Mated To My Mate's Worst Enemy (ARIA) novel Chapter 518

Chapter 518

ARIA

"Start tomorrow," she said.

"Tomorrow," he agreed.

She nodded once, with the finality of someone who'd said what she came to say and was satisfied. Then she patted his arm — one pat, the specific pat of someone who'd been furious and was setting the fury down but not the expectation — and went to find somewhere to sit.

The pack was still working around us. The clinic was coming back together in a way that was slower than its original construction and faster than it should have been given the damage, which was the specific math of a lot of people working toward the same thing simultaneously.

Someone touched my arm.

I turned.

A woman I recognized from the botanical garden inspection — one of the younger pack members, early twenties, who'd been at the northern flank. She was looking at me with an expression that was trying to be casual about something that wasn't casual.

"The whole group of you," she said, indicating me and the broader area where the inner circle was scattered, "are going to be talking about this for a while."

"Probably," I said.

"Just — checking in," she said. "You were in the clinic when it happened."

"I was," I said.

"Ivory pushed you out of the way," the woman said.

"She did," I said.

"Classic Ivory," the woman said, with the affection of someone who'd been watching Ivory do exactly that for years and was both grateful for it and exhausted by it on her behalf.

"Classic Ivory," I agreed.

"And you stayed," the woman said. "When she told you to leave."

"I stayed," I said.

She nodded, the nod of someone adding information to an existing picture and finding the addition consistent with what they'd expected. Then she said: "Some people are saying that as punishment, you and Ivory should form a duo and leave Kael out of things for a while."

I looked at her.

"It's been suggested," she said. "By several people. The reasoning being that he hurt your healer, in your healer's clinic, during what was supposed to be a break, and that the appropriate response is to cut him out of certain... domestic aspects of pack life."

"That's a specific suggestion," I said.

"Someone said," the woman continued, with the dedicated face of a person reporting information rather than endorsing it, "that you and Ivory should become a duo instead of a trio and leave Kael with blue balls as punishment. Because he deserves it. We know you guys are a trio and its probably freaky but you and ivory are so much better for each other, we have been low key shipping you two. Kael is....something yes, a dream, but you and ivory.....well lets just say we do have a seller that brings in this kind of novel so we can live voraciously, and relate it to you guys. Just know, keeping kael from you two....is so valid."

"That suggestion," I said.

"Has several supporters," the woman said.

"Among who," I said.

She listed three names.

I recognized all three of them. They were older pack members — women who'd been in Shadowmere for years and who had, I was coming to understand, a very specific relationship with pack politics that expressed itself through the careful distribution of social consequence.

"Tell them," I said, "that I appreciate the support. And that I'll take it under advisement."

"You're not going to do it," the woman said.

"I'm taking it under advisement," I said.

She grinned. "That's a no."

"It's an advisement," I said.

She went back into the crowd.

Silver, in my head, was warm and deeply amused.

"The specific compound on the third shelf from the left," he said. "I don't even know what it is."

"Ivory will tell you what it is," I said.

"She'll tell me what it is and also what it does and what I should have known about it before I destroyed it," he said.

"Probably," I said.

"Starting tomorrow," he said.

"Edna said tomorrow," I agreed.

He was quiet for a moment. Then: "Are you alright?"

"Yes," I said.

"She pushed you out of the way," he said.

"She did," I said.

"And you didn't leave," he said.

"No," I said.

continuation from last a/n

Like I always said, I used realism in my books. I know people were expecting Aria to move to shadowmere and just be perfect at everything, even breathing will bring sounds of applause and love declaration and then we see the harsh realities and we all decide ivory was the problem. Ivory of all people! Okay jordan is a saint, but ivory, come on, she was literally the only one that had nothing bad to say especially with Aria eavesdropping on everything.

Sorry I strayed off. Since we have this story from Aria pov, I decided to show you guys what the story would look like from a general pov, or to be exact, the pack POV. We are not using Kael, cause you guys will say oh he's biased.

Okay the pack a happy pack of wolves first of all, got the terrible news, that their alpha was cursed{ I am starting here, not starting with the previous traumas, Kael and the rest went through, I am sure you guys by now can realize a lot of things happened} and was a danger to them. A danger in the sense that the alpha could lose control and kill them. Normally people would choose to vote him out, impeach, kill him, at this point, there was no hope of a cure. They agreed to live with a cursed alpha{ think of this as living in a room with no escape door or window with a wild untamed lion that hasn't been fed for 20 years...yup it was grave} they were loyal. Now they were being subjected to gore, mental pictures and vile sayings by an alpha half mad and crazed, telling them how he would have fun, killing them, this was mental, going to everyone, including children, causing fear, panic. This was like having a personal radio that wouldn't shut up, morning to night, they still didn't choose to kill him or impeach, his team came around and told them that they wanted to break the bond making them human, completely human, this was literally people born as wolves, lived as wolves, that they had to adapt to being humans, they accepted, they lost their true forms, couldn't even shift or even do anything wolflike it was a lot, they still agreed to it, and while all this was happening, they were still living with a living nightmare, and aside that, other packs and supernatural beings were sending threats about throwing a coup, wanting to invade, they were sitting ducks but they remained loyal. This was when ivory and the rest were doing all they could, they were cut off from the rest of the territories, trading was a problem, they couldn't buy and sell foods, without being harassed or attacked, ivory grew enhanced seeds that would sprout crops in mere seconds, Nina was managing everything, with Jordan, elite, I don't want to start elaborating, they held the pack. Then news came of a saviour, they were a bit skeptical, but the saviour came in form of Aria, they liked her, not really like her as a person., they liked her like oh she can help, she did and brought her own problems, her ex attacked people which was limited and contained due to ivory's decoy and her getting hurt, and them as well, being sent to the healers, did they hear anything from Aria an apology, did she check on their wounded ones, no, she went to sleep.

will continue in the next chapter, sorry, i have limited wordcount per chapter.