Chapter 7

That night, leaving her cabin with the hellhound, Pearl went out. The eastern town's road was empty, and nighttime roads were freeing at first, but before long, the sense Pearl was the only person in the realm heightened the aching loneliness that was a persistent, choking weight.

Whether it was her latest stalker or the lack of social contact she'd had over the past month as she lost herself in her work, Pearl didn't know, but unexpectedly the quietness was suffocating.

Pearl lived as cut off as she could. Alone in the old cabin with only a hellhound for a companion. She tried so hard, so fucking hard, to fight when the need for a werewolf, fae, or a male alchemist's contact and intimacy arose, not wanting to put anyone in danger.

But, ultimately, she always broke.

When the need to be around other people grew to be too much, she authorized herself brief beats of normality: going to the cute downtown café for coffee, grocery shopping at the farmers' market instead o