A Gift from the Goddess by Dawn Rosewood novel Chapter 66

Chapter Sixty–Six 

A loud knocking sounded at my door the following morning, instantly waking me up. 

It was dark, maybe dim morning light, but definitely earlier than I had expected to be disturbed that day. It was so early that I knew even Lucy wouldn‘t have arrived yet. 

Despite my best efforts, my brain had refused to quieten down after I‘d gone to sleep the night before. Figuring out a possible theory to do with Thea had awakened a new spark within me, one which had prevented me from settling my mind down. As a result, I felt exhausted from the little rest I had managed to get. 

I pulled myself out of bed sluggishly and made my way to the door, opening it to see a dishevelled looking Aleric on my doorstep. It appeared that early mornings still disagreed with him even after all this time. 

“...Aleric? Why are you here so early?” | yawned, too tired to conduct the required formalities. 

“So you just open the door for anyone without checking first?” he asked, ignoring my question. “What if I were someone here to kill you? I get that we‘re in the packhouse but it‘s not like we haven‘t had spies here before.” 

I stared back at him completely unfazed, my eyelids heavy. “If it meant that I didn‘t need to be awake right now or go to this meeting, maybe I would welcome the hostile intrusion,” Treplied. “Besides, what kind of murderer knocks on the door to announce their presence virst? Not very subtle.” 

He stood frozen for a few seconds, confusion showing on his face momentarily, before finally, his lip twitched in a small smile. What was he confused about? 

Oh. It was the first attempt at humour I‘d made to him in months. 

Maybe I had been letting this place affect me too much. I could definitely feel that having something different finally happening today did help to dissociate myself from the less pleasant memories in this room. It made me more... aware. 

“Come inside and wait,” I offered, opening the door wider for him to enter. “I need to get changed and grab the last of my things.” 

“Don‘t take too long. We need to get going.” 

I frowned. He‘d shown up almost two hours earlier than he needed to. Why was he in such a rush? 

After getting changed and attempting to cover up the unpleasant new features of my face with makeup, i grabbed my bag and took one last look in the mirror 

Once dressed up and nicely presented, it was easy to miss the signs of my own inner struggles the last few months. That is, of course, if you were also blind and completely ignored the collar sported around m y neck 

I sighed. There was no getting out of this now. 

Refocusing on the task at hand, I headed back to where Aleric was waiting for me. 

Surprisingly, in the time it took for me io get ready, he had somehow managed to tame his wavy hair a bit better and looked more presentable for the meeting ahead. 

“Ready to go,” I announced, walking towards the front door. 

“Wait, I‘ve got something for you,” he said, making me pause. 

Chapter Sixty Six 

I watched as he then pulled out a length of quality violet fabric from a bag and showed it to me. It was a scarf. 

“I figured you‘d feel more comfortable with something like this to hide the ah....” His gaze lowered to my collar. 

Teyed the gift sceptically. “...We don‘t have very cold weather right now.” 

He shrugged. “The fabric is a bit thinner so it could be more of a fashion thing? I don‘t know. I‘m not good with that stuff. Just... here.” 

He took a step closer and helped wrap it around my neck. A nice sentiment if not for his finger accidentally grazing the flesh by the collar, causing me to wince. 

“Does it hurt badly?” he asked softly, lifting the metal up in curiosity to try and see the skin under it. “It looks really red.” 

I grabbed his hand to move it away, adjusting the collar and scarf back in place behind it. “You get used t o it. Mostly it‘s just a mild burn that you tune out just like the handcuffs. The problem is that, since it‘s on all day long, the skin gets irritated so it‘s far more sensitive. I have a cream that helps a little with that though.” 

He nodded hesitantly, not looking very reassured by my response. But as he looked into my eyes, I could tell he felt guilty. . 

“Aria... you know I‘m so–.” 

“I know. It‘s not your fault,” I said, cutting him off. 

I took a step back towards the door in an attempt to break the serious air surrounding us. “Anyway, you said we were in a rush?” 

He frowned, as if remembering why we were here again, and cleared his throat. “Yeah... let‘s go. The house is still sleeping so stay quiet,” he said, leading me out the door. 

I followed closely behind through the familiar halls, the eerie silence of those sleeping around us evident, until we finally made it to his car parked out front. 

The fresh air was what hit me first. It was a crisp smell of nature, maybe even some freshly cut grass. Whatever it was, I took a second to breathe it in, greedily indulging in something I‘d deprived myself of. Already I could feel myself wake up and feel a little more stable. Maybe this trip was what I had needed. 

Aleric quickly got into the car and I followed after, throwing my bag in the back. He didn‘t waste much time afterwards in starting the engine. 

The trip was going well and we were driving for a while before I finally spoke. It was something that had been bothering me since his arrival this morning, a nagging in my mind that wasn‘t allowing me to let it go. 

“… Tytus doesn‘t actually know that I‘m going to this meeting... does he?” I asked dubiously. 

There were no warriors accompanying me even though there should have been, not to mention it was far too early in the morning; way earlier than we should have needed to make it to the meeting on time. With all of this in consideration, there was only one conclusion I could come to. 

...He was sneaking me out. 

Aleric was quiet for a minute before replying. “...Sort of.” 

| sighed. “You told me yesterday that he knew about this.” 

“Oh, he will know... I left him a note.” 

My disapproval was evident in my silence to which he laughed. “What‘s he going to do? Drag you home in 

front of all those pack officials? I‘m sure that‘ll look great on our already wavering reputation.” 

“What‘s that supposed to mean? Did something happen?” 

I hadn‘t kept up to date with current affairs outside the packhouse so naturally, I hadn‘t inquired as to the aftermath of my punishment. But I would be lying if I said that reputational damage didn‘t surprise me. 

Aleric‘s mouth flattened in a tight line as if he wasn‘t sure whether to explain. 

“...Aleric?” | pressed. 

“Well... I mean, it‘s not like we didn‘t anticipate a backlash from this whole thing,” he started. “There‘s been a bit of stirring, a few accusations... After all, you just went missing one day, holing yourself up in those quarters. Tytus made an announcement to say you were taking some personal time off to recover following the death of Myra. Of course, that didn‘t make much sense given the timeline of events. A few people weren‘t happy so it‘s just been a matter of putting out fires.” 

“A few theories. The biggest one being imprisonment which is problematic. There was also a lot of petitioning for your release happening. Not just from within the Winter Mist either.” 

“...And the collar?” 

We drove quietly the rest of the way, my mind filling with anxiety the closer we got, until finally, I saw the border in sight. Several warriors from the Diamond Claw pack were standing guard, screening everyone a s they came across. I wondered whether the added security measures were introduced from hearing about all the rogue attacks and deaths the Winter Mist suffered. 

The warriors peered down into Aleric‘s car window to identify him, though he didn‘t need much introduction. All the packs within our neighbouring territories would know who he was. I could see their nervousness, the way they carefully showed Aleric respect, but their attention wasn‘t just directed at him. 

The frequent and unmistakable eye shifting to where I was seated was... less than subtle. In fact, their staring was almost borderline rude. But I knew why they were doing it... after all, their eyes were directed towards my neck, where I was sure they were wondering if the rumours were true, hiding away just behind the scarf. 

I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, turning my face to look out the window to distract myself instead Coming here was a bad idea. If the lower ranks were this blatantly obvious, who knew how the ranked members would conduct themselves with less social constrictions 

The warrior‘s face went white, eyes wide with fear. Aleric could rip his throat out if he wanted and this pack wouldn‘t be able to do much about it. After all, they were under the Winter Mist‘s protection because of their own lack of resources.