Chapter Seventeen

I staggered into my room and fell on my bed before shooting up when my body hit the wet mattress. If forgotten that I'd been woken up this morning with a splash of water.

As I stood staring at my bed, finally the tears poured down and that was how the next servant who came to call me met me; curled on the hard floor, in a pool of my own tears.

She stood by the door watching me and as soon as I caught a glimpse of her, I quickly quieted down, wiping my face.

She cleared her throat. “Matilda has asked you to report to the kitchen for your lunch.” And with that, she scurried away.

I picked myself up from the floor and headed to the kitchen. The house was quieter than it usually was by afternoons so quietly, I made my way to the kitchen which was a lot busier with the servants who trooped in for their lunch break.

I took the plate the cook passed to me and murmured thanks before settling down by the corner and eating my food silently. I felt like an outcast, raucous laughter rang out from the rest of the servants as they chatted and teased each other but no one spoke to me, no one even bothered to spare me a glance.

Ada wasn't here and I wondered where she was but I couldn't ask anyone about her so I finished what I had on my plate before standing up to dump it amongst the other heap.

“You must be glad, eh?” A bulky man in a riding outfit asked, coming to stand in front of me, blocking me.

At once, silence fell over the kitchen and I felt everyone’s eyes turn to me. A look of confusion dawned on my face. “Excuse me?”

His eyes turned malicious. “You saunter in this pack and bring disarray acting like you are better than everyone else. You must be looking down on the rest of us, right? We are mere servants and our lives don't matter but let me tell you this, you are no better than us, daughter of a monster!”

A chill ran through my spine and a wave of embarrassment coursed through my blood. I took in a breath and tried to sidestep him but he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back roughly so that my back slammed against the counter.

“You killed Marcellus, you can't pretend to be one of us after causing the death of one of us and you should feel sorry about it!” He spat.

“Why should I?” I retorted, feeling the remaining fragments of self-control I had fading away. “He got what he deserved and you should be careful too. Marcellus was a useless dirtbag, a piece of shit and if you are mad about his death then stand in front of the Alpha and challenge him!”

A round of gasps echoed through the kitchen, slicing through silence and I watched as the man before me reddened with each passing second, the rage he felt deepening. He opened his mouth and closed it, spluttering through unspoken words.

“But you can't, can you? Because like Marcellus and every other person here, you enjoy picking on those you consider lower than you. You belittle and bully me to feel good about yourself because that's all you can do!” I snapped.

“You fucking little thing! How dare you?” He roared, yanking me forward and lifting his other hand to hit me and I watched as realization dawned on him, raw fear flashing in his eyes, his hand hanging in the air.

“Come on now, Gabe,” the cook spoke up finally, her voice urging. “Let the girl be unless it's your body that's going to be lying cold on the ground of the courtyard soon enough when the Alpha hears of this.”

“Yeah,” another person murmured in agreement. “Let her be, she’ll get what is coming eventually.”

“Scarlett?” A voice called quietly from the door and I turned to see Ada standing by the entrance, a look of worry in her expression.

Gabe finally released me and with one last scathing glare at me, he stormed off. I let out a shuddering breath and walked out of the kitchen, noticing how people parted to let me pass, their hardened eyes watching me closely.

“What was that?” Ada asked. “Did Gabe hurt you? Ignore him, he's only mad because he was very close to Marcellus, they're two equally terrible men.”

I was fighting back tears. Was there any use of remaining here? I would be better off on my own, I'd find a way to survive outside the Nightshade pack, and as long as I had something to eat and rested a bit, I knew to trust that my wolf would fight off any threat.

‘No!’ her defiance echoed through me. ‘Our mate is here and…”

“Shut up!” I responded in frustration. “Rowan is not my mate and I don't care what you say. If he was I wouldn't be suffering for a crime I didn't commit so shut that part up and let me be.”

“Scarlett?” Ada asked, pulling me from my thoughts and back to reality where I realized I'd stopped in the middle of the hall. “Is everything alright? Are you… Are you crying?”

I didn't know when a tear had fallen down my eyes but I roughly wiped it away, hating how vulnerable and pathetic it made me. I hated crying, hated how weak I was perceived in the pack, hated that I was bearing the brunt of something and had to suffer the constant bullying of every member of the pack and now I was done with it.

I was going to flee the pack and I didn't care what Rowan had to say.

“I'm fine, “ I said. I wasn't yet but I was going to be eventually. I was done.

“Great, because Master Gideon has a book on mate and seems to know something about it so come on.” she linked arms with me excitedly as she pulled me toward the pack's library.