Chapter 45: The Day
"What are you looking at?" Alaina’s angry voice cut through her thoughts.
Maya’s eyes widened slightly, and she brought her head down. She had been distracted by her thoughts and didn’t realize she was staring.
"I am speaking to you!" Alaina’s eyes blazed in fury as she yelled, and Maya feared she might toss something at her, the audience be damned.
There was no reason for her to direct her anger at Maya, not that Alaina needed a reason and unfortunately, Maya had just given her a sliver of a chance. She gripped her dress, wondering what she would have to do in this situation to get Alaina’s attention off her.
The crack of the door as it opened silenced the room, and Alaina adjusted in her seat. She looked calm, as though she had not been about to attack Maya a few seconds ago.
Maya let out a breath. She said a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess for his timing. Another minute later, and she would have been worried for herself.
"Alpha," Alaina beamed as he approached the table. "Good morning." Her voice was incomparable to the way she had spoken to Maya moments ago.
"Alpha," the rest of the table addressed him.
She could feel his stare on the back of her neck as he walked past her and took his seat. She sat stiffly with her arms in her lap. She had never joined in the greetings before, and it felt weird to do so now.
She also wasn’t sure she could call him Alpha. She didn’t know what to call him. There had never been any reason for her to say his name, yet. Maya frowned as she thought deeply about it. She would likely call him Alpha Keenan if the need ever arose.
"Good morning," he replied as he took his seat, not addressing anyone in particular.
"Alpha," Alaina’s sing-song voice screeched through the dining hall. "How was your night? Did you rest well?"
"Are the rooms ready?" He asked instead as he dove into his breakfast.
Alaina’s eyes narrowed, but she was not deterred. With her smile still in place, she answered, "Yes, Alpha. I prepared the three rooms as you requested."
Maya felt Winnie glance in her direction briefly before she returned her gaze to her meal. She didn’t have to think too hard; she knew it was about Alaina pretending she had prepared the rooms herself.
She wondered whether Winnie had seen her, or whether she believed what she had said at breakfast the day before. Not that, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was able to finish the tasks on time.
"What floor did you choose?" Keenan asked.
"The second floor," she replied.
Keenan paused and looked in Maya’s direction. He narrowed his eyes as he stared hard, then he looked away without saying anything to Alaina.
"Alpha, do you know when they will arrive?"
"Hmm," Keenan replied.
"At most before sunset," Theo explained.
Alaina blinked rapidly, clearly displeased that Theo had spoken in his stead. She smiled tightly and finally decided to eat.
Maya felt her chest constrict. The day had finally arrived. She hoped Alaina would let her hide in her room for as long as she wanted. She would rather avoid the Alpha if possible, but she would most likely run into them during dinner.
"Theo," Keenan called at the end of his meal. "I want you to welcome the guests. If he arrives before lunch, tell him to rest up until lunch. However, if he insists that he has to see me immediately, let me know."
"What about me, Alpha?" Alaina added before Theo could respond. "Would it be better to tag along? I prepared their rooms; I can better show them."
"As you like," Keenan said. He put his napkin down and stood up, walking toward the exit.
"Do you still have no idea which Alpha is coming?" Alaina glared at Theo as the door shut.
"I am sorry. The Alpha isn’t pleased to be getting visitors, so I can’t even ask him about it, and my brother doesn’t know."
"You’d think as the Beta, he would drop by the main house often, but no, he’d rather be locked up in the orphanage."
Theo looked like he was about to say something in defense of his brother, but he stopped himself.
"How are we going to welcome him if we don’t even know his name?" Alaina rolled her eyes.
"I don’t think we need his name. A simple ’Alpha’ should be fine."
Maya frowned slightly, wondering why Alaina was making a big deal about this. There were only a handful of Alphas; surely it was easy to figure out who was likely to visit them.
Maya stood up from her seat and slowly headed for the doors. It was not her place to figure out anything for them, she doubted they would appreciate it and to be honest, she would rather be left out of this business.
Maya’s hand was on the handle when she heard the words, "She’s the High Alpha’s spawn, she should know the names of—"
Maya didn’t let Alaina complete her sentence before she fled. She refused to be dragged into this. She had had a hectic day the day before; she would prefer to spend the whole day in her room doing nothing.
She walked briskly as she exited the room, in case Alaina had the grand idea to follow her. She couldn’t put anything past her. It was a little worrisome why Alaina was so hell-bent on finding out the name. He wasn’t coming to see her.
Maya shook her head as she got to her room. She knew better than to try to figure out Alaina. It had been thirteen years, and not much had changed.
Maya lay on the pile of clothes as a thought crept into her mind. If she had never been taken away from the orphanage, would they all be together like this with her as a proper part of their family or would they have gone their separate ways?
