I tried to pretend

Leah's POV

Maggie had left me to sleep, the sedative Logan had given me would not work if I did not have enough rest. Aaron had told her.

About an hour before she left me to rest, she brought a plate of food into my room to feed me. She had insisted. I had little, almost no appetite, but she made me eat about half of the food.

She had struggled to keep her mouth shot from asking me more questions. At the same time, I had no interest in talking about what we knew was quite obvious.

“You should sleep.” Her voice sounded like a whisper to my ears.

She forced a weak smile to show on her face. “You would sleep, and after waking up, all these would be over.”

That was one of the lines she had come up with.

Sleep as though the reality is but a dream, and wake up the next day to a better reality.

I slept for about three hours, and that was all the sleep the night could offer me. Maggie's line, to a small extent, had helped clear up my head. For the time being, I was going to pretend that I had no problems, and maybe I could breathe in some fresh air.

Maggie entered my room. “It's time for breakfast.”

She tried to sound as calm as possible. She wasn't like the previous day, and I wanted to believe that the line she had told me was also affecting her in a positive way. For that, her smile was different.

“Good morning mother.” I returned the smile.

“Let's go to the table.”

I shook my head. “I would prefer to eat here.”

“It's that so?” She chuckled.

Her smiles could not hide her emotions. I could feel pain emanating from her.

I felt guilt rising up in me for the fact that I was the cause of her pain.

“Exactly.” I had to pretend.

I wasn't ready to sit at the table for the workers in our home to start stealing curious glances at me.

After about five minutes, Maggie did something strange. She came in with a tray of food, and one other maid had another tray. Another one carried a table.

I did not ask immediately, I waited for the maids to finish their setup and leave.

“All this?” I stared wide eyed at the table. “Who should all this food be meant for?”

All the food could not be for me.

Aaron walked into the room, confirming my suspicion.

“We will eat here with you.” He said with the same kind of smile Maggie had put on.

What a form of comfort.

I felt it, but did not confess it to them.

We started eating, and I seemed to have got some appetite.

“It would be a good thing if we avoid any form of misunderstanding,” Aaron said.

Maggie nodded in approval.

“Could you please do us a favor by telling us your experience at the mating ceremony?” He placed his hand on mine.

Was he asking me that?

Oh… That was a question that was hard for me to answer.

The scene started replaying in my head. It started when I kissed him. The feeling engulfed me, gradually walking up to create fear in me.

I could not hold it in me, and without another thought, I started speaking.

“His scent was the call I heard when I was about to leave the hall.” I wasn't looking at their faces.

I stared blankly at my room door. “We engaged in a kiss.”

Did I really say that? I regained myself after realizing I had said “we engaged in a kiss”.

I felt awkward all of a sudden.

They did not urge me to speak.

“It was something different for me.”

Aaron and Maggie were looking at me the same way they would look at a sculpture.

Aaron put on a look that portrayed so many emotions at once. “That is the feeling.” He squeezed my hand gently. “It's the feeling of the mate bond.”

“The feeling of the mate bond?” I asked with a physical curiosity.

“Yes! You felt the mate bond.”

At this moment Octavier opened the door of my room, walking to sit on the vacant chair Maggie had placed beside me.

“But the feeling turned into something else.” I continued, I had stopped eating.

“What was that?” Maggie asked.

It had become hard for me to speak, especially when the vivid picture of the man’s eye I saw in my dream had begun to take over my imagination.

“He was the same man I saw in my dream.”

The air around us seemed to have stilled, everyone had held their breath.

They looked at each other, maybe they would understand me, but doubt still showed on their faces.

“How do you know that?” Maggie asked.

“Because he had the same red eyes.”

“And you were able to look into his eyes?”

I would have fumed in anger, but my body was still trying to recover. My head felt numb, and that would have been a perfect reason for me to discontinue the conversation.

Maggie made eye contact with Octavier.

“She kept saying red eyes… I did not understand her.” Octavier said.

“You saw her mate, but did you see if his eyes are red?” Aaron asked.

“I did not look into his eyes”

What were they trying to come up with?

“Do you doubt me?” I frowned deeply, my face becoming stiff.

“It would be better if we avoid any form of misunderstanding.”

A misunderstanding? Why wouldn't they believe me?

I looked into their eyes, each person at a time. “While I was standing by his side, fear took the whole of me.”

The room had turned so quiet that the ticking of the clock that hung at the door post could be heard loudly.

“The man in my dream had brought out a sword.” Tears dropped down my jaws.

My plan of pretending that everything was okay with me had failed.

“What if my mate had a sword with him?”

None of them could answer.

“Mother, have you ever heard of anyone overcoming the fate my dream had set for them?”