As the thick wooden door creaked open, Savanna emerged from the darkened room, her eyes adjusting to the harsh morning light. She was a vision of loveliness, her raven hair cascading down her shoulders, her emerald eyes glistening like dewdrops on a morning rose. On Lexington's orders, Reginald had taken it upon himself to 'prepare' her for her meeting with the King, with the hopes of masking the horrors he had inflicted on her.He had forced her to eat, to dress in her finest attire, a stark contrast to the tattered rags she had been wearing since she'd been taken back to the castle. Thanks to the chitchat with Lexington, Savannah had something to look forward to. She was hurting but somehow she knew everything would be fine so she carried herself with an air of defiance, her eyes reflecting a deep well of pain and determination. All she had to do was act normal so that the king could send her away and then she'd be free.A fresh wave of pain tightened her heart, making her eyes sti
Reginald felt his stomach tighten with unease. He felt uncomfortable, the feeling intensifying as Savannah's laughter continued bouncing off the walls."Shut up!" He yelled, straightening his shoulder to seem more menacing and surprisingly, to hie relief, Savannah quieted down. But then she threw him an icy look that sent shivers down his back to his core and fuck, Regained flushed red as his boxers actually dampened. He peed himself because of this little bitch? A mix of humiliation and anger congealed his blood and he backed away from her, heading to the door. Sending her away was actually a good decision. he hoped she'd be discovered as a spy and got killed by those pack. He really hoped she would never return...alive.But he hadn't gone a few steps when her quiet voice spoke up. "There was a time I Kidded myself into believing that I could make you love me and I believed that it would just take time but we would be a happy couple." He could hear the grimace in her voice. "You don'
"You should learn how to knock." Lexington said coldly, eyes glaring at Reginald as he sprawled into the chair in front of his desk, crossing his foot over his desk. Shaggy hair that looked it'd lack days of washing, shirt barely buttoned, eyes with huge bags under them, his younger brother looked haggard, like a train ran over him and dumped his body in the sewers...Yeah, he stank too."Whiskey." Reginald growled, his eyes bloodshot and red. "Give me whiskey."Lexington's lips parted for moment as he fished for damaging words to impact but could only settle with. "you've got two legs that worked just fine when you mannerlessly barged into my office. surely they can take you back out to get yourself a drink because I won't be getting you one, nor are you allowed to touch anything in my bar." He looked over Reginald's shoulders at the fully stacked bar next to the entrance. "Fine." Reginald seethed and his eyes went unfocused for a moment. And Lexington realized he was minlinking some
Two weeks laterSavanna sat huddled in a small clearing, her heart pounding in her chest. She had been running for days, ever since she had been let out of Valeria. She couldn't get rid of the fear that they were going to realize that she wasn't coming back to Valeria and send men after her...but so far as good, no one had tried to harm her...well other than the wild boar that'd snuck into her cave a few nights ago. She was tired, hungry, and scared. But she knew that she couldn't give up. She had to keep going.Suddenly, she heard a twig snap. She froze, her breath catching in her throat. She could hear something moving through the bushes.She slowly reached for her knife, her grip tightening around the handle. She was ready to fight for her life.The bushes parted, and a figure stepped out. It was a wolf, but it was unlike any wolf that Savanna had ever seen before. It was bigger and stronger, with a thick, black coat and piercing red eyes. It definitely wasn't a shifter. Savannah f
“Mate?” Savannah heard herself blurt and instantly regretted it. the man at the corner of the cave stopped stirring the firewood, freezing.“Mate?” he asked back, a small smile twisting the sides of his lips. The firelight danced on the sides ofhis face and Savannah could realize this was no young man. He was at least two decades older than her. Why had she called him mate?When he turned to meet her gaze, Savannah felt her cheek burn. He was looking at her with a mix of amusement and pity.“I—I don’t know why I said that,” she tore her eyes away from his direction because he unnerved her as seconds ticked by.“I see that the rogue attack has messed with your brains.” He replied with a chuckle and Savannah felt a stir of annoyance. But the man being her savior, Savannah had no choice but to remain quiet and sit up, wrapping her arms around her knees.“How do you feel man?” the older man asked, and then in the twinkle of an eye, he was right beside her. Savannah felt a lump form in her
"You live in the palace?" Savannah gasped, taking in the stunning, almost glassy interiors of the majestic building. if Valeria was better than Hybern, the two kingdoms couple together held no candle to Sylvia. It was basically the most beautiful place Savannah had set eyes on. Every single person that walked the streets looked expensive, hell even the commoners seemed to use fast cars too. Their skin shone like they had magic thrumming in their veins and a glance at her guardians faces sort of confirmed the thoughts. "Are you royalty?" She asked again once she'd gotten control over her tongue and the older couple laughed indulgently."Remember when I said my husband was a hunter?" Kristen murmured and Savannah bounced her head positively."Well, I am the head of the maids and so we live in the castle." She explained gently, laughing at the wide-eyed look in her eyes.She looked like a kid in a toy store, dazzled by everything her eyes laid on. Some part of Savannah was grateful that
