“You’re staying here. Your mom is coming for a walk with Bjorn and me,” Bibi said.
Marissa turned to her boss, knife still in hand. “Wait. What?”
“Well, I certainly can’t watch the kids. I’m the host. Besides, Auntie Bibi doesn’t babysit until they’re housebroken. Don’t worry, you’ll be great at it. You’ve already made them dinner. They’ll love you.”
Marissa turned to Bjorn, but he simply grinned at her as he removed the camera from the tripod.
No wonder Pedro left. We were chaos at our very best. “What happens when the show is over, and my new wolf realizes this is his life now?”
Bibi waved her hand at me. “It won’t be anyone’s life anymore after you all go through Bibi Bootcamp. We’ll get you the help you need to make your life exactly how you want it to be.”
“How?”
“You have to believe in fate, Cindy.” She walked to the front door and took my jacket off the hook. “Now are you ready to do this while we have a perfectly capable and willing—"
Marissa opened her mouth to protest, but Bibi waved her off.
“—babysitter, and a fabulous fairy dragmother with an almost unlimited budget to make your dreams come true?”
The kids didn’t even complain when I left. The forest air was cool and crisp, and it felt good to be outside with adults.
“Is it weird that I feel guilty that I’m doing this?” I pulled my coat tightly around me. Even in heels, Bibi walked much faster than I did.
“We won’t be gone long, and Marissa will be fine. She always gets flustered at first, and then she pulls the task off without a hitch.”
“Not about that. About Pedro.” How could I put this into words? “He left months ago, and I was never in love with him, but I feel like I’m the one who’s abandoning him.”
“Of course you do. You’re a she-wolf. We can’t handle abandonment because it’s not supposed to happen to us. Even if you were never in love with him, you’re still mourning his loss. You had a life with him, and everything you knew, everything that made you feel comfort and security, is gone.”
I appreciated Bibi’s calm, cool, and collected demeanor, but she couldn’t be perfect at everything. Even if she hit the nail on the head when it came to the emotions swirling inside of me.
“What do you know about being abandoned?”
“I lived a good part of my life as a man and had to run a thousand miles before I found where I belonged. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it.”
“Sometimes it’s easy to forget you lived another life before this,” I said.
“That’s what you’ll be saying about yourself at the end of this episode. But you’ll never forget who you were, Cindy. It becomes a part of your armor. It will make you invincible.”