The Beast's Substitute Bride

Chapter thirty-two

Things were going well for the next couple of days but I couldn't help but feel nervous. I had been here for three weeks now. The final mating would be in seven days and the third ritual, any day from now.

My mother had not called me in the last few days and I didn't bother to call her. Each time we went out, I always looked around to try and see if I could spot Nevaeh.

One thing I was sure of, if she was here then she must be watching me closely. Her reason? I couldn't tell. I tried to figure out what game she was trying to play but nothing was adding up.

All my life, I thought I knew Nevaeh. I thought k could tell what she was thinking. I thought I knew about her as much as I knew myself. I was only starting to realize that I knew nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"Ready yet?"

"Almost done" I said doing the straps of my sandals.

"All done" I stood up and noticed he was already looking at me.

His eyes burning into my skin.

"You look beautiful"

"Thank you" I blushed. He smiled at me.

I loved his smile and he was doing it often now. He walked over to me and leaned in for a kiss. I wrapped my hand around his neck and deepened the kiss.

His hand moved to the zip of my pants and I quickly pulled away.

"We have to go now remember?"

"We have some spare time" he reached for me but I moved out of the way.

"Let's go now" I hurried out of the room before he could stop me.

The last few days, he had been visiting the orphanage frequently. With the change of Glynnis, he was visiting frequently to make sure the children were settling in well with her.

It warned my heart to see how much he cared for the children as me for a second, I wondered how he'll be with his own child. I shook the though away as quickly as it came. I shouldn't be thinking about that. It was no business of mine.

Today, I decided to join him at the orphanage to help in whatever little way that I can.

"Are you off already?" Winry asked as we walked to the door.

"Yeah"

"Well what time will you be back"

"Whenever we are done" Brayan answered.

Winry frowned. "We are supposed to hang out. And spend some time with Marisol and Nouria"

"You'lol have plenty of time to spend with her. She's not going anywhere"

Guilt hit me at his words. I was going away soon.

"Doesn't still matter. You're stealing her away from me" Winry pouted.

"Well she's my mate and you can join us at the orphanage if you want to" my heart fluttered at the word mate even if it wasn't supposed to.

"Maybe tomorrow"

"We'll be going now" I waved at her and we stepped out of the house.

He drove us to the orphanage. The children were playing in their playground and ran to us the moment we came in. They were all talking together and I couldn't hear a thing.

"Calm down everybody" Brayan shouted and everywhere went silent.

"You all can't talk at the same time. One after the other so I can hear everyone"

"When will mother Glynnis be coming back?"

"Mother Glynnis will not be returning"

"But why?"

"I don't like mother Ziriali" another shouted.

They all started talking at the same time and it became noisy all over again.

Brayan was trying to calm them down but they weren't listening at all until we all heard a sharp sound and the children went silent.

A tall woman was standing at the door with a long ruler.

"Go back to playing" she said in a calm voice and the children dispersed.

"Love, this is Ziriali and Ziriali, this is my mate. Paisley"

She outstretched her hands and I took it.

"Nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too"

"How has it been with the children?"

"Not so easy but it'll get better. There are a few things I'll like to go through with you if you don't mind"

He looked at me and I nodded with a smile.

"I'll just hang out with the children" he nodded and gave me a short kiss before leaving with the woman.

I looked around the playground. The children had gone back to playing. I noticed a little boy in the corner and I walked over to him.

"Hello" I said to him. He looked up ay me and smiled but his eyes were sad.

"My name is Paisley. What's your name?"

"I'm Simeon"

"How are you? You don't look happy and you're not playing with the others"

"I'm okay. I just want to stay by myself"

"Why is that? You can tell me. I'm your friend"

He sighed deeply and I knew something was really wrong with him. "I'm sad. I feel guilty about mother Glynnis"

"Why? It's not your fault she's gone"

"But it is my fault. I made it happen. I should have just ignored Naomi when she started her tantrums"

I frowned in confusion. What was he saying? Naomi's tantrums?

"Naomi was trying to bully me. She does that to most of the children here but mother Glynnis tells us not to take it to heart and to forgive her. That is why we ignore it and she has very few friends. That night when she tried tried to bully me again, I fought against her even when mother Glynnis asked me to stop. After we were finally separated, I received a scolding and so did Naomi but she didn't take it well"

He scratched his head and continued. "She started breaking things and mother Glynnis got upset. She spanked her and put her in a room. The next morning, the both of them were gone and I know it's because of what happened that night and maybe if I had ignored her she wouldn't have broken those things and mother Glynnis wouldn't have spanked her and she'll still be here with us"

My mouth hung open. This was very different from the story Naomi had told us. She also had bruises to support her claims. Surely she had not been lying about what happened on that night.

I remembered what Winry had said on that night. For Brayan to be sure of what happened before doing anything rash. Could it be possible that she was right and Naomi had somehow twisted the story?

"It's not your fault" I quickly said to assure Simeon. He didn't have to feel guilty for anything. Whichever story was true, he had nothing to do with it.

"I wish we can have her back" he said in a sad voice.

"Sometimes wishes can be granted. Maybe she'll come back to you"

"I hope so"

"Don't be sad. Join the others and play and everything will be okay. Mother Glynnis would not want you to be sad"

He nodded and ran to join the other kids at the playground while I watched from where I sat.

Could it be that Glynnis was wrongfully accused?