chapter 1

Chapter 1 – You Bastard

Ana

The slap landed before I even registered her hand had moved. My head snapped violently to the side, my ear screamed with a high-pitched ring, and a burning sting erupted across my cheek. I hit the hard stone floor, my palms scraping painfully against the rough surface, but I did not utter a sound. I knew from experience that screaming only invited worse punishment.

Luna Vera's imposing shadow stretched out, engulfing me.

“You bastard,” she spat, her voice pitched low, thick with pure disgust. The sheer hostility in her tone was enough to make the other maids instantly pretend they were deaf and utterly preoccupied. “Look at me when I address you.”

I slowly raised my eyes. Her icy blue gaze immediately pinned me, filled with an intense fury that bordered on hatred.

“How dare you stand there grinning while Prince Desmond walked by?” she demanded, stepping closer until the hem of her rustling silk skirts brushed my knees. “A low-life maid like you… how dare you imagine anyone in this entire palace could possibly favor someone of your kind? Trash born from a whore.”

I tasted the metallic sting of blood as my teeth accidentally cut the inside of my cheek. “I wasn’t smiling. I truly didn’t do anything,” I managed to whisper, struggling to keep my voice from shaking.

Her hand shot out again, and the second stinging blow split my lip. A trickle of warm blood ran immediately down my chin.

“Don’t you dare lie to me,” she hissed. She then grabbed the kettle sitting by the hearth; steam was visibly rising from its spout. “You should be incredibly grateful the Alpha King didn’t execute you the moment your worthless mother died. He tolerated your presence for sixteen years. And now you’ve reached eighteen, and suddenly you’ve forgotten your place? Are you attempting to play some dirty little game?”

“I didn’t—”

She cut me off. The hot water poured out, drenching my shoulder and chest.

The pain was instant and blinding. A raw, piercing scream tore from my throat before I could clench my jaw and stop it. My skin felt like it was instantly melting beneath my clothes, and I felt blisters rising as the cruel heat sank deep into my flesh. I instantly curled into a fetal position, shivering uncontrollably, trying to gasp for breath through the agonizing throbbing that spread across my entire upper body.

Vera crouched down directly in front of me and snatched my chin, forcing my face up toward hers. Her fingernails dug sharply into my tender skin.

“Let me make something perfectly clear, Ana,” she said. Her voice was terrifyingly soft, yet dripping with cruelty. “I am the chosen Luna of this whole empire. I am the daughter of the Great Council Alpha. And you…” She sneered, her lip curling slightly. “You are nothing. You don’t even know who your real father is. If you dare to smile at prince again, look at him again, or even breathe air too close to him, I promise I will make absolutely sure your tongue ends up nailed to my bedroom wall as a warning. Do you understand me?”

Tears instantly mixed with the running water on my face. My throat felt painfully constricted. I couldn’t form a word, so I desperately nodded.

She released my chin abruptly. My forehead slammed hard against the cold floor.

“Clean up this mess immediately,” she ordered as she spun away. “Attempt something like this again, and you will not live to witness the sunrise.”

The heavy door closed softly behind her with a final, echoing thud.

I remained right where I was, trembling violently, my skin screaming with a renewed pulse of agony with every single heartbeat. Why me? What terrible crime had I committed simply by being born?

After what felt like an eternity, I forced my 👁️ to stand. My legs were shaking so severely I nearly collapsed again. But I grabbed the dirty bucket and scrubbed the floor, regardless, biting down hard to stifle every whimper and sound my body wanted to release. Blood, water, and the sickening scent of burned skin clung to the stones, and I furiously wiped them all away, just as I wiped away my own presence and self every single day.

When the floor was finally pristine, a guard appeared abruptly at the doorway.

“The Alpha requires your presence,” he announced. His voice was completely flat, entirely uncaring.

I followed him without a word, my head bowed low, the burns on my shoulder throbbing intensely beneath my thin, torn sleeves.

The King’s private chamber doors opened, and I stepped inside, immediately lowering myself into a deep bow. My father sat in his high-backed chair, his face set in a stern, unchanging expression. Queen Elizabeth stood calmly beside him, her composure perfect but her demeanor utterly cold. Desmond was also seated, his posture rigid and his expression unreadable.

“Alpha, you called for me,” I murmured.

My father did not even spare a glance at the fresh burns visible on my neck or the dried blood staining my lip.

“Desmond and Luna Vera’s ceremony is rapidly approaching,” he stated. His voice was utterly devoid of any emotion. “Until that ceremony is completed, I do not wish to see your face anywhere within the main palace walls. You will not speak unless you are directly spoken to. You will not appear before any guests. If you make even a single error, I will personally drag you to the courtyard myself. Do you understand the severity of this?”

I stared at him, desperately searching for any trace of the man who had once lifted me into his arms when I was a tiny girl. There was nothing left of that man.

I swallowed hard, forcefully pushing down the desperate sob that was rising in my throat. “Yes, Alpha.”

Queen Elizabeth added, her tone soft, almost gentle, yet chilling, “Be grateful that we have allowed you to live, child.”

Desmond never once lifted his eyes from the floor.

I backed out of the room slowly, bowing low as I moved until the heavy doors finally closed between us, sealing my isolation.

The walk back to my tiny room felt agonizingly endless. Every single step pulled at the burned skin across my chest. When I finally managed to shut the door behind me, I slid down the wall and sank onto the cold ground, pulling my knees tightly to my chest. My entire body ached painfully.

My voice cracked as I whispered, “Moon Goddess, why must I suffer so greatly for a sin I never committed?”

I pressed my forehead hard against my knees, shaking with silent, desperate sobs. Nothing in this cruel palace truly belonged to me—not my small room, not even my name, and certainly not my very breath.

And yet, I was expected to live out my life as if I owed them absolutely everything.