Chapter 16
The betrayed Luna-
“What are you thinking about so deeply? The more you furrow your eyebrows, the more those creased lines will appear on your forehead permanently.” Katherine’s voice had her jumping out of fright. Eyes wide open as she flinched, her hand placed against her chest.
“Did you have to sneak up on me then?” She asked, dropping the stem of lere use she had been asked to pick apart. Katherine giggled, shrugging casually, her hands placed on the kitchen table.
“Why are you the only one here? It doesn’t look good.” She leans closer to Natalie and whispers. Natalie hums, looking back at the three other girls who had been tasked with doing the same thing. They were all huddled together, whispering so only they could hear and well, excluding Natalie. It didn’t matter much, though.
“It happens.” She tells Katherine, to continue with what she has been giving. Katherine sighed, her eyes on the three girls for a hit before shifting her gaze.
“Tell me, have you heard the news going around?” She whispered. Natalie looks at her in surprise. The Lycan’s brother had only been around for three hours and yet news had spread so quickly.
“Alpha Thorne’s brother supposedly returned from the dead. How preposterous is that?” She asks, taking a stem to peel too. Natalie furrows her eyebrows against Katherine’s words. Returned from the dead?
“What do you mean ‘returned from the dead?‘ The man she saw earlier didn’t look like a ghost. Katherine looks at her like she’s grown five more heads.
“Didn’t you know?” She asked and Natalie shook her head, panicking slightly if she’s really seen a ghost. Is that even possible?
“Alpha Thorne was said to have struck his brother twice in the chest and Eve since then his brother was nowhere to be found, no one caught a glimpse of him and everything replayed to him was buried deep. No one has been allowed to speak of him so freely. Everyone assumed Aloha Thorne killed his brother. Do you now understand why I said what I said.” She says in a hushed tone.
“He stabbed his brother twice?” Natalie blurted out stupidly before her brain could catch up, earning glares from the three other girls as Katherine pinched her on the arm.
Chapter 16
The betrayed Luna-
“What are you thinking about so deeply? The more you furrow your eyebrows, the more those creased lines will appear on your forehead permanently.” Katherine’s voice had her jumping out of fright. Eyes wide open as she flinched, her hand placed against her chest.
“Did you have to sneak up on me then?” She asked, dropping the stem of lere use she had been asked to pick apart. Katherine giggled, shrugging casually, her hands placed on the kitchen table.
“Why are you the only one here? It doesn’t look good.” She leans closer to Natalie and whispers. Natalie hums, looking back at the three other girls who had been tasked with doing the same thing. They were all huddled together, whispering so only they could hear and well, excluding Natalie. It didn’t matter much, though.
“It happens.” She tells Katherine, to continue with what she has been giving. Katherine sighed, her eyes on the three girls for a hit before shifting her gaze.
“Tell me, have you heard the news going around?” She whispered. Natalie looks at her in surprise. The Lycan’s brother had only been around for three hours and yet news had spread so quickly.
“Alpha Thorne’s brother supposedly returned from the dead. How preposterous is that?” She asks, taking a stem to peel too. Natalie furrows her eyebrows against Katherine’s words. Returned from the dead?
“What do you mean ‘returned from the dead?‘ The man she saw earlier didn’t look like a ghost. Katherine looks at her like she’s grown five more heads.
“Didn’t you know?” She asked and Natalie shook her head, panicking slightly if she’s really seen a ghost. Is that even possible?
“Alpha Thorne was said to have struck his brother twice in the chest and Eve since then his brother was nowhere to be found, no one caught a glimpse of him and everything replayed to him was buried deep. No one has been allowed to speak of him so freely. Everyone assumed Aloha Thorne killed his brother. Do you now understand why I said what I said.” She says in a hushed tone.
“He stabbed his brother twice?” Natalie blurted out stupidly before her brain could catch up, earning glares from the three other girls as Katherine pinched her on the arm.
“Are you trying to get all of us killed? Shut it, will you!” She snapped quietly, looking at the girls whose eyes were now full of contempt towards Natalie. She shoots them a small smile.
“What do you mean he struck his brother? His brother!?” Natalie whispered in shock. Yes, she’s heard the worse of the worse about the Lycan king but this.. this is even worse than she’s ever heard.
“Technically, they are half brothers. Same father, different mother.” Katherine shrugs, eyeing a line tangerine that lays hopelessly on the side of the table. It seemed to have been abandoned.
