Chapter 7: The Alpha's Personal Maid

DEXTERA

The room Sansa offered me wasn’t large. It was just a narrow box-shaped space with the barest essentials. A small bed sat at the center, covered with plain grey sheets. Beside it was a tiny wooden table and a worn stool with one uneven leg. A single window rested high against the wall, letting in strips of fading afternoon light.

“This is where you’ll be staying,” Madam Sansa said, giving me one last assessing look. “Rest for a while. Your first set of chores begins soon.”

I nodded quietly. The moment she left, silence swallowed the room whole.

I lowered myself carefully onto the bed, wincing when pain shot through my ribs. Every part of my body still ached from everything that had happened before I got here. My legs felt weak, my shoulders stiff, and there was still a dull throbbing at the back of my head whenever I moved too quickly.

Still… the room wasn’t terrible. Not if you were used to confined spaces. At least it was clean.

I glanced around again, realizing I had nothing to unpack. The small bag I’d carried from Bisclaveret was nowhere to be found. Not that I truly expected to see it again. Truthfully, I still didn’t even know how I had ended up here.

If I wanted answers, there were only three people who might have them: Roxanne, Deucalion… and the Alpha.

Just thinking about the last one made unease curl tightly in my stomach.

A sharp knock suddenly sounded against the door. I stiffened. For a second, I stayed still, listening.

Another knock came.

Slowly, I stood from the bed. My body protested immediately, but I ignored it and walked toward the door carefully. I considered telling whoever it was to come in, but trust wasn’t a luxury I could afford right now. I knew absolutely nothing about this place or the people living in it.

I opened the door cautiously.

A pretty young woman stood outside, perhaps around my age. Her gaze flickered nervously between me and the tray in her hands which had a thin white cloth covering whatever rested on it.

“Madam Sansa said to give you these,” she said, her voice faint.

I lifted the cover cloth to check what it was. Folded neatly beneath it was a black knee-length dress with cream stitching along the front, paired with a matching cream hairband. The exact same uniform she was wearing.

“This is your maid uniform,” she added.

I ran my fingers lightly over the fabric. “Thank you.”

She gave a small nod. “Madam Sansa said to get dressed and come with me. Duty assignments are about to begin.”

After she left, I changed slowly, biting back a hiss when soreness pulled through my muscles. The dress fit surprisingly well, clinging where it should and falling loosely elsewhere. Simple, but decent. I tied the cream band around my hair before stepping outside again.

The girl looked at me briefly before turning away. “Follow me.”

I did. We walked mostly in silence through narrow stone hallways and servant passages. Part of me desperately wanted to ask questions; about the pack, about the Alpha, about the girl they had called Riley, but instinct warned me not to speak carelessly.

The further we walked, the more I noticed how different this place was from Bisclaveret. There were no extravagant chandeliers or polished marble floors. No gold-trimmed walls or luxurious decor.

Everything was just… simple.

Eventually, the hallway opened into a modest courtyard tucked deep within the domestic circle. The stone floor had been scrubbed clean, and long benches rested against the walls. The faint scent of soap lingered in the air.

About twenty-five maids were already gathered there, standing in organized rows. Every single one wore the same uniform I had on now. The girl beside me quietly slipped into the last row, so I followed her lead, positioning myself beside her.

Almost immediately, I became aware of how different I felt from everyone else. The others stood with practiced posture, backs straight and eyes lowered in obedience. They looked like they belonged here. I didn’t.

Madam Sansa stood at the front with a clipboard in hand, calling out names one after another and assigning duties with practiced efficiency.

“Jane Cole, Kitchen duty.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Aria, Laundry wing.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“Aurelia, North corridor cleaning.”

“Yes, Madam.”

No one questioned her and no one hesitated. I found myself wondering what task I would be assigned. Scrubbing floors? Washing dishes? Laundry? Honestly, I would have preferred any of them.

Just as Madam Sansa neared my row, a guard approached her quickly and whispered something into her ear. Her expression changed instantly as her eyes lifted and landed directly on me.

The courtyard went still.

A strange feeling settled heavily within me, telling me something was wrong. Madam Sansa straightened before speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“Dextera Neville.”

My pulse stumbled.

“You are assigned directly to the Alpha as his personal maid for the rest of today.”

The words struck me so hard my lips parted in shock. For a second, silence hung heavily over the courtyard. Then slowly, heads turned toward me.

Twenty-five pairs of eyes stared openly, now staring in my direction. Shock, sympathy, pity, fear, I saw it all on their faces. One girl near the front actually paled. Another quickly looked away like she didn’t even want to be associated with me.

Time slowed down as the dread sank in.

Their reactions alone told me everything I needed to know. Being assigned to the Alpha was not an honor here. It was a nightmare. Rumors didn’t even need to be spoken aloud. The fear in their faces said enough. Personal maids assigned to the Alpha rarely lasted long. Whether they were dismissed, punished, or something worse… no one needed to explain it.

Why me? Out of everyone here, why me? I barely even knew where I was. My mouth went dry as a sudden chill glided through me.

How the hell was I supposed to face the monstrous Alpha? Especially after hearing whispers about what happened to Riley. Hadn’t she been said to have been killed for stepping over bounds?

I was doomed for sure.

The moment the assignments ended and the maids began dispersing, I forced my legs to move and hurried toward Madam Sansa before she could leave.

“Madam Sansa…”

She stopped.

I lowered my voice carefully. “Please… I don’t think I can serve as the Alpha’s personal maid.”

She looked at me without surprise, like she had expected this reaction.

“I mean no disrespect,” I added quickly. “I just… I don’t know the Alpha or how things work here. And I’m still recovering. My body is sore, and I can barely move properly after everything that happened before I arrived here. I might unknowingly offend him. Please… assign me somewhere else. Anywhere else.”

For a moment, Madam Sansa said nothing. The silence stretched long enough to make my heartbeat painfully loud in my ears.

Then finally, she spoke. “You should be grateful you’re still breathing, girl.”

The coldness in her tone stunned me.

“Many people do not get second chances after entering the Alpha’s territory uninvited.”

Confusion crossed my face immediately. “But I didn’t trespass. Who would want to cross the borders of such a scary pack as this? At least, not me.”

Madam Sansa stepped closer. “That changes nothing,” she stated. “Obedience is your only shield now. Serve without complaint and obey without question. That’s what will keep you alive.”

Then she turned and walked away, leaving me standing there alone.

I was at a loss on what to do. I wanted to scream, to demand answers, to ask how fate had dragged me into the center of a pack I didn’t belong to, but I held back.

Deep down, I understood I wasn’t here to be heard or considered. Not even with the circumstance surrounding my initial presence in the pack.

Heaving a loud sigh, I whispered to myself, “you could have died, Dextera. But fate led you to live on. Now you have to make good use of this chance. You have to survive.”