I turned to the others around me and found them still evading their eyes. It was obvious that I had not imagined that scene.
I had indeed been confronted by Valerie and when I looked into her eyes, I was so terrified that I didn't dare to utter a single mmhn!
What kind of a monster was Valerie exactly? And if she had that ability, why did she let everyone treat her so badly for so many years?
What was she hiding?
I had many questions, but I couldn't get an answer to any of them because at that moment, I didn't dare to face Valerie.
I looked at the young, skinny girl who had already finished wiping the table and arranged all the snacks on it.
She was collecting the glasses they had used to drink water and juice on a tray.
She looked so unremarkable. So thin she could probably be broken like a twig.
The dress she wore had been washed so many times that one couldn't tell its original color. It also had a few patches here and there that didn't even match its faded color.
Yet, even when she was bending over to clean, her back appeared straight. It was like nothing in this world could break her.
For no apparent reason, I suddenly felt inferior. Inferior to the girl Innocent and I had bullied for years. Inferior of someone who couldn't even afford to eat a full meal and had to eat the leftovers of others.
Yet, I couldn't shake that inferiority no matter what I did.
I couldn't stay there anymore, so I turned around and left the living room.
Valerie's POV
The scene of Anita's back vanishing through the door shocked the others. They couldn't believe that instead of starting to beat me up like she always did, Anita had left.
They didn't have the same connections to the future Luna like Anita did, so they all rose one by one and left.
I finally exhaled the breath I hadn't realized I had been holding all this time.
Even though I had stood my ground earlier, I didn't have much capital for doing so. After all, even though I was Mike's mate and he would certainly not let me die, especially since I was still 'useful' as he had said, I wasn't confident Anita wouldn't beat me unconscious.
But now it seemed something else must have happened. Otherwise, Anita wouldn't have left me alone after talking to her like that.
I kept doing my chores and once I was done with the living room, I moved to the upper floors.
Third POV
After Valerie left, an old woman who usually did light chores in the pack house walked out from a door leading to the storeroom.
She had come in to return some cleaning tools when before she walked out the argument between Valerie and Anita broke.
She hadn't seen Valerie for a few years even though they were in the same pack.
The girl had grown even though she looked too thin and short for her age.
However, when she felt the aura she exuded when facing Anita earlier, she knew that it was time.
The old woman walked out of the pack house and headed towards the woods just as slowly as she always walked.
No one noticed an old woman entering the woods. And no one knew that the old woman they had ignored would be the beginning of their downfall.
Valerie's POV
I didn't finish cleaning until late at night. It was almost midnight when I finally dragged my tired body to the kitchen to find something to eat.
I hadn't eaten the whole day except for some left overs I had in the kitchen that morning before being reassigned.
Now, I was afraid that if I didn't eat anything, I would probably not be able to sleep or wake up the next day.
The kitchen was clean.
It was a miracle to see it so clean when I hadn't been there to do all the chores.
Usually, the other workers in the kitchen would act like their hands are broken or something and leave all the work to me.
But today, they had cooked and cleaned.
Obviously, they treated me as a free labourer.
I searched everywhere but didn't find anything to eat. I didn't dare to cook fresh food from the store or fridge. So, I took two tomatoes from the bucket placed on the counter with the prepared ingredients for breakfast and left after washing them.
Tonight, the two tomatoes were going to be my dinner.
Just as I wiped myself down and lay down on my worn out mattress to rest, I felt a familiar ache starting in my stomach.
I immediately understood that Mike was having an affair with Innocent again.
I knew what would follow soon and I wished that someone would knock me out.
I didn't want to experience that kind of heart tearing pain again.
But my prayers weren't going to be answered. Just like the night before, the ache got worse and became full blown pain of bones being stripped from the body as the level of intimacy Mike had with Innocent intensified.
Just as I was about to pass out from the pain again like the previous night, it suddenly stopped.
It was as if someone had pressed the stop button all of a sudden.
"You can rest now. Don't worry about his debauchery." Lizzie's voice was heard in my head.
It was faint, but it was the most reassuring thing to me.
"Thank you, Lizzie." I said with a warm smile and closed my eyes. Too tired to even have a conversation with her.
I didn't care whether Mike slept with a million other women. I was going to break our bond one day anyway.
When Lizzie allowed me to be myself, then it would be the day I would reject Mike and break our mate bond.
I didn't care that the moon goddess had made us mates. I refused to accept such a fate.
This was the last thought I had before drifting off to slumberland.
Just like every other day, I woke up earlier than the birds the next morning and got to work.