Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Leo
Tessa had lied to Leo's face. She told him she had no relationship with Ethan. Yet there she was with Ethan's scent all over her.
He seethed with anger. After he tried so hard to help her, to protect her, she lied to his face. He couldn't believe it.
Leo knew he couldn't trust his temper around the maid. Not when he was still so raw from admitting his brother's betrayal. So he reined himself in.
“Never mind,” he said as she began to try to stammer out some excuse or another. “I don't want to hear it.”
“Alpha Leo, I'm sorry, I...” Tessa began.
“I said I don't want to hear it!” Leo snarled.
Tessa shrank back. She ducked her head and wrapped her arms across her belly. Leo turned away from the pathetic sight.
“Just go to your room,” Leo ordered. “I'll deal with you tomorrow.”
“Yes, Alpha Leo,” Tessa whimpered.
Leo stayed long enough to make sure Tessa did, in fact, go into her room. He didn't need some deceptive female wolf wandering the halls in the middle of the night.
After that, he stalked back to his room. Alone, because he'd been too restless to ask Eva to stay with him. He missed her soothing presence in the night.
Eva had been right about Tessa. He could see it now. He never should have doubted his mate.
Leo sat up in bed, still unable to sleep. He thought back to every interaction he'd had with the maid. Was a single thing she had said truthful? Had there been any moment between them that wasn't part of some plot of hers?
Tessa hadn't been with the rest of the staff when he was introduced to the household before the wedding. He would have recognized her scent and the sound of her voice later. He assumed she was a new hire brought in to support the sudden increase in household size. However, in light of her behavior Leo wondered if she hadn't been somewhere else during that meeting, perhaps serving a punishment.
The first time he'd encountered the maid had been at the banquet where Eva had announced her pregnancy. He had interrupted a confrontation between her and a guest. Had her distress been genuine, or was it an act? Had she led on the drunken guest, possibly to cause a disturbance?
Then he'd noticed that she had his scent on him. She'd claimed it was from his laundry. Even back then he'd doubted her. Perhaps his instincts were warning him.
How had his scent come to be on her? Had she tried to slip into his bed as he'd suspected? Or was it something more? Had she rifled through his belongings, spying for the Rogues perhaps?
Every time he'd encountered her after that first incident, she had been working. That did not match with Eva's description, which painted Tessa as lazy as well as deceitful. He knew Eva was right not to trust Tessa.
Perhaps Tessa had not been working so hard as it looked. It would be easy enough to grab a mop or a pile of laundry if she was caught. Leo realized it was entirely likely that Tessa had never been working, but had instead been watching him.
Was she a spy, or merely a desperate and deceptive female? He had no evidence to tie her to the Rogues. But he also had no proof of her innocence.
And then there was Ethan. Was Tessa merely a star eyed female caught in his friend's charms? She would not be the first or the last.
Or was there something more sinister at play? Was Tessa trying to get close to Ethan so she could pass information on to the Rogues about him? Or did she simply hope to improve her station in life by finding a powerful mate?
Leo would have to warn Ethan to be cautious. If she was just a power hungry female, well, Ethan knew how to deal with that. But if there was more to it, his friend needed to be more cautious.
He wouldn't like to hear the news from Leo. Ethan had always considered Leo too old fashioned in his views on loyalty, dating, and marriage. Ethan just hoped he would listen.
Leo needed more than speculation and a few odd interactions as proof. He couldn't banish a wolf that technically wasn't part of his pack. He needed evidence both so that Ethan would believe his warnings, and to show Alpha Arthur if Tessa had to be banished after all.
So, despite his misgivings, Leo would have to keep the maid close. He would keep her busy so she didn't have time to cause trouble.
First, though, he'd talk to Eva. Tessa was her pack's servant, so she must know more about her. Like where she came from.
He found his wife walking in the garden. She looked lovely among the flowers. But somehow he thought the gentle moonlight would suit her better.
“Hello, Eva,” he greeted her.
“Oh, I didn't see you there,” Eva said, turning a bright smile towards him. “Would you like to walk in the garden with me?”
“I would love to,” Leo said with total honesty. Maybe the gardens would be private enough that she wouldn't feel the need to project her haughty mask.
After a few minutes of walking quietly, Leo broached the subject of Tessa.
“I wanted to ask you something about that maid, Tessa,” he said.
Eva's smile turned brittle. “Why do you want to talk about her?” she asked.
“I have some concerns,” Leo admitted.
“Like what?” Eva asked.
“I've noticed her behaving oddly several times,” Leo said.
Eva shrugged. “She's always been odd. It's mostly laziness I think.”
“Probably, but still I want to be sure. Tell me, please, who is she? I can't help but notice that she resembles you,” Leo said.
Eva's face twisted in annoyance. “Yeah, horrible isn't it? She's just some half-blood and everyone compares us. I've always hated that.”
“I imagine so,” Leo said. “Are you related somehow?”
“Oh, probably,” Eva said with a vague gesture. “You know how it is in these small packs. Everyone's a cousin or an aunt or an uncle somewhere along the line. If it helps, I do recall that it's her mother who was the human.”
“I didn't think there were any humans in Arthur's pack,” Leo said.
“There aren't anymore. The woman took off and left her whelp. I guess humans are just like that sometimes.”
Leo felt a slight pang of sympathy for the maid. If she had been abandoned by her human parent and, from the looks of things ignored by her wolf parent, no wonder she had little loyalty to her pack. Still, that was not a good reason to side with the Rogues.
He turned the conversation to more pleasant matters, like what color Eva wanted the nursery painted. Leo wanted to start soon so it would be ready when the pup was born.
After they parted, Leo went to find Tessa. He made out a new list of chores for her. The chores were more appropriate than the one Ethan had presented him with, but there were just as many tasks.
Hopefully there was nothing more to her than a lonely, abandoned half-blood who just needed a little help to find her place in the pack. Leo would make sure she stayed busy and stayed out of trouble.
And if she was a spy, she wouldn't have anything to pass on except his preferred brand of detergent.