Chapter 77
Chapter 77
Astrid’s POV
The two days that followed our movie night were quiet. Not the heavy, oppressive quiet of loneliness I had grown so accustomed to, but a soft, peaceful silence filled with unspoken comfort. Kaeleen and I were now friends...I think. Not that we weren’t friends or cordial with each other before but this was like on a different level.
We fell into a simple rhythm. We’d have breakfast together, our conversation light and unforced, mostly centered around pack business and just getting to know each other. I was slowly learning more about him and he was doing the same with me.
We didn’t talk about the kiss. We didn’t talk about Leon. We didn’t talk about the heavy, complicated things that still lingered in the corners of our lives. We simply existed in the same space, and that felt like enough. It was everything.
I woke up on the third morning feeling a sense of calm wash over me. I stretched in the enormous, comfortable bed, the soft morning light filtering through the curtains. There was no dread in my stomach, no immediate spike of anxiety. I was just... peaceful. I was still in my sleeping clothes, a simple pair of silk pajamas, my hair a tangled mess, and I was planning on enjoying a slow, lazy morning before I had to face the day.
My plans, however, were promptly derailed by a series of frantic, excited knocks on my bedroom door.
Before I could even call out, the door burst open and Lila, my assistant, practically vibrated into the room, a grin so wide on her face it looked like it might split her cheeks. Her usual cheerful energy was dialed up to an entirely new level. How she could be even more cheerful? I had no idea.
"Good morning, Luna!" she chirped, her voice several octaves higher than usual. "You have to come with me! Right now! I have something to show you!"
I blinked at her, still half-asleep, trying to process what was going on and why she was extremely chipper this morning. "Lila, good morning," I said, a slow, amused smile forming on my face. "What’s going on? I haven’t even showered yet."
"Doesn’t matter!" she said, waving her hand dismissively as if a shower was the most trivial concept in the world. "Trust me, once you see this, you will completely forget what a shower even is. You might never shower again! You’ll just want to stay there forever and ever!"