I apologize if I put you to sleep. I'm in dire need of sleep myself.
"it's hard to wake up from a nightmare if you aren't even asleep"
Elorcan Werewolf 4
Six months later
Having Lory around almost fulfilled the absence of her pack. The dog was a menace to anyone she invited over, and Elide learned the hard way to not invite her business interests or corporate companions over.
Today, mercifully, was her day off. She was lazily sprawled across the couch, scrolling through all the romantic puns on twitter in event of Valentine's day.
Aelin: I want to burn my mate's nonexistent dick off.
Manon: No amount of magic could enlarge an already dead thing.
Rowan: You don't hear my other consorts complaining.
Aelin: Mmhmm. Why am I wasting time on you when I should be preparing for my date my boyfriend's holding?
Rowan: Since when do you have a boyfriend?
Chaol: Since you failed your mate.
Elide rolled her eyes. Manon had informed her later on that Aelin had paid Chaol, her past ex, to keep up the facade of the fake boyfriend to see if Rowan did indeed care about her. The only response she'd gotten was Rowan leaving the Fireheart Pack and storming back to the castle where the Princess Remelle awaited.
Aelin had decided to reject Rowan tomorrow, Valentine's day. A symbol of the utmost love at its highest failure.
"I hate the moon goddess," Elide moaned. "She paired me and Aelin with the worst."
Lory lifted his head off the mattress, and scooted closer to her toes. Elide snuggled into the animal's warmth, stroking his head.
"I mean, why do we have to be paired with unfaithful males? I want someone who will prove their love to me, but also someone who had proved their love to me."
The dog jumped up onto the couch, snorting as Elide popped off the couch. He was so large that Elide wanted to check if he was overweight, but Lory had adamantly refused to go to the vet's.
Letting out a sigh, Elide stroked Lory's soft head. It took awhile for the beast to get used to Elide constantly petting him, but a few days later, all he did was demand attention, even when she was on a phone conference. When one client even asked for a date at the end, Lorcan had knocked her couch over.
Needless to say, she didn't get the date.
But Elide was determined to go out on a date tomorrow, Valentine's day. She deserved a chance at love. No mate was going to stop her.
Lory let out a huff, placing a massive paw on her thigh, almost as he were urging her to continue.
"His name is Lorcan," Elide said, looking out the window. "He's a Lycan. And apparently my mate. It's weird, because he's apparently almost as old as Manon. Isn't it cradle-robbing?"
Lory let out a low growl, his ears twitching back — as if he disagreed.
"Anyways, if he really treasured a mate, he would have waited for her — like I waited for mine — only to find out that I wasn't going to be his first. Ridiculous, isn't it? Why am I still hung up over this?"
Lory gave her a stink eye that might as well said you should be hung up over this.
Elide heaved a giant sigh. "He's probably at some she-wolf's house right now."
Lory let out a disgruntled snort, placing his snout directly between her breasts. Elide let out a squeak as the animal licked her collarbone, and snuggled against her. Five seconds later, when Elide started scratching the fur along his neck, a giant purr erupted from his throat.
Elide let out a screech in surprise, and slid out from underneath. Lory let out a discontented growl, and jumped off the couch, pacing in circles around her.
"Sometimes you really confuse me," Elide said. She dusted off her jeans and headed to the closet. She needed to get ready for her blind date tomorrow Aelin had set her up for.
Elide slammed her fists against her work table, and rubbed her eyes. All the types of diseases were blurring her eyes, and she couldn't even differentiate between the two main parasite branches of the mermaid currents.
Lory lifted off of his haunches and then placed his paws onto her knees. He rubbed his maw against her, repeating the motion. She loosed a breath, and closed her eyes. Instead of choosing a dress, she'd ended up studying her notes for her aquatic parasitic exam in three days.
"I don't even know how I'm going to get a perfect sore!" Elide rolled off the chair and onto the floor. Lory immediately pounced onto her, settling himself over her prone form. She let out a giggle as Lory started licking her face, his tail wagging vigorously. She itched his ears, a satisfied sound emerging from Lory's throat. "It's sad. Valentine's day is less than three hours away and I'm studying."
Lory let out a noise that oddly sounded like a confirmation, but remained lying on top of her.
Elide lazily glanced at her open closet, staring at the hanging dresses. She only had one dress that wasn't business related, and it was a provocative, short, and skimpy, her breasts nearly spilling out of the thin material. Manon had sent it to her a week ago, and Elide had immediately shoved it into the back corner of her closet.
Lory followed her line of vision and let out a questioning bark. Elide smiled and scratched his head reassuringly.
