Chapter Thirteen: Kendal's Revenge

Emerald POV

The servants' hall is crowded.

I do not know why I came here. Rina told me to stay in my room. She told me it was not safe.

But I am tired of hiding.

So I walk down the corridor. Past the kitchens. Past the pantries. Past the servants who stare at me like I am a ghost.

I am not a ghost.

I am not a slave either.

I am something in between. Something they do not understand.

"You."

I freeze.

Kendal stands at the end of the hall. Her guards flank her. Her smile is sharp as a blade.

"Well, well," she says. "The little wolf comes out of her den."

"I am not a wolf."

"No. You are less than a wolf. A mongrel. A stray. Something Cassius picked up off the street."

I say nothing.

She walks toward me. Her heels click against the stone floor. The servants scatter like leaves in the wind. No one wants to be near her when she is like this.

"Did you think I would forget?" she asks.

"Forget what?"

"That you took him from me."

"I did not take anyone."

"You breathed. You existed. That was enough."

She stops in front of me. Close enough that I can smell her perfume. Heavy. Overpowering. Like flowers rotting in the sun.

"You are nothing," she says. "A nobody. A slave. A piece of meat he bought for one night."

I keep my face still. "Is that what you think?"

"I know it."

"Then why are you so scared of me?"

Her eyes flash.

"Scared?" She laughs. "I am not scared of you."

"Then why are you here? Why are you threatening me in front of all these servants? If I am nothing, why do you care?"

She slaps me.

The sound echoes through the hall.

My cheek burns. My ears ring. But I do not cry. I do not flinch.

I have been hit before. By worse people than her.

"I am going to destroy you," she says. "Piece by piece. I will take everything you have. Everything you are. And when you have nothing left, I will throw you out like the garbage you are."

"Good luck," I say.

"Excuse me?"

"Your threats are empty. You are loud. But you are not powerful. If you were, I would already be gone."

She raises her hand again.

"She is right."

I look up.

Rina stands at the end of the hall. Her face is hard. Her hand is on her sword.

"Step away from her," Rina says.

Kendal laughs. "Or what?"

"Or I will show you what happens to people who touch the Alpha's property."

"I am the Alpha's fiancée."

"Temporarily."

Kendal's face goes white.

Rina walks toward us. Slow. Deliberate. The servants part for her like water.

"Emerald," Rina says. "Come with me."

I do not move.

"Emerald. Now."

I look at Kendal. Her eyes are burning with hatred. Her hands are shaking.

"Goodbye, Lady Kendal," I say.

I walk away.

Her screams echo behind me.

Rina leads me to my room. Closes the door. Locks it.

"She will not forget this," Rina says.

"I know."

"You should not have gone down there."

"I know."

"She will try again."

"I know."

Rina looks at me. Her face is hard. But her eyes are soft.

"You fought back," she says.

"Yes."

"Most people do not."

"Most people are not me."

She almost smiles.

That night, I lie in bed.

My cheek still stings. My heart still pounds.

But I do not regret it.

Kendal is not my enemy.

She is just a woman who cannot accept that she lost.

I close my eyes.

And for the first time in weeks, I sleep without dreaming.