Shift | Complete ✔️

9 | Reverie

I couldn't even roll out of bed. I lost track of how long I hid like a recluse. Knocks on door and hushed enquires from Sophie or Phelan fading to background static that I left ignored.

Nestled under the covers in Phelan's guest room I shut out the world. Maybe it was my way of trying to come to terms with it all, and whilst I knew how rude it came across, the thought of confronting everything made me feel physically sick.

But wasn't that what I came here for? To confront it all?

I groaned outwardly as I chastised myself. Any prior thoughts of being a Joan of Arc-esque heroine had gone out the window, after all, look at what happened to her.

Laying there as morning turned to night, I flicked through my mental library for any pieces to the puzzle to help it all click together. Fragments, memories, what I knew and what I didn't know about werewolf folklore... Are mates a thing? Can werewolves use some kind of mental telepathy? What is a moon goddess? What else am I missing?

Enough.

Throwing the blanket off in a huff, I sat upright in my two or three day old clothing and stale breath to match.

Edie, you are a hot mess.

Sighing, I attempted to fix my hair, the knots impossible to untangle as I weaved my raven waves in to something resembling a messy bun. At least I got the messy part right, I thought.

Only just noticing some fresh clothing that had been placed on the dresser, I chose the hot pink fluffy socks and pulled them up as high as I could. Perhaps my choice of fashion was the reason for my single status, and not that fact that the only man I'd been able to attract was a corrupt police officer who was more criminal than those he was meant to apprehend... The name Hale should have been warning enough, I thought.

But there was no point dwelling on the past when the future looked even worse.

Shrugging my shoulders at the thought, I stepped out of the room.

"Hello?" I could hear the hesitation in my voice as it echoed down the stairs. There was no reply. I felt uncomfortable walking around Phelan's house alone, but what else could I do?

Heading down to the main floor, my hunger took over as it navigated me straight to the fridge. Pizza. Why on Earth hadn't I come down sooner?! Peering in, I grabbed a slice, the biggest in the box mind you, before the slamming of a kitchen cabinet behind me had me hit my head against the roof of the fridge.

"Jesus fucking Chr-owwww!"

Nursing the back of my head with one hand and being mindful not to drop my pizza with the other, I turned to face the culprit.

"Really?! You couldn't just clear your throat of something?"

His eyes met mine as he smirked.

"You seemed so focussed on the food, I doubted you'd notice."

"Yeah well, I was... I mean what kind of person puts pineapple on pizza anyway?!"

"Someone... refined."

I chuckled, "oh okay, a culturally elite werewolf in the middle of the remote wilderness? Quite the juxtaposition there."