Chapter 4 4

Lyra was still settling into her new home of a country. She stayed in a hotel for a few days until she could find a place to rent. The first month was quite busy for her even though she hadn't gotten a job yet. She had to buy things for her new home, arrange and set it up. Spent some weeks doing this, all the while feeling sick. Then she began job hunting. She had a degree in medicine and decided she was going to use it. She couldn't find a job for almost two weeks, but then she finally found one at a hospital.

The day she was to resume work, her sickness got worse, so she went to her new work place to run some check-ups and get the treatment required for whatever was wrong with her.

She waited in a room for almost twenty minutes after the necessary samples had been taken from her for testing. The nurse came back with her file in hand.

"Miss Rainspear, I have your report here with me."

"What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?"

"Nothing is wrong with ma'am, you're just pregnant."

Lyra went dead silent, she didn't know how to reply to that. But shock had gripped her tightly that she could barely breathe. She let off a fragile smile.

"Why, that's good news."

"Would you like an ultrasound, now or perhaps another time?"

"I'd very much like it now please." A composed smile sitting on her face."

Memories of that afternoon with Glen began flooding her mind. But she suppressed it with her usual mantra "What would Anacostia do?" The ultrasound was done and she handled it as though she was confident about the fact that she was expecting a child. But she wasn't prepared for what she saw during the ultrasound, it wasn't a child, the word children was more appropriate, three of them, triplets. She rested her head and laughed out loud for about 30 seconds.

She asked for permission to resume on a later date given that she wasn't feeling well, but her request was turned down and she had to forfeit the job. She went home and laid on the bed, she was tired and feeling oddly weak, tears rolling she was tempted to contact someone but she had cut all contact and connections with her former life, deleted her social media accounts, disposed of her old phone and number, and hadn't talked to anyone since she left... all these aside the fact that she stole the crestlin ring, the Alpha's symbol of power before she left, no one would want her back, they were probably hunting for her right now. She looked around and wondered if three children would fit into the house, sure it was huge, but what about when they start growing up, running around. What baffled her the most was the fact that she was already thinking this far, thinking about raising them on her own.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She sluggishly got up and dragged herself to the door.

"Who is it?" She both wondered and asked outloud.

"Um, your new neighbour." A male voice with a British accent rang through the door.

The sentence made her laugh a bit. She still considered herself new to the neighbourhood, so it was either ironic or a joke the universe was making to help ease her worries. She opened the door and the universe was really trying to ease her worries. A 5.9 foot man standing in front of her with a bright smile and a handsome face.

"Hello." He greeted.

"Don't ask me to show you around, I'm also new here." She spoke with conjured indifference.

"Ah. I'm guessing new to the country as well."

"What gave it away?"

"Your accent, it's not just not British, it's so raw it has to be new to the country."

"Okay Detective -"

"Xanthe. And I'm new to this area."

"Isn't Xanthe a female name?" She asked curiously.

"Wait till you find out my surname."

"What, is it Rebecca?"

"I'll leave that to you to find out. Nice meeting you –"

"Lyra."

"Lovely name, Lyra. Perhaps I'll show you around sometime. Get lost together and all sorts of dubiousness."

"Perhaps." She closed the door slowly as he walked away.

Realizing that she was flirting with the new neighbour, she facepalmed and wondered if there was something wrong with her. How could it take the sight of a guy to uplift her spirit. She decided to not think about anyone and just do things that'll make her happy and comfortable. And one of those was shifting into her wolf skin and running through a forest. But she didn't know this place properly enough to do that and she was trying to stay away from the werewolf world for the time being.

She grabbed her purse, threw on a coat and left the house. She looked for a fancy restaurant around and decided to have a meal, not because she was hungry but because she was feeling reminiscent. When the menu was given to her, she asked the waitress to surprise her. Cause she didn't know what any of the things on the menu were. She remembered the last time she saw her parents and brother, they took her to a fancy restaurant just like this one with perhaps more exclusivity. She wanted a burger but her parents ordered a lobster for her, telling her it was just a big red burger. It was a painful and funny experience for her. She didn't even finish before a jeep drove through the glass window. Her father pushed her out the way just before he and her mum were hit by the car and shot severally with aconite laced bullets and his brother decapitated with a silver sword. She remembers all the assailants faces, the tattoos the man with the silver sword had, the plate number of the jeep, it was a memory carved on her mind.

"Lyre." She heard the word being said again and again as though it was being called, distracting her thoughts. She turned around and saw Xanthe calling and waving at her from outside and she went to meet him.

"What did you call me?" She asked.

"Lyre."

"Oh mother of the moon, it is Lyra not Lyre."

"Forgive me, Lyre. It won't happen again."

"You did it on purpose. Oh mother."

"When did you make a reservation here?"

"I didn't, I just walked in, how you normally do at restaurants."

"Not possible, Goût de loup is a very exclusive restaurant, they have bookings as far ahead as six months already."

"And you say you're new in town."

"This is one of their three establishments. And I've heard about them. So it's not possible that you just walked in."

Lyra looked into the restaurant analytically until her eyes met with an old man sitting in a corner, lavishly dressed in an expensive suit. He waved at her with a little smile that exposed his long sharp fangs. She consciously took in a deep breath and it was right there, how couldn't she have noticed it before, the smell of a werewolf in the air. He could smell her from before she even got to the restaurant and signaled for her to be let in.

"Wanna come in?" She asked Xanthe.

"Is that a question, of course I do."

"But you have to hold my hand as we walk in."

"Okey Doke."

"So much for staying away from the werewolf world for a while." She whispered to herself as she held his hand and a wave of warmth flowed into her from him through his hand.

They walked in and Lyra decided to go greet the old werewolf, as a sign of respect, nothing more. So she showed Xanthe to their seat and whispered "I'll be right back" to him before making her way to the edge where the man was seated.

"Lyra, Gray."

"Law, Hazel."

"I understand I would not have been fortunate enough to dine here today without your backing grace."

"You understand correctly."

"I offer my gratitude, thank you for the kind gesture, even without knowing who I am."

"It is my pleasure to host a fellow lycan. After all, it is for that reason I started Goût de loup, Wolf's Taste."

"Ah... I am honoured."

"Do enjoy yourself." He said.

"I sure will." She replied and was about to leave.

"Oh and, Utah Peckerwood sends his regards."

She froze when she heard this, but determined not to turn around, she hurried back to her seat. She wondered how the Beta of her pack, the Highblood pack, knew where she was.

"Did his daughter, Anacostia, tell him? But even she didn't know the exact town she decided to settle in." Her thoughts were worried. She turned to look at Law one more time, but he wasn't there anymore.