Chapter 2

Odessa’s Pov

For a moment, I couldn’t move.

I stared at my mother, wondering if I had somehow misunderstood what was happening. But no matter how many times I blinked, she was still standing beside Alpha Edric Veyr, holding his hand while the entire kingdom watched.

My mother.

The woman who had spent years complaining about the royal family. The woman who had watched me come home with bruises and cuts, who had listened to me cry about the way we were treated.

She was marrying the man who ruled them. Who ruled us.

I pinched my arm, hoping the pain would wake me from whatever nightmare I had fallen into.

It didn’t.

The ceremony continued, and the crowd watched as Edric completed the union vows with Celine. When he kissed her hand, everyone applauded.

I couldn’t stay there.

I pushed through the crowd and hurried towards the servants’ quarters. I barely noticed the people I brushed past. My chest felt tight, and I needed to get away before I did something embarrassing in front of everyone.

“Odessa!”

Cleo caught up with me just as I entered our room.

She closed the door and looked at my face.

“Are you okay?”

I turned to her.

“Do I look okay?”

She sighed and sat beside me. “I know you’re shocked, but perhaps you should hear your mother out first.”

“Hear her out?” I let out a disbelieving laugh. “What exactly is she going to tell me, Cleo? That she forgot to mention she was marrying the Alpha?”

“Maybe she had her reasons.”

“Everyone always has a reason.”

Before Cleo could respond, someone knocked.

“Odessa, can I come in?”

I recognised my mother’s voice immediately.

Cleo stood and opened the door. Celine entered, looking beautiful in her ceremony dress. She glanced at Cleo.

“Could you give us a moment?”

Cleo looked at me, clearly reluctant to leave, but I gave her a small nod. She stepped outside and shut the door.

My mother approached me.

“Odessa, I know this is a surprise.”

I stared at her.

“A surprise?”

“I wanted to tell you.”

“When? Before or after the wedding?”

She sighed. “Please don’t make this difficult.”

I almost laughed.

“Me? I’m making this difficult?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean, Mother? Because I honestly don’t know what you expect me to say.”

She sat beside me, but I moved away.

“How long have you been seeing him?”

“Odessa…”

“Just answer me.”

She looked down briefly. “For a while.”

I nodded slowly.

So there had been a while. A while of secret meetings, conversations and plans. Meanwhile, I had been living my usual miserable life, completely unaware that my mother was preparing to become the Luna of Norvale.

“Did you ever think of telling me?”

“I was going to. I just wanted to be certain things would work out first.”

I looked at her, struggling to believe what I was hearing.

“Things worked out for you, didn’t they?”

“That’s unfair.”

“Is it?” My voice rose. “You know what happened to me this morning. You saw my back. You know they flogged me because I woke up a few minutes late. And now I’m supposed to smile because you’ve married the man whose household has been doing this to me for years?”

Her expression tightened.

“Edric didn’t order them to beat you.”

“But he watched it happen!”

The words came out before I could stop them.

“He has watched me get beaten almost every day of my life, Mother. He has walked past me with his guards while I’ve been treated like I’m not even a person….even you. And now you’ve married him?”

My eyes burned.

“How am I supposed to look at you and pretend this doesn’t hurt?”

She reached for my hand.

“Odessa, I know things have been difficult, but Edric is a good man. He has been kind to me.”

I pulled my hand away.

“Kind to you?”

“Yes. He loves me.”

I stared at her.

“So because he’s kind to you, everything he’s allowed to happen to me suddenly doesn’t matter?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying? That I should forget it? That I should be grateful because you get to live in the palace now?”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I have spent years raising you alone. I wanted something better for us. I wanted you to have a life where you don’t have to struggle anymore.”

“We were managing.”

“Odessa, you don’t understand.”

“You’re right. I don’t.” I shook my head. “I don’t understand how you could marry someone who has watched his people hurt your daughter without doing anything about it.”

She went quiet.

For a moment, I wished she would say something that could make it all less painful. That she would tell me she had been forced into this marriage, or that there was some explanation I hadn’t considered.

But she didn’t.

She simply looked at me with tears in her eyes.

“I love him, Odessa.”

I looked away.

That was when it truly sank in. She hadn’t been forced. She hadn’t been trapped. She had chosen him, knowing exactly what life in his household had been like for me.

“I need you to leave,” I whispered.

“Please, don’t say that.”

“I can’t talk to you right now.”

“You’re my daughter.”

“And I thought I was someone you would consider before making a decision like this.”

She flinched.

I stood up and wiped my cheeks.

“I need some time.”

My mother remained seated, looking at me as though she wanted to say more. But I couldn’t listen to another explanation. I couldn’t bear to hear her tell me how much she loved him when I was still trying to understand how she could do this to me.

I walked out of the room.

I had barely taken a few steps when I noticed someone standing in the corridor.

Alpha Edric.

I stopped immediately and lowered my head.

“Alpha.”

He looked at me, then glanced briefly towards the room I had just left.

“Odessa. I hope you haven’t been giving your mother too much trouble.”

I kept my expression neutral.

“She’s had a difficult day,” he continued. “I’m sure you both need time to adjust.”

I said nothing.

“The servants will show you to your new chambers. You won’t be staying here anymore. And I expect you at dinner tonight. I want us to get properly acquainted.”

I nodded.

“Alright.”

He smiled faintly.

“You can call me Father, if you’d like.”

I almost choked.

Father?

The man who had watched me suffer wanted me to call him Father?

I forced myself to look down before my expression betrayed me.

“Thank you, Alpha.”

He seemed pleased enough with my response.

“Good. We’ll get along just fine.”

He walked away, leaving me standing in the corridor.

A servant soon arrived to escort me to my new chambers. I followed her through the palace, barely hearing anything she said.

My mother had a new husband. I had a new home, new privileges and a new family I wanted nothing to do with.

And the worst part was that I hadn’t asked for any of it.