Page 46 of White Raven (Nevermore Duet #2)

ACHILLES HEEL

When most women are in a mood—or on their cycle…

chocolate and ice cream usually do the trick.

Or at least pose as a nice buffer for all the inhumane shit women go through that men will never understand.

But most women aren’t werewolves that are perpetually bitchy to begin with, and most women have never had to worry about not only one cycle…

but two. It was the second lunar cycle since Rhaena’s abrupt smack against the brick wall to her last transition, and that sleeping beast that still dwelled within her stretched and yawned.

She could feel it. And she needed solace for those twitching nerves that wouldn’t raise suspicion, nor have the ones closest to her—that knew that beast existed—worry over what Sarah’s extraordinary blood may or may not have done to her.

It certainly didn’t help that finding some very unsettling information in whatever Lindsay Trainor had involved herself in, added to the piling worry Rhaena found herself wallowing in. There was only one solution to that.

Street food.

Au jus dripped from the thin-sliced prime rib in the buttered, and lightly toasted hoagie roll that she sank her maw into, sitting cross-legged on her couch and winding a greasy french fry in behind it.

For the life of her, Rhaena couldn’t recall a time she’d ever been quite this ravenous, and even after devouring half this sandwich, she still felt hungry.

Her keen hearing made out the jingling of keys from the other side of her door, and she jerked her face towards it, chewing her wad of possibly fake meat.

A soft knock followed shortly behind it.

“It’s open,” she said over her mouthful. The door creaked open, and she spotted Wren’s red hair before her face peeked around the side. “Ha…just where the hell have you been, Vintorri?”

“Okay, can we not? At least not yet? I came to check on you. You seemed a little… off . You know…last time we danced.” She tossed her bag and her keys on Rhaena’s kitchen table and made towards the living room, plopping down in the armchair across from the couch.

Rhaena didn’t pretend not to notice her slightly wince.

“Are you okay?” she asked, taking another gaping bite of her sandwich, a smirk gathering on the side of her mouth.

“Out of practice,” Wren grinned, fidgeting with her chin as she looked the other way.

“ Hot . We’re starting with you. Only because you’re making it painfully obvious. So?” Rhaena bit off another hunk, shoving a fry in her mouth simultaneously. “Was he as bad in bed as you’d hoped?” It was hard to stifle the chuckle through her food. Wren shook her head in bashfulness.

“Jesus…okay. No. I was pleasantly disappointed. Happy?” she snorted.

“I’m not usually one for details, but…today is an off day for me. I’ll take all the tea now, please.” She crammed two more fries between her teeth and gestured with a greasy hand for Wren to spill.

“To wash down your lack of self-control? What is wrong with you? You’re eating that shit like somebody’s gonna come snatch it from you. You got a worm or something?”

“Details, Vintorri!”

Wren huffed and rolled her eyes, kicking her shoes off and bringing her knees up into the chair as she leaned back, unable to hide her smile. “Did you ever meet his doctor? The one that apparently saved his life after—well… after? ”

It took a moment, but then it hit her. Rhaena had remembered Sarah saying something about the woman from Brent’s cell at the funeral that day. She distinctly remembered Brent saying it would never happen. The intrigue was juicier than the rest of the sandwich in her hand. “Yes? Wait—are they?”

“Oh, she damn sure tried. I went over and the door wasn’t quite shut.

She was dry humping him on his couch. I may or may not have lost my shit.

” Rhaena paused her relentless chewing, and her eyes boggled.

“He tossed her off and chased me down the hall. We exchanged words. Then he threw himself down the stairs to catch me in the elevator down in the lobby and…”

Rhaena leaned forward impatiently. “And?!”

“And…then…we exchanged bodily fluids?” Wren broke into sheepish laughter, covering her mouth and leaning over as Rhaena gawked at her and started chewing again.

“In the elevator? God, you slut!”

“Started in the elevator…continued in his apartment. Enough times for me to stop by the pharmacy on my way home. That’d be disastrous.

” She pulled her hair up, twisting it and snapping the hair tie around the messy topknot.

“Anyway…it happened. Now all you assholes can stop hounding me about taking it to the next level.”

Rhaena leaned back, finishing off the last of her meal. “So…you’re not dating? Just…”

“We didn’t really talk about it. It’s not exactly off the table. Just…not necessarily on it yet. I dunno,” she shrugged. “Where’s Jenkins? Isn’t he usually here to watch the game around this time?”

