Chapter 2

I stopped by the kitchen, where it was a bustle of activity.

“Miss Simone, can I help you with something?” The head omega, Amelia, wiped her hands on her apron and offered me a genuine smile.

The Omegas here always treated me kindly and respected the station I once held, now reduced to nothing besides my powerful bloodline.

I shook my head, “I don’t want to be any trouble. I just came for a snack.” She nodded and let me pass. I knew where everything was here; this place had become my refuge since I was allowed out of my room.

This kitchen was the only place that I felt remotely comfortable in since I lost my home. I craved the warmth of the place and the constant activity that helped to distract me from those thoughts and memories that replayed themselves in my mind whenever I had a moment of solitude.

I went right toward what I was looking for. I knew this kitchen and the rest of the castle well from hours spent wandering alone. I made to pick up an apple slice covered in cinnamon and sugar that was destined for a pie, earning me a playful scowl from the omega closest to me. A small innocent distraction to take what I needed, I skillfully slipped what I came for into my pocket unnoticed.

The weight felt heavy but warm against the fabric of my leg, like a promise I made to myself finally solidifying.

I trudged back to my rooms; the packhouse was old and drafty. The majority of it was made from stone, and it reminded me of a castle, a dreary, depressing castle.

The first Alpha that took these sacred lands made the house and now stood homage to how long their line had ruled over their stolen grounds.

Thick rugs covered every stone floor, and fireplaces were present in every room to heat it against the biting cold, cold enough that werewolves needed shelter and warmth against the winters here.

The updated part of the packhouse, a recent extension, was made of dark wood and glass. It was too modern for the rest of the place, and it stuck out as a mismatched afterthought, but Luna Addison insisted.

The ranked members and their families moved into the new construction that was almost completed almost as soon as I arrived. They held smaller events there and guest rooms for the most important visitors.

The omega’s quarters, head warriors, and additional guest rooms stayed in a part of the original pack house, along with me.

It was still used for dinner most nights and larger gatherings and events. I didn’t understand the purpose of the remodel, but I didn’t care enough to ask.

The privilege of dining with the family was bestowed on me last year when they were certain I was one of their pawns. Only a few months ago was I allowed to join other events that didn’t include the immediate family. To prime me for one of the son’s beds so that I would be less of a feral rogue and more of an obedient lady, I could only assume.

I heard Alpha Raymond joke to Luna Addison that I was finally house-trained and no longer a mutt. She took it as a compliment as she was in charge of my initial berating, she didn’t much like a stray dog being taken into her pack, and she never let me forget it.

Once they trusted me enough not to try to run, I was allowed out of my room, and they locked me in the night they took me. It took over a year for them to trust me, and in that year, my grief, loneliness, and anger were my only friends.

The omegas were switched out frequently, so I could never form a bond with them or, more importantly, them with me.

Once they saw how broken and fragile I was, I was allowed to wander these ancient halls.

Now, years later, the picture of the submissive, shattered, dead Alpha’s daughter, they knew I wouldn’t leave and didn’t pay me much thought unless they were bored.

Even though my room was close to the new addition, closer even than I would have been to them if they stayed in the original Alpha’s suites, It still made me feel better knowing I was in a different part of the house from them, sleeping under a different roof than those monsters.

I shut the door behind me, making sure it was locked before removing the thick, faded rug closest to the foot of my bed and prying back a small loose stone, barely larger than my fist. It took me much longer than I cared to admit to hollow out this space.

There were too many prying eyes and too many people who had access to this room. I hadn’t risked hiding anything here permanently.

I dug around until my fingers brushed the only thing I kept there and pulled it out. The stone was cool in my hands, but it thrummed with promise, like it was waiting for me to be ready to use it all this time.

I walked on silent feet to the door, listening and waiting. Once I was certain no one was coming, I went to my bathroom, turned on the water in the tub, and took a spot near the door of the bathroom, one eye on the shadows I memorized under my bedroom door.

The churning water drowned out any soft sound, but that meant I had to rely on my eyes only.

