Don't touch me

“So comfortable,” Stella muttered in her sleep as she regained consciousness.

Her eyes, heavy with fatigue, fluttered open, and she stirred in the bed, turning to stare at the blank ceiling. She glanced toward the window, wondering how her tiny window could let so much sunlight into the room.

Warmth enveloped her body, far warmer than the thin mattress in the servants' quarters she had grown accustomed to. The blanket wrapped around her felt unbelievably soft, and for a brief moment, she smiled, believing she was still dreaming.

Then realization struck Stella. She shot upright and jumped out of the bed.

This wasn't her room. Her heart drummed loudly in her ears as she took in her surroundings. Panic replaced every trace of sleep in her eyes as she looked down at herself.

Someone had changed her torn clothes into a clean oversized shirt that reached her knees. The bandages wrapped carefully around her wrist and shoulders were fresh.

The moment it dawned on her whose room this was, her heart skipped.

Could he be the one who treated her wounds? Had he changed her clothes too? She panicked, but her cheeks remained flushed.

Why would he do something like that? Stella could only hope a maid had done it instead, but still she regretted passing out on him.

He wasn't even in the room? How could she had overslept?

“Alpha Sterling, I brought you breakfast, freshly prepared by me. May I come in?” Vivian's voice called from outside, followed by little knocks.

Stella practically died and came back to life in that instant.

She hurried backward, frantically searching the room for somewhere to hide while Vivian continued speaking outside.

“Alpha Sterling? May I come in?”

Cold sweat poured down Stella's face as she wished the ground would open and swallow her whole.

There was nowhere to hide.

The door slowly creaked open.

Standing there was Vivian, carrying a tray of scrambled eggs and a cup of coffee. She had obviously prepared it for the Sterling, but he wasn't in the room.

“G-Good morning, Princess,” Stella greeted in a trembling voice as she watched the color drain from Vivian's face upon seeing her in the Alpha's room so early in the morning.

“I... I was called to clean this room. I just got here,” Stella hurriedly explained, but not even she believed that lie. The shirt she had on had already given her away. It even carried Alpha Sterling's scent. Oh no, what has he done to her, Stella panicked.

It was painfully obvious she had just woken up from the Alpha's bed.

“You slut! What are you doing here!” Vivian screamed, the tray she carried vibrating in her hands.

“Vivian, it's not what it looks like–”

"Oh, shut your filthy mouth!" Vivian yelled, interrupting Stella.

"You climbed into Alpha Sterling's bed?" Vivian whispered, tears blinding her eyes before dropping the tray at the doorway. The food scattered across the floor as the tray clattered loudly.

"I swear I didn't!" Stella stuttered, but she too didn't know what had happened last night.

“Father!” Vivian cried before turning and running away from the room.

Terrified, Stella ran after her, desperately trying to explain her innocence.

Stella stopped outside the Alpha's meeting hall, pacing nervously while avoiding the gazes of the maids who were busy scrubbing the floors and dusting the sculptures.

Every maid had looked up the moment they heard Vivian crying, but none dared approach her.

Instead, they all cast strange glances at Stella.

She had gotten herself into trouble again.

It wasn't anything new to them.

Stella always seemed to get into trouble. Even the smallest mistake, something the other maids would easily be forgiven for—became a serious crime whenever it involved Stella.

Vivian rushed into her father's meeting room where he was having a discussion with Alpha Sterling. She slammed the door behind her, distracting the men, and they all glanced back at the door to see who had walked in.

Stella who stood outside the door didn't know whether to run away or stay and face another round of punishment.

“What did you do to her Highness?” one of the maids mopping the floor asked after seeing Stella pacing about.

“Nothing,” she stuttered, tightly clasping her trembling hands.

The maids exchanged suspicious glances.

“She, she just tripped,” Stella added, feeling weak in her knees.

Just then, she spotted Robert approaching, and she immediately shifted her attention from the judgemental maids to him.

“Greetings, Sir Robert,” the maids around greeted respectfully.

Stella immediately stepped closer to the wall, making room for him.

“Stella, come with me,” Robert said after stopping in front of her.

Stella kept her eyes fixed on the floor, silently praying he would simply walk past her, but to her dismay he didn't.

Robert used to be the only person who never treated her like she was a slave.

Ever since they were children, they had been close.

He was the son of Beta Michael, Alpha James' Beta, and despite all the rumors surrounding Stella being a forbidden she-wolf, Robert had always remained kind to her.

Until one night.

