The True One

Chapter 31 Part 1

Verity

In my dream, Alek wore a deep purple bowtie and a black Armani suit. He looked just as handsome as any actor attending the Oscars, but instead of an awards show, the only place he was heading was the grocery store.

"I'm in disguise," he told me. "They can't recognize me."

"Who is they?" I asked.

He flashed his dimpled smile my way. "You know who they are. They're the ones with the darkest secrets."

"Oh, right, I forgot they hang out at the supermarket," I said, nodding my head like this made perfect sense. "You still look like you, though, Alek."

He ran a finger along the edge of his suit jacket's lapel. "No, this outfit will do the trick. They won't see who I really am."

He left without fanfare, and I waited for him to return with the oat milk and mint chocolate chip cookies he'd promised me. The hours both crept and hurried by the way they do in the strange time warp of dreams. My unease grew, until finally, I received a text from a dream person named Jacob, who seemed to be a mutual acquaintance of ours.

He won't return, the text read. You're on your own.

I woke to bright light diffused through the hotel's drapes. Scrambled out of bed, I reached for my journal, intending to pen the details from my dream before they faded away. A nagging feeling itched at me as I wrote. My palms began to sweat, and my writing grew blurry. Putting my journal aside, I stepped into the hallway and stared at the closed door of Alek's room, the memory of last night's argument flooding back to me.

I already knew what was waiting for me, but I made my way into his room anyways, running my hand along his neatly made bed and imagining how it would have looked with his body occupying it. The faint smell of the forest lingered. He hadn't been gone more than a few hours, but still: gone was gone.

He won't return. You're on your own.

An hour later, Janene suggested hiring another bodyguard.

"You formed an attachment to Alek," she said before taking a bite of hashbrowns. She'd dragged me to brunch, despite my protests.

My stomach twisted as I breathed in the smells of fried meat and coffee. I picked at my fruit salad and took small sips of ice water as Janene continued.

"Be reasonable, Verity. You shouldn't go without security simply because Alek is unavailable for the rest of the tour."

She used the word unavailable rather than "AWOL" or "flew the coop" due to my stubborn, stupid choices, because I'd lied, telling both her and my father that Alek's uncle was sick. Such a concerned nephew, he had rushed off to see him in the hospital. Janene had no reason to disbelieve this, but Dad, on the other hand, pulled me aside as soon as I returned to the hotel.

"What happened between you two? Did Alek leave because of what you did on stage last night?"

"No, of course not!"

He gave me the stern father stare down that I had hated so much as a teenager.

"Okay, fine, yes. He's pretty upset with me over this."

"As am I," he said. He folded his arms against his chest, then changing his mind, held them out to me and brought me in for a hug. "But I'm not going to leave you. Especially now when you've put a target on your back."

I pulled away from him enough to let him see my own somber face. "There was already a target on my back, Dad."

"Yes, but it was hidden. Now it's out in the open for all to see. Not smart, kiddo."

I sunk back into him. "I hate when you call me that."

"Let me guess: Alek wanted you to promise not to bring out your wolf again?"

I nodded, my head bumping against his shoulder.

"And you refused."

"Why does it even matter? It's not like I can undo what I did. The audience will be expecting it now."

He let out a long sigh. "You've always been impulsive. Just like your mom. More like your mom than I could have guessed, in fact."

"Not entirely." This wasn't the time to get into the nuances of Cora's situation versus my own. He was still coming to terms with it all, and still wondering if his wife's life could have turned out differently had she shared with him everything she was going through.

The hug ended, but my father had more to say.

"Janene is right about hiring more security. Alek's not the end all be all here. You need protection."

"I have protection," I said. "I'm a psychic wolf, in case you forgot. I don't need a man to watch over me."

"Hire a woman to help you crush the patriarchy then. That's fine. Keep in mind the limitations of using your wolf to protect you though. It's not like it can be out walking side by side with you down the street all the time."

"Ideally, it would be exactly like that. I'd be in wolf form all the time, and no one would mind."

"Sounds unrealistic. And exhausting."

I didn't answer because in truth, he was likely right. Short jaunts as a wolf were invigorating, but if I was constantly both wolf and human Verity, I would never rest and I'd be in no state to defend myself.

Add to that, my wolf as a bodyguard left me more vulnerable than my father realized. If someone hurt either body, the other felt it. I kept that tidbit to myself, however, hoping it was a factoid Norvin didn't have at his disposal either.

"Fine, I'll think about getting another bodyguard. I'm just not ready to commit yet. We'll use venue security for crowd management until then."

"Until when?" His expression changed to one of pity. "You're hoping he comes back, aren't you?"

"Nope. Alek can stay away forever."

"Don't put that shell up. Not with me." He nudged my shoulder. "It truly is okay that you let yourself feel something for him."

"I don't feel anything besides regret."

"Are you sure about that?

I walked over to the window and stared out at the Strip, letting the ever-present lights of Vegas lull me. "I'm not sure about much these days."

"Well then, do me—and yourself—a favor." He stepped over to me. "No more letting your wolf out in public. If you do that, he's never coming back."

I turned away from him so he couldn't see how my eyelid had started to twitch. "Maybe I don't want him back."

Instead of arguing, he left me to curse my own words. I'd released my wolf for all to see because I wanted to show everyone the power that came with being free and honest with oneself. Instead, I felt more trapped than ever.

____

Author's Note: This is a surprise chapter and I'll have part 2 for you by Friday. I'm (mostly) off work this week so I decided to use the time to get some extra writing in. 

Do you think Verity will keep her wolf tucked away the rest of her tour or will she let herself go? What should she do?

We'll find out the day after tomorrow!