I couldn't help it!

I was in the middle of a strategy meeting with the council when the door burst open without notice. I didn’t have to turn to know who it was. The scent hit me first… floral, faintly like lavender, but panicked…

It was the maid from the Blue Moon Pack.

One of my men shoved her in, holding her by the arm, as if preventing her from escaping.

I knew at once that something had gone wrong!

She was talking rapidly, almost crying.

"Please, I wasn’t going to run far; I just needed to breathe. Please, let me go. I didn’t steal anything, I swear."

"Enough!" I snapped. My voice didn’t rise often, but when it did, it cut through the air like a blade. Everyone in the room fell silent. She did too.

Of course!

I looked at the guard. "What happened?"

"Long live the alpha… the greatest there is; the greatest there will ever be," he bowed.

“Speak!,” I commanded, in no mood to acknowledge the customary salutation.

"I caught her trying to escape, my lord. Just at the border of the west wall. When I confronted her, she said she wanted freedom."

“Freedom?,” I muttered to myself, as if it was the first time I had heard the word.

I turned to her, eyes narrowed. "You tried to leave my territory for freedom? What freedom?"

She flinched. "I just wanted to be free. I wanted to go somewhere no one would hurt me again."

"Hurt you? Who hurt you?" I asked, my tone quiet but sharp.

She looked down at her feet.

"Answer me!" I commanded, making sure she understood it was an order.

She jerked her head up. Her eyes glistened. "Ever since your people found out I hadn't shifted yet... they started treating me like trash. Like I don’t belong here. I get laughed at, ignored, insulted. Someone poured water on my food yesterday, and said maybe if I wasn’t such a freak, the Moon Goddess would bless me."

A muscle in my jaw twitched. "Who did it?! Tell me!"

"I don’t know their names. But it's more than a few. I didn’t think it would happen here too. I just wanted to leave quietly and not be reminded that I was cursed."

"Guards," I said, eyes never leaving her. "Detain anyone involved. Find out who poured water on her food. They all must answer to me tonight."

The guards bowed and left. The councilmen stared at me, unsure what to say.

"As for you," I turned to Lila, “you better not be lying to me about my people, for I shall treat you like an enemy if you are.”

She didn't say a word.

“I don't believe her,” one of the councilmen whispere to me.

“We shall find out soon,” I said to him.

I couldn't tell why, but I believed her.

"Also,” I said, turning to the maid, “you will no longer be general staff. From now on, you're my personal maid. You answer only to me. You sleep in the north wing. If anyone touches you again, they deal with me. Understand?"

She blinked. "Why... why would you do that?"

I didn’t answer. Instead, I motioned for one of the older maids. "Take her to the north wing. Show her her duties."

As they led her out, I realized the entire room was quiet. The councilmen, all of them, were watching me… like they didn't believe what I'd just done.

"Resume the meeting," I growled.

But I wasn’t really listening.

The days that followed were strange. I told myself she was just a maid. But every time I walked past her, I found my eyes drifting. Every time she passed me something, or knelt by my chair, or looked away quickly when our eyes met, I felt something clawing at my chest.

It wasn’t lust.

It wasn’t just curiosity.

It was something else…

But I dared not admit it.

Beta Drake noticed first. He always did. My younger brother had that annoying way of sniffing things out before I even accepted them.

One night, he walked into my study without knocking.

“You never visit me at night, except the pack is threatened,” I said to him.

"You know you're acting strange, right?," he responded.

I leaned back in my chair, not even pretending to be surprised. "Define strange."

"You never talk to the maids. Now you’ve got one following you like a damn shadow."

"She’s doing her job."

"She shouldn't even be here."

I narrowed my eyes. "I asked for her. Kris gave her to me."

Drake scoffed. "She’s not like us. And don’t say you don’t notice. She hasn’t even shifted."

"I know."

"Then why the hell are you softening around her?"

"I’m not."

"You are!" He stepped forward, lowering his voice but not his anger. "Kaidon, people talk. The council talks. And I’m your brother. I know when you're distracted."

I stood. "She was being hurt in my pack. I won't stand for it."

"That's not why you made her your personal maid. Be honest. You're slipping."

"Watch it."

He didn’t back down. "You think I don’t remember what happened with Ravenna? With the curse? You told me yourself… your fated mate will be your end. What if she’s the one? What if the girl you're trying so hard to protect is the same one meant to kill you? What if you're protecting your doom?"

My heart slammed hard in my chest. I didn’t answer.

Drake stepped closer. "You're getting weak, brother. Over a stranger. Over a girl who doesn’t belong here."

I clenched my fists. "Say that again."

"You’re not thinking like an Alpha anymore. You’re thinking like a man who's falling for a curse."

"Get out," I said.

He didn’t move. His voice dropped to a whisper.

"She will be your downfall if you don't kill her."

Then he turned and walked out.

I stood there alone in the silence, fists trembling.

But the worst part was…

I didn’t know if he was wrong