Verania In the morning, donned in my uniform and with my back almost fully healed, I headed to the kitchen to have my breakfast. It was a small but delicious meal, one I desperately needed after my body spent all night repairing. Afterward, I made sure to avoid the dining area at all costs and went outside for some fresh air. I was in the backyard, mostly because I knew Lucan rarely played here. Though I really liked spending time with him, I didn’t want to provoke or challenge his father. It would be better if I kept my distance from him. There wasn’t anyone else in the backyard, and I didn’t have much to do, so I walked around for a couple of hours, my gaze avoiding the pole where I was whipped. I couldn’t stop thinking about my interaction with him last night and how random it was. Honestly, I was starting to wonder why he seemed to hate me so much. It didn’t make sense, did it? It would if he were a sadist who loved inflicting pain on me. But he hadn’t even touched me yet,
Verania I wouldn’t say that my back was extremely, devastatingly sore, because that horrible, spiteful woman’s hand had been light when she struck me with the whip.But every part of my soul burned. The injustice of it all was the one thing I couldn’t get over. At least when Madame Freya punished me, it was because I did something wrong. Yes, it was still awful, but she was the lesser of the two evils. I realized that now. I should’ve known that that woman was going to cause me so much trouble. I couldn’t believe she’d gotten away with her lie—I would never have stolen anything. I didn’t even know where her room was. She probably came in here because the door was open. Since Alpha Rasmon stopped locking me in with the code, there was no way to lock the door. And I couldn’t say that I was in my room the whole day. No, there was lunch, too. I was downstairs.Heck, maybe she didn’t even do it herself. Perhaps her guard did it for her. Either way, she succeeded in framing me for som
VeraniaI was in my room, minding my business and staring out the window at Lucan playing around, when the sound of the lady guest’s voice cut through the air, making me flinch. “Thief!”At first, I didn’t think that she was talking to me, but then it occurred to me that she could only be referring to me, as she was looking directly at me.“Excuse me?”She barged into my room, hands balled into fists on either side of her. Hell, the woman was practically vibrating with anger. “Don’t you dare try to act like you don’t know what I’m talking about! You’re a damn thief! You stole my necklace!”I was shocked by the accusation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”“Yes you do!” she went on yelling. My heart was slamming against my chest and the closer she got to me, the faster my wolf stirred. She rarely made an appearance, but whenever I felt threatened, I’d feel my wolf stirring. This woman was bringing out my fight-or-flight instincts, and I didn’t like it one bit. Plus, she was
RasmonOnce I was alone with Aunt Verona, I told her, "I don't want the breeder to sit at the table with us anymore. It was highly inappropriate of you—she's part of the staff."She narrowed her eyes at me. "We both know she isn't, and I already told you that I won’t stand for this type of cruelty!”I clenched my jaw. "What we know doesn't matter, Aunt, don't you see that? It's the idea we're giving off. Those people can’t know she dines with us—they’ll tell Arius, and then he’ll come sniffing around, wondering why I’m bothering with her so much. He’s always been nosy and he can’t find out who she is.”She shook her head. “All you do is bring yourself trouble. But that’s not all. Tell me the truth.”I struggled to come up with a response and she narrowed her eyes at me. "What, don't tell me you're considering marrying that woman, Rasmon?""I'm not," I admitted. "But they're highly influential people, even if they don't seem like it. I've done enough digging to know that now. They prac
VeraniaThe man seated next to Alpha Rasmon said, "I definitely think a male, especially an Alpha, should have breeders! It's only one of the laws the Alpha King implemented that I agree with more."I couldn't peel my eyes off my plate of food. I wanted to be anywhere but here. The conversation was uncomfortable, the woman seated across from me was glaring at me every time I dared to look up, and I couldn't take the scene from earlier out of my mind. It was like the universe was intent on sending me one bad day after another. "Yet, I hear you don't keep a breeder yourself, Appha Ernst," the Alpha Rasmon remarked. The man sputtered to the point where I curiously looked up. His face was the color of a ripe tomato. "Y-Yes. Well, I have three children, and I felt no need for more. But, if I wanted more, I would definitely get one. Or two."I could tell right away that the man was lying, and it seemed the Cruel Alpha noticed it, too.Who were these people? What were they doing here? I h
Verania I woke up to the sound of someone entering my room. My first thought right before I opened my eyes was that Alpha Rasmon had returned to take what he believed was his, but it wasn’t him. A woman dressed in a long black dress and a white apron tied around her middle gave me a strange look as she set a bundle of clothes on the foot of my bed. “I was instructed to tell you that you’re meant to wear this at all times.”“What is that?” I asked as I inched closer to the edge of the bed to take a better look at the folded clothes. The woman turned on her heel and didn’t answer me—I stared at the back of her head as she strode out of the room. She left the door wide open. I unfolded the stress and stood from the bed to take a better look at it. My eyes bulged at the design—the long slits on either side of the dress would show my legs whenever I took a step, and the front of the dress had a very low neckline. The material of the dress was rough and reminded me of the linen Madame