lack of interest in to Arthur’s speech, but I’m no longer veering the side of naivety.

Aside from my physical ailments, I tell Cathy about the latest incident that happened at my house, with the bugging and the security men that Elenor called.

“Why would someone want to bug your house?” Cathy asks, and I begin to say that I have no idea but that too would be naive. As the Hurricane Pack, there will always be crazy people who want to do crazy things.

The better question is who would bug our house, I think that will give us an answer to why. “Has anyone been melted by the lasers?” Cathy asks a follow up question before I can even answer the first.

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “Since we ditched out phones, I don’t have any updates.”

“So, you’re house could be littered with bodies of people who fried their brains by a laser. Or maybe someone just burned down your house, and you have no idea,”

“Thank you for this, Cathy,” I say sarcastically. Honestly, with everything going on, the state of my house is my least concern- even if it is my dream house and a tangible symbol of the hard work Arthur and I had undergone.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe how calm you are about it,” Cathy says and I laugh in spite of myself.

“I think shock is the right word,” I say.

“Do you think you know who bugged it?” Cathy asks, bringing my thoughts back to that unanswerable question.

“Well, a vampire would make the most sense,” I say and Cathy can sense my hesitation.

“But. . .”

“But. . . that doesn’t seem like their style. Not to mention, how would a vampire even get into my house when a ton of wolves were there? Someone would smell their rotten flesh easily,”

“Are you sure it was the night of the party?” Cathy asks and I almost feel bad for talking about this. That was the night she experienced the side of Robert we all know and hate.

“Again, that would make the most sense. Before then, no one even had our address,” I say with a shrug, “but I guess anything is possible,” I saw with a deep sigh. A pain in my side is beginning to spread to my back and I try to cover my wince.

“Is the baby okay?” Cathy asks and through gritted teeth, I nod.

“He’s fine. He’s just very active and sometimes he kicks a nerve on my side,”

“He?” Cathy says, raising an eyebrow at me.

“I also don’t know that for sure,” I say realizing that I truly no nothing about anything happening in my life. “It just feels like a ‘he’” I say and realize I’m smiling.

“Well, perhaps tap into your maternal intuition Ms. Luna. Maybe you know more than you realize,”

The pain subsides and I’m able to pick up my pace. I just want to be there already.

“Wait a minute,” Cathy says putting her hand suddenly on my arm. I look at her with alarmed confusion, but she’s staring straight ahead though not really looking ay anything.

“Didn’t you and Arthur have a crazy therapist?”

“Yeah, so?” I ask not following.

“And wasn’t she obsessed with ruining celebrities' lives or something?” Cathy says, giving me breadcrumbs to follow. I nod slowly, trying to follow her trail. “So, wouldn’t a crazy person do something like plant a hidden mic and maybe a camera in someone’s house?”

“Well, sure.” I agree, thinking about that. Our therapist did want to ruin our lives and it is on brand for someone who has an obsession with celebrities to want to break into their house. I think of the human world and remember way back hearing stories of some teens doing that to pop stars.

“But why? And why so many months after?” I ask. It might make sense for someone like her to do it, but does it make sense that it really is her doing? This time it’s Cathy who shrugs.

“She’s had time to plot her revenge,” Cathy points out.

“I guess,” I say not completely convinced, though I will admit it definitely is a new angle to explore.