Chapter Seven
Maelis “Oh! Thank goodness you are here. I was just telling the Royal Guards about you,” my dad said with a big smile on his face as he pulled me towards the center of the room, right in the middle of the Royal Guards. My dad had a big smile on his face, one I hadn’t seen since my mom passed away. He usually wore a frown or scowl, glaring at me whenever he wanted to speak to me. But now, he was smiling from ear to ear, and I could tell he was genuinely happy, which he hadn’t been in years. What could the reason be? Why were the Royal Guards here? What news could they bring to make my father this happy? I searched for answers but couldn’t find any. The only explanation that seemed reasonable to me was that the Royal Guards were sent by the Alpha Princes. I imagined instances where I would have to choose between the Alpha brothers, scrutinizing them from their looks down to their behaviors. Those minutes I spent standing and waiting for an explanation were filled with daydreams about leading the kingdom as the queen after getting mated to one of the Alpha Princes. “As you can see, she is healthy and well,” my dad said, turning me and raising my hands as though I were a piece of merchandise he was inspecting. “Except for the scars on her face and body, but that shouldn’t be a big concern. The scars won’t stop her from fulfilling her duties,” he continued. My duties? Did he just say my duties? My duties as a princess and future queen? I desperately wished someone would pinch me to wake me from what felt like a dream. As though they heard my thoughts, one of the guards asked, “Are you sure she can do the amount of work for the amount we are paying for her?” Paying for me? I was confused, uncertain, and unsure about what he was talking about. Was I being bought? For what reason and to do what? My mind ran into chaos with the jumble of thoughts inside it; I couldn’t think straight or come up with a coherent explanation. “You can trust me on that. She does all the chores in the house, and I’m sure she is more than capable for what is to come at the palace,” my dad answered the guard, still smiling as though he had just won the lottery. “We will trust you as you’ve said, but she will be returned if she doesn’t meet expectations, and you’ll have to return the f*e,” another guard explained, and my dad immediately replied with a nod. He closed the gap between us and held my hands. “This is the first time I’m entrusting you with something, and I do not want you to disappoint me. You have to make sure you work and do everything you’re told to do,” he said softly, but it came out more like a command. “You should abide by the rules and regulations too.” I furrowed my brow, still totally lost about all that was happening. I looked into his eyes and, with my brows raised, asked, “What exactly is going on, Dad? I don’t seem to understand anything,” I murmured, hoping he would give me an explanation. He chuckled. “How is it that you don’t understand what is going on?” he asked and pointed to the Royal Guards. “You should know exactly what is happening after seeing the guards in our house. I shouldn’t have to explain it to you.” I looked at the guards again, taking my time to check them out one by one, but I still couldn’t tell why they were there and what exactly they wanted from me. I had thought they were sent by the Alpha Princes, but that was just my daydreaming. There was nothing like that. “You are going with the Royal Guards to the castle to work there. It’s for the best,” he announced. “It’s not like there’s a better option for you. You still have to work, and working in the castle is the best option.” I stood numb and dumbfounded. How worse could the day get? My dad sold me to work as a palace slave? I just couldn’t believe it. “You… you sold me?” I asked, looking directly into his eyes and desperately hoping it wasn’t true. “That’s the only benefit I can get from being your father,” he said and pushed my head from one side to the other. “Look at your face. You’re not going to get a suitor with that face, and what do I gain from being your father and taking care of you since you were young?” He shrugged. “Nothing. So, it is best I sell you off now when I can still get something from you.” I let out a low laugh and shook my head in disbelief. Once again, I wished someone could pinch or punch me to tell me I was just dreaming and this wasn’t actually happening to me. I looked at my dad, and the clear expression on his face showed me that he didn’t care about me or how I felt about what he was doing. All he wanted was the money he would get for selling me off. I shook my head one more time, trying to shake off this reality, but it was my reality, my truth, now a part of me that I had to accept, even though it was difficult. “You… you can’t just sell me off like that, Dad,” I stuttered. “I… I can bring you more than this money in a few years. I can—” “Spare me that story, Maelis,” my dad cut me off. “I have my daughter to do that for me,” he stated as Lucia came in right at that moment. He stretched out his hand and drew her in. “My daughter, Lucia, is going to become great and get mated to a notable man,” he added and placed a kiss on her forehead. Watching that, a tear rolled down my eyes, but I quickly wiped it away and sniffled. “You can’t just push me out like this, Dad,” I moved closer to him. “I already started school again. I am going to study and become a physician. I am going to—” He