~HERA.
“It’s going to be fine, Genia” I consoled Eugenia, my friend as she leaned on the kitchen sink, sobbing.
“No, I don't think I can get past this!” She cried more, clutching to her chest. Her teary eyes were filled with so much pain. Pains of rejection from her mate.
This was what comes with the mating ceremony–Heartbreaks, sobs, and sometimes suicide from those who couldn't accept their rejection, all because they weren't good enough.
It's so sad that Eugenia happens to be in the statistics. However, watching her cry this hard for a man who rejected her without thinking twice made me a bit irritated.
Gradually, she turned down her sobs and finally gave me a face.“What about you? Any luck in finding your mate?"
I deeply sighed and shook my head.
“The head maid kept me stuck in here making pancakes for the guests,” I uttered, gesturing at the heap of mixed flour on the baking board.
“Tell me you ain't that daft? So, you're gonna miss your only opportunity to find your mate by baking pancakes?!" She said, seemingly annoyed.
"You know how the head maid behaves when I double cross her. I can't afford to get myself into any more trouble”. I tried reasoning with her.
The other day I neglected my assigned duty for another, The head maid scarred my back with hot coals from the oven.
She firmly shook her head."You have to take the risk. You know finding your mate is the only safe card of leaving this hell alive. You need to find him”.
I remained in the spot, feeling hesitant.
"Like right now, Hera." She crossed the space between us and took off my apron.“I will handle things here. Go" She added, dropping a tray of freshly baked pancakes.
I pulled up a big smile to which she returned and then I hurried out.
Eugenia is right, finding my mate was the safest way to leave the castle but as I hurried down the hallway leading to the ballroom, I couldn't help but think if I would also be unlucky to share the same fate as Eugenia since my status was no different from her?
Refusing to allow the negative thought to settle in my mind, I quickly shook my head and scolded. “Stop being paranoid, Hera".
I need to stay positive. Perhaps my mate wasn't as heartless as Eugenia's. Maybe he is a man who doesn't care about what other Alphas see as an insult to their face—An omega as a mate.
The moment I stepped into the ballroom, my nostrils instantly caught a scent. Amidst the salivating smells of different lavish delicacies on display before the guests, I could clearly single out the scent—Sandalwood mixed with peaches.
As if automated by the scent, my legs got moving. With each step I took farther into the large ballroom, the scent became stronger causing my stomach to churn in excitement. Every fiber in my body nervously jittered.
Feeling I wasn't in my usual calm self, I didn't need a soothsayer to know the scent belonged to no other person than my mate as I could feel Elsa on cloud nine.
“Our mate is present in the room”. Elsa, my wolf confirmed in my head and my gaze frantically shifted past the faces in the room in search of him.
“Why the hell are you standing dumb there?!” I heard a familiar voice snapped behind me.
Irritated by the voice, I let out a groan turning to behold the face. Here comes evil, can't she for once get a grip and leave me alone?
It's not that hard, she can just act like she never saw me. But then again, the typical Blair will never ditch an opportunity to humiliate people below her.
“What do you want, Luna?" I asked, forcing an obvious fake smile. In response, she raised her chin high, pushed her shoulders a bit higher, and smirked, blatantly enjoying being called Luna.
“Since you have nothing to do other than gawking at my guests, pull off your shirt and wipe the dust on my shoes”.
What?
Was she that blind with so much evil to the extent she couldn't see the tray of pancakes in my hands? Or was she clueless about my job here even with my appearance? I doubt that.
“I have something else to do, I'm here to serve–” Her eyes darkened and then she cut me off, seething."I don't fuckin care about that, do it this instant!”
She should get angry all she wants. There is no fuckin way I'm gonna do that.
“I'm sorry Luna. Get other less busy maids to carry out your request. If you may excuse me, I need to serve the guests”. She gripped my hand before I could walk away.
“Spare yourself the humiliation and do as I say right now?!” She growled, her emerald eyes slowly turning dark.
Not deterred, I looked her straight in the eyes as I replied with a flat tone."No Blair, you spare yourself the humiliation by letting go of me this instant”.
Shocked by my utterance, her eyes slightly grew wide. She quickly masked her shock, glaring hard at me, and made to splash the cup of wine in her grasp on me but I beat her to it, throwing the tray of pancakes on her dress. The whipped cream on the pancakes smeared on her dress.
At my action, loud gasps swept across the ballroom. I never knew the guests were watching us. Briefly, Blair assessed how much of a mess her dress looked and shot a dagger glare at me.
