The girls were too eager. Everyone smiled a little too much. The room seemed to tilt some. Leidolf still talked to Elgin, something about getting a nurse and an accountant in their pack. He'd seen the tears form in her eyes, probably heard the slight hitch in her voice when she spoke to the girls. He seemed more aware of her struggle to keep her emotions in check than anyone else she'd ever known. More than that, he appeared concerned. No one had ever worried about how she felt, and his expression disconcerted her. Much easier to deal with her past regrets when no one else cared a whit about what she was feeling.

He watched her now, and she worried he'd put his arm around her shoulder and pull her close. She didn't need his comfort or his strength. She could deal with her issues on her own just fine, like she'd always done.

Her strength sliding away, she couldn't seem to garner the strength to do much of anything. Against her will, her body leaned back into the couch cushions, her head dropping onto them. The cushions were soft, like pillows filled with fairy dust. Leidolf and Elgin looked at her. And smiled.

Calculating smiles. Traitorous smiles.

The girls returned with another plate full of food, but Cassie couldn't seem to lift her head and sit up, or raise her hands to take the plate. And sometime or another, the refilled wineglass had disappeared from her grasp.

She wasn't hungry, either, anymore. Rather, she felt like her whole being was slipping, slipping, slipping away.

Leidolf's words were muffled as he spoke about all that Cassie had been through and how she couldn't eat any more right now. The girls looked disappointed, but then their sweet expressions faded away.

Last visited: Page 29 of Seduced by the Wolf (Heart of the Wolf 5)

Seduced by the Wolf (Heart of the Wolf 5) - Page 29