Chapter 7

Serena:

I woke up to someone deliberately knocking into the side of my bed.

My eyes snapped open, and I frowned when I saw that a woman stood beside me, already dressed for the morning. Her long black hair was braided neatly down her back, and she carried a basin of water between both hands.

I stared after her. “Good morning to you too. You could have had the decency to at least apologize.”

She stopped and several women around the room glanced toward us. The brunette slowly turned. “Did you say something?”

“You heard me.” I said coldly. “You don’t need to act like you’re deaf.”

Her mouth tightened. “I was wondering whether the Alpha’s favorite would wake before midday. It seems to me that you had your own special treatment to the point where you don’t give two fucks about anything else.”

There it was. Two days in the Petrova Estate and apparently I already had a title and I sat up. “If I were his favorite, do you really think I’d still be sleeping in here with you?”

A few women snickered.

The brunette’s face hardened. “You think you’re special because he asked for you. And you believe that it is going to keep happening.”

“No. Apparently you think I’m special, since you can’t stop talking about it.” The laughter grew louder.

She slammed the basin onto the table. Water splashed over the edge. “You should watch yourself. I am not someone that you can mess around with.”

I pushed the blanket aside and stood. “Or what? What exactly do you plan on doing to prove to me that I can’t mess with you?”

The room quieted, and she looked almost surprised that I had challenged her. I simply raised an eyebrow, waiting for her response.

“I said you should watch yourself,” she repeated. “And I think that you are smart enough to know not to mess with someone when they give you a damn warning against it.”

“And I asked what happens if I don’t.” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. It was too early for this, but here we were.

“If you want to fight me,” I said, “then do it. Otherwise, stop waking me up because you’re upset the Alpha didn’t ask for you. And if you think that you can have it better, go on ahead and go to him… I am not going to try and stop you.”

“You arrogant bitch.” She said, raising her hand only for her to stop when she heard the last person that she would have wanted to hear walking in.

“What is the meaning of this?” Helena’s voice cut through the room, making everyone freeze.

The brunette stepped back so fast it almost made me laugh. Helena stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, her expression promising trouble. Wonderful. Exactly what I needed before breakfast.

“Everyone out.” Helena said, “and you, Josephene are going to be escorted to the cell without breakfast or lunch.”

“Lady Helena…”

“One more word out of you and it is going to be no dinner and you spending the night there.” She said, stopping her as two of the guards approached her. “She gets to have twenty slaps before she leaves the dungeon.”

Josephene opened her mouth to argue, but the look Lady Helena gave her made her freeze and as if it was the last sign that they needed, all the women scrambled about.

Helena waited for everyone to walk out before she turned to me, her eyes meeting mine.

“That was unnecessary,” Helena said.

“So was waking me.” I said, glaring at her. “Especially not with that attitude.”

“I wasn’t referring to her.” Helena exhaled. “You have been here for two days.”

“Feels longer.”

“And in those two days, you have attempted to strike the Alpha and managed to antagonize half the women’s quarters.” She said, making me raise an eyebrow.

“Half?” I looked toward the door. “That seems dramatic. Especially given the fact that it was them who chose to deem an enemy.”

“Serena.”

“What?”

Helena pinched the bridge of her nose. “You cannot make enemies here.”

“I didn’t.” Her eyebrows rose. “They decided they hated me. I simply returned the courtesy. I wasn’t going to sit back and allow them to step over me. Plus, I don’t even care whether or not they like me.”

“You should.” She said calmly. “Because you live with them… and the last thing that you are going to need is to have enemies that you cannot escape. Especially jealous women. Look, I didn’t say they needed to like you… you just need to stop giving everyone reasons to hurt you.”

The words struck harder than I expected.

Helena stepped closer. “Enemies in this estate do not always announce themselves, Serena. They don’t necessarily challenge you openly. They smile. They wait. They listen.” Her voice lowered. “And when they discover something they can use against you, they use it.” I said nothing. “Especially when an Alpha’s attention is involved… so unless you want to lose your life, I will suggest that you play it smart… because this could be your lifeline; of course, that would actually require you to use it.”

“What if I don’t want his attention?”

“Then you are going to understand that what you want and what is already happening are two different things,” she said as she picked up the brush sitting on the small table and held it toward me. “So, you have the option to either make it difficult or try to listen… to say the least, to live through another day without losing your life.”

I stared at the brush. “Training isn’t going to make me obedient… if that is what you’re aiming for, then it is a losing game.”

“I have already accepted that nothing short of divine intervention will accomplish that.” She said casually. “You just need to allow yourself the moment to use your brain… you are a beautiful woman, but you are smart, and you know that beauty will only get you so far.”

She kept her eyes on mine as she spoke, watching and reading my body language. “So, are we going to be smart? Or are you still aiming to be stubborn?”