29

29
The next day...

General maids' quarters.

This fairly large single-story building had several rooms separated by a long and spacious hallway.

Residing here were those who weren't assigned to a particular household. They were headed by the chief maid, Onyx Ingwald, who would assign them daily tasks. 

However, she had no control over those bound to certain households in the pack, nor could she punish them if they committed a wrong. The most she would do was make a complaint about them to their master whenever there was an opportunity.

The few ones with unchanged roles, though, served in the pack's kitchen.

In the backyard of this structure was an ideal spot for laundry. Katelyn, now all cleaned up, was perched on a wooden stool and washing clothes by hand.

Her silver tresses were swept up in a messy bun, and her plain and loose-fitting black gown had been dampened by her perspiration.

She dunked the garment she had just laundered into the water in the adjacent basin and then used the hem of her dress to dab the sheen of sweat on her forehead.

After she had finished wringing the rinsed clothes and placing them into a sizable bucket, she rose to her feet and grasped its handle. Then she headed to the section ahead that had unoccupied clotheslines.

By the time she returned, she was dismayed to find two more heaps of clothes awaiting her. And most of them were white, some of which had various stains which needed her to handle them sedulously.

She had been doing laundry for over two hours now. She thought it was finally over, only to see these…

She curled her trembling fingers into fists, grappling with the pressing urge to gnash her teeth or, worse yet, initiate partial transformation.

Katelyn walked to where the clothes were, and the sight of them made the anger she felt spike. Ultimately, she failed to resist.

She let out an angry, frustrated yell and kicked the clothes, scattering their formation. She also upturned the washing bowls and tossed the steel bucket into the hallway. Her chest rose and fell rapidly; she was on the verge of initiating partial transformation.

“Luna Katelyn, why are you not working?” A familiar voice caught her attention.

The voice’s owner soon emerged from the hallway, dressed in a simple pale green gown.

Katelyn cast a glare at the young lady, internally wishing to beat the blazes out of the female right now. “Why are you here?” she asked through gritted teeth.

The latter, however, looked unfazed; she was even leisurely munching on an apple. The fruit’s fragrance wafted over, making Katelyn's gut declare its needs unabashedly.

Xoey’s eyes were immediately drawn to the Luna’s belly. “Oh, you’re hungry?” She took out another apple from her left pocket and extended her left hand. “Here, you can have it.”

"Keep that germ-infested thing to yourself!" Katelyn spat.

"Oh?" Xoey lifted a brow as she kept back the fruit. "Really?" She asked again before taking another bite from the apple in her right hand.

"I'm not done yet with my assigned task, and you're preventing me from doing that!" The Luna snapped.

"Really?"

That annoying question again. The Luna was on the verge of losing it.

"It doesn't look like it to me, though," Xoey pointed at the clothes that were strewn about. "Why did you scatter them?"

"Mind the way you talk to me, Xoey. You're just a maid!" Katelyn couldn't help but lash out.

"I never forgot that, Luna Katelyn. In terms of wolf rank, you are indeed superior to me."

The Luna crossed her arms before her chest, "It's good you have some awareness."

"However... in terms of beauty, even while in your prime, I'm not inferior. But I don't desire the Alpha even a bit; I only admire him as the respected ruler that he is. You, on the other hand... your status as Luna is very unstable. And... your freedom currently depends on your obedience in doing the chores I assigned you."

"How dare you speak to me in such a manner?" Katelyn fumed. She didn't need this bitch to remind her of her horrible circumstances.

Xoey shook her head in pity, letting out a sigh that further incensed the latter.

"Why are you asking others to bring their stinky laundry to me? Are their hands just decorations?" The Luna raged.

She felt that some of these clothes were not dirty originally. It seemed like the owners deliberately made them this soiled, just to give her a hard time. Whoever they were, they’d better pray she never knew their identity, because they would be dead game if otherwise.

"I should be asking you the same regarding your brain and ears," Xoey responded, looking quite unbothered.

Katelyn's brows knitted together, "What?"

"I'm starting to think they must be brand new, otherwise I don't get why you would be complaining when all you were asked to do was handle the laundry."

"It's beneath my status," The Luna retorted.

At that, the Omega scoffed a mocking laugh, "Beneath your status, you say? Then was it your apparition on the training grounds yesterevening, rolling over shamelessly on the floor, barking like a dog? Who was it that repeatedly leaped with her hands tugging at her ears?"

"..." Katelyn found herself at a loss for words.

"Answer me!" The maid thundered, startling her.

"You don't need to yell at me. I..." she exhaled defeatedly, "Yes, it was me. But then..."

Xoey cut her short, "I didn't ask you to scrub dirty floors. I know quite well the floor will be even dirtier than it was before you met it.”

The Luna parted her lips upon hearing the latter’s words.

‘That’s demeaning!’ she thought unhappily.

But Xoey didn’t stop there. “I didn't ask you to feed the alpha's pet snakes. Neither did I give you the task of cooking, because I know better than to have you create a poisonous weapon.”

Katelyn felt like speaking up. Yes, she might not be very good at cooking, but she definitely wouldn’t make something that tasted like poison.

“You’re going too far with this,” she told Bellatrix’s maid, her mouth set in a tight line.

