pjbooks Chapter 283: Became Your Wife
Chapter 283: Became Your Wife
The next morning the sky over Silver looked like a pile of gray smoke left behind by the rain that had fallen overnight and only stopped just before dawn. Viola woke at the first gray light filtering through the gap in the curtains that had automatically pulled apart slightly, falling across her face.
She stared at the sky through the narrow opening before turning over, and a smile caught her off guard when she found Zoe had migrated entirely in her sleep and had all her limbs sprawled across her like she was trying to claim not just the whole bed but the person in it too. Her silver hair was fanned across her face, making her look like a sleeping witch, and it pulled a quiet laugh out of Viola despite herself.
She reached over and parted the hair away from Zoe’s face before pinching her plump cheek. "Hey, wake up. It’s morning."
Zoe grumbled and slapped her hand away without opening her eyes. "I am not married, who is sleeping next to me and disturbing my precious morning?"
Viola pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. "You got married to me yesterday, have you forgotten? I became your wife, my darling. Now get up so I can get up too." She teased, biting her lower lip.
"Ha, ha, ha, so funny, Vee." Zoe cracked one eye open. "Maybe I should just take you from my brother and keep you for myself. It would be so much more fun. Come here, wife." She played along and yanked Viola into a hug. "Divorce Sebastian and be mine forever!" She laughed as Viola immediately went for her sides and tickled her, and Zoe shrieked and twisted away laughing, rolling herself right off the edge of the bed and hitting the floor with a loud thud.
A beat of silence.
"Ouch." Zoe’s voice came from the floor. "What kind of wife pushes her partner off the bed. Meany." She grumbled, and rather than getting up she dragged the blanket down with her, wrapped herself in it on the floor, and went right back to sleep.
Viola peeked down and saw that her best friend was fast asleep on the floor. She shook her head in amused disbelief as she recalled that Sebastian had the habit of falling asleep quickly if he got comfortable enough too.
"Like brother, like sister," she muttered, her eyes briefly falling on the album on the nightstand that had kept her thinking for most of the night, because she couldn’t quite point out why she felt there was something wrong with Sebastian’s old pictures with Natalie.
She removed the thought from her mind before it made her overthink.
Before anything else, Viola pressed her nose into the collar of Sebastian’s shirt and breathed in the warm scent still clinging to the fabric, then exhaled slowly, missing him more than she wanted to admit and feeling that hollow aching space in her chest that mates always described but that she had never understood until now, where she was feeling it without even having the wolf.
The weather was so dull it killed the spirit, but Viola got up anyway alongside a bleary eyed Zoe who complained loudly that she hadn’t slept nearly enough. By the time they made it to the living room, Matt and Gilbert had already brought in workers to replace the shattered window panel.
"Good morning, Luna," Gilbert greeted as Viola stepped out of the room.
"Good morning." She replied with a smile, taking in the workers carefully bringing down the rest of the glass panels to replace them completely. She shuddered at the memory of the night before and pushed it firmly out of her mind.
When Matt came out of the guest room talking on his phone, Viola moved toward him and waited. He ended the call and greeted her.
"Has there been any word from Sebastian? Did you speak to him this morning?" She asked and Matt shook his head.
"Unfortunately I won’t be able to reach him for now. Today is a no contact day, but don’t worry, he will be back soon." He assured her, watching her nod with a smile that didn’t come anywhere near her blue eyes.
"Is there anything you need? I can have it brought to you." Matt offered.
What Viola wanted was to tell Sebastian about everything strange that had been happening and have him help her make sense of it, and to find out whether what he felt for her was strong enough to hold if he discovered she might have ties to sea creatures. But she couldn’t tell his beta any of that, so she shook her head.
"There’s nothing. Thank you though." She murmured.
"No need for thanks, Luna. I will always be here to help. It’s a pleasure." Matt bowed formally and it pulled a genuine smile from her before she waved him off as he mentioned needing to get back to the business of serving the so called new Alpha, who he called an asshole that had been disturbing him with calls since early morning.
After Matt and Gilbert left once the window was fixed, Viola decided to join Zoe down in the fashion house after she freshened up and ate breakfast. There were a great many demands coming in for the new Alpha’s upcoming ceremony and she didn’t want to sit doing nothing, so she offered to help with organizing the fabrics and pulling out what the designers needed.
She didn’t bother dressing up, she pulled on a pair of shorts underneath Sebastian’s shirt and moved around helping where she could while listening to the workers gossip about everything unfolding in the pack.
"...I heard he is going to marry Ember and send Sofia back to her home pack. If I were her I would be relieved to go, but guess what she did?"
"What?" Asked the other girl arranging fabric beside her.
"She offered to serve Ember as long as Javier doesn’t send her away. She would serve Ember just to stay close to him. How insulting."
"Did he agree?"
"Of course he agreed. She didn’t give him any other choice, she said if he didn’t agree she wouldn’t step aside to let him marry another woman."
Viola listened with a straight face and let out a quiet sigh. Sebastian had been right. Sofia was beyond what she or anyone else could reach, and Sofia had no idea how cruel Ember could be to those who served her.
She was wondering how long Javier’s hold over Silver would last and hoping he wouldn’t dismantle everything her husband had built before it was over, when a commotion broke out near the entrance. She looked up and felt an involuntary headache rise at the sight of the unexpected people.