Successful Service

"Scrub those pots. When you're done with that, you're to serve Alpha Snow and Luna Snow their supper in the Gathering Hall. Lady Evangeline Snow will be taking her supper in her room." Delta Hester's stern voice barked her orders down at me, her voice rough. "Be sure not to spill anything this time!"

Her beady blue eyes narrowed at me, and I shrank under the weight of her displeasure.

"Yes, ma'am." I nodded, scurrying off to the wash basin to clean up the pots.

The Delta's leering eyes scorched my back as I worked, no doubt waiting for the smallest error to harshly correct. I was used to it. She was a dweller, a member of the pack, tasked with keeping the kitchen slaves on track. And I was the weakest link.

She hated me with a vengeance I couldn’t escape. And I couldn't even blame her for it.

My years of service in Snow Pointe were marked by disaster.

I was doomed from the start, with my weak constitution and the special privileges I’d received because of Dr. Andromeda’s intercession.

I'd been given more allowances in my work than most omegas and Snow Pointe slaves in my position. Dr. Andromeda's treatments were frequent and put me out of commission for hours at a time, forcing other staff to cover my assignments.

Phillippe, when he was a kitchen slave, would often cover most of my work himself. It kept the others from despising me so openly. But after he was promoted to dweller, my tasks were divided, and I became the enemy of all.

No one wanted extra chores in Snow Pointe. Especially the tasks I was assigned.

Interacting with pack nobility, serving their meals, cleaning their salons… it was the worst work for any slave. Like painting a giant target on your back and walking into a firing range.

When I was able to work, I was often weaker and slower than everyone else. In my early years, I dropped things frequently, earning me the nickname Fumbles in the kitchens. It was less well received in the presence of Alpha and Luna Snow and their board of Betas, Deltas, and Sigmas.

Punishing me for my mistakes wasn’t enough. More needed to be done to ensure such faults were corrected efficiently.

As lead of the kitchen staff, Delta Hester often carried the brunt of my shortcomings. She was the one who was yelled at when I'd made a mistake. She was punished when I dropped soup. I was her personal nightmare.

While I'd improved over the years, the scars on both of our bodies remained.

"Get your head out of the clouds and scrub those damned pots, Fumbles!" she hissed, storming off, finally satisfied.

I washed dishes until my hands were shaking and raw, my pale skin red and blistered from the hot water and rough rags. When the wash basin was empty, I grabbed a clean trolley cart and loaded up the starter course for Alpha and Luna Snow.

Fresh salad greens, a hearty venison broth, and freshly baked focaccia bread. The smell of the food wafted all around me as I pushed the cart into the Gathering Hall. My mouth watered, but I kept a calm, trained expression. I was a slave. To be caught drooling over food meant for the Alpha and Luna would have meant twenty lashes.

But my stomach growled and ached for a crumb of that bread. Dr. Andromeda had stopped giving me ambrosia pudding after our treatments three years ago. Around that time, she stopped pretending to care about my feelings. When she started treating me as an experiment and a burden all in one.

I shook my head and tried desperately to pull my attention away from the delicious smells hovering around the tray.

I will not give them a reason to hit me today. I will not give them a reason to hit me today.

My mantra was simple, but effective. When the Gathering Hall came into view, I lowered my head and pushed the food in, making myself as small as possible.

It wasn't hard to do. My build was much smaller than the others in Snow Pointe. Years of malnutrition, rigorous treatments, and that bitter tonic stunted my growth and made me a weak speck in a sea of strength and vitality.

I shuffled quietly down the length of the table, avoiding detection by the pack royalty. The Sigmas, Betas, and Deltas of note and good breeding. Phillipe sat with Jessica, grinning that toothy grin at her as she rambled on about her day. He nodded to her every word and held her hand like it was made of porcelain.

She was his new moon. His stars, His everything. And I was just the forgotten omega slave from a life he no longer belonged to. I served him, now. And he lived for her.

The dull, ever-present ache in my chest worsened for a time, until I pushed the trolley to the very head of the table. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and focused on serving the alpha and Lua their food.

Keep your attention on what matters. I will not give them a reason to hurt me today.

With surprisingly steady, strong hands, I lifted the Alpha and Luna's meal from the trolley and placed it between them at the head of the table. No loud dish clank. No sloshed soup. It was a perfect serving.

It was ignored.

I bowed, and for a flicker of a moment, Alpha Snow's piercing black eyes landed on me, studying my face. His dark brow furrowed, a scowl curving his lips. An eternity passed in those few seconds before it passed, and he grunted, waving me away with a flick of his wrist.

Thank Goddess.

I was ignored, and what a blessing it was.

Success was mine. I removed myself and the rolling cart from the Gathering Hall without a misstep, mistake, or mishap. The heavens smiled on me. I survived two parts of my three duties for the evening.

The Alpha didn't berate or smack me. The Luna didn't turn her pinched face up at me or leer at me with her green eyes. I wasn't kicked by a guard.

"Thank Goddess..." I muttered out loud, this time. Relief washed over me, and I leaned back against the stone wall of the hallway. My legs trembled but didn't buckle. I survived, and it was a miracle. One I prayed would last a little longer.

Because the greatest challenge awaited me.

Evangeline Snow.

Dread coiled hot in my belly as I pushed the cart back to the kitchens to load up the Young Lady's dinner.

Evangeline was everything I wasn't. She was strong. Beautiful. An alpha in the making. She stood tall, was healthy, and vibrant. She had beautiful strawberry blonde hair and the prettiest aquamarine eyes.

The beloved only child of Alpha and Luna Snow, she was the epitome of Snow Pointe royalty. And she hated me.

Not in a specific way. Not for any single reason beyond my lowly station as a slave and omega. The fact that I lived in her vicinity and breathed the same air was enough to bring a scowl to her features. Something she must have inherited from Alpha Snow. But she was infinitely worse. Her punishments were... creative. And cruel.

A small brand on the back of my neck tingled at the memory of her pressing the hot fireplace poker against my flesh for spilling her soup six years ago. The malicious glee in her eyes when I screamed haunted me still...

A shiver brought me out of the memory, back to the mission at hand. Deliver the Young Lady's food.

I grabbed hold of the freshly loaded cart and steeled my nerves with a deep breath.

"I can do this. Head up, eyes down."