Chapter 10
Eva sniffled and tucked herself closer into his arms.
“No, no it’s not the names. Your names are beautiful,” Eva said. “I love your names. The pup will be Alex or Sable. I love them already.”
“Okay. I’m glad but why… why are you crying?” Leo asked.
How had he upset his mate? What did he do wrong? How did he fix it?
“I just,” Eva sniffled and smiled, “I’m just so happy, that’s all.”
“Happy?”
“I… I’ve always dreamed. Of having a family.” Eva said. “A family of my own, I mean. My own pups. My own mate.”
“Well, you have it now,” Leo said, glad to realize she was crying happy tears. She must just be overwhelmed.
“That’s right,” Eva said, curling into Leo’s side. “I have it now.”
Leo held her until they both drifted off into sleep. It was so wonderful to just hold her, to be together with his mate. It was everything he’d dreamed.
When Leo woke up, he was alone and Eva’s side of the bed was cold. Why did she always wake up so early? And why did she think she had to leave?
“Eva?” he called out, hoping in vain that she had just stepped into the other room.
Only silence answered him.
Leo stepped out into the hall and looked up and down the corridor in hopes of locating his mate. He caught sight of a familiar figure at the comer of the hall and rushed to follow.
Hearing his footsteps, the
.
paused and turned. Leo saw a scarred face and hunched shoulders. It was the maid from the banquet.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. Was the maid trying to get into his rooms again?
“I was mopping,” she said, curling tighter in on herself.
Why did this maid always hide her face when she talked to him? What was she trying to hide?
“Mopping?” he repeated, looking behind her to see she did, in fact, have a rolling mop bucket. There was a mop leaning against the wall.
“Yes, Alpha, I mop in the mornings, before everyone’s awake. Every day. It’s my job.”
Everyone except Eva, apparently. Where was she anyway? He thought about asking the maid, but that would mean admitting his wife had left him without a word.
Leo didn’t want his relationship to Eva to be the subject of gossip among her family’s servants.
Instead, he said, “I told you I didn’t want you anywhere near my rooms.”
The maid cringed back. “I thought you meant in your rooms,” she said. “I–I have to do the mopping. If I don’t I’ll get in trouble.”
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“Have someone else do it,” Leo snarled. “I don’t trust you. Stay away from me.”
The maid bowed. “Of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause trouble,”
An arm wrapped around Leo from behind. He twisted and looked down into Eva’s face. She smirked up at him.
“Get back to work,” Eva ordered the maid. “And stop bothering my husband.”
The maid bowed again and scurried away. Leo relaxed. Something about the scarred maid bothered him.
“Why are you up so early?” Leo asked, wrapping his arm over Eva’s shoulder.
“Oh, I was just getting ready,” Eva said. “We should go to breakfast.”
She smiled and chatted about her plans for the day. Leo listened attentively, but something bothered him. Something in her face, or her voice, was off. The magic from last night was gone.
He realized what it was after they reached the dining room and Eva greeted her parents. She had her haughty Alpha Daughter mask back on. She had been the same with the maid.
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Leo understood the need to have a public persona, and how a woman might need to project strength to survive in a pack. But why did Eva feel the need for those masks with the servants, and with her own parents?
What was wrong with this pack?
Chapter 10
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