Hidden Pain

Maureen's POV

It was getting late at night when I decided to go see Dawn myself. Two Golden Wolf soldiers escorted me to the quarters she and her mate used.

The door to their sitting room was opened so I walked right in while the soldiers that went with me stayed by the door.

"Asher, is that you?" Dawn asked, but I didn't answer, just to play a trick on her. She was in one of the rooms and I knew that she would soon smell the difference in the air.

The room door opened, and she stepped out; I smiled lovingly at the look in her eyes when she realized I was the one. I was sure she was disappointed that it wasn't her mate that was back already.

"Not happy to see me, sis?" I asked grinning teasingly.

"Your Majesty. I am not unhappy to see you. I would have just been more elated if it were my mate. I rarely see much of him these days," Dawn said rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean by you rarely see him these days?" I asked worriedly.

"With the training of the new recruits these past three weeks, I barely see him. Most times, I am asleep before he returns, and he is off before I wake up," Dawn explained.

"I will talk to him about that. He doesn't need to train the new recruits himself," I said.

"That will be unnecessary, Your Majesty," Dawn said, waving it off.

"Will you stop with the honorific already Dawn? You are my sister," I said frowning at her.

"My wolf recognizes you as her sister, but she can also sense that you are of higher ranking," Dawn said, putting her hands on her waist playfully.

"Meaning?" I asked raising a brow.

"Meaning I can't disrespect you even if I want to," Dawn said, then winked at me before she continued, "I heard I have someone's dream to walk into tonight"

"Yes," I answered.

"I was just putting Tate to sleep. I would have been on my way to your quarters," Dawn said.

"You would have left her alone by herself here?" I asked bewildered.

"Tate sleeps like she has been cutting trees all day. She wouldn't even know I was gone till I returned," Dawn explained.

"Still, I wouldn't support you leaving her here all by herself. Deep sleeper or not," I said frowning at her.

"Okay, Godmother. Sorry that I was going to leave your Goddaughter all by herself to come and do my duty. What do you suggest that I do then?" Dawn said playfully.

"Simple. We take her with us. Since she is a deep sleeper, I am sure carrying her all the way will not interrupt her sleep," I said.

"You will carry her then, Your Majesty, because right now, I neither have the strength nor the will to carry her," Dawn said before she disappeared into the room.

The door behind me opened, and Asher stepped in, looking surprised to see me standing in the middle of their sitting room.

"Your Majesty. What are you doing here?" He asked bewildered.

"Can't I visit my sister anymore?" I asked raising a brow.

"I am sorry. I was just surprised. I had come to escort her to your quarters. I wasn't expecting to find you here," Asher explained.

"So…" Dawn said, walking out of the room, but she stopped talking when she saw Asher standing there. She had Tate in her hands. Dawn moved towards Asher and gently passed him Tate before saying, "It is a good thing you are here, I was about to make Her Majesty carry her because she didn't want me leaving Tate here all by herself, and now that you are here, you can take her all the way."

"Ok," Asher said as he adjusted Tate properly in his hands before we walked out of the room.

Tate was a split image of her father: Cool, calm, and collected. Unlike other kids her age, she rarely plays. She just sits somewhere to either paint or read. She might not have the supernatural power to paint like her father but she sure can paint for her age. Little wonder Asher loves her like life itself.

We got to the quarters I shared with Lance. It was by far the biggest of them all with four rooms except the sitting room. I asked Asher to put Tate in one of the rooms so that we could talk.

Alpha Ron was in one of the single rooms across the corridor not far from our quarters. I also gave his Beta a room as well as his soldier.

"I would have asked that we involved Lucia," Dawn said.

"Why?" Lance asked.

"What if he doesn't sleep early?" Dawn asked.

"Have you seen the way Dominus is around Lucia? I don't think I want to deal with that drama," I said, rolling my eyes while Dawn laughed.

There was a knock on the door and Lance went to answer it. To my surprise, Lucia and Dominus walked in with Dominus’ hand firmly on Lucia's waist.

"I thought we were also a part of the team and we all want Rocha back safely. Why were we exempted from the plan tonight?" Dominus asked.

"Nobody is exempting you from anything Dominus. You have been acting too weird around Lucia to want her to do anything, so we decided to let you be," Lance said, not even trying to hide his snare.

