C2

Zara Lovegrove Moonclaw POV

“Look at this mess!” Lady Esme Whitlock screams, her face turning bright red as she jumps up from her wooden chair. She points her finger right at me, and her eyes look like they want to poke holes through my chest. “You stupid, clumsy wolf!”

“I am so sorry,” I whisper. I quickly grab a dry cloth from my apron and try to reach out to clean the sticky, wet juice from her fancy white fur cape.

“Get your hands away from me!” she barks, slapping my hand back. “Do you even know how many silver pelts it took to make this? This is a royal market design!”

My hands shake so much that I drop the cloth. My throat feels super tight, like I am going to choke. I feel so small and weak inside my big, chubby body. I always mess up everything. I cannot even carry a simple jug without causing a giant disaster.

“I am really, really sorry, my Lady,” I say, and my voice sounds totally broken.

“Your apology is completely useless!” she shouts, and the whole Moonlight Feast Hall goes quiet. Everyone is staring at me. “You are just a useless, fat stray! A total disaster!”

That hurts a lot. My eyes get hot with tears, but I force myself not to cry in front of all these wolves. I look over at the table, and Damon Thornclaw is just sitting there with a big, ugly smirk on his face. He is the real reason I fell, because he grabbed my arm, but he winks at me like this is a big game.

I want to take a handful of the wet dirt from the floor and stuff it right down his throat.

Lady Esme gasps really loudly and looks down at the chair next to her. “Thank the Moon Goddess I brought my black wolfskin pouch today instead of my white one. I would have completely lost my mind if your ugly hands ruined my royal pouch.”

She looks at my big waist and my messy, stained clothes with so much disgust. “You are nothing but a walking catastrophe. You are costing me precious resources! I have to miss the Grand Wolf Assembly this afternoon because of you!”

“No, please,” I beg, my voice getting high and scared. I need this job as a Moonhall Steward assistant so bad. My old family, the Ashborne Wolfblood Pack, lost everything in the war. This job is the only thing keeping me from starving in the cold woods. “I can fix it, I promise.”

“You cannot fix anything, girl,” Lady Esme snarls. She stands tall on her thick leather boots and crosses her arms. “Who do you think is going to pay for my ruined cape? It costs sixty-five hundred silver coins!”

My eyes almost pop out of my head. Sixty-five hundred? “I do not have that much money! I don't even have five coins!”

“That is your problem, you pathetic hot mess,” she sneers. “Go sell your blood to the rogue lands for all I care. I want my money.”

I wish I could punch her right in her face. This is so unfair. She has so many nice things, and I can barely afford a bowl of cheap meat broth at night. I want to laugh because my life is such a giant joke right now.

“Maybe we can talk to the—”

“She is not the one who did this,” a super deep voice says, cutting me off completely.

I spin around fast, and my mouth falls wide open. I think my eyes are playing tricks on me.

Theo Kingsley Silverfang?

I just stare at him, completely frozen. He is the huge, incredibly handsome Alpha warrior I met a year ago at the Silver Lake Territory. My heart starts hitting my ribs like a crazy drum. He looks so big, so strong, and his eyes are glowing with pure, dark anger.

What is the future Alpha King doing here in this cheap feast hall?

The last time he saw me, I was happy and working with beautiful flowers. Now I am a total failure covered in red juice. I feel so ashamed. I do not want him to look at me and feel sorry for me.

Theo looks past me and stares directly at Lady Esme. “Is that cape from the new winter hunt?”

“Of course it is,” she says, lifting her chin high. “I only wear the finest things from the Royal Moon Market.”

“Give me your pack mark information,” Theo says, his voice sounding like rolling thunder. “I will replace your cape myself.”

I blink twice. What did he just say?

Lady Esme frowns, looking confused. “Why are you protecting this useless girl?”

Yeah, Theo, why are you doing that? We only met one time a year ago. Why are you helping a big, unimportant wolf like me?

Theo turns his sharp eyes to the woman. “Because I just said it was not her fault.”

Did he see what Damon did to me?

“Then whose fault is it?” Lady Esme asks, her lips turning into a thin line.

Theo points a long, sharp finger right at Damon Thornclaw. “His.”

 Theo Kingsley Silverfang POV

“How dare you blame me for this?” Damon Thornclaw shouts, standing up from his chair. He tries to sound tough, but his voice is shaking a little bit.

He is a terrible actor.

“I did not touch that other servant,” Damon says, pointing at the girl who dropped the jug. “The fat girl is just clumsy. She does not look where she is going because she is too big for her own feet.”

I growl, a low, dangerous sound vibrating deep inside my chest. My jaw clenches so hard my teeth ache. I want to rip his tongue right out of his mouth for talking about Zara like that.

I take one slow step closer to him, my eyes locked onto his face. The power coming off my wolf is so heavy that it makes the air feel cold.

“Do not look at me like that,” Damon stammers, backing up until his knees hit the edge of the heavy wooden table. “I am just telling the truth.”

My mouth twists into a scary smile. “Your truth is a complete lie.”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“You put your dirty hands on her arm,” I say, my voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. “She told you no, and you did not listen.”

“That is not what happened! You are talking total garbage!”

“Why don’t we step out into the Whispering Moon Woods?” I ask him, tilting my head. “You can tell me all about it out there in the dark.”

Damon swallows hard. He looks around for his friends, but they are all looking down at their plates now. “Why? So, a big savage beast like you can just use your fists?”

I take another quick step forward. Damon panics and tries to scramble backwards, but he trips over his own chair. His hand goes flying right into his big bowl of meat stew with a loud squish.

“Curse it!” he yells, grabbing a cloth to wipe the brown gravy off his fingers. He shoots a super angry look at Zara, but he stays down.

That is what happens when you mess with my mate.

“Move out of my way!” a sharp voice snaps from the back of the room.

The crowd of wolves parts quickly, and Callum Harrington Blackthorn comes rushing out. He is the Moonhall Steward, and he is a total nightmare to work for. He stops right in front of us, putting his hands on his hips and tapping his leather boot against the floor.

“Why is there juice all over my beautiful stone floor? What a total disaster!”

Callum loves to make people feel bad. He looks at Zara with a mean smile, like he is happy she made a mistake. “Zara, did you cause this mess?”

“It was not my fault, sir,” she says softly.

“It is always your fault,” Callum snaps back.

He did not even see what happened from his back office, but he is already blaming her. Zara lowers her head, looking like she wants to disappear into the ground. My heart hurts seeing her look so sad and defeated.

“If you want to blame someone for this disaster,” I say, crossing my arms over my wide chest, “you need to look at the right wolf.”

Callum shifts his eyes to me, looking a little bit scared when he sees my royal crest. “And who might that be, young Alpha?”

I jerk my chin straight toward Damon. “That dirty predator sitting right there.”