Chapter 180: Chapter 180

~ NYSSA

I couldn’t sleep.

The man’s words played over again in my head at every waking moment, and my insides twisted the longer I thought about it. It would be so easy to tell Rowan, but I knew what would come of it; he’d flat out refuse and that would be the end of it.

“You zoned out again,” a voice drawled, snapping me out of my thoughts.

My mate stood in front of me, hands crossed over his chest. He watched me carefully through the corner of his eyes as he made his way into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. His movements were slow and precise but his attention never shifted.

“I was just thinking,” I said casually only to earn a snort from him.

“You’ve been thinking

for the past two days. Do you want to tell me what exactly you’re thinking about?”

I shrugged, not bothering with a lie because he’d see right through it.

We spent the last few days at home, lying in bed, eating and fucking until we were both hoarse. It was a breath of fresh air amidst everything going wrong, but reality had come crashing down and work had unfortunately resumed.

I’d also been fine over the past two days. The mysterious hunger and exhaustion had disappeared and I began to wonder whether I’d panicked too early and whether I had reason to even meet with the stranger anymore.

“If this is about work, you don’t have to worry,” he began slowly, making his way over to me. “You’re not going to take on any extra work as Luna unless you want to. You can just keep doing what you do and I’ll handle things from my end, okay?”

I nodded slowly. “We should be leaving now.”

He frowned, eyes roaming over my body carefully. He opened his mouth to speak but at the last moment decided against it and nodded, holding out his hand to me. I took it effortlessly, pushing back every thought of my parents and the stranger—I’d handle it later.

**************************************

My biggest worry about returning to work was being treated differently but thankfully, I didn’t have to worry about all of that. No one treated me any differently, no one acted weirdly, it was as if the world had moved on and that relieved me a little.

I locked myself in the office, bent over documents and papers to distract myself. I was so lost in my own work that I didn’t realize that it had gotten so late until someone knocked at my door.

I looked up to find Aria standing in the doorway, a paper bag in her hands. “I come bearing food.”

As if on cue, my stomach rumbled. “You got me lunch?”

“Rowan did,” she corrected. “I think I smell tacos in here.”

My stomach rumbled even louder as she placed the paper bag right in the center of my table. I ripped it open, instantly shoving a taco into my mouth. It tasted like heaven, and I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I had started eating.

“You okay?” she asked, lowering herself into the seat opposite me. “Rowan told me you went to the hospital.”

I exhaled deeply, leaning back into my chair. “I’m fine. The doctor says there’s nothing wrong with me… that he knows.”

She frowned deeply. “We could always get a second opinion. Maybe it’s something he doesn’t know about.”

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. “No more doctors. They’ll just say the same thing. I know I’m not sick.”

She cocked her head to the side as she watched me. “What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“Yes, you are. Rowan might be too nice to ask but I’m not. You’re clearly hiding something and I want to know what it is.”

I ignored her, reaching into the paper bag for another taco but frowned when I realized it was empty. “How many were there?”

“Ten. You ate them all in the span of a five minute conversation.”

My eyes widened in shock. “There’s no way.”

She did not argue, but she just levelled me a bored look.

There was no one else here but us, and she didn’t take any of them. However, I found it insanely hard to believe that I’d eaten ten tacos and I was still starving.

“He said this might happen,” she said finally, rising to her feet. “You being hungry even after eating.”

My cheeks turned a bright shade of pink. “This is so fucking embarrassing. I eat like a fucking whale.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal, maybe your body is just adjusting.”

“Adjusting to what?”

“I don’t know, I’m just trying to offer solutions. Maybe it’s just a phase and you’ll get out of it sooner, or maybe your body just needs more sustenance. No one cares, I promise, don’t stress about anything.”

As much as I appreciated her efforts to make me feel better, it didn’t help. I couldn’t continue this way.

“What if I knew a potential way to find answers?” I asked quietly. “Would you help me?”

She sat up straighter. “Of course. What are you suggesting?”

“I can’t tell you.”

She frowned. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do, what is going on?”

I exhaled deeply.

Trusting Aria was a risky decision. She could always tell Rowan straight away and ruin any chances I had whatsoever, but it was a better risk than going alone. I had no idea who I’d be meeting or the kind of plans they had for me.

“You can’t tell Rowan though.”

She sat up straight, her eyes narrowing into slits. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Neither do I, but it’s the only option. It’s either that or I go alone. Your choice.”

She stared at me for a long minute before sighing. “Fine, where are we going?”

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