Chapter 41: Chapter 41

Chapter 41 Rivervale

MAIA'S POV

I started my journey towards the northern part of the pack grounds. A couple of days ago, I had already packed my backpack with light clothes and as many essentials as I could fit in the bag. With the little savings I had, I planned on heading to the bus stop to buy a ticket to the farthest city my money can take me.

Instead of going by foot, I shifted into my wolf form and grabbed my bag with my muzzle. I ran through the forest while making sure that I was not crossing any pack lands. I could not get caught trespassing or else it would be big trouble for me.

After hours of running through the forest, I finally arrived at the end of the forest line. I hid behind a tree and shifted back to my human form. I quickly got dressed before heading towards the bus station.

With my bag on my back, I stopped at the booth and looked at all the available destination trips they had. One destination stood out for me-Rivervale. I have heard of this town, but I have never been there.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the cashier.

"Rivervale please," I said.

"One way or round-trip ticket?" she asked.

"One way, please," I answered.

"That would be $69.75." she said.

I took my wallet from my bag and paid her for the ticket. She gave the change to my $100 bill. "Thanks," I said before leaving.

I checked the time on my ticket and saw that I still had half an hour before the bus leaves. Thankfully, there was a small store open. I went and bought a couple of snacks on the road before getting inside the bus.

I adjusted my seat, so that I was comfortable on the ride to Rivervale. Since it's going to be a long trip, I need to take this advantage to sleep so that I can start looking for a job as soon as we arrive.

Fifteen hours later, we finally arrived at Rivervale. I looked around me and it was very much different from my old town. The streets were much busier and there were a lot of shops.

'Maia, we should just go back to the castle. Look around you. You know nobody here. If something happens to us, no one will save us. This is a big mistake, Maia. Let's go back before it's too late!' Avi complained.

She has been complaining ever since we left the castle.

'Avi! I thought we had already talked about this?! We are not going back to that castle. We will show them all that we could register and drive,' I replied through the mind link.

'But I miss him, Maia. I don't know if I can survive being this far away from him,' she whined.

I let out another sigh and groaned.

'I know that Avi. Have you forgotten that he is also my mate? Swallow your emotions and keep your senses high.' I spat.

No matter how Avi wanted to keep whining, she did as I was told and stayed on high alert.

After waking and looking around for almost two hours, I finally found a shop with a hiring poster outside the door. I took a deep breath before entering and plastered a smile on my face.

"Hi! Good afternoon! I saw your post outside looking for a saleslady. Are you still looking for one?" I asked after greeting the person inside nicely.

"Hi, Dear! Come in. Yes, I am still looking for one. I assume you would like to apply?" the old lady replied, asking.

"Yes, Ma'am," I answered.

"Please sit and stop calling me 'Ma'am'. Just call me 'Nana'," she said.

"Thank you, Nana." I replied.

"You do know that this is a human's territory, right? The majority of the people living in this town are humans and it is against our code to harm any one of them," Nana said.

"I understand, Nana." I replied.

"That is good. Tell me, dear. Why are you here? What are you doing in this far away town?" she asked.

I hesitated to answer but I knew that I would have to answer it if I wanted the job.

"I am here in hope of healing myself, Nana." I replied.

"Well, where are you staying?" she asked.

"I am still looking for one." I answered.

"When did you arrive in town?" she asked, eyeing me mischievously.

"This morning, Nana," I replied.

"Oh! Poor child. Come and I will show you to your new room. You take a rest now and tomorrow I will train you." She instructed.

"I'm accepted?" I asked.

"Yes, dear. Don't you want the job?" she replied, asking.

"No. I mean, yes, I want the job!" I blubbered.

She simply laughed at my sudden reaction as she led me to the back of the store.

I followed her until she stopped in front of a door and opened it.

"This will be your new room. You have to be careful because most of your neighbors are humans. They are students here at the nearby college. Why don't you rest first and we'll talk more about your work and salary later?" she suggested.

I nodded and thanked her for her kindness. She even gave me lunch before she went back to the store.

With a full belly and tired legs, I laid down on the bed and was immediately drowned with memories of Lucius.

'Maia, we have to go back. I am getting weaker as the day goes by. I don't know how long I will survive. Please. I am begging you.' Avi begged.

'Avi, please stay strong. Didn't we survive this long before we even met him? I am sure we can do it for another two decades or so. You are strong, Avi. Never forget that. That is just the mate bond talking, but I know that we can get through this. The sooner you accept that, the better. I need you to help yourself." I explained.

'I can feel his wolf trying to reach me. He needs me. We have to go back. Our mate needs us.' she begged again.

'I know that it hurts right now, Avi, but I promise it will be better. Just hang in there. We will have a happy life. Soon,' I said, before letting sleep take over me.

For the next couple of days, Nana trained me at the store and taught me everything I needed to know. I also met some of the human neighbors I had who were extremely nice.

Everything was turning out good. I have a job, a place to stay at and I was starting to get some friends as well along the way. During my free time, I would stroll around the town with my human friends.

With too much memory of Lucius in my head, I went to Nana in hope of getting the help that I needed.

"Nana, how do I forget about the pull of the mate bond? Or how do I ignore it?" I asked Nana.

"Child, you don't forget the mate bond. In fact, it is the most important connection you and your mate will ever form. It is an amazing bond that can be the death or the purpose for the mate to live," she said.

I thought that I would be getting a straight answer such as "Time heals everything" or "It gets better over time".

As days turned into weeks, I tried my best to focus on my new life and forget about Lucius. Although it was way easier said than done because of Avi, we have finally reached some realization.

'Avi, I know that you would always look for him no matter what, but all I am asking you is to try. For the both of us, I need you to try to move on. We could not keep dwelling on the past. I am sure that the Moon Goddess has a perfect reason for all of this. We just have to trust her and believe that this is for the better.' I explained.

Avi did not respond to what I said. Instead, she blocked me away from her mind link for the next couple of days.

I spent my time working and traveling around the town during my free time. Being in the human town, I slowly learned how they dealt with love and rejection. It was always a mystery to me how do they know if that person was "The One" as they called it without having the mate bond.

Since I left the castle, I stopped painting. I always found myself painting memories of the past and it was never a help for me to move on. Instead, it was chaining me more to the past. I have taken a new hobby - crocheting. Nana taught me how to crochet and it turned out to be pretty easy. In a span of one month, I already knew how to crochet a dress.

One of my neighbors, who was a student at the nearby university, suggested that I crochet a bralette, shirts and dresses to sell. At first, I was hesitant, but she and her friends were very supportive and became my first buyer. I now have a small business of made to order crochet items which I do in my free time.

'You should make a blanket for us. I bet it's going to be so warm and very useful in the coming winter.' Avi suggested.

'You are right. We would definitely need it. What would I do without your smart brain?' I replied, sweet talking to her.

It took Avi almost 2 months to slowly recover from the past. There are still times where she misses Lucius very much and I do let her sulk for a bit until she gets it out of her chest. When we do not have that many orders on the weekend, I would go out to the forest for a run. It helped Avi a lot with the whole moving on.

"Maia, I would go out for a couple of hours. I need to restock our pantry. Please keep an eye on the store until I return," Nana said before leaving.

"Yes, Nana." I replied.

While there were no customers, I focused on the new design that I was planning to add to my crochet business.

"That looks pretty. I would love to see you in them," a voice said.