He had secretly entered Stella's room while she was asleep and tried to force himself on her.

For reasons Stella still couldn't understand why Alpha James had entered her room that very night.

She had been fast asleep and had no idea why Alpha James had come there.

He caught Robert.

By the following morning, the news had spread like wildfire.

That was the day Stella was branded a slut.

The maids hated her even more after that. Most of them had secretly admired Robert, while Stella had only ever seen him as an older brother.

Robert had begged for her forgiveness afterward, claiming he had been drunk and had lost control of himself.

Alpha James spared him only because Beta Michael had pleaded on his son's behalf.

Everyone in the mansion knew Stella hadn't known a man yet.

Luna Emilia herself had publicly declared that Stella was to remain untouched by any man, saying she was preserving her innocence until the proper time when she matured.

But from that day onward, Stella never looked at Robert the same way again.

The trust she once had was replaced by fear.

She avoided him whenever she could.

Now, seeing him standing before her in the hallway, her fingers instinctively tightened around her gown.

“I, I still have work to do,” she whispered without lifting her head.

“Luna requested your presence,” Robert replied calmly. “She asked me to bring you to her room.”

Stella frowned. Luna had never once summoned her into her room before, neither has she ever sent a man to call her. Luna Emilia detested seeing her with any man.

Stella didn't want to go with him, but refusing an order from Luna wasn't something she could afford, especially after angering Vivian.

Silently, she nodded and followed him while the curious gazes of the maids lingered on her retreating figure as they whispered to themselves.

As they walked deeper into the mansion, an uneasy feeling settled in Stella's stomach.

“This isn't the way to Luna's room,” Stella said softly as they entered a deserted corridor, but Robert didn't answer.

Instead, he pushed open the door to an abandoned storage room near the training grounds.

“Go inside,” he ordered, finally looking back at her.

Confusion flashed across Stella's face, but before she could question him, Robert added, “Luna is waiting.”

The moment Stella stepped inside, the heavy wooden door slammed shut behind her.

She flinched and spun around, only to find Robert standing between her and the exit door.

The polite smile that had once been on his face had vanished.

“What, what are you doing?” Stella asked, taking several frightened steps backward as a malicious smirk spread across Robert's lips.

He let out a dark laugh that made her skin crawl.

“Luna never sent for you, Stella, how naive,” he revealed, slowly advancing toward her.

At that moment, all Stella wanted was to run away.

“I've waited long enough, Stella. Why do you keep rejecting me?” he asked, his voice carrying a hint of pain.

Stella's frightened eyes darted around the room, desperately searching for a way out before snapping back to him.

“No, please don't touch me,” she pleaded. Was he going to kill her?

Had he heard that she had spent the night in the guest Alpha's room?

“You've avoided me for years because of one little mistake. But no one is coming to save you this time, not even your uncle.”

His eyes darkened like those of a predator as he moved closer.

Tears gathered in Stella's eyes as she continued backing away until her shoulders struck the cold stone wall.

“Stay away from me, Robert. I don't hate you, I never did,” she said, summoning every ounce of courage she had left, but Robert merely chuckled.

Ignoring her plea, he grabbed her arm roughly, making her gasp in pain.

Stella shoved him with all her strength, but he barely moved.

Instead, he seized her by the throat, yanked her violently toward him, and crashed his lips onto hers.

“Stop,” Stella begged, too weak to fight him.

Every muscle in her body felt powerless. Even her legs trembled beneath her as though she had run a thousand miles.

Robert tore at her clothes, ripping them from her body while she cried and desperately tried to cover herself.

“Robert, stop this madness! Please... you're hurting me!”

Her desperate pleas continued, but she was no match for a beta's son.

His heavy hand struck her across the face.

The powerful blow landed near her jaw and neck, knocking the air from her lungs, and Stella collapsed onto the floor, her body finally giving in.

Through blurred vision, she watched Robert loosen his belt.

A sinister smile twisted across his face as he stared at her, his helpless prey.

Vivian had a hand in this. The previous night, she had secretly spoken with Robert, urging him to ruin Stella and destroy her, going against her mother's wishes.

That same night, Vivian had witnessed Stella entering Alpha Sterling's room just as she herself had been sneaking toward it in revealing lingerie, intending to seduce him.

She had waited all night but Stella never came out.

The following morning, Vivian had carried breakfast to Sterling to know if Stella actually slept in his room, only to find Stella waking up in his bed.

Just as Robert undid his belt and climbed onto Stella's unconscious body, the storage room door exploded open.

BOOM!