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Red
"Open the door!" I shout, banging my fist on the massive wooden door. It's all ornate and shit, with decorative metal pieces. Rich people always overdo shit. A steel door would have done the same fucking thing, keeping out the undesirables while still letting me get through to someone in this house. It's a good thing I still have their gate code. I keep expecting them to change it. Not that I barge in unannounced very often.
A pompous, floppy-haired asshole answers the door. "Red, so glad you're here. Thank you for stopping by. Please, don't hesitate to let the gate sweep your busted truck—"
I shove past Theo, who laughs, shutting the door behind us.
"Where is she?"
"Now I know you're not talking about my mate in this kind of mood."
"I swear to christ, I'm going to break your face one of these days, Theo."
"I don't think your sister would appreciate that, but you're welcome to try. In fact, why don't we just slip downstairs—"
"Into something more comfortable?" Ophelia snorts, interrupting us, plowing into me from the side, and wrapping me in an unexpected hug. "Now, since you two are done with your toxic male posturing, why don't you come in for tea?"
"Tea? Who even are you?"
She giggles, taking me by the hand, dragging me into the kitchen. I give Theo a smug look, who just shrugs back. I suppose between the two of us, he's less committed to the posturing. Theo's too easy going to put up much of a fight.
"Why are you so giddy?" I eye her suspiciously as she hands me a cup. I take a sip, then nearly spit it out. "And who told you this was tea?"
Her eyebrows lift high. "Greta! She gave me a whole set!"
Theo stares down at Ophelia adoringly. "Cupcake, did Greta instruct you to add that much sugar to the tea, or was it just supposed to steep in water?"
She frowns at him and steals my cup back. Shrugging, she says, "Fine. More for me. Anyway, how are you, big brooothhherr?" She smiles wide, with her teeth, and it's a little unsettling.
"What's with you?"
She drops her smile down to normal size. "Nothing. Apparently. What's with you?"
Her tone suggests she already knows what happened between us and Imogen. It's the only thing that explains her jittery excitement. Since it's also why I'm here, I just come out with it. "Why didn't you tell me you were friends with Imogen?"
She frowns. "Why would I tell you that? Do you call me every time you make a new friend? What are we, ten?"
"Good point, Cupcake." Theo kisses her cheek, and I want to punch him in the face.
"Whatever. Look, she's… I don't know if she told you, but… Look, don't be a dick. I just need to know how to find her. I don't even have her number. She quit the club. I was gonna talk to her next time I saw her, try and explain… shit, I don't know. It doesn't matter. Do you know where she's staying? I swung by C-Block, but the apartment's empty."
"Yeah, she moved out."
"Why?" I shout, feeling desperate. For something, anything. A scrap. A morsel.
Since she left after her heat, these past few days have been torture. I feel fucking awful about how things ended. I don't even care that she's engaged. We don't have the kind of money Stevens Pack, or her family does. But we can provide for her. We can try. We discussed it as a pack and want to see if she'll give us a chance.
We expected Iggy to fly off the handle after she left, but he was calm. He's never calm. Cass was the unhinged one, actually. After she left and we all realized, pretty quickly, that we wouldn't go down without a fight, Iggy just… settled. Determined. We'd track her down and try to court her. They're already discussing courting gifts. Iggy's been cleaning out the empty storage room on the third floor, trying to figure out what goes in a nest.
We don't know what the fuck we're doing, but it doesn't mean we won't try. We just need her to give us a chance.
"Well, she had some things she had to deal with."
"Do you know where I can find her?"
Ophelia pretends to think about it, sipping her sickly sweet tea, wincing when she realizes how disgusting it is. If I asked her right now how it tasted, she'd say it was perfect, just the way she likes it. Such a pain in the ass.
"I may know where she is."