cut me off with a laugh this time. “A physician?” he asked and laughed again. “I have told you to stop deceiving yourself with your unrealistic dream. You can never become a physician. How could you with such a face?” He held my hand and pulled me closer to the guards. “This is your fate. You can’t avoid it.” “I have packed your bags and everything you’ll be needing. You don’t have to go in to take anything; you should just leave with them,” my stepmother, Diane, said. I knew she couldn’t wait for me to leave. I knew she always wanted me out of her life and the family, but I never expected such from my dad. He hasn’t been the best dad, but I never expected that he would sell me off just for some money when he was the exact reason I got these scars all over my body. I hung my head, trying hard to suppress my tears, but they kept on threatening to spill. I was still there, my legs rooted in the same spot, when one of the guards grabbed my hand on the side and said to me, “It’s time to leave.” “This is wrong,” I murmured, my breath starting to shake. “This is very wrong!” I screamed out and threw the guard’s hand away. I rushed to my dad and grabbed his hand. “You can’t do this to me. You can’t just sell me off, Dad. I have done nothing wrong!” He just pulled off my hand and pushed me back to the guards. “Just take her away.” “Dad!” I shouted, my eyes glistening with unshed tears. “This is unfair. You can’t do this to me, Dad.” I ran back to him, grabbed his hand, and shook him, as though he would snap out of whatever was making him do this to me. “What have I done wrong?” “What you did wrong was killing your mom!” he barked at me. “You should have just died in that fire.” Infuriated by what he said, I retorted and yelled back at him, “I wish you had died instead of Mom! I wish you were never my father!” I broke into tears. “I wish you had died in that fire instead and I never went in to save you!” I added, and my head flung to the side when a hard slap landed on my face. “To hell with you!” he roared and threw me to the guards. “Take her away!” They dragged me towards the car. All I could do was clutch my chest with my trembling hands as gut-wrenching and uncontrollable tears rolled down my eyes. I had never imagined that the same person I rushed into a burning house to save without thinking twice would do this to me. My whole body was wracked with pain, regret, and sorrow. My heart felt as though it was being punctured by a sharp object. My breath felt constricted, and it was as though I could no longer breathe. The disbelief, anger, and pain caused me to howl out a loud scream. I clutched my chest and beat it as tears continued to roll down my eyes. I wished the heavens could hear my cry and turn back the hands of the clock so I could remake the decisions I had made before. My life was becoming more miserable than I ever thought it would. I went from thinking I was getting a message from the Alpha Princes to being sold to their castle as a slave. How much worse could my life get?Chapter Eight Valko“The Alpha King mentioned in the last meeting that he would love for his sons to find their mates before the next pack feast,” my uncle, also an elder of the pack, informed me. He turned to me with a smile, his brown teeth baring at me. “Have you found your mate yet?”That was one of the questions I hated to be asked: Where is your mate? Have you found your mate? Can you feel her presence? How long will it take to get to her? I hated all these questions, but they wouldn’t stop asking me. The questions only opened up my insecurities, revealing a part of me that I always tried to forget.How exactly could I tell all these people that I had no wolf? I had never felt its presence, and I didn’t think I ever would.“Valko,” my mom called. “Have you found her?” she asked.I forced a smile onto my face and shook my head. “Not yet. But I am sure I will find her soon,” I responded, knowing full well that was a lie and I might end up with no mate.“I can find the perfect wom
Chapter NineMaelisThe gate of the Royal castle was so big that a family of elephants could pass through it all at once. I had never seen a gate so big in my entire life, and I had thought that the first time I would enter this royal castle would be to seek employment as the royal physician. But here I was, being bundled in to work as a slave.Tears kept rolling down my face, no matter how hard I tried to hold them back. My heart felt like it was ripping apart. Never in my life had I imagined that things would get so bad that I would end up as a slave. I always thought that if I could get admitted into the institution, I would do whatever it took to graduate as a qualified physician and prove everyone wrong, especially my stepmother.I was ecstatic when I received the admission. I thought my dreams were finally going to become a reality, that my far-fetched dreams were finally within reach. But now? My dreams were farther away than I could have ever imagined. I might never become a p
