Chapter 4

AVA

Three days had passed since the Royal Gala, the worst night of my life and yet I could still feel the sting of champagne on my skin and Princess Leah's slap echoing across my cheek.

I hadn't seen Prince Cane since. Not that I was looking for him, he lived in a different pack from me after all. It didn't help that I couldn't stop thinking about him either.

I scrubbed harded at the dusty floor of the maids’ quarters, the rag nearly tearing in my hand. My arms ached, my knees were sore and my mind was somewhere it absolutely should not be.

Specifically, wrapped around images of a certain prince. Tall, gorgeous, smirky and infuriating.

I groaned and flopped backwards onto the wooden floor. “Get a grip Ava” I muttered, pressing the back of my hand to my forehead like I was dying of lovesickness, which maybe I was.

It'd been three nights of him haunting my dreams. And not just the cute, talking kind. No. The wet kind. The kind that made me wake up panting and ashamed.

How pathetic was that?

He was a prince. I was…nothing.

If only my mother hadn't fallen in love with a rogue, maybe things would have been different. Maybe I'd have a pack that loved me. Maybe I wouldn't be the daughter of a scandal, the reminder of her shame.

But here I was. A rogue, at least that's what the pack labeled me as. Everyone knew I was my father's child but my father hated me because my mother had cheated on him with a former rogue who'd also betrayed the pack.

My whole life has been one heavy sadness after another and at some point, I became numb to everything.

A wave of sadness came over me as I remembered how much money I lost that night. I had been planning to use that money to run away to another pack or hell, the human world, away from everyone that didn't love me. But since I had only spent one day and caused a lot of trouble for the caterers, I had not received a dime, not even for my cupcakes.

“Ava!” I heard a familiar voice call me from behind.

“Emily!” I turned. She was my only friend in the pack House.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, watching her pant like she'd ran a marathon.

“Ava, the prince, the prince is here.”

I have a confused look. “What prince?”

“The prince from the Golden Claw pack,” My stomach flipped.

“What? Why?”

“Why else? He's looking for you!”

“That's impossible,” I laughed, nervous as hell.

Oh my God, he'd come to kill me for his bride or worse…what could be worse than death?

“Girl, if you don't stand up and go see him, I'm going to smack you.”

“Ava!” a sharp voice rang out behind me.

I flinched before turning, already knowing who it was. Liz, my stepsister.

She stood at the entrance of the maid quarters, arms crossed, wearing her signature scowl like a crown. She wasn't royalty, but she sure acted like it. The gleam in her eyes told me she hasn't come to say something kind.

She never really said anything kind to me.

None of my supposed family did.

“Scrubbing the floor suits you so well, sis.” She began and I didn't say anything.

“Anyway, my clothes are in the laundry basket, don't forget to wash them, I still have to go to the ball,”

I said nothing.

“Aww, Is someone sad because she didn't get chosen by the Prince of Golden Claw?” She mocked.

“Answer me,” she yelled when I didn't say anything.

Angry that I was ignoring her, she kicked down the bucket of water I had been using to clean.

“Daughter of a whore.”

I froze at her statement. “What did you say?”

“Now you speak. Very good.”

I could already feel the anger in my wolf building up.

She was getting irritated.

Calm your horses, girl. I said to my wolf.

“What did you say?” I asked again, this time slowly, my eyes meeting hers.

“I said your mother was a whore that fucked a rogue!” She spat at me.

I didn't think of the consequences, only the fact that she'd crossed a sensitive line for me. I pounced on her and scratched her face with my claws before I realized what I was doing.

“Guard!” She called out, clutching her face.

I ran out of there before the guards came. I didn't stop until I was safe in the woods. As soon as I got to a quiet clearing, I dropped to my knees, breath ragged, heart pounding. The sting of Liz’s words and my own actions throbbed inside me like a wound. I snapped, again.

“Running away suits you,” a voice said.

I looked up.

Prince Cane stood beneath the trees, hands in his pockets, eyes locked on me like I was prey.

“You,” I breathed.

“I came for you,” he said, stepping closer.

“Be mine, Ava.” He added, his gaze intense

I had to be dreaming, this wasn't real. He wanted me? Wait, what was he even doing here?

“You want me to meet you?” I asked

“I want you as my mistress.”

The world stopped.

“What?”

“You want me. I want you. Let’s not pretend.” he said, a sudden coldness in his voice. Suddenly, the man I remembered was gone only to be replaced by someone I didn't know.

“It's okay, I can take you away from this, all of this,”

“I will not become your mistress,”

“You'd rather live your life as a slave? Instead of my mistress?” He asked in disbelief.

Without thinking, my palm met his cheek with a loud slap.

He didn’t flinch.

“Go to hell,” I spat, then turned away from him, again.