ALEKS

First of all, we had just become friends again. Any kind of sexual entanglement put that at risk and that was the last thing we needed. Secondly, we had our kids to consider. Any other temporary tryst between us would undoubtedly confuse them or worse, give Elena false hope of some fairytale love story between his parents, a fairytale which would be broken when his father married someone else. Which brought on the third issue, Luk was an engaged man and even If he and Valleigh had no problem sleeping together in spite of it, I did and I regretted acting like such a slut the other day. All those reasons were why I was avoiding Leukas Hyades like the plague.

I was mortified with myself and what we'd done; and seeing the smirk on the pharmacists' face, as I’d nervously and ashamedly bought some morning after pills had almost made me melt into a puddle of shame and humiliation. I couldn't believe I’d spread my legs for him so fast and only moments after, I'm fairly certain, he'd slept with another woman. it went against everything I thought I stood for when it came to relationships.

Luckily with Atlas’ coronation slash Jason and Lanthe’s going away party, I wasn’t short on things to distract myself with and before I knew it, it was the day of the party. The whole of Abattohn was buzzing with excitement as it would apparently be the biggest event in years, drawing in crowds from all over Azzuire. I was nervous about that part of the festivities; the meeting of other supernatural beings but I had also learnt to have a little faith in my found family so I wasn’t panicking yet. But when Lanthe came to collet Elena and I for an afternoon of pampering along with Kim and Harp, I eagerly took the leave and slipped out of the house moments before Leukas came over for Adrian. They were going with Atlas to collect his wife and son and help them settle in before the party and I couldn’t wait to meet them both.

We started by the spa and the massage I got was very much needed and appreciated. The trip to the salon was much more relaxed and Kim, Lanthe and I chatted as we got our hair done. Elena and Harpah were sitting a little farther away from us because the salon had been emptied for Lanthe’s visit. Three guards were posted at the door.

“What would you like I do with yours?” Genesis, the nice hairdresser who was attending me asked as she ran a brush through my hair. I looked at my thick, white hair through the mirror in front of me and sighed. I would miss my original hair color even though I’d spent a long time wearing wigs either at a mission or to blend in as much as possible. I’d never spent so much time with my natural hair visible as I had in Abattohn. It was time I blended in again.

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“I’d like a dye job, please. Black. And a little trim at the bottom.” I requested and she smiled before turning to her tools for a scissors. Kim widened her eyes at my requested while Lanthe raised her brow in question.

“I’m going to be working for the Alpha soon. I’ll need to be as inconspicuous as possible. This hair is not very subtle and the less attention is drawn at the secretary, the better.” I explained.

“Uhh.” They both said and went on to choose their own styles before the conversation veered towards Lanthe and Jason’s move. They’d be leaving in a couple of days with Bene and Kim and would come back, probably after the baby is born, for the rest of their belongings and Harpah. Harpah had chosen to stay behind with Elena for a while. According to her, Elena would be miserable without her guidance and she could sacrifice more of her valuable time for her. Elena had only smiled and hugged Harpah when she had declared that.

“I am so glad I’m leaving. Leukas and Atlas are a nightmare together. They are even worse than dad. They saw me laughing with Hayden at the café and flipped their lids, asking him if he was going to marry me after he was done undressing me with his eyes. Gosh they are so embarrassing. I knew Atlas was crazy but Leukas…Urggh” Kim complained, making me and Sophia laugh.

“Seriously? Leukas?” I found myself asking.

Lanthe snorted. “Oh, you should have seen how he was with Ame. She was always crying and trying to change schools and get away from Atlas and Leukas. And they were only fifteen at that time. They were impossible. We did end up transferring her to the other school after they practically blacklisted her and non of the boys in her entire school would even look in her direction; she was only twelve or so. Back then there were three schools in Abattohn and she chose the furthest away from the one Atlas and Leukas went to. They pouted for months. She had to sneak out for her dance night. Then Jason was pouting as well.” She finished with a laugh which we all joined into. I could see a little Leukas being extremely protective of his sister and the image made me smile.

Kim chuckled. “I want to see dad try and stop Harpah from going to a dance. I want to see anyone try.” She said, making us all burst into more laughter. She was absolutely right. It would be a sight to behold because Harpah was as stubborn and outspoken as the men in her family.

“I feel sorry for my poor daughter then.” I said, looking across the room at Elena who was gesturing wildly as she talked to the hairdresser, who was smiling. I could just imagine Leukas acting like a crazy person and forbidding her from ever talking to boys. Atlas would too. The twins also called him dad after all.

“You have to put your foot down as the mother. If I didn’t, Jason would have homeschooled all our girls to ‘preserve their virtue’ when he had no thought whatsoever about taking mine.” Lanthe advised.

“Eeww, mom. TMI.” Kim whined as Lanthe and I giggled. With the way Jason looked at his wife all the time, I bet he would take his virtue all the time if he could.