I couldn’t sleep. No matter how many times I turned, no matter how many pillows I threw on the floor or how long I stared at the ceiling, my eyes just wouldn’t shut. And not because of the damn cold wind whistling through the cracks in my window. It was something else. Someone else.Lila.Her name had become a shadow that followed me everywhere, a whisper that refused to leave. Even now, after what she did… or what I thought she did… I couldn't get her out of my head.I sat up from the bed, bare-chested and exhausted, running a hand through my hair. My fingers paused halfway when I thought about the look on her face. That expression she had when the guards dragged her away—hurt… but not the kind that screamed guilt. It was the kind that begged to be believed. The kind that said, “you should’ve known better, alpha.”But I didn’t.I stood and paced across the room, bare feet pressing against the cold marble floor. My heart pounded like war drums. Damn it, why was I feeling like this? Wh
I had never felt my heart pound so loudly before. Not even when I got caught sneaking out to go to that rogue-themed party two summers ago. Not even when Alpha Kris had found a love note under my pillow from that Omega boy, Mace, who worked in the stables.But this? This was something else.I was still lying on Alpha Kaidon’s bed, pretending to be asleep. The silk sheets were smooth against my legs, but they felt like fire. My body was half covered, my dress barely holding onto my shoulder. My breathing was steady. Eyes closed, but with every nerve alert. I could hear everything, every word he said.“I trusted you. I was different,” Kaidon said, voice rough with anger. “And you chose to poison me?”He sounded betrayed, really betrayed. And that made me uncomfortable for some reason.“You looked me in the eye, like you didn’t care what you were doing.” He huffed, pacing. “I should have known better. I should have known this would happen.”There was a pause, and I knew he was staring at
I was shaking. My hands trembled at my sides, my feet were glued to the cold tiled floor of Alpha Kaidon’s chamber, and my breath came in short, shallow gasps. The room was too quiet for comfort, filled with tension so thick it could suffocate me. My knees were weak. My voice was gone. I could barely stand.And they were all staring at me.Alpha Kaidon stood with folded arms, his chest half bare, his face cold, hard, unreadable. His eyes burned into me with something worse than rage… betrayal. He looked at me like I was filth, like I was poison. The councilmen stood on either side of him, robes brushing the floor, their heads high, eyes judging. Disgusted.I didn’t understand how we got here.I stood alone at the center of the chamber, silent tears forming behind my eyes. Then the door creaked open, and I turned, my heart thudding loudly. The maids walked in, one by one, their eyes flicking from me to the alpha. I saw confusion on their faces. Shock. Fear. They knew something was wron
Her eyes had seen… Now, she must pay the price!I wasn’t sure what woke me up. Maybe it was the cold air brushing my bare chest or the sound of footsteps too light to belong to a guard. But the moment I opened my eyes, I knew something was wrong.My head pounded. My body felt heavy. I blinked once, then twice, trying to understand what I was seeing. The dim lantern in the corner cast a golden light across the room, and standing by the door was Lila. She was already on her way out when I commanded her to stop.She froze the moment she heard the word. The tray in her hands slipped, crashing to the ground. Food spilled everywhere, and the clang echoed in my ears like a war drum.“What are you doing here?,” I asked. I could barely control my anger.She turned to me slowly, her green eyes wide with fear. That was when I felt the soft heat beside me on the bed. I turned my head and saw Tabitha laying next to me. Her long black hair fanned across the pillow, her dress half off, one shoulder
It was already past the time Tabitha said I should go pick up the Alpha’s empty dishes, but I didn't feel like going. I'd been stalling, sitting on my cot and pretending to sew the hem of my skirt, even though I was just passing the needle through the same spot over and over. I didn’t want to go; I really didn’t.“Are you alright?” Loraine asked from the corner of the room. She was folding the laundry, her eyes darting from the linen to me. “You’ve been fidgety all evening. What’s wrong with you, Lila?”“Nothing,” I said quickly, looking down at my hands, pretending to be really busy.“You’ve been saying ‘nothing’ since you came back this afternoon. You’ve barely eaten. You didn’t even flinch when Sara screamed at the red haired maid. That’s not normal for you.” She dropped the sheet she was folding. “You’re lying. I can see it in your eyes.”I let out a breath. She wasn’t wrong.“Fine,” I said, checking around the room to make sure none of the other maids were close enough to overhea
I shouldn’t have agreed. From the very moment Drake handed me that small vial of poison and dropped it into Alpha Kaidon's food like it was seasoning, something in my chest just… clenched. “What if he finds out I drugged his food?” I asked, standing stiff as a board beside the table. Drake didn’t even look at me. He was busy swirling the spoon in the bowl, mixing everything like a chef preparing some gourmet dish. He only looked up once the spoon stilled and the bowl sat there, tainted. “Then make sure he doesn’t find out.” I blinked. “How, Drake? How exactly am I supposed to do that?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ll figure it out. You're smart. And besides, it’s too late to back out now.” He tucked the vial into his pocket and moved to the door, peeking out like a thief in the night. After a second, he opened the door fully and turned back to me. “Go. Now. And make it look good.” I hesitated. My fingers itched to toss the tray aside and run far away from this madness, bu