"Are you prepared with a good reason why he had to be the one to send for you when you're supposed to be at work?" the man asked, stopping beside him rather than walking ahead as Grey had hoped, his voice was level as he spoke.
Grey's heart skipped violently.
He did not have a reason. Not one that would sound acceptable, and he told himself that he wasn't going to bother himself inventing excuses.
He had overslept because he was tired.. body and soul.
That was the truth, and that was what he planned to answer if questioned.
And if Lord Jethro wanted to dismiss him, then he could go on and do so. Grey would accept it without protest.
Grey did not answer the man.
He did not like him, and he had no intention of pretending he did, and talking to him or making friendly conversation.
He hadn't liked him from the very first moment the man's gaze had raked over him.
And he hated him even more when he remembered how his own body had reacted to it, exactly the way he hated.
He hoped the man would simply walk ahead, so he could follow him. He wondered, not for the first time that morning, where the maids assigned to him were.
They should have been the ones to wake him, the ones to guide him through the palace halls, the ones standing here now instead of this man whose presence unsettled him.
Before he straightened or found another solution, a softer sound cut through the tension.
"Brother…?"
Grey lifted his eyes at the sound, his attention drawn instinctively upward. Alpha Norman's daughter, Ria, stood there.
One of Jethro's wife. Grey thought. The realization clicked into place immediately, and with it came another one. If she was calling him brother, then the man beside him...
Was her brother?!
Grey felt a flicker of confusion. How had he never known of him? The answer came just as quickly. Grey's pack had always existed in its own enclosed world.
His father had never taken him to gatherings, never introduced him or extended family beyond what was strictly necessary.
There had been no reason for Grey to know this man before now.
"What are you doing here?" Ria asked.
The man turned slightly, his posture shifting toward her, and a smile formed on his lips.
"What do you mean what am I doing here?" he asked. "This is my sister's home, and beside, Jethro was my best friend before he was chosen while sitting right beside me, and still he's my best friend."
There was something strained in his tone,
The bitterness beneath his words was unmistakable, especially when he spoke of sitting beside each other, of one being chosen while the other was not.
Grey remained silent, an observer despite himself.
Ria's eyes swept over him then, quick and dismissive. They paused just long enough to register him before rolling almost imperceptibly, her gaze turning away as though Grey were of no importance.
"So tell me, are you already carrying our Alpha-Enigma blooded heir?" Her brother asked, shamelessness etched into his expression, a smirk curling his mouth.
"You wish, Leo. Our husband barely looks at us." Ria answered, her voice lowering, angled as though meant only for him.
Grey heard it anyway.
That was the first time he heard the man's name, Leo, and it lodged itself in his thoughts whether he wanted it to or not.
Remembering how late he already was, Grey cleared his throat, his eyes lifted toward Leo briefly. "I don't want to be any more late." He said, hating the necessity of asking for direction after all.
Leo turned his attention back to him, then to Ria. "Let's talk later." He said to Ria before turning and walking toward the direction that must lead to Jethro's office.
Grey followed.
As they walked, Leo continued to speak, claiming again that he was Jethro's best friend. But Grey did not believe it. Not with the bitterness that laced his voice.
This was not the tone of someone happy for an old friend's success.
And in this, Grey was right.
Leo had never been happy for Jethro ever since the choosing happened. He never stayed close to Jethro after the choosing.
He had kept his distance, resentment festering quietly while days passed.
He had always been bitter about it. One moment he had been sitting beside Jethro, and the next he had been expected to bow before him.
Jethro was nothing compared to him, or at least, that was what Leo told himself. He had said it was fine, that he himself..did not need to be chosen, that anyone could take the position.
Anyone but Jethro.
His father had soothed him with lessons from ancient history, telling him he didn't need to worry nor be sad, and shouldn't let jealousy consume him.
He explained that history would simply repeat itself,- history in which all the Enigmas who came before Jethro were brought down and dismissed by the goddess because they let Power change them, they misused power.
They had allowed greed for more to consume them.
None of them had survived long enough to form an heir, and that was exactly what was going to happen with Jethro.
But Leo knew Jethro better than anyone.
Jethro spoke of justice and righteousness all the time. He followed rules not because he had to, but because he truly believed in them.
Leo feared that Jethro would be the exception to all the other Enigmas, that he would prosper, rule wisely, and never anger the goddess enough to be taken down.
That fear had driven everything he thought. But now his father had offered a solution: One line Jethro could cross that would bring severe punishment from the moon goddess and lead to his downfall.
-To involve himself sexually with a man.
All Leo had to do was push. Manipulate. Create opportunity. Force proximity between Jethro and Grey until boundaries blurred.
They convinced themselves it would be easy, especially since Jethro himself had suggested taking Grey in and giving him his name.
Also, after that morning, watching Grey with water sliding down bare skin, Leo had nearly lost himself too.
Grey had been stunning. Captivating in a way Leo had never expected in a man, in a way that unsettled even him.
He had not realized how long he stared until Grey spoke.
Now, walking beside him again, seeing how Grey looked even fully clothed, Leo told himself it would be easy for Jethro to be drawn in with Grey's appearance.
When they reached the door, Leo pushed the glass open and stepped inside.
Grey entered after him.