CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX
ANNA'S POV
My body went flying across the room as Mark kicked me. I was already too exhausted to even cry out. I could only crouch in a corner and hope that he was going to leave me alone. He had already worn me out the night before. I didn't know what I might have done this time that warranted a venting. I honestly didn't know why I even agreed to anything or any of the conditions that he gave after he told his father that I was his new mate. Because trust me, I was nothing more than a sex machine and a slave still.
I was to cook all his meals, clean the living room, and still somehow be ready for him when he was in the mood. I also wasn't allowed to leave his room. I wasn't even allowed to converse with the others. There was mini kitchen that he had managed to create in a corner of the room by himself. I knew that the other maids… in fact, every other person at the palace would like to talk to me. But it was worth the try right? I wasn't even allowed to have a peek of Violet. Even if that was the one thing that I wanted to do the most. I could only hear the maids when they were passing through, telling each other that her outfit that day looked fire. But I still wanted to see her. In flesh and blood. Even if I had offended her one too many times. I was still too curious.
I couldn't stop the tears from flowing when I figured out that Mark wasn't stopping there. He yanked my hair, making me cry out in pain.
“I'm sorry,” I begged, apologizing for something that I didn't even know I committed.
I knew that it either had to be that there was a spot on the glass table that I was cleaning, or that his father had somehow managed to get on his nerves.
He was trying so hard to be the perfect son… trying to replace Derek. But even he knows it now. That it was and is never easy to be like that. He was probably his father's favorite because he was childish. He still is his father's favorite. But now, the father wants someone that would be able to step up, represent the pack in different occasions , and say something meaningful and passionate. Or learn how to attend parties without somehow ending it all by hurling a bottle of wine across the wall. He never seemed to learn.
“Do you even know what you did?” He asked, yanking my hair and pulling chin higher at the same time.
I grabbed my hair away from his hands, and knelt down, holding his feet again. He kicked me just then. “Please, tell me what I did.”
“Why didn't you clean Derek up?” He asked, and I froze, narrowing my eyes in confusion.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked. “You specifically asked me not to do any of that.”
He attempted to hit me again, but I quickly moved out of his path. I didn't know how much longer I was going to a pawn in his fight for power.
“Did your father say something about it?” I asked, and he looked away. Of course.
“That's the reason why he hasn't handed the pack over to me just yet.”
I wanted to laugh. His father continuously used that statement to blackmail him, but he never listened. He wasn't ready to see what was right in front of him.
“Cleaning Derek up is the issue right?” I asked, and he didn't give me a response. “Fine. I'll go clean him up.”
Even in my exhausted state, I still managed to head out of the room. The pain in my stomach where he kicked me was able to kill. I still managed to stumble through the hallways, and into Derek's room. The room was in a better condition than it was the last time. I heard a few whispers that Amelia was taking it upon herself to clean him up. I didn't know if I was interested in that bit of information.
I headed to the bedroom immediately, fetching the pail of water and soap. I pushed him off the bed. For the first time, his eyes were closed. I didn't care if he was dead or not. But he was breathing at least. He probably didn't just want to look at me. I didn't need to see his eyes that were filled of pain and pity either. I was already going through my own bit of shit as well.
I mopped all the mess he had created, and sprayed air freshener around the room like my life depended on it. I honestly didn't have the energy to take him to the bathroom to start cleaning his mess over again. I wiped around his legs, and his face.
“Vivian,” I said, and his eyes opened wide immediately. “Oh you are awake?”
His eyes told me yes. To think he was once the kind of person that used to boss people around.
“Oh I didn't know you were here,” a voice said, and I turned back immediately. It was the same maid that said there was no cure for the whole thing.
“Yes, I am,” I said, trying to sound calm. “Come in.”
She lowered her head. “I came to clean up the Alpha. I didn't know you were already taking care of him.”
I nodded, getting a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My collar bones we're sticking out already, and I had bruises all over my face
I tried as much as I could, not to lift my hands to touch it.
The maid walked in, bowing her head. “Have you been able to find a cure?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“The priestess' arrival has been delayed. But I'm sure that when she returns, she will be able to find a cure for it all. Just have faith.”
Her calm voice did nothing to calm me. Guilt was still clawing in my heart. I didn't know if I was still being selfish towards him. It was my fault that he was in that position anyway.
At least all I had to do was taken care of him and hope that I wasn't going to get maltreated anymore. Maybe if he got better, then things will get better for me as well.
ROME'S POV
I could barely come out when I heard that Vivian was back in the pack. I didn't expect her to come back at any point in time. Hell, she had some nerve. I knew that I was supposed to be the first person that went to greet her, but I couldn't bring myself to face her.
I only watched her movements with Amelia. If anything, I could tell that there was something up between the both of them. I usually saw Amelia when she hauled herself through the window where Alpha Logan was said to have kept Vivian.
I was curious as to if she had gone to meet Alpha Derek. I knew that there was something going on in the pack, and I wanted find out more than anything. I had gone to meet Alpha Derek, but he was still the same. I knew that he would have changed if she had gone to see him. She had every right to be angry.
And even now when she walked through the gates with Amelia and her baby boy that looked exactly like Alpha Derek, she still didn't recognize me.
“What are you thinking about?” One of the maids asked, and I shook my head. It was almost like I was useless there in the pack. The only person that I used to help was bed ridden. He could barely even keep his eyes open.
“Nothing much. Just Alpha Derek.”
She sighed. “Well, even Vivian had refused to go see him.”
Just as I thought.
“I really don't know how things are going to get better in the pack. Alpha Logan too has become a changed man. He barely had time for his concubines anymore. It was almost like he had better things to do. Like he was making plans for something.”
I swallowed hard. If he was planning to do something, then I didn't know what exactly he was going to do.
I just hoped that he wasn't going to do something that was going to hurt any of them.