ALPHA KAI'S SURROGATE のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 31 - チャプター 40

SelineIt’s the next few days of listlessness, this knowing that every moment of my life is now finite, that has me seeking out the mayor.“A three-month notice?”Mayor Hamrington looks displeased.“I don’t want to stay here anymore.” I look around his lavish office.“If this is about your salary, I can raise it"“It’s not about that,” I assure him, but he is clearly not satisfied.“Seline, with everything going on, I need you now more than ever. The bar"“You can find someone else to be your eyes and ears,” I tell him lightly.“You’ve done a lot for me, mayor, which is why I’m willing to put in a three-month notice.”Also, because I need to save up a little.With the new landlord, the rent has gone down, to everyone’s surprise.There are also renovations being done as well to the building, which would have been nice if I were still going to keep living there.The mayor gives me an annoyed look. “You really do like leaving me high and dry, don’t you? No shame whatsoever?”I just smile

Fortunately , Sam knows a lot of people since he’s a warlock, so I end up asking him if he could find somebody to produce the healing potion that I was given. If I can find someone who can produce these at a cheaper price, then I plan to buy as many as I can. I don’t care how toxic they are.Unfortunately, I don’t hear back from Sam for a few days. I also don’t see much of Austin, which is a relief. According to the boys, he’s been busyinvestigating Marsha’s murder. But judging from the grim looks on their faces, not all is well at the pack.I don’t care.I do feel bad for Marsha and for the pack. Losing one of their own is something that takes time to recover from Sighing, I jingle my apartment keys, wondering if the packing boxes have arrived. Gina thinks I’m still in shock over the news, but I don’t know. I can’t explain to her that my heart has taken so many blows over the years that every last bit of fire and hope has been extinguished. I’m shaken by what the healer said. I’m a

Seline. PACKING is not easy as I thought. It’s difficult to put my entire life in just a few cardboard boxes. It’s not like I have a lot to begin with, but what I do have are small household items that I saved money to buy from the cheapest shops and yard sales.Despite everything, I have cared for these items and they have lasted me years. And now, I have to throw most of them away, or give them away to people who would never understand the value these things held for me.Feeling oddly sentimental over the blender with the cracked glass that I once dug out of somebody’s trash and fixed, I let out a sigh and put it in the throw-out box. My heart isn’t in any of this, my mind replaying the confrontation with my mother over and over again. A part of me, the conditioned part of me, wants to run after her and apologize. The other part of me wishes I could have given her a taste of her own medicine.However, the underlying hurt is so raw that I find myself sighing and looking around, unab

When Tammy said high alert, she meant it.I don’t see anybody come in and out of the infirmary except the handful of people I know Austin trusts. I know them all by name, but I refuse to talk to them even when they try to engage me. It might seem rude, but right now, all I feel is that I am in enemy territory.Austin hasn’t come to see me yet, and I am grateful for that. I asked Tammy to let me go, but she tells me to wait.Wait for what?Fortunately, I don’t have to wait for long because Jerry shows up two days later, looking tense.“There’s a lot of fighting in the pack. Things aren’t good,” he confesses.“Daston wants to punish you for what happened to his nephew and his friends, and Raven has been confined to her room. Austin is so mad. I’ve never seen him this mad before, Seline.”“Jerry.” I look at the boy. “Can you help me get out of here?”He blinks as he shamelessly eats my Jell-O. “Why do you want to leave?Isn’t it better here?”“I can’t stay.”He looks downcast now. “So, y

SelineI don’t yet know how to get even, but I do go back to work.I feel better. Perhaps the pep talk helped or it’s easier to hide my feelings when my friends lives are at risk.I don’t see Austin, but Gina tells me that he’s been coming every day and asking about me. He doesn’t turn up today, but his second-in-command Jason does.I’ve seen Jason around the bar and town, and while we haven’t really crossed paths, he’s not been hostile towards me. Neither have the others, at least not the ones I met that first day in the bar.He seems relieved to me see me and takes a seat at the bar. “Hey.”“Evening. What can I get you?”I keep my voice polite and maybe a little stiff. I haven’t forgotten my previous interactions with this pack.“Ah, tap beer, please. How’ve you been, Seline?”The question seems friendly enough, but his eyes are sharp, observing.I give him a small smile. “Whoever you’re here to spy for, you don’t need to. I’m minding my own business.”He flinches. “I didn’t mean I