The last person that Ava expected to see that morning at the pack house was Cynthia as though she had been summoned by the bleak thoughts she’d had just the night before. Gabrielle had made it to dinner late and had avoided eye contact with her all through and plastered on a fake smile throughout her meal.
Ava was still discomfited at the thought. She was unable to speak with Gabby after the dinner and although she planned to speak with Adrian when he returned from his office. He had a lot to make up for because of all the time he had spent with him so she couldn’t go to his office to disturb him.
The only thing was that she had fallen asleep before he came in because he’d been so late. This morning before she was up, he was out again. She had heard the startling update from Alex. The fight that she had foreseen was at their doorstep and they were far from prepared.
At the same time, she really wanted to talk to Adrian. Okay. And kiss him a bit as well. It was all she seemed to be able to think of after their consummation.
“Cynthia, what a pleasant surprise.”
“Ava.”
Cynthia embraced her somewhat awkwardly. She seemed even bigger than the last time she’d seen her, which was almost two weeks ago at the consort selection ceremony.
Cynthia looked down at her belly that Ava was staring at and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“I know, I know. At this point, by the time I put to bed, I’ll be as big as a house.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean it that way.”
Ava felt embarrassed to have been caught looking at her like that. Her only excuse was that she was wondering if she would get that big when she was pregnant for Adrian.
Her heart warmed, her cheeks firing up. She had only just confessed her feelings for him and she was already thinking of little pups that took after their father. Handsome with more than a hint of devilry in them.
Ava shook herself free of her fantasies. This wasn’t the time for having children – no insult intended to Cynthia. They were at war and war was no place for having children.
She needed to get some contraceptives from the pack clinic but at the same time, she worried about the impression that would make on the pack who were still unaware of the current rising tension.
“Of course, I knew that. I was just pulling your legs a little.” Cynthia looked around. “This place is emptier than I thought it would be. Where are all our able-bodied warriors?”
“Training. They’ve been having a lot of that recently.”
Because of the rogues. But Cynthia didn’t need to know that in fact, she was still a suspect. For what exactly, Ava didn’t know but she was reluctant to share sensitive information with her.
“Well forget about all that. What brings you here?”
Ava smiled a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Gabby came by to see me yesterday.”
Ava fought to keep the shock off her face. If Cynthia was telling her about it then she must not be colluding with Gabrielle. But then again Zinora had made it seem like Gabrielle went over there a lot. Was she telling her the complete truth?
“She comes by sometimes. She is pretty lonely with everything that went down. So we just talk. Nothing about you and Adrian, just our past friendship. And sometimes I just tell her about Dorian. I talk and she listens.” Cynthia looked genuinely worried about Gabrielle and Ava’s thoughts of suspicion began to abate.
She was just a pregnant tired woman. It must have been the situation getting to her that made her suspect Cynthia. Meanwhile, Cynthia was still speaking, her worry seeming to grow exponentially.
“She seemed to be doing so much better but then the whole trial thing happened and she just drew back. Regressed. When she came by yesterday, she seemed more than a little troubled. She said she had done something unforgivable and didn’t know how to go about asking for your forgiveness because she was afraid that you wouldn’t believe her again.”
Ava paused. She wouldn’t fall for the same trick again but what if it wasn’t a trick? Didn’t she want to be on good terms with her sister again?
Cynthia seemed to notice her reticence and patted her hand sagely. “I don’t know what is going on and frankly speaking, it’s no business of mine, but maybe the both of you should talk and air out your grievances.”
“Thanks, Cynthia. Can you help me with something?”
She would talk to her sister but first, she would talk to her mate because, for some reason, she suspected that he had something to do with Gabby’s breakdown at Cynthia’s place.
***********
It had been easy. Surprisingly easy for her to get into the pack house without any suspicion on Ava’s part in fact she had made the next phase of her plan much more easier by asking her to get Adrian out of his office so that she could speak to him.
She had merely sent a help with a message to draw him out with news of Ava’s ill health. The moment he had left, she had entered the office. She had to move quickly.
Spritzing on a scent blocker on her hands so that Adrian wouldn’t scent her on any of the papers to tie her to the scene, she moved towards his desk and leafed through the papers there. It wasn’t there. She made sure to leave them in the positions she had found them.
Then she moved to the drawers and hit gold. She looked for the most recent report. It was dated a day ago. Perfect. She read the details and committed it all to memory so that she could recite it verbatim.
Then she slipped the papers back into the drawers and was about to leave the office when the door opened.
Her pulse thundered and she wished she could turn invisible.
Calvin walked into the office, his eyes widening in surprise.
“Cynthia, what are you doing in here?”
She thought quickly and lowered her eyes demurely sneaking peeks at him like a demur bride.
“I was looking for you actually. I shouldn’t have come in but then I knew if I stood outside, I could lose my confidence.”
Calvin stood looking over her in visible confusion but no suspicion yet.
“Cynthia?”
She crossed the distance between them and kissed him while cringing inwardly. He was stiff against her kiss. At worst, he would suspect her of having an ungainly crush on him and he would push her away and–
He kissed her back. His tongue slanted against hers and she was almost startled but she couldn’t do anything but relax against him, her baby bump an unwelcome reminder between them that if Dorian ever found out that she had done something like this–
You are mine. And mine alone.
He would never find out. She gasped against the kiss pulling Calvin even closer hoping he bought her enthusiasm. The things she did for their cause. He was a good kisser if a bit too enthusiastic.
When they finally pulled apart, Calvin looked at her, his arms wrapped around her keeping her close to him although his touch was light as though she was a goddess made into flesh and he was her devotee.
“That was… wow. I thought you didn’t like me. I came over so many times but your parents always said that you were resting or asleep and I finally took the hint.”
Oh, so her parents had been fielding advances on her behalf. She owed them one.
She thought of something embarrassing and her cheeks burned then she averted her gaze as though shy.
“I…with the pregnancy… I thought it was too soon to move on and I’m still not even sure this is the right thing to do. I just had to see you. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”
She pulled away to make her hasty retreat but he didn’t let her, his hands holding onto her.
“Cynthia, I–”
The door to the office opened. Adrian and Ava stepped in with varying degrees of shock on their faces as they took in the scene they had just walked in on.
Cynthia took the opportunity to remove her hands from Calvin’s.
“Excuse me.”
She avoided Ava’s questioning gaze.
Then she was out of the room. By the time she sent the information she had gotten out, the Mountain Coast Alpha and Luna would have bigger problems than who they’d seen her with.
Ava exchanged glances with her mate then they both looked at Calvin whose face was coloured in embarrassment although he looked like he wanted to go after Cynthia.
Wow. That had been… unexpected. Cynthia and Calvin. She had thought that Cynthia was still grieving Dorian but then again she of all people knew how unpredictable love could be. Although this seemed more like a fatal attraction to her.
“So…” Adrian said, his eyebrow arched.
“So…” Ava said, hers arched even higher.
“Nothing.” Calvin rubbed the back of his head looking rather uncomfortable and as though he was looking for a way out. He cleared his throat.
“I came to tell you that Jenny and Nelson are back.”
Ava’s eyes widened in shocked delight and she squealed. They were back! All thoughts of questioning and teasing the hell out of Calvin fell to the back of her mind.
Why hadn’t Jenny sent word about their imminent return? Probably to surprise her. Well, she was more than duly surprised.
“Adrian, I have to go and see her.” Ava pecked his cheek and moved to leave when Adrian caught her hand, a slight smile playing on his lips.
“Nelson is also my person and as fate would have it I have a rather urgent matter to discuss with him so I need to see him as well. I’ll accompany you.”