~LYRA'S POV~
I woke to darkness and the smell of cedar and old leather.
For a moment, I forgot where I was. Then the events of the previous night crashed back: the rejection, Ari's cruel smile, the cold dismissal in Kael's crimson eyes.
I was lying in what used to be a closet. The space was barely large enough to stretch out in, with a thin blanket on the stone floor and no window. My entire body ached from sleeping on the hard surface, and my stomach cramped with hunger.
But I was alive.
That had to count for something.
"Up!" Ari's voice pierced through the door, followed by sharp knocking. "I don't pay you to sleep the day away. Oh, wait… I don't pay you at all."
I heard her laugh at her own joke as I pushed myself upright, every muscle protesting. The small mirror propped against the wall showed a girl with tangled hair, a bruised cheek, and eyes that looked older than eighteen.
I didn't look away.
This is what survival looks like, I thought. Get used to it.
The door flew open, and Ari stood there in a silk robe, her blonde hair perfectly styled despite the early hour. "There's a list on the kitchen table. Everything needs to be done before the evening meal. And Lyra?" Her golden eyes gleamed with malice.
"Don't embarrass me."
"Yes, ma'am."
She left, and I gathered myself, splashing water on my face from a small basin before heading to the kitchen. The list was three pages long: floors to scrub, laundry to wash, meals to prepare, silver to polish.
It was impossible to finish in one day, which meant it was designed for me to fail.
I picked up the first bucket and got to work.
—
About an hour later, I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the main hall when I heard footsteps coming my way. I didn't need to look up to know who it was; his scent hit me first a mix of pine, smoke, and something darker that made my skin prickle.
Kael.
I kept scrubbing, my hands moving in steady circles across the stone floor. The footsteps slowed, then stopped a few feet away.
The silence stretched between us like a spring. I finally couldn't take it anymore, so I looked up.
His bright red eyes locked onto mine, and for a moment, everything felt off balance. The bond pulled at something in my chest, trying to drag me toward him, even though every part of me was shouting to keep my distance.
He felt it too… I could see it in the way his jaw clenched, the way his hands curled into fists at his sides.
He was the first to look away, his boots making a sharp sound against the stone as he walked by in silence.
I exhaled slowly and went back to scrubbing, ignoring the way my hands had started to shake.
—
By mid-morning, I was serving breakfast in the dining hall. The room buzzed with conversation as pack members ate and laughed, none of them acknowledging my presence except to bark orders.
"More coffee here."
"This bacon is cold."
"Where's the bread?"
I, among other maids, moved between tables like a ghost, invisible until needed. That's when I heard Kael's sharp voice. "I don't want to discuss this now, Ari."
I glanced over to see him sitting at the head table, Ari draped across the chair beside him. Even from a distance, I could see the tension in his shoulders, the tightness around his eyes.
"You haven't been sleeping," Ari said in a pitched voice, loud enough to carry. "You're irritable. Distracted." She paused.
"It's because of her, isn't it? That girl's presence is affecting you."
"That's ridiculous."
"Is it? You've been different since she arrived. Maybe we should send her away, to another pack, or…"
"No." The word came out harder than necessary, and several conversations around the room paused. Kael's expression darkened. "She stays. I gave you my word."
I was so focused on their conversation that I didn't notice the uneven floor tile until my foot caught it. The tray in my hands tipped, and dishes crashed to the stone with a sound like thunder.
The entire hall went silent.
"You clumsy…" Ari started.
"Enough." Kael interrupted.
I dropped down to my knees, desperately trying to pick up the shattered pieces of pottery, feeling heat creep into my cheeks with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"Look at me."
I felt a chill run through me. I slowly looked up and saw Kael standing above me, staring at me with an intense look on his face. "Did you hurt yourself?"
The question caught me off guard. I looked down at my hands and noticed a small cut on my palm where a shard had nicked the skin, but nothing serious.
"No, Alpha. I'm fine."
Something flickered in his eyes. For a moment, his voice grew softer, almost like a whisper.
"Be more careful."
Then he turned and walked away, leaving me kneeling among the broken dishes with my heart pounding for reasons I couldn't explain.
"Clean this up," Ari snapped from her seat.
"And when you're done, you'll scrub this entire hall again. Every. Single. Tile."
I bit back the response that wanted to escape and simply nodded.
—
Hours later, I was back on my knees with a brush and bucket. The hall had emptied, leaving me alone with the sound of bristles against stone and my own thoughts.
Servants passed through occasionally, whispering among themselves. I caught fragments of their conversations.
"...still going..."
"...hasn't stopped once..."
"...tougher than she looks..."
Their words meant nothing to me. I just kept scrubbing.
When darkness fell and I finally finished, I carried the dirty water outside to dump it in the drainage ditch behind the packhouse. The cool night air felt like a blessing after hours in the stifling hall.
That's when I felt a prickle of awareness, like someone was watching me. I turned slowly, scanning the shadows.
Nothing. But his scent lingered in the air.
"I know you're there," I said quietly.
Silence. Then, I sensed movement in the darkness near the tree line. I caught a glimpse of him… just a silhouette against the deeper black, watching.
Neither of us said anything. The moment stretched, heavy with everything we couldn't say.
Then he was gone, melting back into the shadows as if he'd never been there at all.
I stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty space where he'd been, trying to understand what was happening between us.
The bond pulled at me painfully like a fishhook in my chest. It didn't care that he'd rejected me. It didn't care that I was his chosen mate's servant.
It just was.
I dumped the water and went back inside.
—
By the time I finished bathing, it was nearly midnight. My entire body screamed with exhaustion and bruises, and I couldn't wait to just lay down.
As I entered, Ari looked up. "Oh, you're finally done," she said casually, "Kael will be joining me tonight. You'll wait in the corner and keep the fire going. Sometimes we get cold during... our activities."
My heart sank even further. "Please, I can't…"
"You can and you will," she said with a sharp voice. "Unless you'd prefer to explain to the Alpha why you're refusing my orders?"
I had no choice. I sat in the corner, feeding logs to the fire, trying not to look as Ari prepared for Kael's arrival.
She changed into a silky nightgown that left little to the imagination, applied perfume that filled the room with a cloying floral scent, and arranged herself on the bed as if posing for a painting.
When Kael arrived, he stared in my direction and held my gaze for a second or two, before turning away.
"My love," Ari purred, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I've missed you."
"Have you?" he asked as his hands found her waist.
"Always," she breathed against his lips before kissing him deeply.
I stared into the fire, trying to block out the sounds behind me, their laughter, their whispered words of affection, the rustle of fabric being removed. But it was impossible to ignore completely.
This was my mate, the person the Moon Goddess had chosen for me, and he was with another woman. Not just any woman, the woman he'd chosen over me, the woman who now owned me like a piece of property.
"Oh… fvck yeah… Damn, you feel so good," Kael groaned, and I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I could close my ears as easily.
"Better than some wolfless nobody ever could," Ari replied breathlessly, and I knew the words were meant for me.
Their laughter echoed through the chamber as they fvcked each other, while I fed the fire that warmed them.
Hours passed. I don't know how many logs I added to the fire, how many times I had to listen to their intimacy, how many times Ari made some comment designed to hurt me.
Eventually, Kael fell asleep, his arm wrapped around Ari's waist.
But Ari stayed awake, watching me with those golden eyes.
"This is your life now," she whispered, quiet enough not to wake Kael. "Every night, every day. Watching what you'll never have, serving the woman who took your place."
I said nothing. There was no point?
"You can pray all you want," she said, her voice growing sleepier.
"But nothing's going to change. You're mine now, and this is all you'll ever be."