Chapter TenUlricBeing at home is supposed to make up for the long day at school, but not in my case. It rather determined how bad the stay at home would be. It determined the amount of trouble I would have to put up with, as it was always double whatever happened at school.Sometimes I get tired and too overwhelmed, and I just want to quit everything, maybe go away with my mom and find a good place for us to live and start a new life. But my mom’s hopes were on me, and she wouldn’t be happy to see that I had given up.My mom was the only reason I was in this fight to begin with. Even though I had topped my brothers in every Royal class and training we’ve done, I never had it in mind to go head-to-head with them for the throne. But seeing how my mom was being treated and how she had been subjected to so much abuse and shame, I just couldn’t let her live like that forever.It wouldn’t even end with me. If I didn’t do anything to change the situation for my mom and me, then every singl
Chapter ElevenMaelisMy legs felt as though they were glued to the floor, I couldn’t move, and the same applied to my brain, it couldn’t come up with any way to escape the impending danger and chaos that would be caused by the brothers if they were to see me, standing there as one of the new recruited maid.I looked around, my eyes desperately searched for a way out, but I couldn’t find anything, I couldn’t think of a way out of this mess.I kept my head bent, maybe hiding my face could save me, but that wasn’t possible, anyone who knows me well would recognize me even if my face was hidden. The scar on the side of my face and neck would expose me.“Keep walking!” One of the guards leading us to our rooms yelled out.I looked up, and that was when I realized that the other maids had gone far beyond me. I picked up my legs and rushed to join them, finding a way to move myself in between them just so I wouldn’t be recognized.“Stop and greet the princes.” Another guard ordered, and we
Chapter TwelveUlricStanding there and waiting for my father, the Alpha King, to come in felt like forever. I already knew what my fate was, but I wanted to strongly believe that he would make the right judgment this time.He was always quick to make judgments and would even listen to my brothers over me. I was like the child he never wanted, but it was still confusing why he was acting that way. Until we were thirteen, my father was all over my brothers and me, treating us equally, without any preferential treatment for anyone.Though the other people around us treated me just the same way I was being treated now, my father and brothers were different. I always thought if I had their support and love, I wouldn’t care about how the palace maids or their mothers treated me. All of a sudden, the people from whom I gained my strength changed towards me. They were the shoulder I could lean on when I had any problems or was maltreated by any of their mothers or palace maids, but they move
Chapter ThirteenMaelisI watched as the three brothers walked out of the throne room, leaving us with the alpha king.What I had just witnessed was a display of power and wisdom. I initially thought the alpha king was being biased when Prince Ulric was dragged away, but I never expected him to do the same with Prince Valko. Even Prince Valko was as surprised as the rest of us.When they were both taken away, I wondered what the alpha king was going to do next. How did he intend to uncover the truth if he wasn’t going to hear from both sides? Were they being interrogated wherever they were taken?I was still pondering when the alpha king ordered Kael to step forward and explain what happened because he was the only witness. The alpha king emphasized the importance of Kael telling the truth and not being biased.Kael stood silent for a few minutes, likely debating whether to tell the truth or align with someone. From what I had observed since meeting them, if he were to side with anyon
Chapter FourteenMaelisJuggling school and working as a palace maid was way harder than I expected. I thought it would be a piece of cake, but it turned out to be like a broken part of a rock: hard and tiring.We were woken up by the loud blaring of the morning sound over the speakers installed in every room. We rushed up to go to work, and people who couldn’t get up with that sound were disciplined by the guards. I knew it: nothing would go unpunished in this castle, and I had to be extra careful.We were put into groups for work that morning. Some were sent to the kitchen, some to clean the royal halls, including the dining room, and others to the royal farm. I was lucky to be sent to the kitchen where we didn’t do much work, but none of us were allowed to leave once we stepped in. The chief cook said we might go out and come back with germs that could harm the royal family. If only he knew what we used to do in the kitchen back at home.Due to the drastic measures, restrictions, a
Chapter FifteenUlricIf I could have things go my way, I would shut down every single person who said those abusive words to her. I felt a pang of pain when I saw the hurt in her eyes and the disappointment when no one stood up for her.I wished there was something I could do, but I was helpless. I couldn’t do anything to ruin what I had been planning for years. I almost made a big mistake the day before by hitting Valko, but my father was in the right mood to make the right judgment. If it had been one of his bad days, he would have made me pay for hitting Valko and assumed that he was right.It was a narrow escape for me, and I didn’t want to do anything to ruin all I had been working on for years. I had to comport myself and always be on the alpha’s good side. I had to do that for myself and for my mom, who had so much trust in me.There was the engagement with Lucia and the desperation I saw on my mom’s face to make sure the tie was sealed. She wanted me to get mated first, and i