Page 19 of The Alpha’s Heir

I never cried.

It took a really, really good book to get me to maybe shed a tear.

I’d kept it together—barely—so they didn’t worry. I should’ve let them know about Roman, but I was afraid all hell would break loose and it would somehow jinx this whole thing.

Why hadn’t Morrigan just told me I’d be marrying my human mate? Dad would’ve come. Mom too, probably. Heck, half the pack would’ve showed up to celebrate and make sure I sealed the deal.

Unless she didn’t know.

She knew. I’d seen the look on her face.

Then let’s stop wasting time and the gods’ gifts and go drag him back to this room.

I took a steadying breath as I looked around the bedroom I’d been unceremoniously dumped in.

The whole place was immaculate. Not a speck of dust in sight. Two chairs sat facing the window that took up half the wall and overlooked the gardens below, while heavy curtains and a mechanical roll of some sort of canvas lined the top.

The right wall had a fake fireplace with no true chimney space, and a flat, see-through glass hung as some sort of picture above the mantle.

Strange.

My wolf sniffed as I opened the door at the back of the room. An empty walk-in closet, almost as big as my bedroom back home, held a diamond-encrusted light and mirrors positioned at every corner. I caught sight of myself and backed up slowly, watching four of me shut the door again.

Past the bed sized for a king was a second door leading to an ensuite bathroom. I ran my fingers over the porcelain double sinks and stone counters, eyeing the large soaking tub with attached showerhead longingly.

Whoever did the cleaning here was thorough.

A knot formed in my stomach as I thought of my business and what would become of it with me gone. Alec never really cared to keep it going, and with Trish out of the picture, it didn’t stand a chance.

Maybe Aunt Kera was right. I wasn’t ready to lead a pack. I couldn’t even get my own sister to carry on my work in my absence. That was a management issue. And right now, all I was managing to do was get myself worked up about everything falling apart while I figured out how to chase a human mate that didn’t want me.

We’ll convince him he wants us.

That’s really not how I’d hoped my mating would go.

A knock at the door pulled me from my spiraling thoughts.

Thank the gods.

The gods got us into this mess.

I hurried to open the door.

The human woman on the other side wore her hair slicked back into a tight bun and a pleated apron with perfect folds. I knew right away she did the cleaning here. The scent of chemicals lingered on her clothes. My nose twitched, detecting a hint of something else buried in the folds of fabric.

But I couldn’t put my finger on it before she took a step back and gave a slight curtsy.

“Hello, miss. I’m Katrina, the housemaid.” Fear turned her scent sour as she raised her eyes under her lashes to look at me. “Is there anything you need?”

What’s she scared of?

I think it’s you.

Me? She sniffed again. We weren’t even pushing out any alpha vibes, but my wolf retreated a bit more anyway, making herself small so as not to frighten the woman.

“Please, call me Meg, and I don’t need anything,” I said, keeping my tone gentle. “You must be in charge of the cleaning here. You’ve done a wonderful job.”

Even if I didn’t know how to soften myself and be less alpha to get things done, as a general rule, I believed that everyone in the service industry were the unsung heroes of the world and deserved to be praised as such.