41| Maggie has a suspicion

Leah's POV

What was I going to tell Maggie?
She sat beside me, asking the same question Octavier was hinting at. She had heard our conversation, no doubt. She gently turned my face with her hand to take a perfect look at me, and I was freezing up.
Her eyes made me feel as though I was in a courtroom waiting to face a sentence.
Just a loose end on my path, and then comes Maggie's suspicion.
“Who is getting pregnant?” She asked again.
Octavier should come up with a cover up. Please....
“It's one of our friends who just got a mate,” Octavier said with a forced smile on her face.
I hoped it worked.
“Of course not.” Maggie shook her head. “That can never be the answer to my question. I know it can't be.”
Then we are going to face some rounds of interrogation. We had already started it, how were we going to escape it?
I pressed my fingers against Octavier, urging her to say something to guarantee our rescue, but she was finding it hard to come up with good lines. Maggie was too intimidating.
“What about what you told me a few minutes ago? What about that?”
“Hmmm...”
“You claim you went out for a stroll, is it true?”
Octavier nodded when I was about to shake my head. Thank goodness that I hadn't rush.
“It's obvious it was a lie, isn't it?” She gave a frantic smile. “You guys have a lot you're hiding from me. Can you kindly spill?”
The problem of telling her the truth had got branches that were going to lead to the main part we were supposed to hide. How was she going to feel if she found out I just had sex with Grimes?
“Alpha!” Someone called from outside the door with a knock.
It was a relief when she left the bed to attend to it, and she eventually left. Octavier and I had nothing to talk about, we were mainly waiting for my sin to unfold before her. Few minutes later, Euphoria came to call us for breakfast. I hadn't eaten, but had totally forgotten about it.
“Maggie has something in mind,” she said.
Of course we were expecting that, but what could it be?
“I saw her saying something to Aaron. Emaus is also on the table, and the way he was smiling gave me goosebumps.”
Was it that serious?
“How is her countenance?” I asked.
“Complex.”
“Help me watch out for her.”
What use was that? I did not really know, but just felt it was good I got some clues about the way she was feeling.
We got to the dining room, and as expected, Maggie and Aaron were sitting directly opposite each other, and made sure Octavier and I were sitting at the other end of the table. I could not bear Emaus' eyes at me.
“Enjoy.” Euphoria told us.
The meal started as though we were in deep mourning that was far above tears, just silent. It was unusually quiet. Maggie was looking at me, almost as if I was the food she was eating. Each time I raised my head, her eyes were always waiting for me.
Must she torture me?
“The meal is always good.” Emaus hit his plate with his spoon.
It cut the quietness, and also relieved me a little.
“Maggie.” He called.
She still had her eyes on me, even with his call for her ears.
“You remember I told you about wanting to see your mother?”
“I might have to think about that.” She gave a rushed reply.
“Okay, but I might have to stay for a while.”
“If you so desire.”
My thoughts had stopped being on Emaus. The current situation I had to face was to come up with something I could tell her. It wasn't going to go well if she realized that I had gone to meet Grimes. The crazy part of all was the sex with him.
Maybe they failed to realize that I could not cheat the feeling that came with the mate bond. That was just disappointing, and bad for me.
Was it just merely out of concern? But it was affecting me deeply.
“Leah.”
I forced myself to look at her.
“After this meal, we have to talk, preferably in the garden at the back.”
Cold sweat came out of my pores, and the food turned tasteless to my mouth. Octavier simply gave me a sorry look.
“I need to talk to you, privately.”
That was worst. Octavier was mostly my mouth piece. If I had to talk to her alone, how was I going to flow with lies? She was probably going to hold me by the wrist, right at the spot that I wouldn't be able to run but to spill.
“I might not be in a good state to talk.” I came up with a lame excuse.
“You have to try.” She went on eating.
“Raguel is supposed to be here.”
She shook her head, not looking at me. “She isn't coming.”
That was bad. She just closed down the perfect excuse I had to give.
“Really?” Octavier asked.
“She had asked for my permission to travel for a few days. Is anything the problem?”
“No... there isn't.”
Aaron had been quiet all through the meal. Everything seemed to be external to him. He was focused on the food. Maybe it was just because he was famished, and the meal was like a rescue to him.
Without a hint of what I was doing, I had started eating slowly. Aaron and Emaus had left the table, Octavier was done eating, but Maggie was still there. When I did look at her, she winked. It was creepy.
Time was still going to meet up with me, and so, I had to face the conversation with her. Time was going to grant her wish of intending to speak with me.
“You are done, aren't you?”
I nodded, and she took the last full spoon of grain into her mouth.
Octavier was merely a spectator.
I followed her to our secluded garden, a place I hardly go because of its quietness. The scent of the flowers still appealed to me though, but I hate sitting alone, looking at them.
“Have a seat,” she said.
I sat at the far end of the bench, but she ended up sitting so close to me.
“We don't need to spend much time conversing. It should be like a call and response.”
I didn't answer.
“Now this is the first question. Did you have sex with Grimes?”
While I opened my mouth to speak at first, I realized I was going to fumble. I simply shook my head.
“Okay, I would like to see your panties.”
“What?”
“No one is here, just a raise of your skirt.”