Chapter 6

• Luna Sabrina’s death had come as a shock to everyone who heard it. Alicia even heard people whispering during her burial that she must be cursed; not only did she lose her father and brothers, sent her newly married husband to war, and now, she had lost her mother. She had agreed with them, after all, if she wasn’t cursed, why would so many heart-breathing things happen to her in the span of two years?
• No matter how hard she tried, she always found herself thinking about her mother’s death. It had been ruled as a suicide, and an empty bottle of her antidepressant was found under her pillow. She had died of an overdose. It was still hard for Alicia to wrap her brain around it. She couldn’t believe that despite begging her mother to live for her sake and her promise to her, she still left her alone. She had always been scared of her mother committing suicide the third time, and so had made it her job to feed her, her medicine, and also hide it from her. Therefore, she couldn’t believe that her mother would go to the extent of ordering a new bottle that she overdosed from. Did she really want to leave her that much?
• A week later, Alicia was lazing around at home. After burying herself in work the previous week to cope with her mother’s death, she decided to stay home today and relax. Alicia walked out of the kitchen with a plate of sandwich, with her mother gone, she didn’t need the omegas anymore and sent them away to serve those who needed them more. She settled on the couch, ready to eat her lunch when she heard the doorbell. Placing the plate on the coffee table, she got up to check who it was as she was not expecting a visitor.
• Opening the door, Alicia was surprised to find Mary and Joy, and not just that, three omegas were with them, carrying some luggage. Alicia frowned but still offered them a smile, “Mary, is everything okay?”
• “Alicia, yes, everything is fine. Have you spoken to Leo?” Mary asked.
• Alicia shook her head. She was yet to receive a letter from her husband, even though she tried not to be affected by it. “Did he say something?”
• “Actually,” Joy spoke up and brought out a piece of paper from her jeans' back pocket. “This came from him last night. He said he will send you one today. Have you not received it?”
• Alicia felt a sharp pain in her chest that Leo found some time to send a letter to his family but not to her, his wife, who had just lost her mom. She waved off the feeling and smiled before taking the paper from Joy. Opening it, the letter was short with just a single order.
• ‘Mom, with the death of Luna Sabrina, I’m sure Alicia would be lonely at home, I don’t know when I will be done with the fight here, and since that is the Alpha’s house, that is where I will be staying. Why don’t you and Joy go ahead and stay with her? Keep her company until I get back home. I will send her a letter soon to let her know of your moving in. Love, Leo.’
• Alicia read the letter over and over again. The letter was simple, and the instruction was easy to comprehend as well, but for some reason, it didn’t sit well with her. Leo was right, as the house was the Alpha’s house, when he returned, he would be moving in, but having his mom and sister move in too? That was preposterous!
• “Dear, Leo only has your best interest at heart. You see, having lost every member of your family here, it would be hard to stay alone.” Mary said with a sad look.
• Alicia stared at her. Indeed, it is hard, but I am doing just fine, alone. She wanted to reject them and send them back to their house. How could Leo do that? If he wanted to do something so drastic, shouldn’t he have consulted with her first? Why send a letter to his family and give them the instruction before saying he will tell her about it?
• She could feel Nala bursting in anger, but she tried to calm her down and reason it, as the family of the alpha, it’s not entirely wrong for them to live in his house but the way he went about it was so damn wrong. Sucking in a deep breath to calm herself, she flashed them a faint smile before stepping aside to let them in. She saw the mother and daughter exchange looks of happiness and right there, she felt that strong feeling that perhaps she had done something bad. Something really bad.
• ***
• Leo’s letter came later that evening, and despite her anger, Alicia was happy to hear from him. When she opened the letter, the first paragraph was his apology to her for not contacting her so soon about her mother’s death, and the second paragraph was his condolences for her mother and how he would take care of her and make sure she never missed her family so much. His words were so touching that she forgot about her annoyance with him and just decided to forgive him this one time. The last paragraph was about his mother and sister moving in, and he actually wrote that if she was not comfortable with it, she could tell him, and he would tell them not to bother.
• Alicia sighed and looked at the door, hearing noise from the sitting room where two people were present. She guessed that Leo might not have known they would move in so soon. In fact, he didn’t explicitly tell them to start moving immediately in his letter; he only suggested it and said he would write her about it. Clearly, his mother and sister couldn’t wait for his approval. Realizing this, Alicia's anger vanished—Leo hadn't acted without consulting her; rather, it was his mother and sister-in-law who were impatient.
• She wrote him a reply, telling him that his family had moved in already and how shocked she had been to see them, but it was okay since they had settled. She asked about the war, and if he knew when it could be over, and she added how much she missed him and wished he would be back soon. She folded the letter and put it in an envelope, leaving her study to pass it to a messenger who would take it to Leo first thing in the morning.
• Getting to the sitting room, she saw Mary and Joy eating snacks. Mary smiled on seeing her, but Alicia could tell it was forced. “You are finally awake.”
• “Did you need me for something?” Alicia asked.
• Mary and Joy shared a glance before Mary said, “It’s dinner time, aren’t we going to eat?”
• Alicia frowned, “Oh, I fired the Omegas last week, didn’t think I needed them again. Don’t worry, I will call Stella to come fix something up.”
• “Oh, I don’t like Stella’s cooking,” Mary said.
• “I can call another…”
• “Why don’t you cook?” Mary interrupted with a smile. “It would be nice to eat what you cooked, don’t you think?”
• “Um…” Alicia didn’t know what to say. Cooking for her wasn’t a bad idea, but she was just too tired now. But, on second thought, she decided to do it. She was Leo’s mother after all, and that made her her mother-in-law, so she guessed she could do it. “Well…”
• “Come on, you have rested enough, haven’t you? You have been sleeping all evening,” Mary interrupted
• Alicia frowned, “I wasn’t sleeping.”
• Mary stared at Joy, “I thought you said she was sleeping?”
• Joy shrugged, “I thought she was sleeping, I didn’t hear any noise coming from the study when I listened at the door.”
• “It’s a study, a workplace, it’s not supposed to be noisy.” Alicia wanted to say, but decided to let it go. “It’s fine, I will make dinner. Just let me pass this to the messenger.”
• Joy wanted to say something, but Mary glanced at her, and she kept silent; Mary smiled at Alicia. “Alright, dear, do hurry up, I’m starving.”
• “Mm.”
• Alicia said and left the house, deep in her heart, she could feel it once more, that she had done something bad letting them into her house.