I worked as fast as possible while still being thorough; once I was pleased with my work, I stashed everything and covered it again, triple checking it, before unlocking my door.

I sunk into the bath that was barely warm and scrubbed myself mindlessly, replaying in my mind my plan, the lullaby that drifted me off to sleep, my mantra that woke me up in the morning, the only thing keeping me here. My plan.

Soft feet sounded on the carpet in my room, but I didn’t move. I knew who they belonged to.

“Miss, it's almost dinner time, and you’re expected.” I reluctantly sat up in the bath and dragged myself out, hugging my shoulders inward as Alice, one of my favorite omegas, draped a towel over my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I nodded to her, my eyes distant.

“I laid out a dress for you, the one that you like.” I looked at the bed and saw that light purple floor-length dress with long sleeves made out of some velvet material. F.ucking hideous, and it fit all wrong hanging off me. I absolutely loved it for this version of me.

I gave her a timid smile and nodded my thanks.

After I was dressed, she brushed my hair in front of the fire. I always tensed when she did this. It felt so wrong. She probably took it as a side effect of my constant fear, and I let her.

She tried again in vain to curl some of my pin-straight hair, but it wouldn’t hold. Alice was sweet but not the brightest. How many times have we tried the same thing?

She looked flustered when she finally set down the curling rod and swept some hair off my face, pining it back.

Even as a child, I don’t remember Omegas helping me prepare for dinner. This seemed excessive, decadent, like something from a time long since passed. I wasn’t sure if anyone else got this level of help or if they deemed it necessary for a person in my delicate state.

“Thank you, Alice.” I gave her a small smile at my appearance.

My skin had grown paler than normal these past years, and even though my home pack was neighboring this one, I used to get outside daily. A luxury that I didn’t feel the need to take advantage of here.

It didn’t matter that I wasn’t drowning in my grief anymore, that I had found a purpose. I was still a shell of who I used to be.

My black hair hung almost to my waist now, and my once bright gray eyes were filled with a sort of sadness, of knowing that I didn’t have to fake. It seemed that my eyes carried the weight of what happened, and I couldn’t even willing them to look anything but depleted.

“They want you to come down.” Alice pulled me from my thoughts. 

I stood up and grabbed a bunch of the ugly purple dress and let her open the door for me before letting the dress drag behind me down the stairs.

The dining room was quiet, not what I expected when they had guests. I took the final steps into the open doorway; no one looked at me.

Good. It was just the immediate family here so far, and I went to take my regular seat next to Luna Addison.

The Alpha sat at the head, his three sons to his right and his Luna and me to his left. It wasn’t an honorary position as usually there weren’t any others joining us, and I was just there to listen to their odious conversations and pick out whatever I could that I deemed useful.

“No,” Luna Addison waved me away and shot her husband an exasperated look, “You sit at the end. We have guests today.” She rolled her eyes and swatted my hand away from the back of the chair. I pulled it back quickly after her ring-encrusted hand made contact with mine.

I fought the scowl and chose a hurt look, taking my hand in the other, nursing it.

“I’m sorry, I thought-”

“You’re not used to events, are you?” She looked at me with mocking sympathy, “You were so young when your parents died.” She said as if it wasn’t her mate who was responsible for killing them.

I stared at her blankly.

“Move.” She pointed, and then her eyes darted behind me, “Ah, Alpha Ben, Beta, come come we have had our omegas slaving away all day for you. You must be starving.” She whisked past me, and I moved to the end of the table unnoticed.

The food might have been good, but I wasn’t paying attention. The visiting Alpha from a newly established nearby pack was whispering to Alpha Raymond.

I stole a glance, and he looked confused. I waited a moment before stealing another glance, and now he looked furious, his fist clenched around his fork. I let myself take a long bite, pretending to contemplate my food. My last look at him, now he was pale, his eyes wide.

“What is it?” Hunter asked his dad, bored, twirling his steak knife on the table. I wasn't the only one that noticed.

“Remember how, at the end of last year, we had the Red Ridge Beta visit from the North?” He slowly started.

