*****CHAPTER 41

MAE'S POV
 
As I hurried my feet down the hallway, impatient to get off the Alpha's Quarters, I passed by the music room and stopped to my feet again. Taking two steps back again, I peered into the halfway opened door of the large music room. Alcot was seated like a king on a chair, painting canvas art on a large painting board. His back faced me, and he was concentrated on the canvas drawing he was painting. I peered even closer to see if I could catch a glimpse of the painting, and my heart melted to see that it was a painting of a bridge.
 
That bridge.
 
He had painted it exactly as it was, leaving no slight details behind. On the bridge were a young boy and a girl seated close together, staring into the midnight sky. It was a beautiful painting, and for a long while, I watched him paint and highlight his work. I knew I should have learned my lesson about not peeping into other people's doors, but I just couldn't take my eyes off him and the amazing things the brush between the tips of his fingers were doing.
 
Even though I couldn't see his face because of the face mask he still had on as usual, I could take notice of how calm and peaceful his body looked doing what it loved. My mind traveled to Scarlet and the Beta and how they had betrayed Alcot by deceiving and cheating on him behind his back. No matter what others said about him, the only thing I saw in his eyes was kindness and a man who lacked and craved love and freedom. I remembered those days he wrote in his letters about being trapped in his own home. I never understood what he meant until now.
 
He didn't deserve any of the bad things that were said about him. Neither did he deserve a cheating partner or a lying beta. A part of me craved to tell him the truth and expose his hypocritical Luna and beta to him, but the second, logical part of me strongly warned me against it. I was only a low class wolf, a thief, and a servant. I should not get myself caught up in a royal fuss unless I wanted to end my bloodline with my own hands.
 
Without warning, Alcot's painting brush fell to the ground, and he turned his head to pick it up from the floor. But before I could turn and hide from his sight, he had caught me. Still, I hid myself behind the walls outside, praying that he didn't entirely see me.
 
"Mae?"
 
Shit.  I was wrong. He saw me.
 
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my lips together in embarrassment.
 
The gods! Please save my face from this shame.
 
"You can come out now." "I already saw you."
 
Slowly, like a child who had been caught stealing red-handed, I stepped out of hiding and stood by the doorway. Alcot's stare at me was as hard and piercing as usual, and I bowed my head low and pathetically.
 
"How long have you been standing there?" He asked me.
 
"Not so long, my Lord." I answered immediately. "Just a minute."
 
"Huh." He simply remarked. He didn't sound like he believed me one bit, and I was twice as embarrassed now. He caught on to my lie too.
 
"Come on it." He added, turning his back against me again to continue painting. Slowly, I raised my head again and looked at him in confusion.
 
"My Lord…"
 
"Do you want to keep standing there for the entire day?" He asked me, not bothering to spare me a glance. "Come on in and shut the door behind you."
 
With skepticism, I obeyed his order and quietly shut the door behind me. Still unsure of what he meant when he said I should come in, I stood by the closed door and just stared at his back, waiting for another instruction.
 
Again, he looked behind his shoulder and stared at me with a little frown written on his forehead now. He was staring at the broken pieces of ceramics lying on the tray now.
 
"What happened to those?"
 
"They fell. It was a mistake. "I was supposed to take some food to the Luna before the accident happened." The lie came out smooth from my mouth, but Alcot only looked more worried. In a flash of a second, he got up from his seat and walked across the room to me. My heart beat wildly as he came closer, his tall, broad figure dominating me.
 
Without warning, he snatched my hand and raised my fingers to see them properly. I noticed how his jaw set as his eyes met the small cut on my pinkie finger. The cut Scarlet had given me to seal our promise.
 
"You really can be clumsy sometimes, aren't you?" He sounded a little pissed now, and I wondered why. Wasn't he the same person who asked us to stop exchanging letters and act like total strangers? Why did he care about my injury now.
 
"I'm sorry, my Lord." I bit my tongue and apologized. I was a little pissed too. Angry that just a small feel of his touch was enough to send electrifying feelings all over my body. I was angry that I was trying to get over him only to have him confuse me again.
 
"Pardon me, my Lord. But I don't think I should be in the same room with you. "I will be taking my leave now." I bowed my head at him again and made to turn my heels and leave, but his hand shot out, pulling me back by the wrist and turning me around to face him. He was standing close to me now. Too close—our bodies were almost touching. I could feel the warmth of his breath blowing gently over my face. My heart was beating loudly, so loud that I feared he might hear them cry out for him again.
 
"Don't go." He whispered into my ears. "Please.  "Stay with me a little longer."
 
I gulped dry lumps down my throat. The air around us was filled with tension, and as much as I wanted to run from his presence, I also wanted to stay.
 
"But why?" I asked, refusing to look him in the eye for fear that he might see just how completely smitten I am by him. And how he was making me weak at the knees.
 
"Because I've missed you, Mae." His thumb reached for my face, and he gently brushed a strand of hair past my face. "I've missed you so much."
 
"My Lord…"
 
"Alcot." He corrected me, rubbing his thumb gently across my cheek. "Please call me Alcot when we're alone together."
 
I felt completely dumb and didn't know what to say. I should have just picked up my feet that instant and left. I really should have. But I did not. It was as if an invincible force was stopping me from doing the most logical thing in this situation.
 
Gently, he held me by the chin and raised my face to look at him. Slowly, his hand reached for the straps that held his mask in place, loosening them. Without being told what to do, I shut my eyes, but his words came again, shocking me to the bones.
 
"Keep them open."
 
"I…" I opened my mouth to protest. No one else apart from Alcot's mother had seen his face. I wasn't prepared for this. This was wrong.
 
"I said… "Keep them open, Mae."
 
I felt my gut almost choke me with tears, and I felt afraid. For myself. I knew I had always imagined seeing what his face looked like. But I never thought it would be now. I wasn't prepared for this. And I was afraid of what I could see. What if he truly was a monster behind that mask? What if I found out a truth I was never supposed to know. Some things are better left unseen and untouched.
 
"Mae.  Don't be afraid. He reached for my hand gently and spoke. "I've got you."
 
I nodded gently and took a deep breath before slowly opening my eyes to look at him. The glazy tears that clouded my eyes slowly gave way, and as my vision cleared, my eyes met with the true face of the Alpha. For a moment, looking at the true face of Alcot, I felt the world stop right at our feet. My heart stopped beating, and I couldn't feel my body anymore.
 
His face had scars that traced from his brow down to his eyes. His cheek, his chin, and his temple had scars on them. Scars that seemed like a decade old, but they still scar. Scars that held stories. Heartbreaking ones maybe. But the scars on his face weren't all that important. It was the way he still looked like an ancient Greek god behind those scars.
 
He was undeniably the most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on.