More Than A Maid

Ava's POV 

I was scared.

Even as I held my ground, staring into those black and silver eyes, I was terrified, and I knew it. 

If looks could kill, I was sure Dravin would have killed me by now. His glare was so intense that I almost instinctively took a step back. 

But I didn't. 

If I backed down now, then I was unsure if I could ever muster up the courage to do this again. 

The lingering confidence I could feel from Elora's fading personality was the only thing I could greedily latch on to. It was all that helped me stand my ground. 

The head maid’s words, along with Lyanna's lecture, inspired me as well, and I wasn't going to let all of that go to waste by being a coward now. 

"Are you trying to dupe me?" he asked, the anger still evident in his tone. 

I blinked in surprise at that. 

Of all the things I expected him to say, that was the least. 

"You want to use the budget as an excuse to run away with a chunk of my money, don't you?" 

His eyes were glowing now. A fierce glow that had all of my instincts going haywire, asking me to run away, to put as much distance as possible between me and this beast. 

But I met those eyes with an unblinking gaze of my own.

"For someone so smart, you sounded a little dumb just now."

His eyes narrowed at me. 

"What?" 

"We took a blood oath. I'm pretty sure leaving you would have devastating consequences for me."

I stared at him to gauge his reaction before I added: 

"Besides, you would rather pay me off to leave you if I asked for it. There would be no need to go through the slow and arduous process of stealing."

His glare never softened, but the glow of his eyes dimmed. They were still fixed on mine with as much anger, hate, and disgust as a person could fit into a glare. 

"I'll tell Soren to come talk to you later. He'll be the one to deliver my decision."

"No," I shook my head. "I am your mate and Luna. I want to hear it from you."

He stared at me. 

Thankfully, he didn't glare. 

While he still held my gaze, he reached behind me and turned the doorknob behind me. 

"Move."

Once again, I could feel the intensity of those words like it was a physical force. He wasn't even staring at me, but it felt like I was under the scrutiny of an indomitable force. 

One that would no doubt crush me if I so much as twitched the wrong way.

As it turns out, that was about all the intimidation I could take as I stepped aside to let him through.

He walked to the door and then turned to stare at me again. 

This time, he seemed... calculating?

"What are you?" he asked. 

That question caught me so off guard that I took a few steps away from him. I knew it would be impossible to outrun him, but it wouldn't hurt to have a head start. 

He lifted a brow at my retreat but said nothing more, simply staring at me as he waited for an answer. 

"W-What do you mean?" I stuttered, failing to keep the fear out of my voice.

"You heard me," he said. "There's something that's wrong with you. Something unusual. Sometimes, you feel like a different person. Sometimes, you feel almost familiar."

I managed a smirk at that.

"Isn't that something you're supposed to find out on your own?"

"It was," he said with a thoughtful expression. "But I'm running out of the patience to do that on my own. Save me the time and tell me."

"I don't know what it is that you see," I said calmly, regaining a bit of my composure. 

He stared calmly at me. 

"You know at least some of it. You're scared. There's a secret you're hiding."

"Is this a ploy to reject my proposal?" I asked cautiously. "Because if it is, then I would follow you everywhere. I mean it."

He snorted at that. 

"You speak like you could keep up with me."

"I—"

"Also," he cut me off smoothly, "I don't need a reason to deny you anything. If I wanna say no to you, I'd say it and there would be absolutely nothing you can do about it. Is that clear?"

I simply stared at him as I felt there was no point in answering that. 

"I hope it is," he added as he walked into his room and closed the door behind him. The click of his door getting locked came next, and then it was silence. 

Absolute silence. 

I was left standing alone in the hallway, feeling less than pleased about the result but a little expectant for the outcome. 

Turning around, I stalked to my room, which was downstairs. Taking the time to observe the hallway and rooms as I walked, I found myself wishing that I had one of the rooms up here. 

Unlike my "pink" painted room, most of these rooms were painted white. They were even more extravagant than my room, with golden bedposts and wooden furniture made of very sturdy wood. 

Despite having no inhabitants, all of the rooms are immaculately clean, as the maids are required to make sure they remain in perfect condition every day. 

All of the extravagance and opulence almost made me giddy with greed. I've never been in the midst of such wealth before. Not even when I was married to Kael.

Willing away the greed, I walked out of the fifth room I have checked today and was met with Lyanna's calm eyes staring at me, startling me. 

"Lyanna!" I yelled as I clutched my chest. "What was that for?" 

"Nothing," she shrugged. "I watched you walk in, and I waited outside until you were done."

I glared at her as I tried to calm myself. 

"Why were you watching me?" 

"I wasn't, Luna," she admitted in a flat voice. "I was coming to get you."

I arched a brow at this. 

"Get me? For what?"

"The head maid asked me to get you so you could begin your lessons on the household affairs and the running of it."

"Oh, yes," I nodded as I closed the door of the room behind me and walked behind her as she walked in front of me. 

It was quite funny now that I think about it. 

Lyanna had always walked in front of me since I arrived. At first, I thought she was doing it to keep me from looking like a fool when walking around this massive mansion, but now, I'm not so convinced that it was the case. 

She should be walking behind me. 

I know this because I was subjected to it by Vera. She never let me walk beside or in front of her. She would make me walk a few steps behind her whenever she felt good enough to let me be associated with her, or when she didn't have a choice.

I've also noticed that Soren never walks in front of Dravin. He was almost always a step behind his Alpha, or beside him occasionally.

Lyanna should know that too. 

She has been trained by the head maid, who was quite strict about etiquette. If she wasn't cutting me or her Alpha slack, then I see no reason for her to do that for anyone else. 

There was also something about the way she walked. 

Even though all of the maids seem to have been trained to always walk with proper posture, Lyanna's was a little straighter than the others. 

She walked with a measured gait, and each foot came in front of the other like a rehearsed process rather than an instinctual one. 

She doesn't seem to walk in front of me with malicious intent. It was quite the opposite, actually. She seemed to be... protecting me?

"Lyanna," I called, eager to test my theory.

"Yes, Luna," she turned to look at me even as she kept walking forward. 

"You're a soldier, aren't you?" I asked, feeling a little pleased as her body froze. "You were—or are—a warrior of the pack. Why are you my maid?"

She stared at me as her tense demeanor disappeared, replaced by the calm, calculating gaze I was used to. 

"Because I was ordered to," she said as she turned to stare at me. "The Alpha informed me that he was taking a bride and needed one of his best soldiers as her maid and protector."

"And he chose you?"

She smiled at that. 

"I might not look like it, but I was quite a capable soldier. Only few can boast of their abilities like I can."

I gave her a small smile.

"Isn't it boring to be my maid and guard?"

She shook her head in response.

"You're quite an interesting personality, Luna. I believe I'm in for a fun ride."