Chapter 66 066

Chapter 66 066
Aveline’s POV

Days passed, and I spent the time searching the palace library for anything on the stories about the Silver Wolf, since my wolf had decided not to speak. But I haven't had any luck. It was as if everything in the library had been carefully selected to omit anything related to that myth.

I had thought of giving up when the search became too intense, but I couldn’t. Something inside me refused to rest.

“But I will get back to it after I finish my training,” I muttered as I sprawled out of the library.

I headed toward the top of the mountain for the training session I was supposed to have with the Alpha, who had been gone for two days but promised to return for training.

I ran up the mountain, eager to see the Alpha waiting for me, but my smile dropped instantly when I saw Sir Zeric instead.

“Wow, that smile dropped so fast,” Sir Zeric taunted, and I rolled my eyes at him.

“What is Sir Zeric doing here? And where is His Majesty?” I demanded, unable to hide my displeasure.

“What are you training me for this time?” I asked, half expecting him to tell me to run down the mountain to fetch water again.

“I’m training you on how to contain your powers,” he said, and I gave him a strange look.

“Powers? Do I not have the average power like some other werewolves?” I asked, but the moment we began training, I realized my strength wasn’t average at all.

It wasn’t even close. It was almost disrespectful to compare. But at the end of it all, I was still a weak Omega. I couldn’t even land a punch on Sir Zeric, despite him telling me to attack.

The training session was horribly strenuous.

It would have been just as strenuous with the Alpha, but he would have made it intense in his own way.

By the time I got back to the palace, I was famished. Luckily it was lunchtime, so I headed to the dining hall with the other maids. The moment I walked in, they started clearing a path for me, stepping aside as if I were a plague. I didn’t bother with them.

It might have bothered me before, but now I didn’t care enough to be affected. I grabbed my food, sat down, and began eating like someone who had been starved because that was exactly how I felt after Sir Zeric’s torture.

As I ate, the whispers grew louder, too loud to ignore.

“How can she have the nerve to eat after what she did to that poor girl? She’s definitely a monster,” one girl said among the crowd. I dropped my cutlery at her words.

I thought of ignoring her and leaving the dining hall, but her next sentence made my blood boil.

“Maybe that’s what she gets for staying close to the Alpha. He must have rubbed his monstrous ways on her.”

Gasps erupted around us.

The girl realized her mistake immediately. She tried to run, but I stopped her. “Not so fast, miss,” I rasped as I stood up.

I wasn’t angry that she called me a monster. I was furious because she dragged Draven into her insults. I remembered when I had once called him such things, and I felt ashamed. He was the kindest person I knew—how could they treat him so horribly?

I walked toward the girl with my food tray, watching her shrink back in fear. It unsettled me, intimidating someone when I had always been the one intimidated.

“Did you say I’m a monster? And did you call the Alpha a monster?” I breathed, biting my lower lip hard enough that I almost tasted blood.

“No… I didn’t..” she stammered, and I was tempted to slam the tray onto her, but then Sir Zeric’s words from training echoed in my mind:

“No matter how provoked you get, don’t let it control you.”

Clinging to that reminder, I turned around and walked out of the dining hall, heading straight for the maids’ quarters.

My anger simmered as I wondered why no one stood up for him, despite the derogatory words that the maid spewed. It made my heart ache for him.

And it made me miss him even more.

I hadn’t seen him for two days since he left for Alpha duties, yet he was supposed to return today. Why couldn’t he just come back already?

“Aveline!” Thalia’s voice called behind me as she hurried towards me.

“What’s going on?” I asked, frowning at her. Thalia and I hadn’t exactly been on good terms, not because of any fight, but because we simply drifted apart. So I could only wonder what she wanted now.

“What do you want from me?” I asked, noticing something off about her.

She was panting hard, a cunning smirk curling on her lips. Something about her felt strange. Instinctively, I became guarded. I couldn’t trust anyone at that moment, not even myself.

“I want to show you something,” she said as she grabbed my hand, but I snatched it away. Her behavior made my suspicions grow.

“You haven’t even told me where we’re going.”

“Do you not trust me, Aveline? I found an awesome spot, and I wanted to share it with you.”

Her words tugged at something in me, so I decided not to push her away. I followed.

“Where are we going? Are we leaving the palace like this? We might get punished,” I reminded her, glancing back at the garden we slipped through.

“Why are you scared? It’s not like this is your first time sneaking out of the palace. And who’s going to punish you?” she joked, but something in her tone rubbed me the wrong way.

Her voice was laced with contempt, hard, sharp, unmistakable, and uneasiness settled in my chest. I wanted to turn back, but I pushed forward.

We only stopped when we reached the top of a cliff, where Lady Yana waited with several men. I didn’t need to ask what was happening, I already knew. Still, I stayed quiet, studying the area, searching for any possible escape route.

“I brought her, my Lady,” Thalia said, and Lady Yana smiled at her.

I glanced at Thalia, and my heart broke. I had been right. But what had Lady Yana promised her?

“Well, well… is this not Aveline? The most talked-about woman in the palace. The woman who has been sleeping with the Alpha,” she sneered, her voice dripping with hate. My breathing grew erratic as she approached.

“What is this all about, Your Grace?” I asked, stepping back, instinctively trying to keep distance. I didn’t feel safe with her, not even close.

“Are you asking why you’re here?” she hummed. “Hmm… You’re here to die.”

I froze.

Here to die? What were they talking about?