Well…that threw this conversation into the floor. And her heart with it.

Rhaena’s shoulders sagged, and she grabbed a few napkins, wiping her mouth and fingers before balling them up and tossing them back in the paper bag. “If I ask you something, could you be completely honest with me?”

Wren’s brows furrowed. “Yeah? What’s wrong? Y’all having a little spat?”

“I don’t really know, to tell you the truth. It feels like one, but I’m not even sure if it counts as a fight so much as like…a disagreement?”

“Rhae, I just had shameless love-hate sex with my mortal enemy. If that’s possible, I’m sure whatever it is will blow over. Jenkins is like a meaty… bunny .”

Rhaena busted a shallow giggle. “He is. I’m just…

did I jump into this too fast, Wren?” A tense silence fell between them and Wren’s mouth quirked to the side.

Rhaena adjusted herself on the couch and leaned a cheek on her knuckles.

“I was replaying everything over in my mind. The way I broke down when Athan and Sarah were going to Seattle. The relief I had when I saw him in Brent’s cell.

Shit…the relief I had just seeing his helmet was a jolt.

I know I’m not in love with Athan, but our history…

what I have with Brandon is real. I love that idiot.

So much…I just don’t know how to make sense of what I had compared to what I have . Is that wrong?”

“I don’t think it’s wrong, Rhaena. But I do think that’s your problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve gotta stop comparing it. Let it go.

Take Brent for example. Months ago, the Brent Stratford I knew, I loathed.

All I could think about was Sarah ending up with that guy, married…

pregnant. Trapped. Miserable. I hated him so much.

I hated him even more when I found out what he did to her.

But if I sit here and keep comparing who he was to who he is now?

After what I know he went through to realize that was never who he was supposed to be?

We might as well chalk it up to an unrestrained night of mistakes, girl. ”

She was right. What she and Athan had was love.

It just wasn’t that kind. It wasn’t the forever kind that made life worth living.

Brandon and Athan were two completely different worlds, and while part of her might have thought she belonged in Athan’s—because of what they were—it was never endgame.

What she had with Brandon Jenkins was far beyond a familiar hookup or a devastatingly close friendship.

She’d always have Athan. She knew that. But what Wren had just told her was the key.

Everything they used to have was a stepping stone to figuring out what she needed . And she needed Brandon.

“You’re right,” Rhaena sighed, forcing herself up from the couch and trudging to the kitchen with her trash.

“You got coffee? I could use some, dude. I’m fucking exhausted.”

Rhaena chuckled through her nose, sipping water from her tumbler. “I bet. Hooker.”

“That implies I’m getting paid. And if I’m not rolling in money for the performance I just put on that man’s body…

then I’m gonna need you to take that back,” Wren cackled.

She peeled around the kitchen doorway and took the coffee container and filter that Rhaena turned to hand her as she scrambled through her cabinets for more snacks. “Are you still hungry? Jesus, Rhae.”

“Shut up, I’m starving.”

“Did you skip meals? That’s not like you.” Wren dug out three hefty scoops of caffeine and started filling the pot with water.

“No, actually. This morning, I stopped by Brazel’s for one of those damn breakfast burritos, and at lunch I ate my weight in chicken fajitas.

It’s that time of the—” Rhaena stopped dead, hands stilling on a box of cheese crackers.

Something in the pit of her stomach tightened and a nervous prickling irritated every inch of her skin.

“Rhaena?” Wren called, demanding her attention. Rhaena slowly turned, eyes widening as realization hit her like a loaded cannon. “Oh shit… shit .”

“I missed a period last month, Wren. Wren? I missed a fucking period.” Rhaena started to feel her panic take over, and she trembled as she reached out to grab Wren’s sleeve.

“Okay, calm down. A lot happened last month, Rhae. Are you sure you—”

“I missed a fucking period, Wren!”

Every muscle in her body went steely, and her chest felt like it was gonna cave in. Suddenly, that delectable sandwich was clawing its way back up her throat. Wren took her forearms and steadied her, turning her to sit in one of the kitchen chairs while she started to hyperventilate.

“Okay, chill. Why don’t you let me go get a few tests? We don’t need to flip out until there’s a reason, right? I’ve had a couple ‘oh shit’ moments like this before. So has Sarah. You don’t see either one of us with a kid, do you?”

Rhaena tried to control her panting, but her nerves were shot. She slapped a palm to the table. “You just said you stopped by the pharmacy, right? Did you take the pill yet?”