"How did you know about tonight?" I asked because I didn't remember telling him or Lucia anything.

"He told me," Dominus said pointing at Lance.

"I see," I said.

We continued gisting and talking while Dawn kept trying to connect to the Alpha of White Sky’s dream to no avail.

"He has a lot on his mind; he won't sleep, he can't sleep," Tate, Dawn's daughter, said from the doorway of the room she was in. She was standing there rubbing her eyes sleepily. We were all shocked.

"Sweetheart, what did you say?" Asher asked as he went to stoop before his daughter.

"Alpha Ron, he can't sleep, won't sleep, too much ache, pain," Tate repeated before she yawned tiredly then staggered. Asher had to hold her so that she wouldn't fall. In seconds, she was asleep in her father's hands. There was pin-drop silence in the room as Asher took Tate back to bed.

"Is there an explanation for what just happened?" Dominus asked. He was as surprised as any other person in the room.

"I guess we have to address that later. Let's deal with the most important of her information," Lance said.

"We can't discount the fact that my three-year-old daughter just said something about what I think she can't know," Asher said, looking confused.

"No, we can't but we can delve into that later. Since Alpha Ron isn't sleeping, don't you think I should step in?" Lucia asked.

"No way, you are pregnant," Dominus said as if we all couldn't see that she was pregnant. Lucia groaned in annoyance and then rolled her eyes.

"If we are only here to fold our hands, why then are we here, Dom? You are beginning to get on my nerves," Lucia said in annoyance and, of course, a little dramatic as well.

Dominus didn't say anything. He instead pouted like a child as he sat there beside Lucia.

"Look. This is what we will do. I will go to the Alpha's door and knock, pretending I am expecting to see another person there. That way, I will tell him to sleep and leave," Lucia suggested and we all agreed.

"If it will make you feel better, Dominus, I will go with her," I said and Dominus only nodded without saying anything.

Lucia got up and walked down the corridor to the single rooms while I followed at a distance. Lucia got to the room that Alpha Ron was in and knocked. The door opened at once.

"Oh, I am sorry. Are you the occupant of the room?" Lucia asked feigning innocence.

"Yes, temporarily," Alpha Ron answered. I couldn't see him but I knew he must be frowning.

"Oh, I am sorry, you know pregnancy and the hormones. Just go to sleep, please. Go on your bed and sleep peacefully till morning," Lucia said. Then I heard a grumbled thank you before the door closed, and she walked back to me.

We made it back to the room in time to see Dawn's eyes close and didn't open back in frustration.

"Does that mean he is already asleep?" Dominus whispered.

"I think so," Lucia whispered back.

"How many times have you used that on me, babe?" Dominus asked whispering as low as he could do that so he would not disturb Dawn.

"Let us concentrate on the matter at hand," Lucia said and I smiled. Knowing well that she must have used it on her mate several times.

Dawn was in the same position for over fifteen minutes and like always, Asher hovered like a mother hen.

Dawn's eyes suddenly opened then tears flowed down her eyes with the speed of a leaking cup.

"Hey, look at me," Asher said stooping in front of her and holding her face in his hands.

"What is it, Dawn?" I asked going to stand beside her.

"He lost a mate. He wants her back but doesn't know how to say it because his chosen one has something over his head. I couldn't get what it was because he fought against the memory. I think he has insomnia," Dawn said with tears in her eyes.

"He didn't lose his mate. His mate packed her things and left claiming she wasn't cut out for mateship and male control. She didn't die she left," Asher explained.

"What if she was taken, what if she didn't leave willingly?" I asked thoughtfully.

"One other thing," Dawn said and we all turned to her.

"He is in Tate’s painting," Dawn said.

"What? Tate painted him?" Asher asked then stood up and paced.

"Why would Tate paint Alpha Ron?" I asked.

"I always thought her paintings were figments of her imagination, but at the look of things, they might have meanings," Dawn said.

"On a scale of one to ten. How will you rate Alpha Ron's pain?" I asked Dawn.

"I will say nine, and they are well hidden," Dawn said, cleaning her face with her hands.

My interest was piqued. Something was telling me that whatever pain Alpha Ron was dealing had to do with Rocha’s disappearance and I was going to get to the bottom of it.