Chapter 13

[Evelyn’s POV]

My God, I couldn’t remember the last time I slept so soundly.

I was so warm and felt so safe. For a moment, I thought I was back in my old room. Some of my limbs were still aching from the previous day’s events and I was in no mood to get up anytime soon.

Slowly, I stretched my legs and arms, gaining a feel for my surroundings. A soft groan slipped from my lips as my body sank, graciously back into the soft mattress.

Suddenly, another strange sound broke through the silence, causing my eyes to crack open. The room was still fairly dark with only a few slivers of light streaming through the window shades.

I lifted my head in hopes of seeking out the source of the noise.

“Mmhh.”

Several hundreds of chills raced down my spine as my heart stalled in my chest. That soft, warm mattress I’d been sleeping on this whole time was, in fact, a far cry from a literal mattress. It was Alexander.

My bottom lip trembled in shock before I took it between my lips and softly bit down. Had I seriously been sleeping on him this entire time?

For someone who was so well-built and muscular, Alexander had been the perfect cushion for me to rest on. Of course, I could fairly guess that he wasn’t going to feel the same way about such an assessment.

I tried to slowly lift myself off of Alexander without the chance of waking him up. A sudden breeze danced over my skin, making me shiver. I was already missing the heat that his body was providing.

I calmly glanced down at myself and nearly let out a sharp gasp.

Jesus Christ...As if things couldn’t get any more troubling.

My eyes practically bugged out of my head when I saw just how exposed my chest was. My cheeks flushed with bashful heat at the thought of Alexander having felt the majority of my breasts pressed into him for the night.

Well, it’s not like he hasn’t already seen most of me naked already.

True, but it wasn’t as though he’d gotten the chance to actually touch me at the time.

Quickly, I fixed my shirt back in place and resumed my task of putting some decent space between ourselves. Just as I slid my arm away from him, Alexander started to shift and stir. Every muscle in my body froze.

The last thing I wanted was for him to think that I was some creep who was trying to watch him sleep. A minute passed and, thankfully, Alexander had fallen back into his deep sleep.

Having pulled myself up, I was able to get a better look at the man that was lying there beside me. All things considered, Alexander was a very handsome man when he wasn’t scowling. I couldn’t get over how peaceful and untroubled he looked.

“Oh...”

Amidst the process of trying to unravel myself from him, I noticed that his mask had slightly shifted. From the angle I was sitting at, the side of his face that was normally covered by the mask, the side that was known to be horribly injured from the accident, appeared completely normal.

I couldn’t believe it.

Before I was trying diligently to slip away from Alexander only to return to his side. I was so compelled to see what his full face looked like without the mask.

If what I was seeing was real, then that meant Alexander’s face wasn’t injured at all.

But then why wear the mask?

I silently reached my hand out for the mask that was barely hanging on the side of his cheek. Alexander must have sensed me because his eyes shot open.

My stomach flipped several times. I gently rolled back and tried to hide the growing embarrassment from my face. Alexander slightly frowned as though he was eager to roll over and catch up on some more sleep. If I had half a mind, I would have politely excused myself and left him to the rest.

However, the man merely blinked back the exhaustion and tried to pull himself up into a sitting position.

“What were you doing?” he grumbled.

“S-Sorry,” I muttered. “It’s just...Your mask. I noticed it was sliding off your face.”

Without a word, he reached up to readjust the mask’s position on his face. I was desperate to ward off the awkward silence that filled the space.

“I, uh...Sorry if you didn’t sleep well.”

Alexander spoke without turning his glance at me. “What makes you say that?”

I bit the corner of my lip and shrugged. “You just seem like you could use at least a couple more hours of rest. Not to mention that I was practically on top of you for most of the night.”

He let out an indignant snort. “Well, you’re not wrong there. But that’s hardly the reason why I’m not feeling my best at the moment.”

My eyes widened. Right as I was about to speak, there was a soft knocking at the door.

Nina stepped into the room, wearing her usual gentle smile. “Good morning, I’ve come to let you know that breakfast has been prepared and will be served in the dining room.”

Alexander nodded. “Thank you, Nina. By the way, starting today, I want the two beds in here to be kept separate.”

Nina lost her smile and turned to glance at me with a look of surprise. I tried to ignore the jab of pain that entered my chest at his request. I wasn’t sure what to think about the whole matter but I just couldn’t stand the embarrassment any longer.

I slid out of bed and made off toward the bathroom to get ready. “I’m going to wash up first,” I said coldly. “I’ll be done in a little while.”

...

Breakfast was mainly kept in silence after the whole uncomfortable encounter in the bedroom. I wasn’t entirely sure if I was grateful for the lack of speaking or not.

Part of me was still unnerved by Alexander's request to have the beds separated. Was I really that bad to be around?

I wanted to ask him about it, but my mind was soon occupied with other pressing issues.

Grandma Wendy.

I was exceedingly anxious to meet the one woman that Alexander showed unquestionable respect and attention to.

Nina’s words from the day before began to echo in my head.

“If you want to gain some of Alexander's approval and make it within the pack, then find a way to gain Wendy’s favor.”

I still had no comprehensible idea as to how I was going to manage to do that. When the staff came in to take away the last of the plates, I knew it was time to leave. My anxiety stirred to life as Nina came to meet us in the doorway.

“Oh, Evelyn. Do you want to go and change your clothes real quick?” she asked.

I quickly glanced down at myself, thinking I had somehow made a mess or gotten something on them before. But they were clean.

“I don’t think so,” I said with a tone of uncertainty.

“Well, it’s just that you’ll be meeting Alexander’s Grandmother for the first time and I figured you’d want to wear something formal, is all,” she explained.

I recalled hearing that Grandma Wendy really enjoyed gardening so I’d purposely chosen a more modest set of clothes to meet her in.

“I see. I think I’ll stick with what I’m wearing.”

Alexander and I headed toward the far wing of the house where Wendy currently stayed. Without causing too much of a fuss, I got behind Alexander and proceeded to push him myself.

I was glad to see that everyone we passed in the pack showed Alexander great respect, regardless of the fact that he was in a wheelchair.

Right as we arrived at Wendy’s rooms, we were immediately greeted by a young-looking woman. Though she wore a white lab coat, she had a luxurious dress underneath and intricately applied makeup on her face.

Strange. I felt I had seen this person before, but couldn’t quite place her. Before I could figure it out, the woman spoke first.

“How come it’s you?”