“Stepbrothers, half brothers, full brothers. The fact is, they have the same blood running through their veins. What could have possibly happened?” She asked out loud, this time ignoring the eyes she knew she’d be getting from the other three. Katherine gives in to temptation as she grabs the tangerine and pockets it. Hopefully, no one kept the almost rotten tangerine to eat it later.
“Who knows but tell me, did you see him? Is he really here?” She asked just as Natalie thought back to the man she had seen earlier. For someone who had been struck in the chest by his brother, he didn’t seem to hold that much contempt towards him. Rather, he seemed like he only wanted to irritate the other terribly much and loved getting under his skin. Then again, Natalie is a poor judge of character and she can’t say.
“Get out of your head and tell me what you know…” Katherine says impatiently. Natalie rolls her eyes at the desperation in her voice.
“I’ve seen him, that’s all I will say.” She replied, ignoring the dramatic low gasp Katherine let out. “You really won’t say anything else? That’s so mean, Natalie. I’ve been so good to you and
you would do this..” she starts as she pokes her finger to Natalie’s side.
“Stop it and go back to work. I think you have stressed that girl enough.” She says and they both knew who she was talking about. Katherine had always sneaked out of her training and sessions which left her other colleague looking for her.
“Katherine. You know you have to take this seriously. You have to be permanently installed as an apprentice for Madam Chrissy. You remember what they said would happen to those that fail?” She asked, not missing the way Katherine shuddered at the words.
“I’m taking it seriously, Natalie. I just… I’m very curious about a lot of things. They help you too, you know it.” She says defensively, pouting as she flails her hands about.
“I know and I’m grateful but I don’t want you neglecting your work for me or anything, not when we know what’s at skate. The permanent slaves are treated less than humans. We’ve
seen it.” She tells Katherine who swallows, nodding.
O
“Alright. I’ll take it even more seriously than I did. Also, I should go now.” She says and Natalie nods, watching her walk out of the kitchen. Lips palmed into a thin line, she looked down at what she had been tasked, a smile slowly growing on her face on seeing Katherine had helped her pluck the leaves, leaving only two stems.
Natalie stopped at the door, her chest beating erratically one would think she stood at the devil’s door, only it wasn’t. It’s Thorne’s room and it’s her second task of the day. Cleaning his room. Even though she stays on the same floor as him, she’s never been directly in front of his room. She swallows hard, remembering how she stuttered with fear when she was tasked with it.
“M–Me?” She stammered, her eyes wide even as she assimilated the words.
The lady only cocked her eyebrows up, arms wrapped against her chest, she looked at Natalie like she had grown stupider during the course of their conversation.
“Yes. You. Aren’t you his grace’s maid? Shouldn’t you be the one doing these for him?” She shot back at her. Natalie blinked twice, one trying to understand the attitude the woman had thrown at her and second trying to understand her words again.
“I- I know but still. D–do I have to be..” she doesn’t get to complete her words.
“Aren’t you being a little too cocky now? You’ve been his maid for less than a month and you’ve grown this much audacity? Do you think you’re better than all of us here? Do you think you’re special because his grace specially choose you? Wake up! This is your job. It’s to clean and attend to his needs.” She snaps angrily, her face red with each word that left her mouth.
Natalie stood still, shocked by everything she just heard. “I- I’ve never thought like that. I just-”
“Save it for someone who cares. In here, no one cares how special you think you are. Do your job and do it well. You’re still on probation. Who knows, his grace might just get tired of you and..” she clicks her fingers together, a sinister smile growing on her face. “Just like that, you’ll be back to square one. A permanent slave.” Natalie reeled back in shock, blinking twice, the words heavy in her head.
Now she stood outside the door of the Alpha. She knocks twice but doesn’t hear a thing from inside. She wondered if the man was out now and she could clean. Should she wait or
should she leave?
