Page 146 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
I needed to remember to be direct. “It’s never a waste of time to talk to you,” I said. “You’re my best friend.”
Tavi hesitated, wavering from side to side like a ghost. I thought she might be about to refuse me again—and if she did, what could I possibly do?—but then she eased her hand from the door.
“Okay.” She shifted her eyes down and away from my face.
“Okay.” I let out a breath. “Do you…want to take a walk?”
“Um, sure. But, just, not around the compound.”
She had seemed more willing to walk around when we spoke to Tyrell, but she’d become more reclusive since then.Is she not adjusting well to Kings’ territory? Is her recovery not going well for her?Neither of those possibilities would bode well for what I wanted to ask her, but maybe talking with her would allow me to help ease her worries?
“Of course. We can go wherever.”
I didn’t mind where we walked. The Elders weren’t expecting me to stop by until after sunrise, so we had time. Besides, I knew exactly where to take her.
Tavi called to Violet to let her know that we were going out, and we set off. She was quiet as we walked through the compound toward the forest, keeping her eyes either straight ahead on the tree line or on the ground. It reminded me of the way I’d moved from place to place when I had been human.
I tried to think of what Tavi would say to me if our roles were reversed, but nothing I could come up with sounded genuine or helpful. I wanted so badly to be the comfort that she had been to me when I was still Night’s captive, but surprise, surprise, the former human couldn’t think up a way to do it.
My wolf whined and nudged me with her nose.Don’t, she seemed to say.
I closed my eyes long enough to take a deep breath, and when I opened them, I felt less sorry for myself. My wolf was right—I shouldn’t be putting myself down when I was trying to make my friend feel better. This wasn’t about me; it was about Octavia Black, who needed someone to be there for her. So, though we walked in silence, I tried not to feel bad about it. I couldn’t try to be Tavi to make Tavi feel better. I could only be myself.
When we reached the tree line, she uncurled a bit, her shoulders rolling back to a straighter posture, her chin raising slightly higher. We walked a bit further in until we reached a small clearing. Tall, thin spruce surrounded us, and white and purple wildflowers decorated the forest floor.
“Is this a good place to stop and talk?” I asked.
She nodded. “It’s beautiful.”
“I think so, too.” I sat in the middle of the clearing and crossed my legs. “My mom used to take me to this spot when I was a kid. She would tell me that this was her ‘thinking spot’ when she wasa younger wolf. She said that she’d lay out in the grass and stare up at the sky through the canopy until life started to make sense again.” I patted the spot next to me. “Wanna try it? I promise the grass is super soft.”
She hesitated, but eventually nodded. “Okay.” She sat down and together we lay back in the grass. The soft blades cradled us as we looked up toward the sky. It had started to lighten from black to a royal blue, a gradient that steadily lightened as it reached the horizon.
Lying like this took me back to those moments with Mom, when we would eat sweet homemade granola and she would tell me stories about shifters she knew.
“Is this okay?” I asked. “If it’s too quiet or something, we can keep walking.”
“No, no. I…I like this a lot actually.”
I couldn’t see her face, but something about her tone seemed a bit more relaxed. My chest warmed. I was doing something right!
“To be honest,” she said gently, “I’m surprised you’d want to talk to me after the way I acted when we went to talk to Tyrell.”
“Hm? But I thought we agreed that went okay all things considered.”
“Well, I thought so, too, but you never came by again after that. You never asked me to help you with any other Alpha projects around the compound.”
I started to respond, and then I stopped. I replayed that sentence in my head, and realized—she thoughtIwas avoidingher?
I sat up on my elbow and looked down at her. “Wait, Tavi, I think you’ve been misunderstanding me. I was trying to give you space. I felt like I used Violet to make you help me out that day, and I didn’t want to push you into doing something you didn’t want to do again.”
She frowned, glancing away from me. “But it makes sense, doesn’t it? I was useless when we were held captive, and I only made things worse between you and the Kings.”
“That’s not true! Neither of us could do anything against Troy, and we were both hurt and scared and weak…and Tavi, I was so glad that I took you with me that day. I mean it.”
She didn’t say anything, but when she wouldn’t look at me, I knew that she wasn’t convinced. So I tried again.
“I would have loved to have you around with me these past couple of days. I’ve felt out of my depth and confused so many times, it would have been great to have you there with me…”
