Mathias glowers at me with those dull, yet bright eyes and all I can do is glare back at him. The air around us crackled with electricity and a raging fire from the pit of my stomach licked the back of my throat. I was ready to spit flames at him, s...
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"Ridley, Ridley..." I sigh, running a hand over my face. I scoot myself to the edge of the bed and stand up. She's pacing in front of the bed. I wrap my arms around her, holding her to my chest. "Calm down, everything is going to be fine."
She takes a deep breathe, wrapping her arms around me. "I hate the holidays."
I press my lips to the top of her head, stroking her hair. She's been upset the last few days, stressed about my condition and the incoming amount of family. She won't admit it, but I know she's upset her family won't be attending dinner. Not only because they've shut her out, but because they also won't be contributing to the donations going to the orphanage. It's sort of a tradition for the families of the Alpha, Luna and Beta to attend a Christmas dinner, each bringing dishes to celebrate the diversity and origin within our leadership.
Unfortunately for Ridley, she doesn't get that luxury. "You'll learn to love them." I brush a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "I know you miss your family, but Sunny and I are more than willing to share ours with you."
This makes her smile just the slightest. She pulls out of my arms, straightening her dress. She's braided her hair, incorporating both her family's feather and her ceremonial beads. She looks absolutely stunning and she's not even finished getting ready yet. It almost makes me wish I could keep her to myself for tonight.
"Alright, you need to lay back down and save your energy for later." She instructs, turning to fix her hair in the mirror.
I climb back into bed and watch her move around the room, adoring how gracefully she moves. I think she forgets that she exists in the world where other people can see her. I'm not sure if she knows just how much presence she carries. Even doing the most mundane tasks, like hanging up the laundry. I may be biased, but I find everything she does holds some type of beauty to it. At first, she was a thorn in my side, she was exhausting. We were mean to each other, I wasn't in the right head space to communicate and she responded accordingly.
Looking back on it, I'm glad that we had that rough patch and are now settling down. I know the skies aren't clear yet, but at least the sun is shining now. After all we've been through so far, something had to give. I think what happened to her thay day, and what happened to me, scared Ridley more than she cares to admit. I'm not quite sure of it, but something is off. I have a feeling she isn't telling me something, and I can only hope nothing close to the worst I can imagine, happened to her while she was away.
I don't think I could handle knowing.
"I'm going to start the frybread, do you needs anything?" Ridley questions from the doorway, I snap out of my thoughts.
"No, but I'm coming with you." I make sure to add finality to my voice as I slowly get out of bed again. I'm no longer physically injured, but my body aches constantly.
Ridley purses her lips, like she wants to tell me to lay back down, but instead she moves to help me up. She wraps one of my arms around her shoulders, and wraps her arm around my waist, allowing me to lean almost my full bodyweight on her. She helps me down stairs and I seat myself at the kitchen counter. Ridley watches me carefully, laying out ingredients.
