Page 74 of Mated By the Pack
I don’t know what my bracelet… orThe Aether… thinks. Hopefully this doesn’t earn me more discipline, but I can’t just leave. Not if other women are in danger.
“What’s going on?” Fiona whimpers. “We’re already here. Why can’t we go inside?”
“Maybe the tunnels aren’t safe,” Tansy says cautiously. “Maybe they’re arguing over whether they should take us to the front gate.”
“That’s not it,” I say under my breath.
I need to tell the others what is going on. I’ve already told Abigail, and she’s distant now, huddled with the others that were in the cage with her.
But before I can say anything, Brenna clears her throat.
“I should let you all know, I’m not going inside,” Brenna says. “I was going to wait until you went into the tunnels and slip away, but I feel like I owe you more than that.”
“What do you mean you’re not going inside?” Nara asks, confusion evident in her tone. “Where are you going?”
“Anywhere but here,” Brenna mutters. “I’d rather take my chances in The Tangle than spend the rest of my life in the Lower District. That’s not a life. It’s just… a prison for people they don’t give a shit about.”
“You can’t be serious!” Nara protests. “After everything we’ve seen out here? You want to go into The Tangle by yourself? You won’t have Calla’s bracelet to help you. And you sure won’t have five wolves that can handle pretty much anything you run into.”
“Caleb says it isn’t as bad if you go north,” Brenna sighs. “Once you get far enough, there are roads you can follow to New Chicago. It won’t matter if I’m Unassigned there.”
“Brenna, that sounds like suicide,” Tansy whines, tearing up for the first time in a while.
“We all know what most of the women in the Lower District end upsellingto survive,” Brenna says. “That’s why slavery didn’t seem like the worst thing in the world to me at first. I’d already come to terms with what I would have to do if I wanted more than half-rations and dirty water.”
“We’ll take care of you.” Tansy looks around. “Right, everyone? We can help Brenna out, so she doesn’t have to do that.”
“I’ll help,” Fiona chimes. “Any way I can.”
“Same here,” Nara adds. “But we all know how unrealistic that is. I could help, but I barely make enough as a student teacher. Fiona… Tansy… You two won’t even start earning silver until your third year of college.”
Fiona and Tansy look a little heartbroken. Fiona glances at me and I can already see the question bubbling. I haven’t said anything.
“Y-you can help, right Nurse Calla?” Fiona asks. “Aren’t you supposed to graduate? You’ll make a lot more money after that.”
“I’d give her every silver I earned,” I sigh. “But I won’t be graduating. I’m not staying. I’m leaving too…” I glance toward the wolves, who are still bickering. “With them.”
There’s a collective gasp from Fiona, Tansy, and Nara. Brenna doesn’t look shocked—she just smiles and shakes her head, like it isn’t much of a surprise to her.
“I knew there was something going on,” Brenna laughs. “The way they were looking at you. All of them except Caleb.”
“N-nurse Calla, they’re wolves,” Fiona stammers. “What if they hurt you after we’re gone? Or try to eat you?”
“They won’t,” I say confidently, then gesture to my bracelet. “I’m connected to them. Just like I’m connected to The Tangle.”
“That’s why they were protecting us,” Nara deduces. “Why The Tangle let us pass. Why the tree that growled at Tansy apologized. They’re not helping us out of the kindness of their hearts. They’re helping us because you made a deal with them.”
“To get the rest of you home,” I confirm. “But they’re not going to drag me away kicking and screaming. I’m going with them because I want to.”
Want to. Have to. Maybe they’re one and the same, because I have a piece of The Aether inside me. A piece that healed them, and if Silas is right, it will heal the rest of the world, too. My children will shape more than Haven North’s future.
“I’m going to miss you, Calla,” Tansy sniffles, wrapping her arms around me for a moment, then she reaches for Brenna. “I’ll miss you, too.”
Brenna is stiff, but she succumbs to the hug. Fiona grabs me around the waist and hugs as hard as she can. Nara looks like she wants to say something else, but she doesn’t. She lets out a long sigh and joins us.
“I’m going to miss all of you,” I whisper. “I mean that.”
None of our eyes are dry when we finally pull away. I sniffle away the tears I can, and wipe what I can’t with my hands. While we haven’t been together long, it’s going to be strange not to wake up with them nearby.
