Page 110 of A Soul to Keep

Orpheus told him to hold his breath when the door was opening and to wait until she was finished dumping what she didn’t want. She needed to leave the protections of the house, and he’d been worried she would come to harm if he hadn’t been able to control him.

Then Orpheus let him have it all. He didn’t need it like the injured Mavka did.

When everything was eaten and the Mavka had calmed from his eating frenzy – Orpheus watched him attack the barrier for Reia but did nothing because he knew she was protected within, although it did make his hackles rise – he’d called out to her about the beehive.

She told him to place it on the table inside like he had with the deer. He’d begun to grow concerned because she was glaring at him, her lips thinned, and her eyebrows drawn together tightly. Reia hadn’t glared at him since the beginning.

She allowed him to watch her drain the honey into jars. His nose let out sneezing huffs at the intense sweetness he could smell, but she wouldn’t answer any of his questions about it.

She’d ignored him.

She had ignored him all day. His questions, his presence, everything. She even spoke more words to the Mavka outside who still lingered while he waited for his wounds to heal than she had to him.

Her bath had been silent. She didn’t twitch. Didn’t ask him to touch her intimately like she had every time for the past week. Once he was finished, feeling a deep well of disappointment because Orpheus liked making her feel good, he’d left.

She’d cooked her dinner and ate in her room. He knew she’d gone to sleep when she didn’t emerge, and he peeked inside to see her curled up under the furs.

He clutched his spiralling horns, a quiet whine wheezing from his chest.Why will she not be with me like before?Reia had never been this way with him, even in the beginning.

She was acting like all the other humans he’d brought here, those that didn’t want him near them. It was like she detested him.

He touched at his chest with the tip of a claw, not understanding why he felt pain around his heart. His sight was a deep blue and had been for quite some time.

This was not how he imagined his return would be.

His pacing didn’t cease throughout the night, his mind and body restless. He wanted to go into her room and wake her, to fix her so she would be like before, but he wouldn’t. He didn’t want to disturb her rest.

What did I do wrong?He didn’t know what part of their conversation had made her this way.

He hoped that after she slept she would speak with him, so when she finally emerged from her room, he stood frozen in the living area and held his breath in anticipation. She would always say good morning with a little smile and ask how he’d rested.

Reia walked down the hallway with her eyes on him. When she reached the open space that was the kitchen area, she turned her chin up at him and turned to the counter before reaching for a wooden cup to press it into the bucket of fresh water so she could drink.

His heart sunk, and his breath came out a stuttering mess.

Orpheus came forward.

“Why will you not speak to me?”

She was ignoring him to the point she didn’t even reply.

She didn’t move away from him when he got closer, but that seemed much worse, like she was ignoring the very existence of him rather than scuttling to get away. She was like a ghost that was haunting him.

When she settled her finished drink down, he reached for her, wanting to cup the side of her face.

“Don’t touch me,” she bit as she smacked his hand away.

Orpheus flinched, backing down until he was crouching to be smaller and needed to place one of his hands on the ground to support himself. She’d never done that to him before, had never told him to not touch her. This wasn’t the same woman who had only stopped him from licking at her neck the day before because he’d been tickling her.

A small whine wheezed in his chest.

“What did I do wrong, Reia?”

“You hurt my feelings,” she answered, folding her arms across her chest and giving him her side.

His gut twisted like his intestines were tying into knots.I hurt her?He felt the acidic burn of guilt in his stomach.

“Is it because I won’t help the Mavka?”

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