The Girl on Her Knees

Athena!!!

The moment Alpha Evan "Buck" Buckley's eyes met mine, something inside me refused to settle.

Even after he disappeared into the manor with the other Alphas, I could still feel him.

The mate bond—it tugged at my chest like an invisible, burning thread.

*"He's close,"* Nyx whispered, her faint voice echoing in the back of my mind.

I swallowed the bitter ache rising in my throat. *"So what?"*

*"He's our mate, Athena."*

*"And I'm a servant."*

The words tasted like poison. Five years ago, I had been introduced to the world as the future Luna of the Silver Moon Pack.

Now... I wasn't even allowed to eat with the other servants.

"Move!"

A sharp shove from another maid nearly knocked me off balance. "The banquet tables won't set themselves, you useless girl!"

I lowered my head, keeping my jaw tight, and picked up another impossibly heavy stack of silver plates.

The manor buzzed with vibrant energy. Powerful Alphas laughed in the grand hall while musicians tuned their instruments, filling the air with bright melodies. Servants rushed in every direction, anxious to please their masters.

No one noticed the girl carrying enough plates to feed an entire army.

No one... except him.

I felt his presence before I even saw him.

My heart skipped a erratic beat. Nyx stood tall inside my soul, her ears pricked forward. *"He's watching us."*

*Don't look,* I begged myself. *Please... don't look.*

But I couldn't stop myself.

Across the vast hall, Alpha Buckley had stopped mid-sentence while talking to Bobby Nash. His piercing blue eyes were locked directly onto me.

Not the servants rushing beside me. Not the guard standing near the pillar.

*Me.*

The air between us grew thick and suffocating. For one impossible, fragile moment, all the roaring noise around us completely faded away.

Then—

*Crash!*

The tall tower of silver plates slipped from my trembling, raw hands. Fine porcelain smashed and scattered across the cold marble floor like a explosion of white glass.

The music cut off instantly. Every conversation died. Every head turned in my direction.

Silence. Absolute, suffocating silence.

"Oh, Moon Goddess..." the head maid whispered from the doorway, her voice filled with terror.

My blood ran cold. I slowly looked down at the shattered mess at my feet.

Silver Moon Pack's ceremonial dinner plates. Imported. Antique. Irreplaceable.

My breathing turned shallow and ragged. "I'm... I'm so—"

"What have you done?"

Beta Lucas stormed across the hall, his face contorted in pure rage. "You stupid, useless girl!"

He reached out and grabbed my upper arm so hard his fingers bruised through my worn dress. I couldn't suppress a small cry of pain.

"I-I'm sorry, Beta," I stammered, pulling back instinctively.

"Sorry?" His laugh was a cruel, metallic sound. "Do you have any idea how much these cost?"

"I'll replace them... I'll clean it up—"

"You?" He shoved me forward, forcing me down toward the sharp fragments. "With what? You don't even own the rags on your back!"

Cruel laughter erupted from the surrounding guards and a few lower-ranking wolves. Heat burned behind my eyes, but I bit my lip until I tasted copper. I refused to cry. Not here. Never in front of them.

Lucas raised his thick hand, his palm open and ready to strike.

Instinctively, I squeezed my eyes shut and braced for the blow.

The blow never came.

A sharp, dominating Alpha command cut through the grand hall like a honed blade.

**"Enough."**

The single word silenced the entire room instantly. Even Beta Lucas froze mid-air, his hand hovering uselessly.

Slowly... fearfully... I opened my eyes.

Alpha Buckley stood only a few paces away. His terrifying aura rolled over the hall, suffocating and vast. His expression was an unreadable mask—cold, tightly controlled, and utterly dangerous.

Lucas immediately lowered his hand and bowed his head, sweating slightly. "Alpha Buckley."

Buck's gaze never wavered from my kneeling form. "Why is she bleeding?"

Only then did I notice the sharp sting in my right hand. A jagged piece of broken porcelain had sliced open my palm, and dark red blood was steadily dripping onto the pristine white marble floor.

Lucas forced a stiff, nervous smile. "She's clumsy, Alpha. A clumsy servant who ruined the ceremony."

Buck's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, a muscle ticking near his ear. "And hitting her fixes that?"

Lucas hesitated, caught off guard by the dark undertone in the Alpha's voice. "She... she must learn discipline."

No one dared to draw a breath. Even my brother, Damon, standing near the grand entrance with several visiting Alphas, had gone completely still.

Damon was watching Buck with sharp, calculating eyes. Watching every twitch, every word.

Buck looked down at the blood pooling on the floor, then slowly raised his eyes to mine.

Our gazes locked.

The pull between our souls became unbearable. It felt like a physical chain dragging me toward him.

Nyx whimpered in my chest, scratching at the walls of my mind. *"Go to him... Athena, go to him..."*

I couldn't move. I wasn't allowed to move.

Buck took one slow, deliberate step forward. Then another.

My pulse thundered in my ears. Every instinct screamed that he was coming to claim me—to pull his bleeding mate up from the floor, to tear this pack apart for hurting me.

*Would he help me?*

*Would he ask my name?*

*Would he finally acknowledge what the Moon Goddess had created between us?*

Instead... he stopped.

He adjusted his dark cuffs, his voice entirely flat and detached. "So she's the servant everyone keeps talking about."

The words struck harder than any physical blow ever could.

Not *my mate*.

Not *are you hurt?*

Just... *the servant.*

Something deep inside my soul fractured into dust.

In my mind, Nyx let out a heartbroken, echoing cry. *"He knows what we are... why won't he claim us?"*

*"I don't know,"* I whispered internally, my spirit crushed. *"I don't know..."*

Buck looked away first, breaking the bond's hold on us. "Clean this mess," he ordered coldly, directed at no one in particular.

He turned his back on me and walked away, rejoining Bobby Nash as if nothing had transpired. As if he hadn't just shattered the tiny, foolish hope I had tried so hard to protect.

A single tear escaped my eye and slipped down my cheek. I wiped it away with the back of my bruised hand before anyone could mock me for it.

Except... someone had noticed everything.

Alpha Damon Grant.

A slow, sickening smile spread across my brother's face. It wasn't a smile of victory—it was a smile of pure, venomous calculation.

Damon had seen the hesitation in Buck's steps. He had seen the way the feared Alpha couldn't keep his eyes off a filthy servant. He had felt the strange, suffocating tension vibrating through the room.

And Damon was far too clever not to put the pieces together.

His dark eyes gleamed with a terrifying realization.

*"No..."* Nyx whimpered, her fear rising. *"Athena, look at Damon..."*

My stomach twisted into violent knots. I knew that look. Whenever Damon smiled like that, someone always suffered.

Damon slowly leaned over to Beta Lucas, whispering a low instruction directly into his ear.

Lucas's eyes widened in temporary shock. Then... a wicked grin touched his lips, and he nodded. Without another word, Lucas turned and hurried out of the banquet hall, vanishing into the dark service corridors beyond.

My heart began to race wildly against my ribs. *Where was he going? What had Damon just ordered?*

Across the room, Buck seemed to sense the sudden shift in the air. His head snapped toward the exit just as Beta Lucas disappeared from view.

Damon raised his glass toward Buck, taking a quiet sip to hide the cruel satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

And for the first time since the mate bond had awakened, I realized a horrific truth.

I wasn't Damon's only target anymore.

Alpha Evan Buckley had just been pulled straight into his game.