"Thank you," Selene said to Inez when they were done with the treatment. She moved her wrist and smiled softly when she realised that she could move her hands without feeling excruciating pain. "I feel much better than I usually do."
"This is what I should do," Inez replied, as she didn’t feel like she had done anything special. And she indeed thought that she was not doing anything worth the praise or the gratitude. She was only repaying Killian for giving her a place in his pack when everyone had refused to let her in.
It was a deal with each of them getting what they wanted; Inez felt it would be too shallow if she let it get to her head.
"That’s really sweet of you," Selene remarked. Her eyes, which had softened, turned a little stern as she questioned, "I wonder if you are getting along with the pack members? I hope that no one is causing you any trouble after the fiasco at the dining area?"
"I don’t usually get involved with the pack members," Inez replied as she poured herself a glass of water. "I stick to my lodge most of the time."
Selene nodded when she heard her response. She softly murmured, "I think that this is better; at least you will be safe."
"Safe?" Inez repeated. Her heart couldn’t help but suddenly clench when she heard Selene’s remark. What did Selene mean by saying she would stay safe?
However, before Selene could reply, someone knocked on the door. Both of the women turned to look at the man who was standing at the threshold of the door.
"Are you done?" Laxus asked. "Killian has called for another meeting, and he is asking everyone to come to the pack hall."
"We are done," Inez replied. Suppressing the curiosity in her heart as well as her thudding heartbeat, Inez stepped aside as Laxus walked over to the bed and helped Selene into the wheelchair, but he did pause and look at her in confusion when he heard her thumping heartbeat.
"You alright?" he asked, sensing that there was something amiss with Inez.
"Yeah." Inez nodded as she walked out of the room. The wan smile that she had given to Laxus fell off her lips as she started to walk out of the lodge. What was going on? Was her life in danger? Inez’s thoughts were consumed by what Selene had said to her, and she couldn’t understand what she meant by those words.
However, her thoughts came to a cease when she entered the pack hall. The second she walked inside, Inez felt Killian look up at her. And the second he looked at her, Inez was certain that she was going to become a pool of nothing but heated desire.
There was something so intense and gripping about his look that she couldn’t explain.
And it would have felt a lot better if something had not been bugging her.
She raised her head and turned to look at Ally, who was glaring at her with just as intense animosity.
"And what do you think you are doing here?" She asked as if she had not received an answer to that question many times before.
"I thought it was a stripping party," Inez replied. She no longer had the patience to deal with Ally or play along with her. The woman was as smart as a hamster that was on crack. No matter how much she tried to speak politely with Ally, the woman would only take it as a weakness and try to pounce on Inez at every possible chance that she could get.
Looking around, Inez added, "Where is the stripping pole? Let’s get this party started."
"Ooooh, very witty. Very clever," Ally snapped. Her duck lips twisted into a sneer, which looked rather hideous due to another jab that she had gotten a few days ago, which made her lips look even more hideous. "There is no point in saying such things because I bet no one would watch you strip even if they were paid."
She crossed her arms with a snort as if she was rather pleased with that retort.
However, her smug smile didn’t last long as Killian remarked, "Don’t bet on it. I will watch it as long as she is willing to do it."
"Me too," Ajax raised his hand in the air and snickered when Killian raised his head and looked at him, "What? She is hot."
"KILL!" Ally stared at Kilian as if she could not believe that the man had said such a thing. Her eyes popped out of their sockets, and she said to him, "Have you lost your mind? She is not even your type."
"She is from now on."
"Because she has a brain?" Killian offered innocently. "It’s a plus that she can read and write, Al. Don’t glare at me like that; I wasn’t the one who asked you to get an F in all your tests." He added, causing Ally’s cheeks to flush red.
"Alright." Selene, who entered the pack hall with Laxus, glanced at the table that was full of toddlers trapped in adult bodies. She said, "I think that you should be telling us what we were called here for, Kill."
"Matt here was about to tell us how useless he is," Killian pointed to the man who was typing behind the screen while cursing in a rapid-fire manner. "It has been an entire day, and he couldn’t even break through a single firewall."
Matt looked even more annoyed than Killian. He raised his head and looked at the man who was speaking for him. "What I do is not as simple as you think it is. Okay? This website is not simple. It has encryptions all over the place, and not to mention, there is some magic also at play. I am trying to deal with it. But I need a curse breaker. Do you even know how many times I have gone to the restroom because my stomach felt uneasy?"
"See, useless?" Killian offered innocently.
Matt only scowled at him.