Valarie
"I'm going to miss you."
Sophia's voice was muffled by the fact that she was talking into my armpit, pressed close in a tight hug.
"I'm going to miss you too," I replied awkwardly.
There was truth in that – I would miss her. We were more than just maid and alpha. We were sparring partners, secret keepers, we had discovered ourselves a little more together, and now we had accomplished something really big.
But I couldn't stay.
She hadn't asked for an explanation when I told her, just nodded. The ball of course had gone perfectly. My mother's gown was beautiful and had drawn attention. Enough attention that Raquel agreed to at least commission a good deal of clothes from her.
I wondered if that would change things at all; would she come to the city? Would they just move here entirely?
I pulled away from Sophia carefully and held her at arms length, smiling tightly.
"I'm proud of you."
She nodded, tearing up, and for once we were just two young girls again. About to part ways most likely for good.
"Will you come visit?" she asked, and I agreed to, but we both knew it wouldn't really work out. An omega coming to visit the lead Alpha female was unlikely to get more than a glance at her. And just the thought of coming back, and having to see Gabriel...
I suppressed a shudder and turned back toward the rooms that had been mine during the stay where my two bags were packed.
A quick glance around had my chest aching and I was happy she hadn't followed me in here.
Her own bags were being packed by maids as she'd be moving to rooms in the royal wing, closer to Gabriel and his mother. They wouldn't share rooms until they were mated, but this gave them the opportunity to interact more.
Back in the living area Sophia plopped down on the couch, her eyes slightly pink.
"What am I going to do without you?" she asked, then glanced quickly behind her to make sure the maids were occupied in her rooms.
"I have no idea what I'm doing! Granted I've got a few ideas of what I could do...but how am I supposed to satisfy a guy who's had way, way more experience than me?"
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at her. Of course I would get stuck in this conversation before being able to slip away.
"You'll be fine," I assured her, sitting on the edge of an armchair with my bags in my lap. "He's not that intimidating."
Sophia's eyes narrowed. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd found yourself someone to mess around with while you were here...you do seem different, Val."
She was only half-joking, and I needed to keep the truth masked from her, so I dug into one of the bags, found a book, and tossed it to her.
"Here," I said. "This should give you a few more ideas. Just go easy on him, okay?"
She grinned at the cover before starting to tear up again.
"I need to get going."
I stood there a few moments to make sure she was okay. "The car is waiting out front and you know how Rufus is if you keep him waiting."
She nodded, but tears were full-on streaming now.
"I can't believe I'm not going to see all of you every day," she wailed quietly.
It was touching to see her fall apart a bit. She'd kept her composure so well through everything, it had almost started to make me resent her as I was a mess the whole time.
But knowing that I'd be walking through those doors shortly was giving me strength. I walked over to her and sat down for another tight hug.
"I'll write to you," I said. "But I'll probably give you some time to settle in. And you know you can tell me anything."
She nodded into my neck, sniffing loudly.
"Alright. I need to go. I'm proud of you Sophia."
She smiled wetly up at me as I gathered my things.
At the door I didn't bother to look back. The urge to get away from it all was strong, and I hurried toward the front of the palace.
Rufus and the Lexus were waiting out front. He was glowering, as always, his ginger hair erupting from beneath a driver's cap. I greeted him shortly, threw the bags in back myself, and climbed inside.
A pang went through me as the car reached the end of the drive and paused.
I hadn't seen Gabriel at all since the glimpse of him in the city. I hadn't really said goodbye.
But it was better, I thought, tilting my chin up, that things were left on the terms they were.
I didn't want him thinking that I was approachable, that we were friends or amicable in any way. I needed to believe myself when I said that we weren't meant to be together.
We made it about twenty minutes outside of the city, Rufus muttering about how poorly kept the roads were here, before we came up on two cars.
He slowed down automatically at the sight of them. The lead car was high-end, expensive, pulled over on the side.
Rufus gave it a critical glance.
"Doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it," he muttered, but we both knew we had to stop and check. It was clearly an alpha's car.
Rufus pulled over and stepped out, walking a few yards away to where a drive in an almost identical uniform was smoking a cigarette.
I felt restless, pent up, and so I stepped out too onto the grassy shoulder of the road. Around the side of the other car, a small group of people – four or five of them maybe – churned and chattered.
They looked my way as the car door shut.
It was Morgan.
Her face was stony as she took me in. Her hair was back in a simple ponytail and she wore tight-fitting clothing, almost like sparring clothing.
"You," she said.
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