Chapter 6

The whispers crept in before I even managed to open my eyes.

I first felt the dull ache in my back, sharp and pulsing where the bandages had stuck to my skin overnight. Then, I heard it. The low murmur of voices drifting in from the corridor outside my door, not quite hushed enough.

“…saw him leaving her room himself, past midnight…”

“…didn’t even try to hide it, the nerve of her…”

I lay there, staring at the cracked ceiling above my narrow bed, trying to convince myself that I didn’t care but it just didn’t work.

By the time I finally pulled myself upright, every muscle in my body was protesting loudly, and I already had a sinking feeling about what kind of day awaited me.

I changed slowly, being careful not to reopen any wounds, and stepped into the corridor. The chatter stopped immediately. Three omegas were huddled near the linen closet, baskets in hand, their eyes darting away the moment they spotted me.

One of them, a slender girl with dark braids, didn’t manage to look away quickly enough. I caught the sneer on her face before she quickly masked it with a blank expression.

I kept moving.

The kitchen was even worse.

Melissa stood at the head of the long wooden table, arms crossed, waiting for me like she’d been counting down the seconds.

“There she is,” she announced, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “Our Alpha’s little bedmate, finally gracing us with her presence.”

My spine stiffened. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, I don’t think anything,” Melissa replied sweetly, circling me just like she had on my first day. “I know what I heard. Alpha Hunter, in your room, well past midnight. Door closed.” She clicked her tongue. “And here you were, going on about not wanting him near you. Guess we know how that turned out.”

A ripple of laughter swept through the kitchen. Low and ugly.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. “He was just tending to the wounds they put on my back,” I said, my voice tighter than I wanted it to be. “Nothing happened.”

“Sure.” Melissa smiled, but it was the kind of smile that felt completely devoid of warmth. “Nothing happened. Is that why you couldn’t stop staring at the floor when you walked in here?”

I wasn’t staring at the floor out of shame. No, I was fixated on it because I hadn’t slept a wink, my back felt like it was on fire, and I could still feel the ghost of his hands on my skin, a memory I despised for being so vivid.

But honestly, there was no way to explain that without making everything worse. “Enough chatter,” Melissa snapped, clapping her hands sharply. “Back to work, everyone. Except for you.” She turned her gaze on me, her eyes glinting with authority. “You. Dishes. All of them. Every single pot from last night’s feast, and trust me, there were a lot, considering some of us had more important things to do than help clean up.”

I held back the retort that bubbled up inside me and made my way to the wash basin in silence. The water was icy. It stung the raw skin on my knuckles almost immediately, but I welcomed the pain. It gave me something to concentrate on other than the whispers that lingered behind me like a bad smell.

I scrubbed in silence for what felt like hours, tackling grease and grime off pot after pot while omegas drifted in and out around me. Some with pitying looks, most indifferent, and a few downright cruel.

One of them, passing by with a tray, muttered just loud enough for me to catch. “Didn’t take her long to spread her legs for the enemy.” My hands froze in the water. I didn’t turn around. I couldn’t risk it.

One more outburst, one more slip like I had with Camille, and I wouldn’t just be stuck washing pots. I swallowed the words that threatened to spill out and forced my hands back into action.

By midday, my fingers were pruned and raw, my back throbbed in sync with my heartbeat, and I had heard every variation of the same rumor at least a dozen times.

Some claimed Hunter had assaulted me. Others said I’d practically begged for his attention the moment we were alone. None of it was true, but around here, the truth didn’t seem to matter much.

Finally, Melissa let me go an hour after everyone else had eaten, but only after I had scrubbed every last pot clean. My stomach twisted with hunger, but I didn’t dare complain.

I made my way back to my room, moving slower than I wanted to, each step tugging at the healing skin on my back. By the time I reached my door, the corridor was empty, the whispers finally fading away, and for a brief moment, I was grateful to be alone. 

I pushed the door open, stepped inside, and came to a halt. 

There, on the floor just inside the threshold, was a folded scrap of paper, half tucked beneath the door as if someone had hurriedly slid it through. It didn’t have my name on it. No markings, no seal, nothing to hint at who had left it behind. 

I glanced back down the empty corridor before crouching to pick it up, my heart suddenly pounding in my ears. My fingers, still damp and aching from the dishwater, trembled slightly as I unfolded it. 

The handwriting was rushed and slanted, as if written in a hurry. 

“Watch what you say around Ava.” 

That was it. No name, no explanation. 

I read it over and over, searching for some hidden meaning I might have overlooked. But the words remained the same. Short, sharp, and deliberate, like a warning meant to be grasped quickly and then discarded. 

I glanced back at the door, still ajar behind me, then down the empty hall where whoever had left it must have slipped away just moments before I arrived. 

Someone in this pack, someone who clearly knew more than they should, had gone out of their way to warn me. 

And I had no idea why. I was still staring at the note when I noticed something else I had missed in my rush to read it.

Tucked beneath where the paper had lain, barely visible against the dark wood floor, was a single strand of hair. Not mine. Too pale, almost silver, catching the light in a strange way when I lifted it to the window. 

I didn’t know anyone in Silvercrest with hair that color. 

A chill crept up my spine as a memory surfaced, uninvited. Melissa’s face, ashen, snapping at me not to ask about the omega whose name had been scratched off the duty roster. 

“Don’t ask about her. Ever.” 

I closed my fist around the strand of hair and the note, my pulse racing. 

Whoever had left this warning...wasn't just watching Ava...They were watching me.