A Handful of Daffodils (Forgotten Series, #7)

Chapter Seventy-One

A week later

"Alright. How are you today, Menza?" Amber gave me a soft smile and I returned it even as I looked around, picking at the fabric of my skirt. It was therapy day. I had therapy twice a week and this was my sixth session. I wasn't quite sure why I was still doing it. We talked about things but Amber never really pushed me on anything and I didn't like talking about my feelings. They weren't important.

"I'm okay. It's cold out." It was. It had snowed a lot the last few days, something she knew but it was small talk. It was always small talk. I shifted in my chair, my hand going to my belly. I had gotten bigger over the past month, a lot. I had even started feeling little kicks and movements and I loved each and every one of them.

"It's alright in the guest house?" At the soft question I nodded. It was warm enough and I didn't mind. Duffy grumbled but she told me it was just because she liked grumbling and to ignore her. They were doing very well with constructing the new buildings. Duffy's house was smaller but she said she didn't need too much space and it wasn't like she was going to be hooking up with a male any time soon because her Drew was the love of her life and she wasn't keen to replace him. "I can see that your house is coming along well."

"It is." I had chosen a three bedroom layout. It was a single story and I thought it would be nice for Maeve and my little female to each have their own room. I knew the framing was mostly done, just like with Duffy's house. Jovan had given Alpha Jace all the bodies he had wanted to help build. It wasn't odd to see twenty or thirty Hunters in construction gear working on the houses.

"So..." Amber's voice was low and I glanced up at her as I rubbed my fairly substantial bump. "It's been three weeks since you arrived here and we have had five full therapy sessions and we haven't really touched on a lot. You are fairly resistant to talking about yourself." There was no judgment to her voice but my gaze still skittered away. A small curl of shame rose up inside me, I didn't want to disappoint anyone but I wasn't important, my feelings were mine but they didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. That tugging in my chest grew warm as it told me they were important , that I was important. I ignored it.

"So I want to change things up a little bit. Pull the focus off you and onto other things." She was looking at me but I stared at the potted plant in the corner before glancing at the big medical textbooks she had on her bookshelf. "Is that alright?" At the question I nodded. She could ask what she wanted, I was to do therapy and she was the therapist. "Menza?" She said my name and I finally looked at her. "Is that alright?"

"Yes." I drummed my fingers on my belly before picking at my skirt with my other hand.

"As you know, the Hunters provided me your files, and I went through them very thoroughly and I want to start at the beginning so we can move our way through them." Her voice was soft and I turned my gaze back to the book shelf. "Is that alright?"

"Yes." I wasn't quite sure how therapy was supposed to help me. They kept telling me I was conditioned and I needed to be brought to a more stable thought process and start to put myself first. I didn't really get what they were saying. My thought process was stable. Although the differences between Oblitus and Sublatus were growing. I was well aware that Sublatus was... it was sick in some way. Fortis, Vis, and now Oblitus. Three separate packs, the same attitudes. Females didn't need escorts, no one was treated like they were prey, the hierarchy was looser and not as absolute. People could tell the Alpha no and not be forced or punished for it.

Sublatus had been sick, so very sick, and it was a fact I couldn't deny. It had affected everyone and it made me worry for those who I had left behind, Brochan and Simon mostly. I was glad Lisa and Ellie had left, that Ellie was away from that sickness. Even Mike and Dana leaving with the kids, and Jason with Patricia.