Chapter 54: THE KIT
KEISHA’S POV
I don’t think I had ever been this aggressive about my cooking.
But with everything I did, I couldn’t help fuming about everything as I stood in the kitchen of my house.
I stood at the stove, stirring angrily.
Maybe this was crazy. But who cared? You know what was even crazier? The fact that Riven thought that if he brought up trees and past memories, then I would forget everything. How I cried. Lost myself. How I had thought I would never recover. And now that I did? He thought he could just come back?
"Spilled milk." I told nothing in particular. Maybe I was speaking to the pot. "That’s exactly what it is."
The pot didn’t respond.
Goddess, this was pathetic but I needed somewhere to get all this.
"Three years." I said. "Three years and now he wants to stand outside my house in the dark with his mate around the corner." I stirred harder. "And talk about an orchard."
I plated the food eventually and took it to the sitting room where I sat down and ate and it was actually good despite everything which felt like the only win I’d had all day.
I finished the last of it and put the plate down.
Suddenly, my stomach turned over and I groaned.
"Fuck." I pressed my hand flat against it.
It turned again.
Oh no.
I was on my feet before I finished the thought and made it to the bathroom where I threw up and lost everything I ate.
For a long time, I crouched there after with my forehead against the cool porcelain and thought— okay. Okay this is the second time.
The first time I told myself it was the fish. The second time I cooked the food myself and I know exactly what went into it and it wasn’t the fish.
It was never the fish and I had been lying to myself for two weeks.
I stood slowly, went to the sink and ran the water cold as I looked at myself in the mirror.
"Okay." I muttered.
My reflection said nothing back and I just stared at it.
"Okay." I said again. "I need to know tonight. I need to actually know."
Diane was very quiet and for once, I hated how it made me feel.
"Are you going to say something?" I asked her.
"What do you want me to say?" She replied.
"I don’t know. Something. Anything."
"You already know." She said gently." You’ve known for a while."
"That’s not helpful," I told her.
"I know." She said. "I’m sorry."
I dried my hands and went and sat on the sofa.
For a while, I looked at the wall and waited for the estate to go dark and quiet and the lights in the main building to start going off one by one.
When everything was sufficiently dim I got up and got my coat and left.
To the place where I would confirm my worst fears.
The pharmacy was fifteen minutes from the pack boundary. It was a small place with only one attendant behind the counter who looked up when I pushed the door open and her eyes went slightly wide.
"Oh." She said. "You’re the one who moved into the Alpha’s estate recently, aren’t you? I’ve seen you at the—"
"I don’t think so." I said pleasantly. "I’m just passing through. Pregnancy test please."
She blinked. "Right. Of course." She turned to the shelf behind her and came back with two options and set them on the counter. "This one is more accurate if it’s early." She said, pointing to the left one. "Gives you a result in three minutes. This one—" She pointed to the other. "Takes longer but some people prefer the—"
"That one." I pointed to the first before she could finish.
Anything that meant I could leave this place before I ran into someone.
She nodded and scanned it. "That’ll be—" She told me the amount and I paid while she put it in a small paper bag and then looked at me with the expression of someone who wanted to ask a question and was deciding whether to.
She did.
"Is everything okay?" She said finally.
"Fine." I smiled. "Thank you."
"Because if you need—" She started.
"I’m fine." I said again. "Thank you so much."
I left before she could finish.
The last thing I wanted was her poking into this.
The walk back was cold and eerie. I kept my hands in my pockets and the bag under my arm while Diane remained present in my head.
She wasn’t saying anything but my mind was running a million different thoughts.
"We’re going to find out tonight," I told her.
"Yes." She said.
"Whatever the result is—"
"We deal with it." She said. "However we can."
I exhaled slowly into the cold air and watched my breath disappear.
I got back to my house and went inside and took the kit out of the bag and set it on the kitchen counter.
I looked at it for a long time, wishing it would disappear so I would never have to use.
I had bought it. I had walked fifteen minutes in the dark and paid for it and I had walked back and the hard part was done. All I had to do now was open it and use it and know and then I could stop circling and start dealing with whatever the answer was.
My mind travelled back to Callum and Dane. Then the mating that would likely happen.
I think I was going to be sick again.
I pressed both hands flat on the counter on either side of the kit and took a deep breath.
This wasn’t that hard. All I had to do was open it and use it as instructed. Instead of guessing what was happening.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
My heart jumped and I stared at the counter.
Another knock.
I picked the kit up and looked at the door. Fuck, why did they have to come now? Whoever it was would go away if I didn’t answer. It was late. They would assume I was asleep and go away.
A third knock sounded and I groaned. Shit.
I pulled the kitchen drawer open and put the kit inside and closed it and went to the door, my thoughts scrambled too much to sense anything from the bond before I opened it and my heart skipped.
Dane.
