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Chapter 2

I stopped by the kitchen, where it was a bustle of activity.

“Miss Simone, can I help you with something?” The head omega, Amelia, wiped her hands on her apron and offered me a genuine smile.

The omega’s here always treated me kindly and respected the station I once held, now reduced to nothing besides my powerful bloodline.

I shook my head, “I don’t want to be any trouble, I just came for a snack.” She nodded and let me pass. I knew where everything was here; this place has become my refuge since I was allowed out of my room.

This kitchen was the only place that I felt remotely comfortable in since I lost my home. I craved the warmth of the place and the constant activity that helped to distract me from those thoughts and memories that replayed themselves in my mind whenever I had a moment of solitude.

I went right toward what I was looking for. I knew this kitchen and the rest of the castle well from hours spent wandering alone. I made to pick up an apple slice covered in cinnamon and sugar that was destined for a pie, earning me a playful scowl from the omega closest to me. A small innocent distraction to take what I needed; I skillfully slipped what I came for into my pocket unnoticed.

The weight felt heavy but warm against the fabric of my leg, like a promise I made to myself finally solidifying.

I trudged back to my rooms; the packhouse was old and drafty. The majority of it was made from stone, and it reminded me of a castle, a dreary, depressing castle.

The first Alpha that took these sacred lands made the house and now stood homage to how long their line had ruled over their stolen grounds.

Thick rugs covered every stone floor, and fireplaces were present in every room to heat it against the biting cold, cold enough that werewolves needed shelter and warmth against the winters here.

The updated part of the packhouse, a recent extension, was made of dark wood and glass. It was too modern for the rest of the place, and it stuck out as a mismatched afterthought, but Luna Addison insisted.

The ranked members and their families moved into the new construction that was almost completed almost as soon as I arrived. They held smaller events there and guest rooms for the most important visitors.

The omega’s quarters, head warriors, and additional guest rooms stayed in a part of the original pack house, along with me.

It was still used for dinner most nights and larger gatherings and events. I didn’t understand the purpose of the remodel, but I didn’t care enough to ask.

The privilege of dining with the family was bestowed on me last year when they were certain I was one of their pawns. Only a few months ago was I allowed to join other events that didn’t include the immediate family. To prime me for one of the son’s beds so that I would be less of a feral rogue and more of an obedient lady, I could only assume.

I heard Alpha Raymond joke to Luna Addison that I was finally house-trained and no longer a mutt. She took it as a compliment as she was in charge of my initial berating, she didn’t much like a stray dog being taken into her pack, and she never let me forget it.

Once they trusted me enough not to try to run, I was allowed out of my room that they locked me in the night they took me. It took over a year for them to trust me, and in that year, my grief, loneliness, and anger were my only friends.

The omegas were switched out frequently, so I could never form a bond with them, or more importantly, them with me.

Once they saw how broken and fragile I was, I was allowed to wander these ancient halls.

Now, years later, the picture of the submissive, shattered, dead Alpha’s daughter, they knew I wouldn’t leave and didn’t pay me much thought unless they were bored.

Even though my room was close to the new addition, closer even than I would have been to them if they stayed in the original Alpha’s suites, It still made me feel better knowing I was in a different part of the house from them, sleeping under a different roof than those monsters.

I shut the door behind me, making sure it was locked before removing the thick faded rug closest to the foot of my bed and prying back a small loose stone, barely larger than my fist. It took me much longer than I cared to admit to hollow out this space.

There were too many prying eyes, too many people that had access to this room. I hadn’t risked hiding anything here permanently.

I dug around until my fingers brushed the only thing I kept there and pulled it out. The stone was cool in my hands, but it thrummed with promise like it was waiting for me to be ready to use it all this time.

I walked on silent feet to the door listening and waiting. Once I was certain no one was coming, I went to my bathroom and turned on the water in the tub, and took a spot near the door of the bathroom, one eye on the shadows I memorized under my bedroom door.

The churning water drowned out any soft sound, but that meant I had to rely on my eyes only.

I worked as fast as possible while still being thorough; once I was pleased with my work, I stashed everything and covered it again, triple checking it, before unlocking my door.

I sunk into the bath that was barely warm and scrubbed myself mindlessly, replaying in my mind my plan, the lullaby that drifted me off to sleep, my mantra that woke me up in the morning, the only thing keeping me here. My plan.

Soft feet sounded on the carpet in my room, but I didn’t move. I knew who they belonged to.

“Miss, it's almost dinner time, and you’re expected.” I reluctantly sat up in the bath and dragged myself out, hugging my shoulders inward as Alice, one of my favorite omegas, draped a towel over my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I nodded to her, my eyes distant.

“I laid out a dress for you, the one that you like.” I looked at the bed and saw that light purple floor-length dress with long sleeves made out of some velvet material. F.ucking hideous, and it fit all wrong hanging off me. I absolutely loved it for this version of me.

I gave her a timid smile and nodded my thanks.

After I was dressed, she brushed my hair in front of the fire. I always tensed when she did this, it felt so wrong. She probably took it as a side effect of my constant fear, and I let her.

She tried again in vain to curl some of my pin-straight hair, but it wouldn’t hold. Alice was sweet but not the brightest. How many times have we tried the same thing?

She looked flustered when she finally set down the curling rod and swept some hair off my face pining it back.

Even as a child, I don’t remember omegas helping me prepare for dinner. This seemed excessive, decadent, like something from a time long since passed. I wasn’t sure if anyone else got this level of help or if they deemed it necessary for a person in my delicate state.

“Thank you, Alice.” I gave her a small smile at my appearance.

My skin had grown paler than normal these past years, and even though my home pack was neighboring this one, I used to get outside daily. A luxury that I didn’t feel the need to take advantage of here.

It didn’t matter that I wasn’t drowning in my grief anymore, that I had found a purpose. I was still a shell of who I used to be.

My black hair hung almost to my waist now, and my once bright gray eyes were filled with a sort of sadness, of knowing, that I didn’t have to fake. It seemed that my eyes carried the weight of what happened, and I couldn’t even will them to look anything but depleted.

“They want you to come down.” Alice pulled me from my thoughts.

I stood up and grabbed a bunch of the ugly purple dress and let her open the door for me before letting the dress drag behind me down the stairs.

The dining room was quiet, not what I expected when they had guests. I took the final steps into the open doorway, no one looked at me.

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