ISOBEL
Mason didn't leave immediately like I expected him to as he pulled away. He just stood by the door, with his arms crossed over his chest, and he watched me like he was waiting for something.
"You still haven't answered my question," he calmly said.
I blinked and I tried to act like I wasn't interested. "Which one?"
He slightly tilted his head like he found me amusing and just when I thought he'd let it go, he repeated the question. "Did you miss me?"
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "You were gone for like two days? I barely noticed your absence"
Mason chuckled, but then his expression changed. The amusement fell and was replaced by a look of deep thoughts. He scanned my face, and his eyes stayed on me longer than I liked.
"You're different," he finally said in a low voice. "Something definitely happened while I wasn't around."
My stomach churned but I forced myself to maintain eye contact. "I'm fine."
"That's not what I asked." He countered.
I clenched my fists. The last thing I wanted was for him to look at me too closely. If he did, he may notice how my emotions were all over the place, how my skin felt like it was filled with energy that I didn't understand.
Before I could look for a way to distract him, he looked past me and he slightly furrowed his brows. "What's wrong with your water?" He asked.
I turned, only to see that the glass of water on my table was shaking. The water was bubbling like it was boiling, and I instantly panicked and my heart raced. "It's nothing," I quickly said and rushed to stand in front of it.
Mason frowned and walked towards the table to have a look. "That is not nothing, Isobel."
I had to stop him. He can't know if my power. My heart as I tried to come up with an excuse. "Maybe the table isn't balanced."
Mason turned to look at me and from the way he stared, I could tell that he didn't believe my story. So he ignored me and tried to grab the glass of water.
I needed to distract him quickly. "You didn't tell me all about the meeting?" I asked and quickly stood in his way.
His hand stopped just before he touched the glass, and he hesitated, before he slowly stood straight.
"It was fine," he said, but it looked like he wasn't telling me everything.
"Is everything okay? It looks like the meeting was about something" I pressed on, as I wanted to distract him so that he wouldn't pay attention to the glass of water.
Mason tightened his jaw. "It's nothing important." He saw.
I immediately knew that it was a lie. I could see it in his face that he was hiding something but before I could question him further, a knock on the door cut me off.
"Alpha Mason," a voice called from outside. "We need you outside."
Mason sighed deeply and looked toward the door. When he turned back to me, his eyes were still filed with suspicion. "This conversation isn't over," he said.
I held my breath as he finally walked out and the second the door closed, I sighed deeply and turned to the glass. The water was calm and wasn't shaking, as if nothing had happened.
I couldn't understand what happened. I hadn't tried to control the water. It just suddenly started acting up.
I could only hoe that it doesn't happen again. I sat on my bed and sighed deeply as I thought about the whole thing. If he had looked at the water for a little longer, or if I hadn't distracted him just on time, he would have found out about it.
I needed to control myself but I didn't know her. Whatever was happening to me was getting stronger by the day, making it difficult to control myself.
A knock on the door made me jolt up in shock. My heart raced as I stood up. Was Mason back? Did he come to check the glass of water again?
I hesitated for a moment I opened the door but instead of Mason, I saw a bright smile that made me feel uneasy.
It was Ophelia. Why was she here? I was shocked so I just stared at her for a moment. She was holding a tray of food and smiling brightly.
"What… are you doing here?" I asked, and I wasn't trying to be rude, I was just shocked.
Ophelia's smile didn't fall for a second. "At least invite me in first."
I was too surprised to argue. I moved aside, and watched as she walked inside and kept the tray on the table and I noticed that something felt off.
She took longer than necessary to place the tray of food on the table. She kept looking at the glass of water on the table like there was something interesting in it.
My heart raced and I was scared that she would discover my secret so I cleared my throat, and quickly said, "Is there something you want me to do?"
Ophelia finally turned, and she still had the unusual smile on her face. It was unusual because it didn't fit the woman I'd known for years, the one who had never looked at me with anything but hatred.
"No, dear," she said calmly. "I just noticed you didn't have dinner, and I didn't want you to starve."
I blinked. What? She cared? There was no way this was real. Ophelia didn't care whether I ate or not.
And yet, she was standing in front of me, telling me to eat and rest… and then, without warning, she reached out and gently caressed my cheek.
I froze in shock. Her touch was light, and affectionate but it made chills run down my spine.
I had spent my whole life living in fear of this woman. This wasn't kindness. There was something else, and I knew that something was very, very wrong.