Chapter 29
Kasey
I decided that whatever cream Evander used had to be some kind of magic. My back felt better than it had in days. I didn’t know what to do with that kind of relief.
No one had ever treated me like that before. Not with care. Not with patience.
So even hours later, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I waited for Evander to tell me what the attention had cost, what he expected in return. Surely an Alpha didn’t give that much without wanting something back.
Surely, he’d ask for…something. Anything. That was how it always worked.
And yet, he hadn’t. Not once.
Which somehow made the waiting even harder.
It didn’t help that Evander left the house with camera gear, leaving me all alone with…well anything I could possibly choose to do. Freedom felt too big, too sharp around the edges.
If I’d been brave, or stupid, I could’ve walked out the front door wearing one of the new pairs of shoes, a bag full of clothes slung over my shoulder. Nothing stopped me. No locks, no orders.
But bravery wasn’t something I had in me. Not the kind that lets you run. I wasn’t even bold enough to put a foot over the threshold.
So instead, I’d finished washing and drying all the clothes, making sure they were folded carefully, sorted by color, fabric and by purpose. I took my time with it, letting the routine settle my nerves. Letting the order give me something to hold onto.
It was safer to stay busy. Safer to stay inside. Safer to stay where he left me.
I was in the middle of making Evander’s bed, smoothing out every wrinkle and tucking in each corner just so, when the back door clicked open.
I froze.
It wasn’t loud, just the soft thump of the kitchen door swinging inward, but it hit me like a shock. My heart jumped into my throat. I hadn’t heard a car. I hadn’t heard footsteps. I didn’t expectanyone to come.
“Evander?” a woman’s voice called, warm and familiar in a way that made my stomach swoop. “I brough that casserole you like. Thought I’d drop it off while it was still warm.”
Evander’s mother.
I knew that voice. The kindness that was so much like her son’s.
I scrambled to my feet too fast, nearly stubbing my toe in my haste. My pulse hammered in my ears. I didn’t know where to stand, what to do, what I was allowed to do. The Alpha hadn’t gone over any rules before he left, other than to eat and drink if I needed to.
She stepped into Evander’s room, right there on the edge, before I could decide what to do, where I belonged.
“Oh!” She gasped, stopping short when she saw me. “I-goodness. I didn’t realize anyone was home.”
I ducked my head immediately, and my hands clapped tightly in front of me. “S-sorry.” I whispered, even though I wasn’t sure what I was apologizing for. Existing, probably.
She blinked at me, surprised, softening into something gentle, just like how her son sometimes looked at me. Like I could break. “You must be…well, I don’t know who you are.”
She tilted her head, giving me a small, welcoming smile.
“I’m…I’m just…” the words tangled in my throat. I didn’t know what Evander wanted me to say.
Her eyes flickered to the bed, to me, around the room as she took it all in. “Are you a friend of Evander’s?”
Friend. The word didn’t fit me. Not even close.
I swallowed hard, trying to breathe through the panic rising in my chest. “He…he knows I’m here.” I managed, voice barely above a whisper.
She took a small step forward; and her hands raised slightly like she didn’t want to spook me. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
