Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

I fled the hallway. Seeing Leo's face drawn in anger towards me hurt. Seeing Eva wrap herself around him like she actually cared was worse.
I just couldn't stand it so I ran. I ended up in my room, just in time for my stomach to rebel and send me into the bathroom. I barely made it before a wave of nausea crashed through me.
Nothing I'd read about pregnancy had prepared me for how bad morning sickness really was. Then again, I'd mostly read journals about helping other women through the process. I'd never imagined I'd have my own pup.
When it was over, I washed my face in the sink. I saw some bloody scabs dissolve in the water. I looked up at the mirror in shock.
My scars had completely faded. Even tilting my face into the light, I could barely see them. How could they have healed so quickly? They hadn't shown any signs of fading for years.
I'd never found anything that would hint my scars might actually heal in all my studies. I'd accepted them as just another part of myself. The best I'd hoped for was to fade them slightly with creams and salves. It felt strange to look at my face without them.
Someone pounded on my door. I yelped and scrambled out into the main room.
Why was someone looking for me? I'd finished my work, except for the hall outside Leo's room. I couldn't disobey an Alpha! What did they expect me to do?
“Tessa, I know you're in there, open this door!” Eva shrieked through the door.
Oh no, it was her. My body froze in place. I covered my mouth in horror. What did she want?
My heart pounded in time to Eva's knock on the door. I felt sick for reasons unrelated to the pup in my belly. If Eva saw my face, she'd be so furious.
She hated how much alike we looked. If she saw I didn't have the scare anymore, she'd find new ways to hurt me. I couldn't risk that. Not while I was carrying Leo's pup.
I scrambled back into the bathroom and grabbed frantically for my make up. A heavy layer of foundation would hide the missing scars. I had to work fast. I could hear Eva growing more impatient outside.
My make up ended up caked on and streaky, but it would have to do. I hurried to open the door before Eva gave up and forced it open. She'd done that before and it never ended well for me.
“What took you so long?” Eva asked once she was inside and the door clicked closed.
“I, uh...” I scrambled for an excuse and wrapped my arm protectively over my stomach.
“Oh, right, that.” Eva pointed to my stomach. She tilted her head. “Puking again?”
“Y-yes,” I answered. Well, I had thrown up earlier.
“Huh. Glad I'm not dealing with morning sickness. It sounds awful.”
She was supposed to be dealing with it. She was the one who was supposed to carry Leo's pup, not me. But somehow I couldn't bring myself to be upset about that. I already loved my baby.
I shrugged. “It's not too bad. Tea helps.”
“Tea, huh? I'll make sure to drink some, too. Got to keep up appearances and stuff.” Eva shrugged. “Have the kitchen staff order extra.”
“I will,” I promised.
If it was for Eva, they'd get whatever they were asked. I was lucky to find a box no one wanted from the last trade agreement with a pack in the mountains.
“You did well last night,” Eva said, startling me.
“Thank you,” I said, trying to guess her mood.
It was weird for Eva to praise me like this. And she hardly seemed mad even though I'd made her wait.
“Whatever you did, Leo believes he was with me all night.” Eva grinned. “I think this arrangement will work out fine. So long as you keep doing your part.”
“O-okay,” I whispered.
I wanted to protest, I did. I felt so guilty about how we were treating Leo. But what choice did I have, realistically? No one in my pack would listen to me. Leo hated me, he'd shown that quite clearly at the banquet. And if I even tried, they'd hurt my mother.
“I'll only need you on nights I go out with Zane, anyway,” Eva said. “That's not too much even for a half-blood like you, right, Tessa?”
I almost nodded, but then I bit my lip and shook my head.
“Are you seriously trying to tell me no?” Eva growled.
“No,” I said, “But I want to see my mother. You promised if I did this, I'd see my mother.”
Eva snorted. “You've done well, but you haven't done enough to earn a visit yet.”
How much would be enough? I didn't dare ask. But I wasn't going to drop it, either.
“I want to know my mother is safe, at least,” I said. “I'll do what you want, but I want to see proof she's even alive.”
Eva scowled and crossed her arms. I braced myself for a slap, but it didn't come. Instead she just huffed a sigh.
“Fine,” Eva said. “I guess you have been behaving yourself. The next time we have to switch, I'll show you a picture of your mother.”
“A current picture?” I asked.
“Yes. I'll even have, I don't know, something with the date on it. Her medical chart or whatever.”
“When do I get it?” I dared to ask.
I didn't know why Eva was being so cooperative but I wasn't willing to waste the opportunity.
“I told you, next time we switch. I don't have a picture now.” Eva rolled her eyes. “What, you think I keep pictures of some human vegetable in my phone? Why would I do that?”
“I guess you wouldn't,” I said. “Will it be soon?”
“I don't know, probably. Zane and I have to be subtle. We can't go out every night or someone would catch us.”
I almost asked why she wanted to date Zane when she had Leo. She was the Alpha Daughter and she was married to a hero who wasn't even all that injured anymore. Why would she want the little brother when she was already guaranteed the role of Luna?
Before I could be stupid enough to answer a question like that, Eva's phone rang.
“Hello? Oh, hi Zane. No, not anything important. Just dealing with a servant. What did you need?” Eva paused to listen for a moment.
I tried not to perk up too obviously. If Zane was calling to ask her for a date, I'd be with Leo again that night. And I'd get a picture of my mother, finally.
To my shock, though, Eva said, “No, I'm not really feeling up to going out tonight. No, no I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. You know how busy I am. Yes, of course. Next time, I promise. Uh huh. You know it.”
She hung up the phone.
“You're not going out with Zane?” I asked, stunned.
“Don't look so disappointed. You had Leo last night, it's my turn,” Eva said.
“I thought you didn't like Leo?” I was confused.
Eva shrugged. “He's not so bad now that all those awful scars have healed. He's actually kind of sweet. I figure I'll give him a chance.”
“Oh.” I didn't know why her answer upset me. Sure, I wanted that picture of my mom, but the less I had to pretend to be Eva the fewer chances there were for me to get caught.
“Don't worry, I'm not giving up my time with Zane, either. You'll get plenty of chances later to earn time with your stupid mom.” Eva shrugged. “Go get your work done. I don't want you slacking off just because you've got a pup. You're not special, you're just pregnant.”
I nodded and hurried out of the room. I had plenty of cleaning to do. I had to rush because even simple tasks felt like they took twice as long as they had before I got pregnant.
I'd just gathered my supplies and headed down the hall when I bumped into someone. Warm arms steadied me and I dropped everything.
I looked up and realized I'd just run straight into Leo.