Chapter 12

Alesha Stokes — Step 04 — "Keep Control Of The Situation... If You Can"  

The air around me felt heavy.  

My heart pounded in my chest, yet I could barely breathe.  

He… is right behind me.  

I could feel his presence—suffocating, overwhelming.  

My hands trembled slightly as I kept my eyes locked on the lord in front of me. Unlike me, he reacted instantly. The moment he saw the Supreme Alpha, his body shrank.  

He lowered his head in a rush, almost like an instinct for survival.  

“I-I'm sorry… Y-Your Grace…” His voice wavered, and he swallowed hard before continuing. “It’s not what it looked like! I was merely complimenting… the service… The entire kingdom knows your servants are the best…”  

I wanted to believe that was enough to end the matter.  

But it wasn’t.  

The Supreme Alpha didn’t respond.  

The chatter in the hall died instantly.  

I could feel the weight of countless eyes on us.  

The lord before me looked on the verge of collapse. His ragged breathing and restless fingers betrayed the terror consuming him. But I couldn’t worry about him now.  

I needed to know what the Supreme Alpha was waiting for. Why was he standing so close to me, unmoving?  

My body remained stiff. Each passing second of silence stretched into eternity.  

My heart screamed at me to run.  

"Just get out of here. Don’t turn around. Don’t look at him."

But my mind knew there was no avoiding him.  

I had to face him.  

My throat went dry. I inhaled slowly, bracing myself for whatever was coming, and then…  

I turned around.  

And the moment our eyes met, it was as if the world around us ceased to exist.  

His crimson gaze burned intensely, glowing like embers in the darkness.  

It was intense.   

A stare that seemed to pierce straight through my soul.  

My body reacted before I could stop it—a hot shiver ran down my spine. My fingers tightened around the tray.  

My breath hitched.  

And then, as if that wasn’t enough…  

He tilted his head slightly to the side—and smiled.  

A slow, lazy, dangerous smile.  

That tiny movement triggered something in my mind.  

That smile… It was the same one from last night. The same one I saw when he was naked in the bathroom.  

My breath faltered as my traitorous mind threw the memory back at me.  

The Supreme Alpha—standing right in front of me, completely naked, his cock hard.  

Heat rushed up my face all at once.  

Involuntarily, my eyes dropped.  

They traced the broad structure of his chest, the chiseled lines of his rigid abs, every sculpted inch of his powerful body…  

And then, my mind struck me with the one image I absolutely didn’t want to remember.  

Without realizing it, I had been staring at his crotch. Even clothed, it was as if I could see him bare in my memory.  

The shock hit me like fire, and my face burned along with it.  

Shit.  

I jerked my head up in a panic—too fast.  

And that’s when I realized.  

He had seen everything.  

The Supreme Alpha was staring straight at me, clearly amused by my reaction, by the deep red of my embarrassment.  

His crimson eyes still glowed, but now I knew—  

That glow was pure, unfiltered mischief.  

He knew exactly what I had been thinking.  

I needed to get out of there.  

Now.  

I tightened my grip on the tray, trying to ignore the heat crawling up my skin, and did the only thing I could in that situation:  

“Excuse me.”  

My voice came out steadier than I expected, and before anyone could say a word, I turned and walked away.  

I didn’t bow.  

I didn’t lower my head.  

I didn’t do ANYTHING I was supposed to do.  

I just walked away, gripping the tray tightly, forcing myself to move fast—but not run.  

The murmurs started before I even reached the side corridor.  

“She didn’t even bow?”  

“Is she insane?”  

I stumbled into the kitchen, nearly tripping over my own feet.  

My hands were shaking so badly that when I set the tray down on the counter, the glasses clinked against each other.  

Damn it.  

I braced myself against the counter for a second, trying to breathe, trying not to think about him.  

But it was impossible.  

His gaze still burned into me. That suggestive smirk was still imprinted in my mind.  

And I could still feel the heat creeping up my face.  

“Alesha!”  

The sound of one of the maids calling my name made me blink a few times.  

When did they come in?  

Suddenly, I was surrounded by them, all staring at me with wide, horrified eyes.  

“What’s wrong with you?” one of them asked.  

“Have you lost your mind?” another whispered, panicked.  

“You didn’t even bow to the Supreme Alpha!”  

More murmurs. More frantic looks.  

“I…”  

My voice failed me.  

What could I even say?  

That I was so shaken just by looking at him that I completely forgot how hierarchy worked?  

“I’m not feeling well.”  

It was the only thing I could come up with.  

A blatant lie. Or maybe not.  

What the hell was that? What the hell was wrong with me?  

God, how could I have been so stupid?  

I just stood there, staring at the empty tray on the counter. The sound of the maids whispering around me was muffled. I wasn’t even paying attention to what they were saying.  

I only snapped out of it when the kitchen door swung open—hard and angry.  

My body tensed, but it was too late.  

I felt the housekeeper’s hand grab the collar of my dress and yank me forward. My chest hit the edge of the counter, and before I could react, her heavy palm struck my face.  

The slap echoed through the kitchen.  

A sharp, searing pain spread across the right side of my face, so intense that I tasted blood in my mouth.  

“Have you lost your damn mind, girl?” the housekeeper’s voice was thick with fury—and something like fear. “Do you have any idea what you just did? Do you understand the kind of mess you’ve gotten yourself into?!”  

My vision blurred, my eyes burned with unshed tears. But I swallowed them down. I swallowed everything.  

I kept my head down, gripping the edge of the counter tightly to stop myself from touching my stinging cheek.  

“This could cost you your life, you idiot!” she went on, practically spitting the words. “Who do you think you are? Looking at the Alpha like that? Walking away without even lowering your head?! Do you have any idea what he could’ve done? Do you understand how badly you just screwed up?”  

Yes. Yes, I did. But I had no idea why I had done it.  

I just wanted to get out of here. Hide. Never see him again.  

The shame burned just as much as the slap.  

“This will never happen again. Do you hear me?” The housekeeper grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at her. She leaned in, her voice low and dripping with venom. “If you ever cause a scene like that again, Alesha, I’ll throw you out myself.”  

My breath caught.  

“And I’ll make sure no one else will take you in. Do you understand?”  

I swallowed hard and nodded. I had no choice.  

She shoved me away, and I stumbled back, too drained to respond.  

“Good. Now clean this up… From now on, you stay in the kitchen. Don’t you dare step outside, do you hear me?” Her glare was deadly. “I’ll see what I can do to at least keep you from being executed…”  

And then she was gone.  

The kitchen was silent.  

Only the sound of my breathing and the hurried footsteps of the other maids leaving echoed in the space—like they were afraid to be caught near me.  

My fingers brushed against my burning, throbbing cheek, and I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing back any more tears that threatened to fall.  

This could’ve been worse. Much worse.