END HER TYRANNY

Chapter 23 | Thoughts in Denial

Maybe she was too emotional.

The pool room was empty, but the sound of water subtly moving echoed across the walls. The cloudy day's light shone through the windows, though the underwater lights and highlights under tall fauna did most of the work.

She took a deep breath and sighed through her nose. The self-soothing tactic and weightless water gave her a less stressful baseline for thinking.

Calamity was clad in a tight black one-piece swimsuit. Her back was exposed, and waterproof bra pads were built in to give her support. It was a random swimsuit Greyson kindly grabbed from a store in the hotel.

She floated on her back in the supine position- her head toward the sky and eyes fluttering shut.

For a while, Calamity has gotten used to snapping at everyone and emotionally exploding at every inconvenience. She recognized things were stressful- but it was like a dam that was constantly being fixed with shabby materials and exploding due to pressure.

In other words; she was an emotional wreck.

But, it wasn't her fault.

The swelling in her brain wasn't doing her any favours. If Lóthurr's statement is true, then her emotional control and decision-making were heavily skewed.

Maybe she should be comforted by that, considering it meant it wasn't who she actually was.

Fluttering her eyes open- she slightly shifted her head to stare at Greyson nearby.

He wore the same outfit- though ditched the hat which sat beside him on the ground. He was lounging on a pool chair, legs stretched out, while holding his large phone in his calloused hands. Greyson used his thumb to scroll through social media.

For no reason in particular- she started to talk.

"I find Lóthurr stupidly attractive," She blurted, her voice echoing off the walls of the pool room, "But he won't give me a chance to talk to him."

The male flexed his jaw- though kept his eyes trained on his phone.

"He only talks to me about my virus," She commented, "Like... he's trying to keep it professional."

Calamity moved her head to stare at the tall ceiling- eyes flickering across the metal beams supporting it. She floated in silence, absorbing her own words, before sighing with a deep frown.

Looking toward Greyson, she narrowed her eyes at his phone use.

Her black eye was healing, so it was much easier for her to narrow her eyes, widen them, or show general facial expressions without wincing.

"If you're distracted... your dad will think you're not taking this seriously," Calamity mentioned.

Clearly, he heard that.

Greyson furrowed his brows and squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath, before opening his eyes and shutting off his phone. He slid it into his pocket and finally made eye contact with the virus-ridden woman.

Even though he was distracting himself with his phone- she couldn't shake the feeling that he was constantly deep in thought about something.

She pursed her lips, "I've been dehumanized this entire time," She claimed, "You're the best and only person to-"

"I think Lóthurr is your mate!" Greyson interrupted.

It felt like the Earth stopped turning.

She flinched and waded into the water to shift upright, her feet soft against the pool tiles as she gaped at Greyson.

Her eyes, wide with disbelief, stared at him with uncertainty.

Calamity pushed herself through the water, feeling like she was going as slow as a turtle, before finally resting her arms on the edge of the pool. The she-wolf desperately kept eye contact, studying his face for any form of deceit or humour, but there was none.

"N-No... Definitely not, right?" She spluttered, "He'd... He'd tell me..." Her voice faded off.

The platinum buzz-cut man sat up in his pool chair and swept his legs over, resting his feet on the ground. His auburn eyes searched the room as if an answer would jump out from the shadows, but there was nothing.

He finally looked back at the desperate woman, "I... I don't know." He admitted, "I- Well... I don't have a mate, but it's just- when I saw you guys meet-" He trailed off.

Calamity tilted her head, her face showing desperation- hoping that he would admit this was all a joke.

She tapped her fingers on the tile, "What if- What if he just doesn't know?"

"It was the way you looked at each other," He told her, "And I know your wolf isn't responsive, but his bear is, so-"

"But that can't be!" She interrupted and leaned against the edge of the pool as if trying to get closer to him to further emphasize the point, "But- why- he-" She waffled, "If he knew, then he would've told me!"

Clenching his fists he threw them up, "Okay, well, he didn't!" Greyson exclaimed, "Look, I don't know more than you! It's just-" He opened and closed his mouth as he paused, "It's just what I observed!"

She slinked her arms off the edge and slowly backed up, standing further away from him while the water soothingly lapped at her skin.

Calamity was in deep denial. 

How could he keep it a secret? Your biology shifts the moment you meet your mate- the desire to mate them, to love them, to protect them is so strong it beats any reason the werewolf may have. It's undeniable.

Digging her hands into her hair, she gripped and slightly pulled in a self-soothing tactic, "No..."

"I can just- tell!" He stood up and stepped toward the pool, "It's every wolf's dream to find their mate... I know what the look of love looks like! I see it on my parents every day!"

"It's my dream, too!" She snapped back angrily, "I've... I've always wanted..."

Her eyes are watering, tears cascading down her cheeks like a waterfall.

The pain made her heartache and rattle against her ribcage. It was an unbearable amount of emotional pain- she could almost feel a presence reeling in the back of her mind.

"Take me back to my room..." She sobbed, sniffling and raising a hand to rub away and incoming snot.

Greyson's eyebrows curved upwards, silently staring at her with empathy.

The lack of response made her hiccup.

"Take me back to my room!!" She howled.