Chapter 6: Assigned As A Maid

DEXTERA

I shook my head repeatedly, unable to fully comprehend everything happening around me. This had to be some kind of nightmare. Yet the folded contract in Deucalion’s hand said otherwise.

“Get ready,” he said in that deep, cold voice of his. “Someone will come show you where you’ll be staying.”

Before I could stop him or force more answers out of him, he turned and walked out of the room like the conversation meant absolutely nothing.

The door shut behind him and my legs gave out instantly. I dropped to my knees beside the bed, panic swallowing me whole as tears blurred my vision. My chest tightened so badly it hurt to breathe.

Sold. Discarded. Thrown away like I meant nothing.

Slowly, I crawled toward Roxanne where she sat silently watching me.

“This can’t happen,” I whispered, my voice broken. “I can’t belong to your Alpha. I need to leave before something worse happens to me.”

Roxanne finally stood and walked toward me. Unlike before, there was less irritation in her eyes now and more understanding.

“Young lady,” she muttered while kneeling beside me, “do you think you’re the first wolf this world has broken overnight?”

I stared at her silently.

“There are packs that execute offenders,” she continued. “Others sell them off instead. Either way, the pack gets rid of the problem. I suppose that’s what happened in your case.”

Problem. So that was what I had become.

Roxanne sighed softly. “I didn’t exile you,” she said. “But someone in your pack did. And now you’re here. In Astrald. Under Alpha Thor’s rule.”

Hearing his name sent another wave of fear through me.

Thor.

I had heard enough terrifying stories about him growing up in Bisclaveret. Rogue massacres. Border slaughters. Ruthless punishments. He was said to be far more savage than most Alphas alive.

The thought of belonging to a man like that made my stomach twist violently.

“I don’t belong here,” I choked out, gripping Roxanne’s arm desperately. “I didn’t ask for this. I was trying to escape, not end up in another prison.”

Roxanne gently removed my hand from her arm.

“I know,” she replied calmly. “But this isn’t Bisclaveret anymore. Things work differently here.”

A strangled laugh almost escaped me. My baby was gone. My freedom had been stripped away. My body ached so badly I could barely stand. And now I was property; a monster’s property.

How much more was the Moon Goddess planning to take from me?

“Lie back down,” Roxanne instructed. “Let me check you again before they come move you.”

Too exhausted to argue anymore, I allowed her guide me back onto the bed. My entire body felt numb while she quickly examined me again. After a while, she handed me a small white pill.

“Take this,” she said. “It’ll help with the pain.”

I swallowed it slowly. Roxanne busied herself cleaning up the room afterward, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her earlier words.

My womb survived barely. My chances at birthing a pup were now so slim. Fear crawled beneath my skin again.

“What happens to me now?” I asked weakly.

Roxanne didn’t answer immediately. Finally, she sighed.

“I honestly don’t know,” she admitted. “But Deucalion wasn’t joking earlier. Once orders are given in this pack, they’re followed.”

“Deucalion?” I frowned. “The man from earlier?”

She nodded. “Deucalion Vale. Alpha Thor’s Beta.”

Almost immediately after she spoke his name, the door opened again. Deucalion stepped inside with the same intimidating presence as before, except this time he wasn’t alone. An older woman followed closely behind him. Her gray-streaked hair was pulled into a tight bun and her dark green uniform looked painfully neat.

“This is Madam Sansa,” Deucalion stated coldly. “She oversees the domestic circle.”

Domestic circle. The words alone made my stomach sink. It sounded like a place we called the servant’s wing back at Bisclaveret.

Deucalion’s sharp gaze landed on me again. “She’ll be assigning your duties from now on.”

I said nothing as my throat felt too tight for words.

For several seconds, I remained frozen in place until his voice darkened further. “On your feet.”

Fear shot through me instantly. I looked toward Roxanne helplessly, silently begging her to say something—anything.

For a brief moment, she avoided my eyes before finally giving me a small nod.

I didn’t fully understand it. Was she telling me to obey? To endure? To survive?

Slowly, I forced myself up despite the weakness in my legs.

Without another word, Madam Sansa turned and walked out. I followed immediately while Deucalion disappeared down another hallway.

The corridors of Astrald were nothing like Bisclaveret. Everything felt colder, simpler, more organized, yet strangely… safer. There was harsh discipline in the structure of the place, but not the suffocating tension I had grown used to back home.

Eventually, Madam Sansa led me into a long stone hallway lined with several small rooms.

“This is the domestic circle,” she explained shortly.

Servants moved quietly around us carrying baskets, folded linens and trays. Nobody lingered around or spoke unnecessarily. Then suddenly, I heard soft sobbing nearby. Two young women stood pressed against a round pillar with tears running down their faces.

Madam Sansa stopped walking immediately.

“Why are you crying?” she asked, her tone sharp.

Both girls exchanged nervous glances before one of them took the cue to speak.

“It’s Riley,” she whispered shakily. “She crossed a line with the Alpha.”

The second girl lowered her head quickly and added, “she thought seducing him would change her position here.”

Their voices faded the moment two guards walked past carrying a body covered in white cloth. The faint scent of blood drifted through the hallway.

My body stilled instantly at the sight. Madam Sansa closed her eyes briefly like someone tired of seeing the same mistake repeated.

Unable to stop myself, I spoke. “What happened to her?”

Sansa finally looked at me fully.

“She forgot her place,” she answered in the same cold tone. “And in this pack, mistakes have consequences.”

Her gaze swept over me carefully afterward. “This place is not easy for transferred wolves, especially ones coming from rival territory.”

A chill crept down my spine as she held on to her impassive mask. “One mistake here could cost you your life.”