“How dare you, bitch!" She bawled, closing in on me but before she could reach me, someone pulled her back.
At that moment, my mate's scent came filling my nostrils stronger than ever causing me to shift my gaze away from Blair. To my mate.
“Mate!" Elsa spoke up the instant I laid my eyes on the tall figure right behind Blair. My eyes widened.
This must be a joke!
~HERA.Before my five senses could snap back to life from the shock, Alpha Lucien dropped a hard slap on my face. The impact of his slap swept my feet from the ground and I fell heavily to the floor, my head throbbing hard. “Who the hell do you think you're to disobey your Luna?!" He seethed, his bright blue orbs glaring daggers at me. Seriously?He's gonna take sides with Blair? Didn't he feel the mate bond between us? Isn't he supposed to protect me instead?"I'm your mate!” Elsa broke her silence sending shockwaves across the room as the onlookers collectively gasped. I never expected Elsa to say that loud and clear. She probably was hurt seeing our mate take sides with another woman. Words eluded my mouth by the time she returned control to me. I was speechless.Blair suddenly broke into a fit of laughter as if what Elsa had just said was a line from a comic book. Elsa possessively growled as Blair threw her hand on Lucien's shoulder, her lips twerked up as she assertively sai
~HERABiting hard on my lower lip, I tried muffling a groan as Eugenia massaged my arm trying to locate the broken bone back to its original position. Once she successfully did it, I loudly hissed out in pain.“The swelling will lessen before dawn tomorrow, you will be okay". She said while rubbing ointment in the affected area.As she retrieved a long piece of bandage from her bag, tying up my arm to maintain its position when the healing begins, I got curious and jokingly asked."You really were prepared to run away from the castle, how the hell did you know I would need a bandage?”“Not really, I saw what happened in the ballroom and I assume you'd get a few bones broken after seeing you fall that hard". “Oh, yeah. About that–"“You don't have to tell me what happened, Hera. You did the right thing. He's not worth you". She cut in on me standing up to her feet."But you did screw up by thinking he'd suffer from the rejection pain”. She added with a chuckle. I joined her. “Yeah, tha
~HERAMy trail of thoughts was interrupted as I sighted the king coming towards my direction, Lucien was beside him with some elders behind.Once the king halted before me I felt anger radiating off him. Within a blink of an eye, he slapped me hard on my cheeks; The sound resounded in my ears a thousand times, increased the ache in my head, and sent me to the ground. What sort of mess was I in this time around? Is it a crime to reject his son, moreover I thought he didn't care about it at the party.The warriors immediately dragged me up, bringing me back to my previous kneeling position. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I held my gaze down feeling lightheaded. “Where the hell is the other runt?” He furiously asked."She managed to escape, father. But I've sent my men to look for her. That should be the least of your worries." Lucien replied. “Least of my worries, you say?, She is highly incriminated for trying to help this killer get away with your brother's death, I want her corps
~HERA.Those strong hands of his held me still, plopping my head deeper into the bowl of water mixed with fresh seeds of chilling pepper, his claws digging into the flesh around my neck as he tightened his grip. This should be the longest time he had held me down in the water. The last two times, he'd pull my head up to catch my breath for a fleeting moment before pushing it back. I guess this is it. He is going to drown me to death for what I have no knowledge about, I am innocent, I know nothing about Blair's fuckin missing jewelry. But who cares?No one. Perhaps a handful of people believe I didn't steal the jewelry since the search was still on and the jewelry is yet to be found in my custody, but none of them dared interfere in my punishment, which I quite understand because they all feared the man whose hand was tightly around my neck with a grip that could bend the thickest of steel, Alpha Lucien.My breath hitch from the firmness of his grip. It constrained the air in my lu
~HERA.With the constant darkness in my sight for as long as I couldn't remember, I concluded I was dead until a voice filtered into my hearing. “How is she?”.It was a cue that I was still alive, and so I battled with my heavy eyelids to wander off the darkness. Finally fluttering them open, I felt a dull pain in my head, it was as though a sledgehammer collided with my skull. “She is awake". I heard another voice say and then the sound of footsteps drawing nearer. Frowning slightly, I tried making out the duplicated faces before me. Minutes passed before the million faces pieced together and I was able to recognize the two faces.It was Lysander, Alpha Lucien's younger brother and the pack's healer. “What are you two doing here?" I confusedly asked. Shifting my gaze around the room it dawned on me, I wasn't in my room like I had imagined. On a closer inspection, I recognized it was Lysander's room. I shot him a suspicious look. "Hey, it's nothing like that. I brought you here