"I'm going to go to the grocery store. You seem to have a penchant for raw food. Be a good boy and I'll buy you some."
Lory let out a yip, and bounded off of Elide, galloping to the front door. He swerved to avoid knocking down the clay vase she had bought a day ago, and she crossed her arms, smiling fondly down at the animal that had become so essential to her life.
Elide opened the door and watched the animal bound towards the forest. She knew it wasn't healthy to keep a large dog like Lory inside all day, so she had let him run loose for hours a day, trusting him to return.
He always did.
As soon as she pulled up along the gravel, Lory shot from the trees, bounding towards her and barking merrily. She smiled, and lifted the trunk open. Lory dutifully gathered the ends of the plastic bag in his mouth and carried the groceries inside.
Elide gathered the rest and slammed the trunk close. She was lucky that Ansel's Assortment Store was open 24/7, even though the cashier hadn't been happy to see her at 11:30 pm.
Elide glided up the porch and pushed passed the door. Lory was already pushing the containers of food out of the bags with his jaws. She smiled at her companion. She couldn't imagine a life without him now. Maybe she didn't need a mate nor a male if she had Lory. She started to realize she preferred things that didn't talk and that she didn't mind the silence the cabin gave her.
In fact, when Manon had visited once, the only sound that had pierced the house was the wind blasting down the chimney and slamming against her windows. Lory had always demanded to go out for his runs in the woods whenever company came over, even though she'd always wanted to introduce her pet to others, and she'd come to realize that her dog was as much as a hermit as she.
She set the foodstuff in their respective positions, and took the packaged raw meat out of its syringe wrap. "Here you go, Lory," she hummed.
Lory wagged his tail in anticipation as she lowered the container to the floor. Her canine companion merely looked up at her as she washed her hands. "What is it?"
Lory moved away from the meat and brushed his nose against the bucket full of plums. He nudged it to her, rolling the fruit out onto the floor. Elide blinked. "Do you want me to eat, too?"
Lory nodded and pawed the plum near her feet closer. Grinning, Elide plucked it off the floor and rinsed it in the sink. Lory watched her the entire time and didn't touch his own raw meat until Elide took her second bite. She ruffled his head as he greedily finished the remains of his food within record timing.
By the time they had finished, Elide had collapsed on her bed, Lory curled up at her feet. She smiled fondly at her companion, grateful that he had come into her life. Even though she had to buy a new bed that could stand his weight, she wouldn't replace him with anything.
Elide yawned, and flopped over the bed. Her eyes widened and she hopped off the bed, not noticing Lory anywhere. As much as he hated to admit, she loved the animal's warmth and security he seemed to bring.
Her clock drearily blared 8:00. Her date was supposed to pick her up at 9:00, for Hellas's sake.
She quickly showered and scrubbed her teeth and face. Slipping into her slippers, she cursed Manon as she slipped into the black dress. After a moment's thought, she tossed on a ruby red blazer that draped past her knees and switched her stilettos with black flats.
As she moodily tromped down the stairs for single's awareness day, she spotted Lory eagerly panting at the bottom. He cocked his head as his eyes swept past her outfit, and a growl rising from his throat. Elide patted his head, and immediately stacked his food bowl. "Didn't you eat around midnight last night?"
When she set the plate down, Lory refused to touch it, and clawed the edges of her blazer. Elide tried to unhook his abnormally large claw away from her blazer, but instead shrugged off the material, the sound of cloth ripping as her cover fell to the floor.
Lory let out a loud howl as he stared at the dress she was wearing. Elide immediately felt self-conscious and tugged the material down. "What?" she snapped. Seriously, was her dog bullying her into what to wear?
Lory closed his eyes and stared at the ceiling for twenty long seconds. When Elide was about to move to the pantry, Lory wagged his tail and bolted down the foyer. Smiling, she chased after her dog, and nearly slammed into the door as he abruptly stopped.
There, on the middle of her carpet, Lory had ripped open her bag of candied, valentine hearts. Her canine companion had laid out the pink hearts in an own heart formation with the candied enscript of be mine in the middle. The other colors dotted around the room in mini hearts and swirls, ribbons torn from the plastic bags hanging near the windows.
Lory blinked up at her.
A sob wrecked itself out of Elide and she rushed for Lory, burying her head into his chest. Lory let out a content noise and buried his own snout into her head, his tongue licking her neck.
"I'm yours." Elide smiled faintly. "I love you, Lory."
Lory barked, a noise of agreement. The satisfied sound easily turned into a low growl as the doorbell rang, and Elide sashayed away to greet her date.
