Disobedience and Devotion - Chapter 3 Sneak Peek

As it so happened, Lena proved to be a talented liar: she smiled in Nia’s presence the next morning, and when the maids came to tidy up “Clark’s” bedroom. When asked about the master of the household, Lena reported that Clark had disappeared earlier to tend to some business. In truth, Lena knew that Kara was avoiding everyone because her lip was not only bruised, but also swollen. 

The bruises on Lena’s own neck had a frightful color about them. The sight seemed to startle Winn when he came to check on her in the parlor at midday. She had dressed early and taken her book to the sunniest spot she could find, where she sat reading for a little over two hours.
 

In a gown with puffed sleeves and a low-cut bodice, Lena looked every bit the madam of the house. Her hair was done in waves around her face and left down to cover her shoulders. 

Winn peered at her with a cordial smile, which fell from his face when Lena closed her book. She straightened up and saw his eyes fly to her throat. 

“Has Clark sent for me yet?” Lena asked, ignoring how Winn twitched in place and threw his arms out awkwardly. 

“I’m afraid not, m’lady,” Winn responded formally and offered his hand to her. “I was hoping you might convince Clark to come to the dining room for tea. He refused his usual breakfast and won’t admit any servants into his study. I have to say, he’s surprising us with how he’s returned to his work so soon after the wedding.”

Lena put her hand into the servant’s and walked with him towards the solid oak door to Kara’s study. Rapping on the wood, Lena called out in her prettiest and lightest voice, “Clark, won’t you have tea with me?” 

There was a noise within the room, then the sound of footfalls that stopped just shy of the door. The handle shifted subtly, but then went still as if to ensure that it was tightly locked.



“Regretfully I have much to do. I trust you will enjoy your afternoon without me.”

Blinking in surprise, Winn laughed quite nervously. “Mr. Danvers, this is quite unlike you, I implore you to set aside your work and attend tea with your wif—” 

Winn caught the narrowed eyed displeasure on Lena’s face before it was well hidden and promptly altered his sentence in accordance. “Lena.” He croaked, and offered her a bright smile that barely concealed his discomfort.

 

When Clark continued to be silent, Winn powered on, his smile never wavering, even though his tone became a little strained. “You always said it’s best not to conduct business on an empty stomach—”
 

Even from behind the thick oak door, Kara’s sigh could be faintly heard. The sound of a key turning in the lock was the only indication that Kara grudgingly acquiesced to Winn’s requests, and then she swung the door open to stare at them both, her lip twice the size it ought to be.

“Oh, there you are,” Lena remarked.



She pretended she was delighted to see her new husband and that she had suffered in the time she spent without him. Latching onto Kara’s arm for appearances’ sake, she coyly glanced the other way as Winn made a peculiar noise of shock that was halfway between a yelp and a gasp. 

Standing daintily on tiptoes, Lena pressed a kiss to the corner of Kara’s mouth. She avoided the puffy injury, although she tried to silently apologize with her eyes. 

“I hope you’ll always be willing to put business aside and have your meals with me,” Lena whispered and began to tidy up the scarf around Kara’s neck, where it had become lopsided. 

“Muh – Mr. Danvers,” Winn stuttered as he trailed the couple down the hall, bumping into Nia on the way. Nia paused in front of him and gawked at the swollen bite on Kara’s mouth. They both held onto each other and continued to stare openly at the alpha as Lena glanced over her shoulder at them. 

“Nia, I think we should order a soup for Mr. Danvers,” Winn intoned, keeping his head and voice low, although there was a touch of disdain in it that was all for Lena. 

“Soup?” Lena cut in, taking her role as lady of the house seriously. “No, that won’t do, unless it’s a cold broth. A hot soup will only make Clark’s swelling worse.” 

Acknowledging Clark’s swollen mouth seemed to appall the servants and Kara alike, and setting the menu for their tea might have been a touch too brash on Lena’s part. 

“What do you recommend?” Nia asked in wariness, narrowing her eyes as if to express that she knew what Lena had done. 

“Nothing too acidic or spiced,” Lena replied snappily and without wearing any regret on her face. “A boiled egg, cheese, bread, any of the cold meats that are left over from last night. All finely sliced to cut down on the need for chewing. If you have some ice on hand, please bring that too.”

Winn averted his gaze from Kara and chose to argue as he asked in a fierce whisper, “M’lady, please, may I humbly suggest something mashed to accompany the selection?”

Nia regarded Kara with no subtlety at all and gestured at the wound as she cut in sharply, “Pardon my directness, Mr. Danvers—”

 

“That’s enough.” Kara asserted gruffly, her frown as dark as the bruises that collared Lena’s pretty pale throat. “I will have whatever the kitchen has prepared and you will stop this fussing immediately. Your time is better spent on other things.” 

The warning was clear as day, and Nia bowed her head as Winn dropped his gaze, and then they stepped aside to let Kara and Lena pass without another word.

 

Kara strode purposefully down the hallway as if unable to suffer the scrutiny, and all but dragged Lena along as their arms were still linked. She slowed only when she seemed to remember that, and once they arrived in the dining room, Kara pulled a chair out for Lena at the end of the table, though she remained silent as she took her place at the head of it.

Lena was intent on making trivial conversation throughout the meal, but just as she began to comment on Kara’s uncharacteristically wrinkled suit, a powerful scent hit her.

The spicy scents of an alpha rut had never entered her nostrils before, because of laws preventing all unwed omegas from being alone in the presence of such alphas, but Lena was certain that these overwhelming scents could be nothing else.



Combined with her intensifying first heat, the sudden onset of Kara's rut sent a fresh flood of hormones through Lena’s bloodstream. She slouched over at the table and groaned, no longer composed enough to engage in small talk.

The maddening pheromones in the air must have spread through the halls, because Winn hurried into the dining room without the tea tray.