Chapter 3

Liora’s P.O.V.

I-I was offered to the Lycan King?

Though the room had fallen into silence, that command kept echoing, a haunting refrain I couldn’t stop.

My heart lurched as I glanced at my father, hoping what I had heard wasn’t true. But his hard gaze left no room for doubt!

The shock burned away, replaced by suffocating dread that curled around me like chains. Whispers I had overheard in the pack came rushing back, each one sharper than the dagger.

It was known that the Lycan King, Cassian Veyraith, was ugly beyond bearing, with a face said to terrify even the battle-hardened warriors. He was a monster who killed for fun and smiled while shedding blood. My chest tightened as being at his side wasn’t living but walking willingly into the death trap.

Wolves spoke of punishment that left scars on body and soul. But the lycans were ten times more merciless! So, if the wolves feared Cassian’s wrath, then what chances did a mute maid like me have?

I shook my head desperately as my lips parted in a soundless protest, my eyes stinging with tears.

If King Cassian discovered that the Alpha of the Ember Howl Pack was offering him nothing more than a defective maid, his fury would fall on me first. He would definitely crush me like an insect before turning his wrath on the pack.

So, if Dad truly wanted to show sincerity, he should send Beatrice, the flawless beauty of this house.

My hands trembled, but I lifted them, my fingers flying in sharp motions.

“Offer Beatrice!”

The words were silent, but they struck like thunder. Dad’s dark eyes narrowed as he leaned back in his chair, the picture of calm Alpha authority. But I could see the dangerous flicker of fury etched in the lines of his face as his cold voice sliced through me.

“Beatrice? She has a wolf, Liora. She can speak.”

Praising his perfect daughter’s qualities, he counted my shortcomings, crushing my heart with venomous truth.

“Even if I keep you here, you will never find your mate or anyone who wants you. Isn’t it better to be a king’s bedwarmer rather than working as a maid?”

My blood froze in my lungs as, for a moment, I couldn’t believe my ears. After my mom’s death, I had longed for my father’s love, literally bleeding for his golden child in the hope that he might finally look at me with approval.

But it turned out that I was nothing more than trash to be disposed of in his eyes. His cruel smile ached my chest.

“You can take Beatrice’s place, Liora. King Cassian won’t question it as well. After all, voice isn’t necessary in bed.”

Thalia’s thin laugh rang out, feeding the venom in the room. My stomach churned as he chuckled darkly.

“You just need to let him enjoy your body, Liora. Once he is satisfied, he will surely help us.”

His cruel words dug deeper into me than claws ever could. My father, no, Alpha Magnus didn’t see me as his daughter. I was just body to bargain away for him.

My hands were limp, but I forced them to move, my fingers spelling the words I was screaming inside.

“I am your blood. Your Luna’s daughter!”

But that reminder cracked like a whip through the office. Thalia was the first one to react as her face twisted, the carefully painted beauty unable to hide the venom inside it.

“Blood?” She spat, her voice dripping with loathing.

“Don’t you dare mention that whore. The only reason you exist here is that she was Magnus’s fated mate. That’s all!”

The echo of her shrill voice split through me like a silver blade, burning me as a whole. The pain in my heart pulsed into my bones as Thalia proceeded with her former statement icily.

“After she died, I was the one who took you in. I allowed you to live under this roof, Liora.”

She straightened, her tone turning sharp, as if letting me stay at my own home was some grand act of generosity.

“Don’t forget I let you work here as a maid and give you food. I could have kicked you out or banished you as a rogue. But no. I let you live here safely.

Shouldn’t you be thankful? Isn’t it great that you got a chance to be useful to us?”

Rogue? Favor?

The sting in my chest hardened, burning hotter until it clawed into anger. My blood boiled, rage rising sharp and wild, drowning out the ache that had hollowed me moments before.

It wasn’t Thalia’s mercy that I lived here. This Ember Howl Pack belonged to my mother. She was an Alpha’s daughter, a Luna before she ever found her Alpha mate.

But my mom was dead.

I was five when the light left her eyes, making me wonder why she felt colder all of a sudden. I cried, screamed, and yearned for my beloved mom. But they snatched her from my side, and within a few days, Alpha Magnus married Thalia.

He used the excuse of my well-being for marriage, but the day Thalia stepped into this house with her fake smile, he stopped looking at me as his daughter.

Although I became mute after losing my mom, he left me at Thalia’s mercy and simply took over the pack, never caring whether I lived or died.

Shaking with fury, I could only glare hard at them while my throat tightened with silent screams. My hands ached to tear that smile off Thalia’s painted face, but I was helpless in front of her authority. A single gesture of protest would give her a chance to skin me alive.

Chuckling amusedly, Thalia stood up and walked closer, leaning forward. I felt her breath cold on my cheek as her voice dropped to a velvet hiss meant only for me.

“Nobody cares about you, Liora. But I will remember your sacrifice for the pack.”

She paused, savoring my helplessness.

“If King Cassian is kind enough to return your dead body, we will bury you next to your mother. You will meet her in hell soon.”