CHAPTER THREE

MAYA’S POV

  

  “Be sure to take the post-pills tonight,” Alpha Damien said as he threw my clothes at me.

  

  Post-pills had become the bitter medicine I had no choice but to swallow. If there was one thing I hadn’t run out of for months, it was post-pills.

  

  I got dressed, already knowing it was time to leave. I still needed to clean up the kitchen and the living room before going to bed.

  

  “Wait!” His voice stopped me when I was close to the door.

  

  ‘What is it this time?’

  

  I turned around and my eyes landed on him. He rolled to the other end of the bed and grabbed his trousers. Maybe he had called me back just so I could watch him dress.

  

  “I forgot to mention that you’ll be heading to the Fountain Pack tomorrow. I have a feeling they’re planning something, and I need information,” he said, breaking the silence.

  

  “If I’m not mistaken, the rival pack?” I asked carefully.

  

  “Yes.”

  

  “The last time I went there, I almost got caught, and in my attempt to escape, I…”

  

  “Oh, you think I’ve forgotten?” he cut in.

  

  If I could talk back, I would have told him he had forgotten. I had been badly injured the last time he sent me there, and now he wanted me to do it again.

  

  The only reason I wasn’t giving him a piece of my mind was because I didn’t want to spend weeks in the prison. That would be the punishment.

  

  “Everything you’ve been doing is for the pack. I’m tired of telling you that,” he said calmly. That was his way of making sure I did what he wanted.

  

  Before I stepped out of his room, I knew he would remind me again that he would accept me soon, in front of everyone. He always said that.

  

  My arms stayed wrapped around me, my face blank. He didn’t expect me to be eager to risk my life for the umpteenth time in just a few months.

  

  “You’re an Omega. It will be hard for the pack citizens to accept you as Luna because of your weakness.”

  

  My only crime was being an Omega. If I hadn’t been one, I wouldn’t have to work as a slave in the mansion, and Alpha Damien might have accepted me as his mate long ago.

  

  “I’ve tried training you so you can be fit to be Luna, but your wolf isn’t making things easy for me, and you know it!” His tone was sharper now.

  

  Thinking about it again, maybe he couldn’t be blamed for not accepting me yet. He wanted me to be strong enough to stand as Luna before he marked me.

  

  “If you keep making sacrifices like this for the pack, they won’t object when they eventually find out you’re my mate.”

  

  I reasoned with him. I understood why he wanted me to go instead of Kendra or any other maiden.

  

  “It’s fine if you don’t want to, but if you do, history will remember you for it, and the pack members…” He stopped suddenly and swallowed hard.

  

  “I’m talking too much. The choice is yours,” he murmured.

  

  I had been avoiding his eyes, but not anymore. He was seated on the bed, his legs touching the ground, and his gaze locked with mine.

  

  “I’m sorry for…”

  

  “You should go now,” he cut me off. I must have annoyed him with my words or my expression.

  

  “Good night,” I whispered.

  

  I knew better than to stay back and try to apologize again. That could trigger an outburst, and I didn’t want to hear him roar or be shoved out of his room.

  

  “I did it the last time. I can do it again,” I told myself once I was out of his sight.

  

  My mind was made up. First thing tomorrow morning, I would head to the Fountain Pack and get the information Alpha Damien wanted.

  

  “Luna-to-be,” a voice called.

  

  I looked around and saw Kendra. She called me that to mock me, and she must have told the other pack girls that Alpha Damien and I were mates.

  

  “Don’t play innocent with me, Omega. Do you think I haven’t noticed?”

  

  She was in front of me before I realized it. I wasn’t in the mood for drama tonight. I had no strength left in me, thanks to Alpha Damien.

  

  “I know what he does with you in the dark,” she bragged.

  

  “May I know why you have a problem with what my mate does with me in the dark?” I asked, deciding to put her in her place.

  

  “Oh, you think he’ll ever claim you? You’re just his toy, a slave he uses when he’s bored. You’re petite, pathetic, weak. You can barely shift. You’ll never stand beside him.”

  

  Her words cut deep, but I refused to believe them. Her eyes flickered with disgust as they swept over me. I opened my mouth to speak, but the words choked me.

  

  “He leaves you bleeding in that stupid ritual. He takes your body, drains your blood, whispers lies about claiming you, and then he comes to me.” She tilted my chin with one finger.

  

  “Alpha Damien is using you. Think about what he’ll do when he no longer needs you.”

  

  “Let go of me!” I screamed, but suddenly I was blindfolded, my mouth covered.

  

  “I once told you I’d be the end of you,” Kendra’s voice hissed.