Chapter 2

ANARA'S POV

I blinked as I tried to process his words. What did he mean by me also being his mate. Did he have another? My eyes flickered to Lyra who was arranging her clothes. The man was also quickly zipping up his trousers. I felt my cheeks burn when I realized that they had been up to more than kissing.

Lyra's eyes burned and flashed as she said, "The other maids are helping with preparations for the banquet, so what are you doing here?"

"Maid?" The man spluttered. "You mean,

she's a maid?"

"Yes, she is. Look at her, Cassian. What else do you think she's good for?"

Never had I wanted to reveal my identity as badly as I did then. I found myself actually opening my mouth to say something, to assure him that he was mistaken, that I was not a maid, that I was someone worthy to be called his mate.

But then Lyra was looking daggers at me. Her look promised swift, merciless retribution if I so much as said a word to contradict her.

"I can't believe this." Cassian shook his head angrily, shoved his fingers through his perfect curls. He aimed a kick at one of the potted plants. Then he glared at me, as though wishing I was the plant.

"I can't bloody believe this," he repeated. "How can I have two mates? Isn't that supposed to be rare? And then not only do I get to experience this rare phenomenon, but the other one who's supposed to be my mate happens to be a goddamn maid?" He let out a bitter laugh. "The moon goddess must be playing some sort

of cruel joke on me." Lyra's hand slipped into his and he held on tightly. His gaze immediately softened when he looked at her. He tucked a strand of her windblown hair behind her ear. "I mean, look at you, darling and then... look at her."

I didn't need a mirror to understand the comparison. Lyra and I were twins, but looked very unlike. She had curves, perfect glowing skin, a perfect face. With a diet that consisted mainly of scraps, I didn't even have enough flesh on my bones to start with so whatever shape I still possessed was hidden under the baggy, ill fitting clothes I wore. My cheeks were hollow, emaciated. It would be very hard for anyone to tell that Lyra and I had looked alike once.

Cassian’s ice blue eyes raked me over again and he muttered something about me looking like a stupid half-starved dog. His words sliced straight through me and left nothing but an ache in my chest.

I guess I looked a bit dumbfounded, standing there and just looking at them, but I was having the two hardest time believing that Lyra and I shared the same mate, and that he was as cruel and cruel as Lyra was.

Lyra sobbed. He immediately turned his attention to her. He held her shoulder, pulled her close.

"What's the matter?" he asked anxiously.

She shook her head tears fell from the

corner of her eyes. "It's just that... I just realized something..."

"What? Talk to me, please."

"Now that you have two mates, it means I will have to share you... with her!"

Lyra rested her head on Cassian's shoulder and she promptly dissolved into tears. It took a while for Cassian to get her to stop crying.

"What's your name, maid?" he snarled. He had to repeat himself before I realized he was talking to me.

"A…Anara," I stuttered.

Cassian wrapped an arm around Lyra's

waist, drew himself up to his full height and said, "I, Cassian Ashwood, today reject you, Anara as my mate."

"NO!" I shrieked. The tears I had been holding back spilled over. "You you can't"

 Cassian took an intimidating step forward towards me.

And, snarling, "Who do you think you are to tell me what I can and can't do? He growled. "Say that again and that will be the last thing you say."

He was so furious I couldn’t get a word in. He stepped back and turned to Lyra. She gave him a watery smile.

Sticking her on a small table and amid an ordinary crowd, the child instantly noticed something missed something.

" Let's get out of here," he said. "The banquet will start in a few minutes."

"You go now. I will just I'm just trying to get my shit together." She sniffed daintily and pat at her moist cheeks with a handkerchief.

Cassian seemed hesitant about leaving her with me, but he nodded and started to leave. The second he turned his back, Lyra stopped crying. She pulled a face of such hatred that she was almost ugly. As I turned to leave, she clutched my wrist.

"You!!" she said, her anger trembling in her voice. "You've been keeping secrets."

"Let go. You’re hurting me,” I shouted.

Her long nails dug deeper into my flesh.

"Tell me. Tell me when you completed your shift or I swear, I'll make you life more miserable than it already is."

"Let go.”

I yanked my hand away from her grasp, lost my balance, almost fell. And then I was running, my vision blurred by tears. I stumbled and fell many times but I eventually made it to my house where I curled into a fetal position and cried harder than I had ever cried before.

On top of all the miseries I had endured, I had now been rejected by my mate and threatened by my sister. Lyra did not make idle threats. I was sure my life was about to take another downward turn. I cried until there were no more tears and then I just lay there, staring into the darkness.

A long while later, I didn't know exactly how long, I shuffled into the kitchens to get my dinner. I didn't have much appetite,

so I settled for a hot cup of tea which the cook all but shoved at me as she shooed me out of the kitchen. Back in my house, I managed to drink a few drops. I was so sad and tired that it seemed like too much work to crawl up to the nest of blankets I used as a bed. So I fell asleep on the cold, stone floor.

 And then there I was in the dark empty space. One part of me knew I was dreaming, but the dream seemed too real. All at once I felt a stabbing pain in my head and it rapidly increased until I thought I would have an explosion in my head from the strength of it.

I shouted for help again and again, but the only response was the darkness that was closing upon me.

I could hear Seraphis's agonized howls and her voice desperately saying, "Ana, we’ve been drugged!" I feel... I'm losing consciousness."

Seraphis's voice began to grow faint. The thought of losing my wolf was intolerable. She was my only anchor in this cruel world. She was the one that had kept me sane when I was mocked, ridiculed by the pack and half starved.

"No! Stay with me!" I screamed.

"Run, Ana! You're in danger. Leave the Nightveil pack!" Seraphis cried.

And then she fell eerily silent.