Chapter 6: The Welcome Party (6)

And now, for complex reasons I could not begin to understand, they were carefully bandaging my wounds. They were publicly declaring that I was far more than a disposable servant.

What had possibly changed?

More importantly, had anything actually changed at all? Or was this sudden shift simply another twisted, psychological form of cruelty?

I looked up at Kaelen's striking face. I searched for a logical answer. His expression remained heavily guarded. His square jaw was locked tight. Yet, there was an undeniable shift in his eyes that had never been there before today.

It was not guilt. That word did not fit an Alpha of his standing.

It was recognition.

But recognition of what?

"You should get some rest," Kaelen finally broke the heavy silence. "Tomorrow is going to be a very long day. And there will certainly be severe consequences. For everything that happened out there tonight."

He did not elaborate on what those consequences would entail. Would they fall on me? Would they fall on Sera for destroying pack property? Would they fall on Evelina for insulting the Alphas' authority?

I did not ask him to clarify. I had learned through years of beatings and starvation that some dangerous questions were always better left unspoken.

Jaren gently secured the final white bandage over my knuckles. Thad finally abandoned his restless pacing. He stood rigid by the window, staring blankly out at the dark garden with his broad back facing all of us. As I looked at the three of them, I felt a foreign emotion bloom in my chest. I had not felt it in a very long time.

Hope.

It was an incredibly dangerous emotion. It was a foolish thing for a slave to feel. It was highly likely going to get me killed in ways I could not even begin to imagine.

But the hope was firmly there. It was stubborn and bright. It completely refused to be extinguished, no matter how many times this brutal pack tried to put it out.

I had successfully survived eighteen years of pure, unadulterated hell. I could survive whatever game they were planning next.

If the triplets were finally starting to notice me, if they were finally starting to really see the woman I had become beneath the dirt and the oversized rags, then maybe the tides of power in this pack were finally beginning to turn.

I just had to remain perfectly patient. I had to remain sharp. I had to be ready for the moment the trap sprang shut.

Most importantly, I had to never, ever let them see me bleed like a victim again.

Tonight had been a massive test. I did not know whose test it ultimately was. It could have been Evelina's petty trap, the triplets' calculated Alpha test, or perhaps even a test of my own breaking point. I only knew one thing for absolute certainty as I sat bleeding in their private sanctuary.

I had passed.

I am tired. Really-really tired.