The Luna’s Choice (Theo and Ayla) by Kat Silver
Chapter 172

Chapter 172

Chapter 19. Theo

Chapter 20: Ayla

I woke up feeling surprisingly well, and I slept even better. Mina and I had spent the evening together,and before going to bed, she administered the next dose of wolfsbane. I didn’t go to sleep until I startedto feel the effects. The dosage was higher, but I didn’t feel it as strongly as before, which was hopeful. Ihad expected the nausea to keep me up but there wasn’t much. So, once the lightheadedness becametoo frustrating, I went to bed.

The effects had completely worn off by the morning, and I took it as a good sign. I was able to talk Minainto giving me another dose before she left. But only if I promised to take a break for her matingceremony over the weekend. I had no problem complying.

“That includes while we’re away on our honeymoon,” Mina insisted.

“I can live with that,” I said. “Besides, if it keeps going this well, we’ll pretty much be done by thisweekend.”

“Well, let’s hope so,” she said. “How is Dasha doing with this whole thing?”

‘Getting stronger,‘ Dasha answered.

I smiled. “She’s doing amazing. I haven’t even lost her once. After that first dose, she had a rough timeyesterday, but she powered through like a champ.”

“That’s just so crazy,” Mina said, obviously impressed.

“You know, this means you could do this, too,” I said. “You have this immunity also.”

Chapter 20 Ayla

She made a face. “Yeah, I considered it, but I think I’ll pass.” She grabbed her stuff and gave me a hug.“I’ve got to head out. But I’ll see you at the fitting this afternoon, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I said.

Mina left and I grabbed my phone to call Theo. I had messaged him a few times the night before butonly got one reply. So, when the call went to voicemail, my heart sank and the anxiety and dread set inagain. I left him a quick message and hung up, my brow furrowed with

concern.

I was thinking about calling him again when there was a knock on the door. I answered it to replace Maggiewaiting in the hall.

“Good morning, Maggie,” I greeted her. “Is something wrong?”

She smiled. “Not at all,” she replied. “Alpha wanted me to make sure you were sticking to your trainingwhile he was away. Hopefully, you‘ ll overlook the fact that I’m not here at five in the morning.”

“I’m not going to say anything,” I chuckled. “Come on it. Give me just a moment to change, and we’llhead over to the gym.”

Maggie came in and waited in the living room while I threw on some workout clothes. I usually didn’ttake my phone with me, but then, I was always training with Theo. So, I grabbed it on my way out of the

bedroom, checking the screen for any messages. There weren’t any, so I tucked it in the waistband ofmy leggings.

“Ready to go?” I asked Maggie, trying to sound normal.

“Let’s go.

When we arrived, the gym was empty, and Maggie started us out with some weight training. Not longinto the workout, I started to feel the

Chapter 20: Ayla

wolfsbane kick in. I pushed through. The worst part was the dizziness, but it was easy to manage aslong as we stuck with weights instead of combat practice.

The exercise actually helped burn the poison out of my system faster. By the time I returned to theapartment and showered, I didn’t even feel it anymore.

It was kind of incredible.

But the success of my experiment was the only thing that kept me from going crazy. Theo still hadn’tresponded, and my concern had grown to panic. I ran my hand through my wet hair and was about tocall him again when I heard Jimmy at the door.

“Alright, Luna, let’s get moving,” he called through the wood as he knocked loudly. “There’s pretty littleco–ed that’s waiting to see me.”

I went to the door and yanked it open. “I’m not going today.”

His face fell. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

I opened my mouth but hesitated, wondering if I was just overreacting.

Jimmy grabbed my shoulders. “Ayla, what’s wrong?” he coaxed gently

“Theo isn’t answering my calls,” I said.

“Shit,” Jimmy breathed. “Okay, I’m sure everything is fine. Give me a minute and I’ll see what I can replaceout.”

He stepped back out into the hall and shut the door. He didn’t want me to hear something I shouldn’t.That didn’t help my nerves. I started to pace the living room. My thoughts were going to dark placesand I wasn’t paying attention. My foot slammed into a side table,, stubbing my toe and knocking over alamp. I didn’t catch my balance quick

Chapter 20. Ayla

enough and toppled over, my knees hitting the hardwood and my hands going out in front of me,landing right in the broken glass.

A string of curses escaped my mouth as I rolled to my backside, checking my bloody palms. Luckily,only one seemed to have sustained any damage. I dragged myself off the floor and grabbed a kitchentowel, still cursing when my phone rang.

I lunged for it. “Theo?”

“Ayla, what happened? Where are you? Are you okay?” he rushed in a panic.

“I’m fine,” I replied. “Just clumsy today. But now you f***ing call me back? I’ve been worried sick.”

“I’m so sorry, baby,” he said. “It was a really long night. I didn’t want to wake you when we finally madeit to the hotel room. I guess I passed out pretty hard. I’m really sorry.”

I could hear the sadness and stress in his voice and my heart fell.

“No, it’s okay,” I assured him. “I’m sorry. I was just anxious.”

“I know,” he said. “I should have…”

“Just wake me up next time, okay?” I interrupted. “I’m not sleeping all that soundly without you hereanyway. So, just call me whenever Doesn’t matter what time.”

“Okay,” he said softly, relief flooding through the phone. “What did you do to your hand? It stings likehell.”

“I tripped over the damn end table,” I told him, holding the towel to the cut. “Now we need a new lamp.But I’ll be fine in a couple hours. How is it going down there?”

Chapter 20: Ayla

“Slow, at the moment,” Theo said with frustration. “We broke one of the rogues but he didn’t knowanything helpful. We’ll continue working on the other two today.”

Jimmy came back in the door, hanging up his phone when he saw me on a call. He pointed to myphone and I nodded to confirm it was Theo on the line.

“How are you doing?” I asked Theo as Jimmy noticed the mess and came to check my hand.

“Going crazy without you,” he replied, a touch of playfulness in his

tone.

“I can always come down and help,” I told him. “I could practice my commands.”

“I don’t want you this close to the border,” Theo said sadly. “However, if we don’t make any leeway bytomorrow morning, I just might

consider bringing them to you.”

“I could get on board with that.”