Pretending not to hear what the Luna had just said, Xoey continued speaking, much to the latter’s dismay. “I didn't ask you to go about cleaning all the hallways with many watching you like you were some kind of newly discovered species in a zoo.”

“Xoey, stop insulting me!” Katelyn raged, grappling with the urge to just encircle her fingers around the latter’s neck and hurl her into the hallway. This dark-skinned female was really getting on her nerves.

Xoey paused and stared at her briefly before continuing her speech.

“I was considerate towards you, Luna, because I knew how much pride you had. At least with this work, you will be away from most prying eyes, and you can get to sit while working and even enjoy the breeze here. But instead of being grateful, you're making me seem bad."

Katelyn’s response was to purse her lips and avert her gaze, trying not to look affected.

"Since you don't want to do laundry, that's fine; it's perfectly fine. Come with me," After saying that, Xoey turned to leave, her aggrieved look changing to a smirk that Katelyn couldn't see.

"I... I'll just do the laundry." Katelyn didn't know why she had this ominous feeling in her gut, but her instincts screamed not to follow the maid.

The latter paused in her tracks and spoke without pivoting.

"Don't make me repeat my order, Luna. Unless..." Xoey whipped her head to look at the now-anxious Katelyn, "... you'd like to stay in the cell once more,"

Xoey's sinister smirk actually sent a chill running down the Luna's spine.

She was shocked.

How was that possible? For a higher-ranked werewolf like her to be momentarily afraid of a bottom chain she-wolf?

Probably it was because she had the Alpha's backing or because of the word 'cell'.

Unwilling as she was, she still followed after Xoey, her hands clasped in front of her, her expression uncertain.

She ignored the mixed reactions displayed by others, pretending not to hear their mocking remarks or see their fingers rudely pointing at her.

°°°

Several minutes later...

They ultimately halted at the pack's large woodshed.

Katelyn, who had kept her head lowered all this while as she walked after Xoey, was forced to ask.

"W-why did you bring me here?" Although she tried to hide it, her voice was tremulous.

There were three piles of oak logs and two stacks of beech logs not far from the almost empty woodshed. There was also an oak tree stump close to them, and a sledge axe was leaning against it.

"Don't worry, Luna. Just... chill out," Xoey said, making a placatory gesture. "I brought you here for a good purpose."

Her words didn't reassure the disquieted Luna; if anything, it only heightened her concern.

"From tomorrow, this... will be your new workplace, Luna."

Katelyn's face paled. Her fears had come to pass.

"W-what?" She stuttered.

Ignoring her miserable appearance, the latter continued, "All you need is that axe and the tree stump over there. You can rest as much as you want. Just make sure you split 30 logs daily. It would be a piece of cake for you, I know,”

The Luna gaped at the maid, who was temporarily her master.

“T-thirty logs?” she asked, still unable to register the reality before her.

Xoey smiled brightly, “Yes, Luna. You heard right. For a high-ranking werewolf like yourself, it’s going to be like a walk in the park. Oh, and you don’t need to thank me. I know I’m very considerate, to a fault, if I may add,”

“You…” Katelyn was speechless at the latter’s thick face.

“It’s alright, I know you want to shed tears of joy, but you can keep them for tomorrow, when I’m not around, okay? For now, let’s go back to your current workplace. I originally planned to let you rest for the remaining hours of the day after you're done with those clothes, but since you’ve shown disrespect and ungratefulness, you’re going to be punished with five more mounds of clothes. Make sure they’re very clean, otherwise, you’ll rewash them. That I can assure you,”

Xoey started walking forward.

Katelyn, however, remained transfixed in her spot, feeling a meld of negative emotions, her whole being shaking.

“Why are you doing this to me?! What did I ever do to you? You’re making things tough for me just because you temporarily have the Alpha’s support, right? I promise you, once I regain favour in his eyes, I’ll have you fed to his pet snakes,”

The maid stopped in her tracks but didn’t turn around. “Well… till then. I’ll be waiting.” With that said, Xoey continued walking. “Don’t dally, otherwise, I’ll go find the Alpha to motivate your lazy ass,”

“You! You’ll surely regret this! You and your ugly mistress.” The Luna seethed, her eyes glazed with fury.

“If I get to the maids' quarters before you, you’d be the one regretting ever scheming against my mistress,” Xoey said without pausing for a moment, her pace increasing rather.

Though disgruntled, Katelyn knew she had to obey. She wouldn’t want to go back to that murky cell. Never.

On returning to the backyard of the maid’s quarters, Xoey watched as the Luna rearranged everything she had scattered.

Just as she finally sat down to resume her task, Xoey warned her.

“At your new workplace, if there are no logs to split on any day, all you have to do is kneel in the pack square and wait for anyone to send you an errand, otherwise, you will kneel for the entirety of that day."

Katelyn set her jaw, casting a peeved gaze at the maid, but the latter ignored it and simply pivoted on her foot.

Once she’d left, Katelyn let out an angry yell, sinking her nails into the flesh of her palms, gnashing her teeth. “You bitch, I’ll surely kill you and that stupid Bellatrix!” she spat, her chest heaving.

She never imagined she'd end up this way. She hated it.