Dream night

Luciana

The sounds of laughter and the chattering sounds of everyone could be heard as they danced and laughed to the music that was playing. Everyone was arranged in groups while I moved around serving drinks.

My eyes met with Ruby’s, but she'd just looked away with a disgusting look as she continued speaking to the M-cube girls. For a split moment, I felt a pang of guilt and hurt wash over me as I served the couples; I tried my very best to avoid eye contact with her. I don’t think I’ll be able to endure this side of her that’s harsh and cruel.

It's so shocking how all three girls in the M-cube found their mate while I got rejected in front of everyone. The mate's marking ceremony will begin when the bell rings, immediately after they all go into their respective rooms and have their first-ever intimacy as mates, and the females come out already marked by their mate.

This was just the Lycan king's way of keeping track of the number of subjects he should be expecting after each mating ceremony.

As if being rejected wasn't enough, I'll also be punished by watching my mate mark my best friend as his chosen one. I bit my eyelids as I poured more drinks into the glasses, scribbling my way through the crowd. Just then, the sound of the loud bell was heard, and everywhere went dead silent just as every couple was about to go into their respective prepared rooms, which were already made by the Omegas, and finish up with the ceremony. A hoarse voice echoed through the air.

“All subjects remain where you are,” the voice echoed. “This is Beta Steven, the leader of the king's Imperial army.” I stood frozen in my steps as I held the tray of drinks amongst the crowd.

“This is a warning from the king to everyone: whoever dares to go against him by breaking the laws will be considered a traitor.” The voice echoed through the air again, and with that, in a few minutes, Chris was wheeled to the center of the ballroom with blood all over his body and face. His hands were tied together, leaving his legs dangling in the air. The open space in his heart region made my heart sink in pain, his heart was forcefully removed. I could only imagine the amount of pain he must have gone through.

Chris was killed all because of my carelessness. The thought of this made my blood boil in rage. How could the king do such a thing just because he had a mirror? How did he even find out about it in the first place?

The sight of Chris’ lifeless and swollen body made the glasses I held fall from my hands, crashing to the ground in shock, shifting everyone’s gaze to my direction.

“She definitely has something to do with this; I’m so sure of it,” I couldn't mistake the voice that spoke even if I was on my deathbed; it was Ruby’s. She spoke with so much disdain in her eyes. My eyes widened at the realization of what it took for eleven years of friendship to get ruined: ‘A mate.’

Even though it’s not entirely her fault, I never thought she was going to hate me this much.

By this time, Chris’ blood had already become a mini river as it flowed effortlessly on the dance floor. Just then, the rope that held Chris in the air went off, sending his cold, still body to the floor right into the pool of his own blood.

I rushed to his side, taking his head on my lap, not minding the white maid’s gown I wore or what the others around would say. I cried so hard, taking his bloody body into my arms, hugging him tightly that I could feel my heart in his chest hole.

“I'm so sorry, Chris, I'm so sorry.” I sobbed, biting down my lips.

Everyone in the room just stood there staring at me until another bell rang, and the couples went into their various rooms to continue the ceremony like nothing happened. How could they be so cruel? I wondered.

Before long, a crew of Omega maids flooded the room, pushing me aside and taking him from my arms, dragging him out of the ballroom like some piece of trash.

“Chris,” I mumbled, my voice barely audible as it trembled with unspoken emotions.

Minutes later, the dampness of a wet and smelly mop landed on my skin, making me raise my gaze upwards.

“You caused this, so clean this mess.” Mrs. Bernice's face stared down at me with blaring anger.

“What?!” I muttered, moving my eyes back to the gigantic rug, which was now stained with dried blood. “How…. But….” I tried to speak but couldn't find the right words.

“Don't even say another word; you've done enough already. Chris was nothing but good to you, and all you could repay him with is turning him into a trench of his own blood in less than twenty four hours. You despise me.” She spat before slamming the mop to the ground right in front of me.

I couldn’t even speak as my mouth became heavy with words; the only form of defense I seemed to have was my hot, damp tears flowing down my cheeks.

I took the mop, my hands messy with dried blood, and the white gown I wore became dark red in front of it. I wished desperately for an escape route, but there wasn't any other pack I could take shield in that was greater than where I was now. King Carmine was Lycan for a reason, and no other pack dared strike war with him. I did the cleaning with the little strength I still had inside me, taking in a huge gulp down my throat in an attempt to swallow the pain I was feeling.

Soon I was done and was about to go in and drop the mop when the sound of the loud bell echoed through the air once again. Just then, the couples who had gone in began coming out one after the other with the sign of being marked on the females. As they came out, a couple of Beta maids entered the room, tidying it up while the Omegas were still busy with Chris’ corpse.

I was about to take my leave as my work here was done when a familiar voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Where do you think you're going?” it asked.

I turned my gaze to the direction of the voice and saw Ruby staring at me with blaring eyes. “I'm… I…” I stuttered.

“Save your breath; you'll be needing every ounce of it.” She fired. “I don't want anyone to go into this room. I want you to do the cleaning all by yourself, Omega!!” She retorted with daring eyes.

I raised my brows in awe, and I kept looking back, hoping I wasn't the one she was talking to. I pinched myself quite a number of times just to be sure I wasn't dreaming, but it was all real; everything playing out here right now was all real.

“Ruby?” I tried to call out, but her thunderous voice interrupted me. “It's Beta Ruby to you from now on, traitor.” She fired back at me, those oceanic blue eyes which once looked at me with love and cheer now stared at me with anger and disdain.

I bowed my head slightly as I wondered if this stigma was going to follow me for the rest of my life here. If I had known things would turn out this way, I wouldn't have let the greed of having my powers overwhelm me. I cried inwardly.

“Yes, Beta Ruby,” I replied, bowing my head lightly.

As I moved closer, trying to go into the room and start cleaning so I would be done before midnight and get a good space to sleep, my eyes met Ruby's marked sign on her neck. I took a quick glance at Damien, who responded to me by grabbing Ruby and pulling her up for a kiss—a harsh reminder of his rejection.

I got into the room, but to my surprise, it was decorated exactly the way I had dreamed for my first night with my mate to be; only Ruby knew this, and I guess she'd described how she wanted her room to look like to the maids. She stole my dream night.

Seeing how the roses were neatly arranged, the scent of Wolf's Lily scattered all over the place, and how the candles were neatly arranged sent another rush of tears flowing down my cheeks.

“I hate my life right now,” I sobbed.