I didn’t answer. The rest of the drive was cloaked in silence as we headed to a fancy restaurant. Roan had clearly gone all out, reserving a table adorned with flowers and a wrapped gift waiting beside my plate. The setting was perfect, an image of romantic bliss. Diners around us cast envious glances, but I felt detached from it all, as if watching a scene play out in someone else's life.
Before I could even unwrap the gift, Roan's phone rang. His expression shifted to concern as he answered, "Fever? Do you have any medicine? I can’t take you to the pack’s infirmary today, I have something to do. What? That high? Okay, wait for me. I'll be right over."
Hanging up, he turned to me, his eyes a mixture of awkwardness and something I couldn’t quite place. "Lori, it's Tracy. Her child has a fever. I need to..."
A lump formed in my throat, but I forced it down. "It's fine," I said, my voice a flat monotone even to my ears. "You should go. The child's more important."
He hesitated for a moment, looking at me as if searching for some hint of resistance. "Wait for me to come back and pick you up. I'll be back soon." With that, he grabbed his coat and rushed out.
I was left alone, staring at the half-eaten cake before me. The rain outside the window mirrored the turmoil inside me, but I refused to cry. After a deep sigh, I finished the cake, savoring its sweetness despite the bitterness in my heart, then got up and left the restaurant.
As I stepped into the drizzling rain, a car passed by and came to a halt. The window rolled down, revealing Beta Gavin. Without a word, he got out and opened the door for me. I slid into the car, grateful for his presence. The drive back to the pack house was silent, but it was a peaceful silence, a stark contrast to the storm that raged within me.
When we arrived, I realized I didn’t have an umbrella. The rain was still falling lightly, the cold droplets stinging my skin. I braced myself for the dash to the entrance.
"Wait, Luna." Gavin's voice cut through the rain. I turned, squinting against the drizzle to see him holding an umbrella over my head.
"Use this," he said in his deep, calm voice.
"Thank you," I murmured, taking the umbrella from him.