She knocks again, waiting to hear someone call for her but still nothing. Natalie sighed heavily, the bucket and mop she held in her hand seemingly grew heavier. She ran her tongue over her l*p, placing her free hand over the door knob. She hoped and prayed the man wasn’t in and she could clean as quickly as she could. Natalie pulled the door open and stepped in. A small gasp escaped her l*ps immediately after she laid eyes on the place. First, it wasn’t just a room like she thought it would be. It’s like a whole apartment which sounded weird. It had a living room space, and a large bed in the middle, the walls were painted in a rich white, and artworks decorated the plain wall, giving it a rich contrast. Her eyes fell on the shelf filled with different types of books and she wondered if the Alpha loved to read. Not wanting to waste any more time, Natalie got on her knees and began to work. Barely five minutes into working, she hears a door open, She looks up, perplexed when she doesn’t see the door open. Eyebrows furrowed, she stopped her work, looking around to see where the squeak had come from. Maybe it’s in her head, Maybe she is over-
Her jaw drops, l*ps parted in surprise, face pale when she sees the door or rather the person. She had turned her back all these while trying to clean and totally forgotten the door behind her. She had really thought the door was there for.. honestly, she glazed over it
but now…
“Alpha..” she blurts out, her entire b*dy coming to a stop. He had been inside there bathing but she didn’t know. How? How is that even possible? She should’ve heard the shower running, right?
“What are you doing in here?” The man asked, his voice deep and gruffly. Natalie swallows hard, immediately averting her gaze.
“I- I came to clean. I can leave now. I’m so sorry.” She rushed out, already grabbing the bucket she had brought in. Her entire face was up in flames, she wanted the ground to open and she’d willingly fall inside it.
“No, you don’t have to. You can continue.” He tells her, almost immediately and she nods slowly, looking up at him again. She swallows visibly, if someone had woken her up today and told her she’d be seeing the Lycan half n*ked today, she would’ve refuted badly but here she is now, kneeling in front of him.
Natalie starts to work again, trying to ignore the overwhelming presence of the man. She could feel his eyes on her even as he got dressed. Her entire b*dy was red and it wasn’t from embarrassment.
“Have you been going to Chrissy’s?” He casually asks suddenly. Natalie stopped what she was doing to look at him, her l*ps palmed into a thin line. “Yes, your grace.” She replied. He
hummed easily, glancing at her.
“You still haven’t gotten your wolf?” He asked, staring at her rather intently like he was waiting for something, something more than the answer she was about to give him. Natalie swallows hard, tensing slightly. She straightened her back, shaking her head.
“Not yet, your grace.” She replied quietly, unable to look away from his gaze. It drew her in, pulled her, and locked her in. She couldn’t look away, she didn’t want to.
A knock at the door had her flinching, bringing her back to her senses. She looked away, her hands shaking from the eyelock she just had.
The door squeaks open and the beta, Nathan walks in. In his hands was a pile of papers, he immediately looked over at where Natalie was currently kneeling. She lowers her head in respect and continues her work.
Nathan sighs and looks at Thorne. “These are some paperwork you need to sign. I have finally gotten them locked in and this the..” he stops, looking at Thorne whose eyes were still on Natalie.
“Alpha..” he trailed off, dropping the papers on the small reading table.
“I heard
you. We can talk about this in the office.” He tells Nathan.
“Come see me when you’re done, Natalie.” He says and she looks up, startled. “Y–yes.” She stammers, watching as the two men walk out of the room, shutting the door behind them. She lets out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding in.
Thorne walks through the hallway leading to the office, Nathan beside him.
“Have you found out why Jeffery is here? He hasn’t been here in over two decades and now he’s suddenly here?” Thorne asks and Nathan nods.
“He’s ran into some trouble from what I know. It’s huge and he can’t solve it himself. I believe that’s why he is here.” He says and Thorne stops in his steps, turning to look at Nathan who had also stopped by now.
“With whom?” He asked.
“It’s not a person. It’s a whole community our kind should never mix with.” Nathan whispers and this only makes Thorne slightly tense.
In his hundreds of years of living, there is just one clan they’ve never mixed with. One clan
they have always stayed away from and the other, from them too. Rouge witches. Rouge witches were ones that had been cast out of their covens for heinous crimes they’ve done. Under their coven, they had a law they could abide by but after being cast out, they were free to do as they wished, dealing in ways that pleased just them. Rouge witches have been terrorizing some packs in the east but haven’t dared to lay their hands on a pack under Thorne. They knew where their madness ended.
“You don’t mean..” Thorne trailed off and Nathan nodded, confirming it.
“He killed one of theirs, their leader’s pup. Now, his life is on the line. He knows if he comes to the kingdom even with the crime he has committed, the moment they step foot into the kingdom or do anything to the pack, they will be waging war against the kingdom. He’s here because he knows they wouldn’t dare.” Nathan finishes.
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