CHAPTER 40

MIA POV.
Vivienne's arms enveloped me, warm and familiar. "Mia, oh my Goddess, are you alright?" she asked, her voice trembling with worry. She pulled me from the hug and held me at arm’s length and looked me up and down to inspect for herself.
“I’m fine.” I said as I felt her concern comforting. Thankfully, my sobs have calmed by now and I took in Vivienne fully. Her earlier elegant self was somewhat dimmed. Her hair, that was perfectly styled up before, was now hanging loose around her shoulders. She still had on her dress, but she was wearing a casual jacket over it and her high heels were replaced by flats.
“W- were you here the whole time?” I asked as I looked at her shoes and back to her hair. “Only for a little while.” She spoke as she tucked some of that loose strands of hair behind her ear. "I started to feel unwell just before the hunt." she explained. Her voice was husky. "I returned home early, but if I had known that there was going to be any danger, I would have stayed." she spoke. Tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at me. She tamed a few of my loose tendrils around my face and even removed a twig before meeting my eyes again.
I shook my head. "Don't apologize. There was no way that you could have known." I spoke. Vivienne's arms wrapped around me again. Holding me close. "Still, I should have been there. I'm so sorry, Mia." She said with a sad smile as she let me go. “The important thing is that you are safe and that you made it back.” She said rubbing my arms. I only noticed then that I was slightly shivering. I wasn’t sure if it was relief or the cold but I was quickly getting chilled to the bone.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Dominic watching us carefully. His gaze was narrowed, and clouded with suspicion as he watched Vivienne and me. His frown remained as he studied Vivienne from head to toe, but he remained silent, his expression a mask of restraint.
“Yeah, me too.” I said as I smiled at Vivienne. “I’m glad that you came back earlier and that you weren’t caught in the middle of the mess.” I said and I felt my emotions welling up again. I blinked my eyes rapidly to chase away the tears. “You are one of my only friends here and I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to you.” I said and Vivienne’s eyes filled with tears.
“Mia, you are going to make me cry again and I will have none of that. ” Vivienne said and quickly wiped away her tears before she spoke again. “Come, let’s get you out of those clothes and into something more comfortable.” Vivienne said in a light and soothing voice as she looked down at my muddy clothes and I laughed as I looked down at myself too. All her hard work was ruined but it didn’t matter. We were okay and that was what mattered.
Vivienne took me by the arm and guided me towards the house and as soon as we entered, she called out to the waiting omega’s who readily rushed forward to see where they could be of assistance. I glanced back at Dominic. He was silently following us but as we started taking the stairs towards my room, he stopped. He stood at the end of the staircase as he followed our progress up the stairs as the omega’s fussed over me. That was the last I saw of him for the night and even though I was relieved… I couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.
Vivienne and the omega servant girls guided me towards my room, stripping items of clothing from my body as we went and by the time I got to my ensuite bathroom, I was only left in my underwear. I was surprised to see that a bath had already been filled for me and it was full of bubbles with the most amazing scents and the warmth of the hot steam enveloped my body like a glove.
“Thank you girls, that will be all.” Vivienne said before I heard a soft click of the door closing behind us. Exhaustion was starting to set in as Vivienne helped me get into the big tub of hot soothing water and to my dismay, Vivienne ushered me out and helped dry me off. Usually I would die of embarrassment but I was too tired to care.
Finally dressed in a soft knee length nightgown, Vivienne put me into bed. “Good night, Mimi.” I vaguely hear her bid her goodnight before I hear her leaving my room, shutting the door behind her.
As I drifted in and out of consciousness, my exhausted body trying to surrender to the bliss of sleep but I faintly sensed another presence. The soft creak of the hinge of my bedroom door alerted me to someone's entry. My mind stirred, vaguely aware of the intruder, but my eyelids refused to budge, weighed down by the crushing fatigue. I could sense the person was there, but I oddly did not feel scared. In my tired mind, I briefly wondered who it could be… Did Vivienne come back to check on me again? Perhaps one of the Omega servant girls… or could it possibly be Dominic? I wonder. My thoughts jumped around through my muddled mind as I felt myself slipping away. My breathing slowed. My muscles relaxed and all thoughts of the night's events slipped away. I was fast asleep when the stranger finally took his leave. Closing the door with a soft click before moving away from my room.
I woke to the sound of hard knocking on my door. I groan sulkily before I turn to my otherside, determined to ignore whomever it was. The knocking on my door came again and this time it was louder. I sat up groggily as I gave the door a half hearted glare when it suddenly swung open and Dominic strode into my room. Immediately wide awake and alert, I realized that I was dressed in a thin nightgown and quickly grabbed for the bedding to cover myself. “Hey!” I yell as Dominic steps into my room. His eyes quickly roamed over the parts of my body that he could. Hy heart started to beat a little faster as my throat suddenly felt dry at the look he was giving. I quickly shoved it aside and looked at him angrily. “Don’t you knock? You can’t just burst into a woman’s room, you know.” I chastised and he lifted an eyebrow at me in challenge. “I did knock.” He simply stated. “And even if i didn’t, i don’t think i need to, considering that this is my house.” He said and I groaned tiredly. Yeah, he did knock… that was what woke me up in the first place.
“Yes, uhm, well… you still can’t just barge in here however you like even if you are the Alpha.” I said and he still looked at me with that same raised eyebrow before his demeanor turned serious. "Come on, get up. We have things to do." He said, is tone firm, but not unkind.
“What things?” I asked incredulously as the events of last night came flooding to my mind. “Shouldn’t we be on lock down or at least lying low for a while?” I asked as Dominic continued to stand in my doorway. I noticed then that he was dressed casually. A white T-shirt and dark jeans. It was quite the difference from his usual formal wear.
“That is exactly what we should not be doing.” He said and I frowned at him in confusion. We were attacked last night and he wants to taunt our attackers by driving around as an open target? The thought jumped into my mind as soon as he spoke those words.
Dominic's expression remained resolute, his eyes unwavering. "We need to keep up appearances. Especially after last night's attack and a visit to the pack's orphan school would mean alot to the kids and it will show them that everything is still alright and that we remain strong as a pack." He stated, his tone holding no room for arguments.
“Are you sure it is safe?” I asked and he nodded. “Whomever it was will not dare to attack again. Our security has been tripled and every wolf, man and woman, is on high alert.” He spoke and I had to agree with him there as it made sense the way he said it.
“Besides, I think the kids will be more at ease if they heard this from their future Luna themselves and they did seem to take a liking to you last time.” Dominic said, his gaze locked on mine. My heart went out to the little pups. I, myself, was an orphan and even though I did have parental figures that raised me, there was still that ache inside me that I wanted to find out where I belonged.
"Alright, I'll go." I said. There was a slight pull at the edge of Dominic’s lips as though he wanted to smile but it was gone but I did see approval in the way that he looked at me. He kept standing in my doorway as I held up the bedding in front of my chest. This was starting to get awkward. I thought. “Uhm, could you please leave so that i could get dressed?” I asked. After a moment's hesitation, he nods and walks out of the room. “Don’t take too long, I leave in fifteen minutes.” He says and closes the door, not giving me enough time to argue as I practically jump out of the bed and into my wardrobe as I hurried to get dressed.