Chapter 129

Theodore’s POV

Realizing the possibly dire nature of this situation, I gave Bennett a cautionary look behind the spy’s back.

Bennett looked between us hesitantly. “Are… one of you Alpha Nightshade?” I gave an approving look as he pretended not to know me, then I stepped in front of Owen’s spy.

“That would be me,” I responded as I accepted the package from Bennett. “Thank you.”

I paused, worried that Bennett would vanish with magic right in front of us like he did last time he visited. I looked up at the sunshine that was beating down pleasantly overhead. “What a beautiful day to be walking around, making deliveries,” I observed politely.

Then I gave him a look to make sure he hadn’t missed my hint that he should visibly walk off the property and out of sight.

Bennett nodded subtly. “No complaints here! Good day, Alpha.” He trotted down the staircase, and I quickly shut the door behind him, eager to get him out of Owen’s spy’s sight.

Pausing in the foyer with the sitting room in view, I turned to Tyron and Helene with the hefty box in my hand. “Tyron, my friend, would you mind entertaining my new house guest while I unpack my grocery delivery?”

I made sure to mention what kind of delivery I had just received so that the spy would be less inclined to come snooping – especially around something as innocuous as groceries. I even opened a flap right in front of them to pull out a vegetable common on this side of the border to support the illusion.

“Of course!” Tyron stood, clapping a wide palm around the spy’s shoulder. “A friend of Theodore’s new mate is a friend of ours; come tell us about yourself.”

I let their voices fade behind me as I walked down the hall and into the kitchen. There, I unpacked all the food that would help fuel my magic. I was going to need to figure out how to cook with these types of ingredients.

As if my thoughts had conjured it, a recipe book lay at the bottom of the box. I pulled it out carefully, immediately noticing it was used. A piece of paper stuck out of the top, and I opened the book to that page.

As the worn pages flapped open, my mate’s scent filled my nose. I barely held back the tears that welled in my eyes at the comforting smell. I pulled out the piece of paper marking the recipe for the breakfast Violet had cooked for me the morning after I first met Bennett.

The scrap piece of paper I pulled from the book read:

This was my mother’s recipe book. It belongs in my kitchen.

Focus on the Shelter project. Bennett will continue with deliveries.

Burn this note.

No signature or name were to be found. Only my recognition of Violet’s handwriting and the memory associated with the marked recipe identified the author.

I let hope swell in my chest. Hope inspired by my mate’s scent all over these pages. Faith in my wife who believed in our plan enough to still refer to this as her kitchen. Relief that even though we were still working on a plan, Bennett’s regular deliveries would give me some sort of connection to my alari, who I missed with all my heart.

I turned on the stove, lighting the note to watch it burn in the sink.

What I really needed was her: my mate, my Violet.

But for now, hope would have to be enough.

Violet’s POV

Heavy steps echoed down the staircase as I opened the front door in response to the ringing doorbell. I barely looked over my shoulder in time to see Kincaid barreling toward me before quickly leaping out of his path. Narrowly missing me, he shoved through the door I had only partially opened.

Peeking out the door in his wake, I watched as he lovingly tackled Dahlia to the ground, both of them laughing as they rolled across the lawn. Though I didn’t miss either of their tear-streaked faces.

I had briefly considered on the way home from Owen’s palace how this game Theo and I were forced to play would impact their relationship. Though I didn’t like the idea of separating any more couples, this one could not be avoided. And I hoped that we might be able to use their relationship as an excuse to still keep our two territories closer than usual.

Leaning on the doorframe, smiling at them with only a little bit of jealousy as they kissed in the grass, I did the math. It would have taken longer for Theo to get home from Owen’s palace than it did me. By my count, Dahlia must have practically dropped her bags off in Midnight and come straight here.

Which also meant Theo should be receiving my delivery from Bennett any day now, if he hadn’t already.

Dahlia and Kincaid finally stood, brushing the grass off their clothing, before approaching the front door hand-in-hand.

“It’s good to see you, Dahlia,” I said, and I meant it.

“You, too, Alpha Donovan.” Her eyes were kind behind her words, but they didn’t reveal one way or another if Theo had let her in on the secret. If he had, perhaps Dahlia would share with my Beta, too.

That was a bridge to be crossed later.

Before entering, Dahlia picked up a box she had left by the door and handed it to me. Her eyes turned a little sad as she said awkwardly, “Some of your things.”

My face fell involuntarily, but I offered her a grateful smile as I accepted it.

Making our way inside, I took the box to my study as Kincaid led Dahlia to his room. A stronger pang of jealousy ached in my chest – especially as I dropped the box of my returned items on my desk.

But as I rifled through what was inside, I smiled. This box was full of garbage. Not literally, but close.

There was a pile of paperwork I had set aside to be shredded. A gift from a nobleman I hated and had told Theo I would need to regift. A stapler that was technically Theo’s.

I realized this box was a Trojan horse.

Smart man, I thought, relieved that no real effort was being made to return my things. Because my husband expected me home sooner rather than later.

Once I knew the box was a cover, I rifled through it for something out of place. Finally, I found a coded note – but it wasn’t from my husband.

It was from Sophia. Explaining that she had been asked to continue working for me in secret and that she was at my disposal.

Not smart man, then. Smart woman.

I smiled at the thought of this woman whose talents had been going to waste as Theo’s assistant, her loyalty and motivation to excel in her duties stifled by Theo’s ignorance and lack of manners. Now, her loyalty had been earned away from Theo and, technically, Midnight, too. I began to brainstorm ways to let her know just how valuable she had become.

Standing in my study, rereading Sophia’s coded message, I thought of the message I’d left for Theo in my mother’s recipe book – and the information I’d very intentionally left out.

Part of me felt guilty for hiding the pregnancy from him, but I could hardly be honest with myself about it. So many years of wanting children but unable to get pregnant followed by the betrayal of my first husband getting another woman pregnant instead. Years of doctors telling me I couldn’t conceive and now this.

I was pregnant with my second husband, my true mate, while we were separated for the Goddess knew how long.

It was a hard pill to swallow indeed.