"Savannah....Savannah...Wake up!" The voice sounded distant and befuddled but there was something else, constant...it felt like an earthquake was happening. Savannah groaned, the sound guttural from her unused throat but the earthquake persisted, shaking her from head to the tips of her toes."Savannah!" She snapped awake, gasping like she just dragged her head from underwater. Slowly, Savannah realized that the shaking sensation was no earthquake and it was just Kristen trying to wake her up. Slightly disoriented, Savannah struggled to sit upright, looking at the smiling woman with knotted brows."Remember this is your first day working here." Kristen said in a singsong voice that cleared the remnants of sleep from her brain. "You need to wake up early, clean up and then assist the staff however you can. but right now you have to come with me so I'd introduce you to the maids."Savannah nodded, rolling to her side to slide out of bed but when she was finally able to stand on her fee
“You all should meet the newest addition to our family!” Kristen said warmly, standing in the lush fields behind the castle. There were about twenty women present, with Savannah shyly standing next to the woman. “Lena is going to be here for a while and I want you all to treat her nicely.” Kristen peered into the crowd of women and gave one lady, who stood by the corner with an arrogant glare a warning glance. “If I get a wind of any maltreatment of her, I will not hesitate to relieve you of your duties and personally lead out of the Sylvian castle. Are we clear?”There were few murmurs of agreement and Savannah felt the tension in her shoulder easing when the arrogant looking lady spoke up with a sneer. “Why does this girl get a job without being screened? Every one of us went through a long process before we were hired but because you found some stray, you are now giving her partial treatment.”Savannah felt her stomach cave. Damn. Someone who hated her with no reason at all was the
Stella slaps off the mosquitoes from her body, and groaned in irritation. "You have been here for weeks, you should be used to these insects by now." A male voice muttered. It was Reginald. She met him by a twist of fate, a few weeks ago, after she was chased out of the Pack. "I can never get used to them." She replied. "Well, you have no choice." Reginald said. He walked out with two cups of tea, and gave one to her. "Thanks." She said. Reginald sat beside her. "I never knew someone else would go through the same embarrassment Zhao put me through." He said. "Well, here I am." Stella said and they both laughed. "I never knew all Zhao did to me was because of Savannah. If I never met you, I wouldn't have found out about it." Reginald said. "We can't just let them go, right? We need to revenge." Stella suggested. Reginald took a sip of his tea and nodded. "True. We really need to revenge. We should give them a taste of their own medicine." He said. "Do you also know that S
Savannah slowly opened her eyes and everywhere was blurry.It's been a few days since everything happened. As soon as her sight became clear, she noticed someone staring at her.It was her son!"My baby." She muttered and pulled him into a hug, tears slowly trickling down her face."I am so happy to see you, baby. Are you happy too?" She asked, cupping her son's face with her hands."Yes, mum." He replied and she hugged him again."Why are you crying mum?" Her son asks as soon as they break the hug."I'm not crying." She responded and her son helped her wipe her tears."Has anyone been wicked to you?" She asked him."No, mum." He replied.For some reason, Savannah was shocked."No one hurt you or did bad things to you?" She asked again."No, mum." Her son said again.Savannah pulled her son to her and she thought silently."What is going on? Zhao lets Stella do whatever she wants..how come no one hurt my son or is he lying to me? He can't be lying to me." She thought, she wanted to a
Zhao stared at Stephanie weakly."But why? Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep this away from me?" He asked.Stephanie sniffed and looked away."Zhao, please....""Why?" Zhao asked again."Because I didn't want to lose you. I love you, Zhao! I do, and I can't afford to lose you." Stephanie said with teary eyes.Zhao sank into the chair and bent his head, trying to hold back tears. He felt broken.Stephanie turned away and let the tears out, she never wanted him to find out this way.Just then, the door was pushed open and the doctor walked in.Stephanie and Zhao turned to him with looks of expectancy."Doctor?" Zhao said, impatiently."Um, well, ma'am, your condition is quite serious.." The doctor announced."Okay? But she is not in a danger zone, right?" Zhao asked."Relax, Zhao," Stephanie said."I'm afraid you might not survive it." The doctor added."Why? I mean isn't there something you can do about it? You are a doctor, there must be something you can do about it, right?" Z
