CHAPTER SIX

ARIA’s POV….

“Ahh.” I gasped as I rubbed my forehead gently, shaking my head as I hoped it’d push all the pain to the back of my head.

I rubbed my neck gently as Raymond’s words from last night came back to mind.

What’s there to miss or remember about an omega like you? I’d slept through it, but recalling it still stung.

“Aria?” I heard my name as a knock followed on the door. I looked at the wall clock. Who could be here to see me so early in the morning?

“Coming.” I responded as I fixed my hair, rushing to the door as I opened it to see Ashley and Beta Luke—Raymond’s beta— standing at the door, luggages in hand.

“Is anything wrong? What are you doing here by this time and I hope everything is fine?” It didn’t really bother me to see Beta Luke, but Ashley, I didn’t even like breathing the same air as she did.

She pushed the luggage she had with her in front as she scoffed, flipping her hair behind her as she rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you the maid here?” She eyed my clothes.

“Why aren’t you dressed in the maids uniform and how can you still be in bed by this time? Are you some sort of princess or Luna?” She taunted me and I turned to Beta Luke even though I knew he wouldn’t say anything but he stared at me blankly.

If only she knew.

I let out an exhale as I made to speak, but then again, she cut me off.

“After Alpha Raymond and I get married, I want everyone to know their place. Guests should be dressed as guests and the workers—“ she eyed me with contempt. “They should be dressed to match their positions. Guards as guards and maids as maids.”

I took a deep breath, refusing to let her words get to me. Eric had warned me about letting myself get stressed and I wouldn’t let someone like Ashley push me.

She grabbed her bag as she threw it at me. “Come on, move my things. You’re the only maid who seems to be lazying around in the whole house so I figured you could do some moving around.” She gestured at her things.

“Move them to the Alpha’s chambers.”

She stepped aside and so did Beta Luke and when they did, my jaw almost dropped in shock at the amount of luggage she had with her. What was she planning to do with all of this? Fund a charity home’s clothing and feeding for an entire year?

“Didn’t you hear me?” She snapped her fingers in front of me as I came out of my daze. “Start moving.” She clapped and I took in a deep breath as Raymond’s words replayed in my head.

Regardless of what happened, I couldn’t let Ashley find out about anything.

I grabbed the less heavy stuff as I started to move them to the chamber and for the most part, it wasn’t that bad— until I reached the heavy stuff.

“Come on, use those hands. Don’t waste my time. I’ve got a lot to do today.” She expressed displeasure at the pace of my work. What I did to this woman to make her hate me so much even though the feeling was kind of mutual, I didn’t know, but what I knew was that I couldn’t afford to give her more reason to.

I grabbed the box as I started to move towards the chambers and I’d gotten so close when suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I gasped as I felt my hands weaken, the box coming out of my hand as all Ashley’s clothes came spluttering out of it.

“You goddamned little bitch.” Her screams followed, as next thing I knew, I felt a hand push me with so much force I staggered, twisting my ankle as I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact of the fall when I suddenly felt a— Beta Luke’s— hand around me, breaking my fall.

“Luna—“ he seemed to realize his mistake immediately as he changed his tone. “Aria. Are you okay?” He scanned me for any possible injuries and I nodded.

Ashley’s mocking laughter brought me out of my thoughts as she looked down at my stomach.

“You’ve been holding on to your stomach for quite some time now. Don’t tell me you’re pregnant. Hit and dump?” She scoffed, making sure she mocked me and hit me in the places it hurt the most.

“Raymond!” She called out excitedly and turned to see Raymond arrive from his pack meeting. I took my hands off my stomach, doing my best to have a normal expression on my face even though it was hard, especially as I had to watch her give him a quick kiss.

“I’m sorry about the clothes,” I apologized. I didn’t want to drag this out because that would lead to Raymond becoming more suspicious. I bent as I started to put them back in the box in a hurry. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“You didn’t mean to, but you did dirty my clothes.” My hands clenched around the zipper area of the box as I feared this was heading exactly where I didn’t want it to.

“Since she dirtied my clothes, she should hand wash them, shouldn’t she?” Her voice became low, like in a puppy pleading voice as she turned to Raymond.

“There’s a washing machine here. We can always make use of that. It’s more efficient and faster.” Beta Luke tried to help me, but it was Ashley against me. We really didn’t stand a chance.

“Those clothes were made from luxury materials, Beta Luke. They cost me thousands of dollars. Do you really expect me to toss them in some ridiculous washing machine? The goddess forbids that.” She shook her head as she forced her body to shudder at the thought of it.

I raised my head as my eyes locked with Raymond’s. He turned away almost immediately as he focused on Ashley’s hopeful gaze, his hand still in his pocket.

“Hand wash. Ashley is the future Luna of this pack and as such, her orders and requests are to be followed and attended to. If she wants her clothes hand washed,” he paused. “Then, her clothes can only be hand washed.”