Chapter 33 Elara's POV
The pack house was in chaos the morning after the attack.
I could hear it from my room running footsteps, urgent voices, the sound of wounded wolves being brought in for treatment. The smell of blood and fear permeated everything.
I wanted to help and wanted to do something useful. But every time I tried to leave my quarters, the guards stationed outside my door gently but firmly turned me back.
"Alpha's orders, miss you are to stay in your quarters for your safety."
So I stayed trapped and useless with my pack because despite everything I have suffered. This was still my pack.
A soft knock on my door made me turn.
"Come in."
The door opened and a familiar face appeared, Kara.
"Miss Elara?" Her voice was hesitant.
"I brought you some tea. And... I thought you might want company. If you are feeling up to it."
I smiled, grateful for any distraction. "Please come in. I have been going crazy here alone."
Kara entered, carrying a tray with tea and some small pastries. She set it on the table near the window and poured us both cups.
"How are you feeling?" She asked. "After... after what happened with the poison."
"Better physically, at least." I took the cup she offered. "I'm sorry about Sarah, I heard you two were close."
Kara's eyes filled with tears. "She was like a sister to me. We grew up together and started working in the pack house on the same day."
She wiped her eyes. "She didn't deserve to die like that fighting in a battle she barely trained for."
"No one deserves to die like that."
We sat in silence for a moment, sipping our tea.
"Can I ask you something?" Kara said finally.
"Of course."
"Why did Selena try to poison you? Everyone is talking about it, but no one seems to know why she would target you specifically."
I considered how much to say. Kaden hadn't revealed the truth about our bond, about the baby. He must have his reasons for keeping it secret. I needed to respect that, even if I didn't fully understand it.
"I don't know," I lied. "Maybe she saw me as a threat somehow."
"A threat to what? She was going to be Luna. She had everything."
"Had been the key word." I said quietly.
Kara nodded. "I never liked her, none of the servants did. She was cruel, always finding fault, always punishing people for the smallest mistakes."
Something in her tone made me look up. "Did she... Did she ever hurt you?"
"Not me specifically but I saw what she did to others. Especially the omegas." Kara set down her teacup.
"She seemed to particularly enjoy making their lives miserable like she needed to prove she was better than them."
A fragment of memory flickered through my mind. Selena's face, twisted with contempt. Her voice is sharp and cutting.
"You are nothing but a weak omega, you will always be nothing."
"She did that to me too, didn't she?" I asked.
"Before I lost my memory she was cruel to me."
Kara looked uncomfortable. "Yes she was very cruel."
"Tell me please, I need to know what my life was like before."
Kara took a deep breath. "You worked in the kitchens. You were quiet, kept to yourself mostly. But Selena and the head maid… seemed to have it out for you specifically more than the other omegas."
"Why?"
"I don't know for certain but I think..." Kara hesitated. "I think it had something to do with the Alpha."
My heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"
"There were rumors, nothing confirmed, just whispers among the staff. That the Alpha had noticed you looked at you differently than he looked at others. And Selena noticed she became even worse after that, more vicious."
So even before the bond, before everything fell apart, Selena had seen me as a threat.
"What did she do?" I asked quietly.
Kara's expression darkened. "She made sure you got the worst assignments. The dirtiest jobs. She had the head maid discipline you for things that weren't your fault she spread rumors about you being lazy, incompetent, a troublemaker."
More memories surfaced standing in the servant quarters, being berated by the head maid while other servants looked on with pity or satisfaction.
"You are worthless, Elara can't even clean a floor properly."
Being assigned to scrub the entire kitchen alone after a feast, working through the night while my hands bled from the harsh cleaning chemicals.
Walking through the pack house and hearing whispers, seeing servants turn away from me, excluding me from their groups.
"And the other servants?" I asked. "Did they join in?"
Kara looked ashamed. "Some did, some just stayed quiet because they were afraid of becoming targets themselves. And some..."
She met my eyes. "Some of us tried to help when we could, and slipped you extra food. Took some of your work when no one was looking. But we were scared of Selena too."
I understood fear made people do terrible things. Or rather, made them not do the right things.
"The guards were the worst though," Kara continued. "They took their cues from Selena, made inappropriate comments and blocked your way in the hallways just to make you late for work. Laughed when you struggled with heavy loads."
Anger flared in my chest not just at the memories, but at the injustice of it all. I had been treated like garbage because one woman was jealous and everyone else was too afraid to stand up to her.
"Why didn't anyone tell the Alpha?" I asked.
Kara laughed bitterly. "Tell the Alpha that his future Luna was abusing the staff? Who would believe us? Selena came from a powerful family. She had connections, we were just servants."
"But Kaden….the Alpha….he would have listened, wouldn't he?"
"Would he? He barely noticed the servants existed and we were invisible to him. Why would he care about one omega being mistreated?"
The words stung because they might have been true. Before the bond, before he knew me, would Kaden have cared?
"Selena was supposed to be Luna.” Kara said.
"The pack elders arranged it as a political alliance between powerful families. She was raised believing that position was hers by right.”
“That's why she was so furious when you appeared in the Alpha's quarters. She saw you as stealing what belonged to her."
I said nothing. Let Kara believe that the only reason I was in Kaden's quarters was because of the poisoning. It was easier than explaining the truth.