Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 11: Chapter 11

I winced at Leo's wistful tone. His offer of protection sounded so genuine it hurt. I wished that offer was for me, not Eva.
But the truth was he was married to Eva, the Alpha Daughter of Arthur's pack, and he despised Tessa, the scarred maid. I had nothing but these stolen moments. It was wrong to wish for anything more.
I needed to say something, to answer his plea. What would Eva say? What would be believable?
“It isn't that simple,” I said. “I'm the Alpha Daughter. I have an image I have to maintain.”
“Why?” Leo asked.
Why? I had no idea. I wasn't Eva, I didn't know why she was a haughty jerk to everyone.
“Our pack is weak,” I said, putting together Eva's complaints with things I'd heard Alpha Arthur mutter at his desk while I cleaned. “Our numbers are low, our Alpha, my father, is aging. Our territory is small. I have to project strength. I can't be vulnerable, at all. Our wolves are depending on me.”
That should work. Leo understood sacrificing for your pack. He'd given everything for his.
Leo sighed and his shoulders slumped. “I understand. But things are different now. I'm here.”
I cringed inside. I hadn't meant to hurt his feelings.
“I know,” I said, “And I'm glad. It just... it doesn't feel real yet.”
Leo nodded. “I get that. A lot's changed in almost no time at all. It's okay. Take all the time you need. I'll be here.”
He hugged me closer. He kissed me and I kissed back hard. I wished I could just lose myself in Leo's arms and not think for a while.
Leo leaned back and held my face in his hands. His thumb brushed dangerously close to the scar under my eye.
I smiled and reached up, drawing his hands down. I'd just meant to distract him from the scars, but he took it as an invitation. That was fine. I liked the way his hands felt.
Leo wrapped one hand around the back of my neck and squeezed gently, massaging the tension out of the nape. I melted against him. That felt like Heaven.
“Hm. You're carrying a lot of tension here,” he said, humming softly. “Want me to take care of that?”
“Please,” I whimpered.
“Oh, you don't have to beg,” Leo grinned. Then he winked. “Unless you want to.”
Leo shifted until he was behind me. He kneaded the muscles in my neck and shoulders until I was basically a puddle under his hands.
I moaned softly at the sensation. Leo leaned in and kissed my neck.
“That's what I like to hear,” he said. “I like making you feel good.”
I shivered as Leo ran his knuckle down my spine and back up. Why did that feel so impossibly good?
“If you lay down on your front, I can get your whole back,” Leo offered.
I scrambled into position so quickly he laughed.
“Oh, you are eager,” Leo hummed into my ear.
I nodded into his pillows. I was eager for more touches like that.
“I'm going to tug your nightgown up. Is that okay?” Leo asked.
“Yes, please,” I answered.
“There we go. Just relax and enjoy this,” Leo ordered.
I could do that, sure. Actually, as Leo worked his way up and down my back, loosening every stiff muscle as he went, laying there and enjoying was about all I could do. I'm pretty sure he turned me into a liquid about halfway through.
I drifted off several minutes into the massage. I tried to stay awake, I did, but it had been a long day and he made me feel so nice. I couldn't fight it.
I was barely awake enough to feel Leo pull my gown back in place or settle a blanket over me. I did feel it when he snuggled down next to me and wrapped an arm around me though. I sighed as sleep took me and wished I could have this every night. I wished it could be real.
I woke early that morning to the sound of a voice I didn't know.
Tessa.
I froze in place and looked around, but there was no one else in the room. Just me and Leo, and he was sound asleep.
Tessa.
I heard the voice again. Where was it coming from?
I slipped out of the bed, careful not to wake the sleeping Alpha. It seemed like the voice was coming from outside, in the corridor. I followed, tiptoeing out of the room.
I ended up back in my own room, facing my tiny bathroom mirror. I stared in shock at the face it revealed.
There were no scars. The skin from the corner of my eye to my cheek was pristine and soft. No burn marks speckled my nose or chin. I looked like I had before Eva disfigured me.
That wasn't the only change, though. The eyes on the face in the mirror were gold, almost glowing with an inner light. And the woman in the mirror was grinning.
I reached up to touch my cheek. The woman in the mirror reached towards me, and her hand rested against the glass.
“Who are you?” I whispered.
I am you.
“No, you're not.” I shook my head.
I am your wolf.
I shook my head again and stepped back. The woman in the mirror stopped grinning.
Do not flee.
“This can't be real,” I protested. “I'm wolf-less. I'm a half-blood. I have no wolf.”
You do. I am here.
“You're here? Now? Why? I've been calling for you all my life! Why are you here now?”
The woman in the mirror shrugged.
It takes time for some. Sometimes we wait for our mate. Sometimes we need time to grow to full strength. The stronger the wolf, the longer the wait. You will be the strongest healer, once we meet for real.
“Meet for real? What does that mean?” I asked.
You know.
I did know. You met your wolf the first time you shifted. I had never run through the woods and the fields on four legs. I had accepted that I never would. Now, this dream, or hallucination, or vision, was saying that I would? And that I would be a healer as well?
It was everything I had ever wanted, and I was terrified to let myself believe it.
“When?” I asked. “When will I change?”
It wouldn't be the full moon. That was mostly a myth the humans believed about us. Pack wolves could change whenever they wanted. It was easier on the full moon, for reasons no one knew but everyone debated.
The woman in the mirror shrugged.
Soon, but not immediately. We must wait.
“Wait? For what?”
Can't shift with a pup.
The woman grinned again, and patted her belly. I rested my hand there, too. Oh, right. I knew that. Wolf women had to stay in their human form the whole time, or risk harming the pup.
Patience. It will not be too long.
I nodded, and the woman's face changed slightly. The smile was gone, and the eyes were green. The scars, though, were still gone.
I reached up and touched my cheek. The skin was as smooth under my fingers as it was in the mirror.
I was, or would be, a healer?
It seemed impossible, too good to be true. But why would my own wolf lie to me? Assuming that had really happened and I wasn't just dreaming.
If it was a dream, though, how had my face healed? That was real. I could see it, I could touch it. That wasn't my imagination.
I sat down hard on my bed. If it was true, if that was my wolf, then for the first time in my life, I wasn't alone.
And I could heal my mother. If I was as strong a healer as the wolf claimed, I could finally bring my mother back.
My alarm chimed and I jolted. Dream or vision or whatever, I had to get to work. I couldn't heal my mother if Eva beat me half to death.
And she would do that and worse if she saw my face. It was about as easy to fake a scar with make up as it was to cover one up, luckily. And no one really looked closely at some half-blood servant, anyways. I just had to keep my head down and stick to the shadows.
Eva barged into my room only a minute after I'd finished getting ready.
“Huh. You're okay,” she said. “I figured you'd be hurt a lot worse. You're not even limping.”