Fussing Over Trivial Matters

**FLASHBACK**

[MARINA]

"Bedelia, I am right here. Bedelia, how is Marina? Bedelia? Bedelia, dear sister, I am here. How is Marina?" The same text from Alpha Fisher to Doctor Bedelia read.

Two months have passed since Chandy's dreadful death. And while Alpha Fisher was busy handling her angst mate, he hadn't checked on Marina as often as he should have. The occurrence of that day was stuck in his mind, the fact that Marina asked for a meal after killing Chandy gave him a sleepless night.

Alpha Fisher didn't have to order an investigation or follow up in any way. Marina did it! He and his mate kept walking on eggshells around Marina, and with Luna Audra clearly losing her mind, he tasked Bedelia to look after Marina.

Keenly, Marina watched her mother sobbing. "Why are you making a fuss over a small matter?" Marina asked menacingly. Her father postponed their daily hobby and was now with her irrational mother and she hated it. Such a weakling! Marina thought.

Marina leaned on the doorpost leading to her parents' chamber, thinking how well Doctor Bedelia and the others were handling everything well, even Mannequin had been apologizing for asking a stupid question.

Frustrated, she skidded to her chamber, and when she bumped into their cook, she smiled when she saw the food in her hand. She grabbed it without even asking if it was hers and locked the door behind her. At least it was the end of the day. Accidentally, she dropped the plate on the floor, eyed it for a few minutes, cleaned it, and went to bed.

Luck wasn't on her side and for the third time, in three nights' rows, she woke up drenched in sweat. She kept seeing Kenny instead of Chandy. The nightmare didn't scare her at all. What made her madder was the fact that she was seeing the wrong person.

Groaning, Marina removed the cover, wore her sandal, and left her chamber. Walking in the dark, she smiled at herself with nothing in particular inside her mind. It was clear, clear as day.

When Marina entered the lift, she found Beta Shark fanning himself using a file, she scrunched her nose up and huffed in annoyance. Beta Shark asked nothing, he could see clearly Marina was annoyed.

Assuming him, Marina remembered the hook and the bait she hid behind the packhouse. When the lift stopped, a tinted smile appeared on her lips, Beta Shark moved to the back of the lift, and off she left, still smiling as though she has won a gold medal.

She was the fish's best friend, she loved the game they played. Marina caught them with ease, she wasn't born near the lake by accident. She released some fish she had caught into the lake and stood.

A yawn escaped her lips, she rubbed her eyes and whispered, "now friend, come to me, this is it." As if the fish heard her, they flew into her hook. She kept catching one after another. Since she returned the first batch to the lake, this batch was hers.

Without realizing how late it was, she kept fishing. The warm breeze on her skin made her feel alive and anxious. The emotion was sweet and thrilling. She would have stayed that till dawn, but as she had been so lost in fishing, she had stood inside the lake absentmindedly, a fish bit her leg, and she yelped, "ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! I swear I will catch you, sooooon."

Inside the kitchen, Marina excused herself to the head chef, "I am sorry about this, is it possible?"

The head chef answered, "little alpha, of course."

"Thanks."

Water and soap seemed to be the only thing inside her mind, and even though it was late at night, she had to scratch her body. She dropped her clothes into the laundry basket and picked a small stone she had gotten accustomed to over the past week.

Unconsciously, she scrubbed her legs, then hands. She picked a piece of clothing and began scrapping her body too. Her long black hair begged her for forgiveness as she pulled on it as if it was a sin that needed cleansing, by the time she stopped, her body was screaming murder.

Honestly, if it were anyone else, they would have bled already.

Sloppily, she dried herself as she returned to her chamber, "dad!" Marina screamed when she found her father standing in the middle of her chamber.

***********

"Dad," Marina whispered as her eyes fluttered open. The lingering smell of lemon mixed with rose was the first thing her nose registered. "Ivy, thank you." She mumbled, thinking Ivy dropped some flowers in her room as she had joked to her a week ago how much she would appreciate a flower from her beta.

Lana woke, [you called dad?]

Stretching, Marina nodded, [I miss him.]

The ringing from her phone cut shot her lovely moment of washing her body while humming, it was annoying, she rushed out and picked it up with foam in her hand. The person on the other line said, "coffee, on me?"

Marina groaned and finished bathing and dried her tiles too. After dressing in an elegant black pantsuit, Marina picked up her handbag and headed to the kitchen. "Aaaah!" Both Marina and Ivy screamed.

"Beta, what are you doing here?"

Ivy gazed at her from head to toe, "Food! Stomach! Your man!"

Marina raised an eyebrow at her.

Ivy chuckled, "I didn't want to wake your sexy beast of a man." She stopped to wink and continued shamelessly, "so, you got banged the whole night that you forgot I was in the hospital?"

"Bang? Really?" Marina inquired, her eyes furtively gazing around the room.

"See, you don't even want to look me in the eye and tell me you put your man first before me." Ivy flickered her forehead, picked two coffee mugs, and asked Marina to follow her.

"Shit! Ivy, I am sorry." Marina winced.

"I didn't die of hunger. You can stay back. Why are you leaving your man alone on this beautiful morning?" Ivy inquired while they walked to Marina's car.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yes." Ivy piqued.

The drive to City Blue was quiet and peaceful, Ivy kept stealing glances at Marina, and when Marina's phone dinged, she glanced at it and saw the cafe's address. Since they weren't far, she said to Ivy, "I will meet you at work. Now, stop the car."

Puzzled, Ivy followed Marina into the café, she had to countercheck when Marina kissed a woman she saw the previous day. When her eyes met Marina's, she blinked rapidly, "is my boss a slut?"

With her super hearing shot, Marina heard her, a lopsided grin sat on her lips as she typed a text to Ivy, "Did. You. Just. Refer. Me. As. A. Slut?"