Savannah lay on the floor bleeding badly. She had tried to explain that she did not slap Stella and that Stella was the one hit herself just to frame her but no one had believed her. Of course no one was going to believe her. She would not have believed it either. She should have known that it would not be easy to deal with someone like Stella. The most painful part for her was that Zhao add ordered for her to be beaten up by the guards just to get back at her. The admade shot to hit a badly and she was now bleeding all over her body and her entire body hurt. Savannah wanted to cry but she did not even have tears to shed. She could not help but think about her life with Reginald. When she was with him she had suffered beatings like this almost everyday. When she finally was able to get away from his control she thought that she would never have to deal with anyone treating her like a piece of garbage and beating her whenever they felt like it. But it seemed like she was wrong
Stella had a wicked smile on her face as she looked at Savannah. It was clear that she was looking down on Savannah decided to ignore her looks because she wasn't in the mood for any drama. From the way Stella was looking at her she was sure that she knew about what had happened between her and Zhao. She just wanted to be left alone and to be able to see her son whenever she wanted. Those were the only things that she asked for. "It must be nice for you to go back to being a maid after everything right. You must have felt as if you were on top of the world when Zhao took an interest in you. But unfortunately you were too stupid to keep him to yourself. You really had the guts to walk away from him and to live him missing you for so many years. What were you thinking when you decided to leave him? I really want to know what was going on in your head at that time!" Stella said. Savanna rolled her eyes. She did not want to engage Savannah so she just continued doing what she was doin
Savannah was cleaning up the hallway as she thought about what Zhao had told her. He had shown off Stella to her and he had brought about how Stella was going to be a better mother to her Although she knew that she was going to be hurt she didn't really mind that he was going to get married to someone else and make someone else his Luna. Savanna was the one who left Zhao in the first place and she knew that she could not demand for him to keep waiting for her. It was only right that he would move on with his life. But all that she wanted was to be able to see her son from time to time. She did not even mind if she had to work as a maid in the palace forever as long as she got to see her son. But no matter how many times she begged Zhao and told him that she was sorry for how things went down between them, he just refused to let her see her son! She had no idea what Stella really was like and she did not know if Stella was going to treat her son well if she became her stepmother.
Zhao was speechless when he heard this. He had no idea that she thought this way. In fact, he really felt that she had left just because she wanted to hurt him. Hearing her say this changed a lot of way he felt about her inside. He almost forgave her. But then, he was reminded of the plan that he went through because of her. He shook his head immediately. He could not forgive her just because she said something nice. It did not take away all of the pain that she put him through. And he still wanted her revenge. He wanted to get revenge and she was going to make sure of that by all means possible. "Don't think that I will just let you go after what you did Savannah. I am not done with you yet and I am going to make sure that I punish you! Do you know what you put me through all these years? You were alive and well and you never even thought to let me know about it. And as if it was not enough, you took my son away from me and hide him for many years!" Zhao accused her. Savannah wen
"Oh come on Zhao. Just tell me what happened between you both. Why do you seem to hate her so much? I mean.....it's just odd. I don't think that I have ever seen you hate anyone the way that you hate her!" Stella said. She just thought that there was something weird in the way that he treated Savannah. He definitely did hate her, that was for sure. But there was something else that she could not understand. The way he looked at her....it was as if he did hate her, but they were a lot of other feelings in there that he was trying to hide. Zhao did not want to talk about Savannah. She always seemed to be able to mess with his head no matter what. He thought that he was over her for sure and that she would not have any more effects on him but it just turned out that he was wrong. She still had a lot of effects on him and it just felt like she was a drug that he could not quit. He knew that it was bad for him, but he kept going back again and again. He felt pathetic. "I don't want to
The palace corridors echoed with the hurried footsteps of Gareth and Stephanie, their expressions a mixture of concern and bewilderment. The flickering torches cast dancing shadows on the walls as they approached the quarters of the palace maids. The two had come seeking information about an unsettling rumor circulating within the palace walls.Gareth,, pushed open the door to the maids' shared living space. The room was filled with the soft murmur of gossip and laughter, momentarily silenced by the unexpected presence of their King's brother and his wife.."Good evening, ladies," Gareth greeted, attempting to maintain a calm demeanor. "We were wondering if any of you had heard anything unusual lately. Something about Zhao and a woman he brought into the palace."A hushed tension gripped the room as the maids exchanged furtive glances. Finally, a middle-aged maid with a kind face stepped forward, her eyes darting between Gareth and Stephanie. "Oh, you must be talking about Zhao's secr