Chapter 165: Thornridge Tour

Tessa’s POV

Thornridge was a cool place ... not what I had expected at first. They were welcoming, freaking hospitable.

I was so happy to be there when we arrived and they started asking me and Kael questions.

Of course we had to lie. We couldn’t tell them we had been exiled from our original territory. We told them we were relatives of the old wolf instead.

"Oh, you’re very much welcome," they said to the both of us.

They offered us ingredients to cook with. I had never seen such hospitality in my entire life.

Me and Kael weren’t talking to each other though. I was intentionally ignoring him. I just couldn’t see myself holding a conversation with him anymore.

Maybe it was my past sins with him that had made me realize how stupid I had been ... fucking the beta. I felt so bad and disgusted with myself for that shit. I couldn’t help but look at him like he was trash and tune him out completely.

"Tessa, how are you?" he asked.

I didn’t respond.

"What are we going to eat today? What do you like so I can see if I can get it?" he asked, and I still didn’t answer.

It shocked him. I could tell.

"What’s going on, Tessa? You’re ignoring me," he said after asking me the same questions over and over again.

I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with him.

"Avoid me, please," I said flatly.

He didn’t say another word after that.

We had just been smiling together whenever anyone asked us questions ... keeping up appearances like the liars we were.

The old wolf who had housed us came to take us around Thornridge. We climbed into his old and rusty car. It was a real piece of work. I couldn’t help but stare at it, amazed at such a machine. I had never seen anything like it in person ... only in pictures. Back in Winterwood, I had only ever ridden in limousines and Bentleys.

It still felt like going from heaven to hell, coming from Winterwood to Thornridge.

But I had to manage. I had to manage until I rose to the top again.

Tessa Crane never stays down for long. I believed that with everything in me. And when I rose again, everyone was going to feel my wrath and know exactly who I truly was.

We started from the East of Thornridge. That place was business-inclined on another level. All manner of trade was going on there. As me, Kael and the old wolf walked through, the traders smiled at us, assuming we were there to buy something. They were wrong.

The old wolf clarified that we were a new couple just wanting to sightsee.

There were huge edifices in the East. Monuments that reflected their past heroes and their accomplishments as a territory. They really had history ... deep, lived history that you could feel in the stone and the architecture around you.

The old wolf got us something before we left. A torch and a frame. He said we should use them to always remember Thornridge. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

That was so nice of him. I genuinely would never forget it.

The painting on the frame was top notch. They had excellent artists here. The painting smelled like caramel ... it looked so edible that one could almost take a bite right off the frame.

The old wolf noticed that me and Kael weren’t talking to each other. We hadn’t spoken since we left his house and it was painfully obvious. Fuck.

"What’s going on? Why aren’t you two talking to each other?" he asked.

"She doesn’t want to talk to me. Maybe she just doesn’t feel like it," Kael said to him.

I looked the other way.

"Tessa, what’s going on? Why are you fighting this cool young wolf?" the old wolf asked me directly.

"My mouth is weary of talking," I said sharply.

"This is just a phase, Tessa. You’ll both pass it. Please ... you have to stick together right now," he said.

"I’ll think about it, sir," I replied.

We left the East and drove to the West of Thornridge.

Evening had already started creeping in by then.

The West was beautiful ... that was the first thing I noticed. It had the feel of a tourist destination, people dancing and having fun everywhere, almost like they held a funfair out there every single day.

There was food too. As people on a tour, we first tasted what they had. Vendors lined the roadside, roasting and frying all sorts of things. I was literally salivating. It looked and smelled so damn good. I couldn’t help myself. Pork, meat, beef ... I ate all of it.

"Be careful here. Eat with discretion. You can get a running stomach from this kind of food," the old wolf warned.

I laughed. I was already in the mood and didn’t care. I ate and drank, and the drinks were top notch too. They smelled like chocolate and vanilla, sweet enough to be dangerous. I was convinced the West won when it came to entertainment. No competition.

I mixed alcohol with soda and knocked it back. I watched Kael do the same.

There was no way I wasn’t going to get drunk. It had been a while since I had touched a bottle, so it was bound to hit me hard. My tolerance had gone soft on me.

The old wolf just sat there watching the both of us with that quiet, knowing look old wolves always had.

I started joking with Kael without even realizing it. He was still in his right state of mind ... mostly. He was a male wolf. He was supposed to have been used to holding his liquor by now.

The last place we ended up that night was an outdoor bar.

They had entered the time of jolly and chill. The music turned up ... soothing to the ears and perfectly fitted for that exact moment and that night air.

"You’re getting high. You sure you’d be able to walk home?" I said to Kael, already in my own happy little universe.

What a twist of fate. What drinks could do to a person.

I was high and calling someone else high. I had no shame about it.

We were standing in the middle of the bar when a soft song started playing. Couples around us began to drift onto the floor together, swaying slowly. We were there together, so we had to play the part ... even if I didn’t feel like it.

The old wolf caught my eye and gave me a wink, then nodded at Kael too, telling us without words to get on that floor and move.

I put my hands around Kael’s neck. He guided me forward and we moved slowly across the grass, just the two of us drifting with the music.

I was in a world of my own and I wished it would never end. A warmth filled something in my chest ... even though I knew it wasn’t real. It was just the dopamine. Just the alcohol. Just the moment.

But Kael held me while we danced, and at that point I stopped thinking about what he had done. What we had done. I just freed myself and let the music take me somewhere else.

"We need to talk," he whispered against my ear.

"Can we just finish dancing?" I whispered back. "Don’t think about anything right now. Please."

We kept dancing into the night while the old wolf sat back in his chair, watching us quietly, nursing his own bottle of soda with a small smile on his face.