Tasting

380–The Devastating Journey

Nora:

“No!” Rollo blurted out, grabbing the bags from the guards and gesturing to his sister to return to her room.

“Rollo! You can’t force her to go back inside. She’s an adult. Why can’t she take on any responsibility? How long are you going to shelter her?” Brody was cunning, using this moment to drive a wedge between the siblings as punishment for Rollo’s changing attitude toward me.

and Clara

“Brother, please,” Clara finally raised her voice slightly, causing her brother to stop and

In to look at her. The pain in his eyes puzzled me.

Brody wasn’t

protective of her?

ly though. Why was Rollo so fiercely

“Clara! If you want to be responsible, start here. Why do you have to travel so far to prove that you can take on responsibilities?” Rollo spoke in a low voice, his gaze shifting to Brody, who tilted his head as if to silently remind Rollo not to cross him again.

I was observing everything closely, trying to absorb as much information as possible.

“Because I’ve never been outside this pack. I want to see other packs. Please, and I’ll have Nora with me,” Clara suddenly turned to me with a smile as if we were the best of friends. I frowned, making sure Rollo noticed.

Then I started calculating.

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380–The Devastating Journey

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If I took Rollo with me, he’d be too cautious and observant. As for Clara, she was naive. The most she could do was conspire with those three snakes to harm me, but neither she nor they could do that anymore.

In fact, I’d love for them to try.

Life had become a bit dull without challenges. I wanted them to make a move, just so I could face them again.

“I think Clara would be fine. I’ll take care of her,” I returned Clara’s fake smile, and her expression immediately dropped.

Why did they all act like I was incapable of genuinely smiling at

someone?

“It’s not about that. You’ll be on your own mission, Nora. Clara-,” Rollo closed his eyes, stretching his neck to the side.

I wondered if this was how frustrating I used to be.

Clara should have been more considerate of her brother’s concerns. If there was a valid reason for them to always stick together, why would she put him in such a difficult position in front of everyone? She basically forced Brody to humiliate Rollo and warn him not to cross him again.

“She’ll be fine,” Brody smirked at Rollo, who clenched his jaw tightly. As Brody took the bag from Clara and handed it back to Rollo, I moved closer to him, trying to understand what was really bothering him.

“Are you okay?” I asked, though I didn’t really care. I just wanted the inside scoop.

“Nora! Clara shouldn’t be going with you. She has a condition- I mean, her mood swings,” he struggled to describe her arrogance and

stubbornness.

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“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to her,” I reassured him with a smile, though inwardly, I was eager to test her limits. They were

definitely hiding something.

If I could push her far enough to expose her weaknesses, I could use that against Rollo and get my children back, then run away. That made sense.

I nodded to myself, already formulating plans in my head.

“That’s not all of it. I was hoping to go with you and spend-” He stopped mid–sentence, but I knew exactly where he was going with this. Why would he want to spend time with me?

“Oh! Well, we can do that here, you know, when we go to the mountains. Hey, how about I take care of your sister and you take care of my babies? I need someone I can trust while I’m gone,” I suggested, watching the light flicker in his eyes.

It was a

If he was

coming together.

me

genuinely interested in I could use it to my advantage. But if he was part of a bigger scheme–my gaze shifted briefly to Brody–I’d need to stay even more vigilant around the both of them.

“Deal,” he said with a weak smile, though his eyes shifted to Clara, who

head over heels for

I was fixated on Brody. It was clear she was already

him. Perhaps Brody had used his charms on her.

After Rollo spent an hour standing alone with his sister, likely pleading with her to stay in touch and reminding her of a hundred different things, we were finally ready to leave.

“Huh! I am so excited,” Clara made me roll my eyes.

Now that I was seated in the car, a wave of unease crept over me. My poor little children would have to be without me for a few days. The day I get a

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chance, I’ll make everyone who separated us feel the worst pain imaginable.

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