I remembered him. He was older and never took a mate. He was bragging that night that he had a young pack member waiting in his room for him, so he couldn’t stay. He went on about how he forced the girl to reject her mate, or he would kill her mate in front of her. 

The entire night, I thought of the poor girl sitting in this monster's room, heartbroken and scared, knowing what was to come when this Beta returned. Taken against her will by the man that she probably hated most in the world. 

Call it sympathy, call it practice; it didn’t matter in the end - the outcome was the same.

“The one that never made it home after he left us?” The Alpha Raymond went on; I caught a few nods out of the corner of my eye.

“People have been going missing, running away, whatever for a while. This isn’t news,” Hunter waved his arm, “What’s the point?”

I took another bite of my food, the only one that was showing any interest in anything that wasn’t the Alpha’s story.

“Well, Alpha Ben just informed me that he uh..”

“Spit it out, Father.” Hunter looked bored. I didn’t look, but I could picture the face that Alpha Raymond must be making at his middle son. At his son's brashness and lack of respect.

“Parts of his body have been found washing up on their river bank.” I dropped my fork and reached for it quickly, looking at my food, my face hopefully pale.

“How do you know it was him?” Dominick asked—a good question.

“This happened weeks ago, son.” The visiting Alpha spoke directly to him, “We had time to match dental records; he was past recognition.” I set down my fork and dared to look at the ranked members.

A mixture of confusion and shock passed on their faces in varying degrees, everything I already saw on the Alpha’s face.

“It wasn’t an accident.” The Alpha’s son, whose name I didn’t know, chimed in. He leaned over towards Hunter, Dominick, and Nolan and sloshed his glass of wine, studying them with a wicked smile.

Hunter looked bored, Dominick sized him up as an opponent, and Nolan, well, Nolan just looked like he wanted to leave.

“We pieced that together,” Dominick leaned towards him. Oh, this might be a fun evening after all, “But did you figure out who did it? You said you had the body for days.”

The visiting Alpha’s son looked taken aback for a moment, “We haven’t been investigating, really. Who is he to us?” I couldn’t tell if it was the truth or not. His dad placed a hand over his son’s chest, and he stopped immediately.

No one missed Hunter's dark smile at the visiting Alpha's son's subordination to his father.

I picked back up my fork again and tried to take a few bites, but my stomach protested against it. I was only able to force a few bites down the entire rest of the meal.

“Not eating?” The visiting Alphas son said, “Not eating?” He repeated loudly, and everyone went quiet. I moved my gaze toward him and found him staring at me from a few seats down.

“M-Me?” I looked up under my lashes, not expecting to be addressed by him.

“Yes, you.” He held up his empty wine glass and shook it at an omega.

“Oh, I’m not that hungry.” I hoped he would stop talking to me. Please stop talking to me. I clenched the skirt of my dress.

“Hmm,” I could feel his eyes on me, “Why not?”

“I was thinking about the Beta that went missing,” I answered honestly, turning slightly toward the head of the table, “I’m just scared now. If it wasn’t an accident, what could be out there?”

Alpha Raymond seemed satisfied with my answer, but I couldn’t tell why. He sat back in his seat and nodded, “All the more reason for you not to venture out.” Oh, that was it. Was he still worried I would leave?

“Y-yes, Alpha. You’re right.” I bowed my head to him, a move that made my skin crawl every time I did it.

“We’re safe here; one idiot Beta dying on the road, probably at the hands of rogues, means nothing to me.” He went on. I studied my hands as I heard a few cheers and a clink of glasses.

I stayed until the end before excusing myself due to exhaustion. Everyone was still there drinking too much to be of any use besides the visiting Alpha’s son, who left without excusing himself before dessert ended.

I gripped the entryway before pushing myself out and saying my goodbyes. I looked like I had too much wine, too much terror for one night.

I was craving my bed, that dinner was draining for so many reasons. I rounded the corner to take the stairs when I heard a muffled voice.

“No, please stop it; I swear, p-please, I have a mate.”

“I don’t see a mark.” A familiar voice that I didn’t immediately place responded lowly. His tone made a chill run down my spine.