Chapter 28 Chapter 28
ANNA'S POV
I couldn’t stop thinking about what Elijah had said.
Damon wanted to kill me on my birthday…
I laughed quietly in my head—a slight chuckle that surprised even me. How ridiculous. He was telling me all those lies, as if I would ever believe him.
He was so jealous.
He was jealous—of Damon, and of the fact that I’d learned to live without him. He was jealous because, in the end, he was the one who left me behind and chose my best friend over me.
Maybe I should have some fun with Damon. Maybe I should get him riled up. Maybe I should do something to make him mad—show him that I wasn’t afraid of him, that he couldn’t control me.
He betrayed me once. He chose my best friend over me, and now he had the audacity to tell me what to do? To act like he knew better?
Absolutely not!
I shook my head, trying to push the thoughts away. I had other things to think about—like the castle chores, the kitchens, and surviving the day without tripping over my own feet.
I was walking past the main kitchen when I noticed a commotion. Pots clanged, fire flared, and the smell of roasting meat and baking bread mixed together in a stormy, chaotic way. Maids slipped past each other like dancers in a strange, hurried ballet.
Something was going on...
And then I felt it.
A sharp tug on my ear.
“Ow! Stop it!” I yelped, hopping forward as I realized my stepmother had appeared behind me.
“You’re joining them,” she announced coldly, dragging me into the center of the kitchen. “Now!”
My face heated instantly. Most of the maids were staring at us already. Some tried to hide their smiles while others rolled their eyes. I planted my hands on my hips, glaring at my stepmother.
“You can’t make me cook!” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.
“Oh, I can,” she shot back smoothly. “And I will. Now, move!”
I groaned and followed her instructions, shuffling into the middle of the chaos. The maids handed me knives, cutting boards, and vegetables without a word, as if this had been planned all along.
As I set to work chopping onions, I tried to think about something other than Elijah.
I mean, really.
He had so much audacity.
He left me for Amanda—chose her to be his Luna while I stood there… powerless, unworthy, and still a maid.
This man once swore he loved me. He would sneak into the servants’ quarters just to see me, whisper my name like it meant something, kiss me like I was the only one in the world. He said he’d fight for me—that one day, the world would know I was his.
And I was foolish enough to believe him.
Every night, I waited. Every promise, I held close like a fool clutching broken glass. I thought we were something real, something worth hiding for now but fighting for later. But when the time came, he didn’t fight for me.
He didn’t even look back.
He picked her—Amanda, the perfect daughter of an Elder. And me? I was just the secret he buried. I was just the mistake he pretended never existed.
Now he stood there, warning me that his brother was dangerous, that I should trust him, that he wanted to protect me.
Protect me?
From where I stood, he was the danger. He’d already killed the part of me that believed in him once, and I wasn’t about to let him destroy whatever was left.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even notice the conversation among the other girls at first—they were gossiping, giggling, and running back and forth—but then one of them mentioned something about the Alpha Kings.
“The Alpha Kings are coming,” she announced quietly, her eyes moving quickly to the kitchen door to make sure no one else was hearing their conversation.
I froze.
“What?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.
“They’re arriving soon,” another girl whispered, busy stirring a pot. “You’ll have to… you know, be ready.”
I frowned. “Be ready for what?”
The first girl leaned closer. “There’s a dance. A… special dance. It’s the one a selected maid has to do when the Alpha Kings visit.”
I blinked. “What?!”
She nodded slowly, her voice dropping to a whisper in fear as she spoke. “Yes, Anna. They come to the castle, and the head maid chooses one maid for the dance. You have to do whatever they ask—strip, lap dance… whatever. Some of the Alpha Kings want more than that sometimes, and you’ll have to… please them.”
For a moment, I just stared at her. My mind went blank.
Please them?
Did she mean sexually satisfy them?
What the hell!?!
Her words replayed in my head. My stomach turned, and I tried to speak, but all that came out was a shaky breath. “So… you’re saying the maid they choose—she just… belongs to them for the night?”
She didn’t answer right away. Her eyes moved away from mine, and that silence was worse than any answer.
I felt my throat tighten, my chest heavy with disbelief. “That’s not dancing,” I whispered. “That’s…” The rest of the word stuck in my throat.
I didn’t want to say it.
Was that what they expected of me? To stand before those men—those kings—and let them touch me like I was some sex toy meant to be used and tossed aside?
The thought made me feel sick. My hands started to shake, and I took a step back. “No,” I breathed. “I can’t. I won’t. That’s not—”
But I stopped, because the look in their eyes told me everything. This wasn’t a choice.
It was an order.
And if I refused… I didn’t even want to imagine what they’d do to me.
It sounded ridiculous.
There was no way anyone would agree to that!
Another of the girls continued. “Luckily for you, your stepmother is the head maid. She’s… well, she’s extremely cruel, but I don’t think she will pick you for something that humiliating. She’s your stepmother. She will probably pick another maid to dance for the Kings.”
I frowned, confused.
Lucky? Well, maybe they were right.
My stepmother was cruel—she made my life miserable, sure—but maybe she had her limits. Maybe she wouldn’t humiliate her own stepdaughter like that. Even if she was terrible, maybe she still had some sense of decency buried in there somewhere.
I tried to focus on the chopping of the vegetables, but my hands shook. The castle was still preparing for the Alpha Kings. Every detail, every dish, and every decoration mattered.
And I… might be the one who got chosen to dance for them.
Hours passed like that. We cooked, washed, chopped, stirred, baked, and organized. I tried not to think about what the girls had said. I tried not to picture what that dance might look like—or how it might feel if I was chosen.
Then the trumpet sounded.
It was a single, long, clear note, and it echoed through the castle halls.
The kitchen froze and every maid stopped in her tracks. Even the fire seemed to hesitate in its crackling.
“The Alpha Kings are here...” one of the maids whispered.
My stomach turned.
It didn’t take long for my stepmother to enter the kitchen, her heels clicking sharply on the floor.
She didn’t speak at first, but we all knew she was here to pick a maid that would be the sexual object for the Kings.
Then she suddenly stopped—standing perfectly still, her gaze moving over each of us carefully.
Unfortunately, her eyes rested on me.
I froze. My heart hammered in my chest. My mind screamed at me to step back, to hide, to run, and to disappear—but I couldn’t.
She studied me silently, tilting her head as though considering a puzzle. I swallowed hard. She wouldn’t pick me, right? She wouldn’t... She couldn’t. She was my stepmother—cruel as she was—but she wouldn’t choose me for something so humiliating.
Then she spoke.
“Anna,” she called out, a smirk curving her lips. “You’ve been chosen!”
I froze completely.
My heart stopped.
“Me?” I whispered.
“Yes. You!”
I couldn’t breathe.
My stepmother’s eyes didn’t leave my sight. She had chosen me, and there was no arguing with her. I gripped the edge of the counter, trying to brace myself, but I felt weaker.
The other maids stared at me silently. Some widened their eyes in shock and gossiped about the situation, but I didn’t care. I could barely hear them over the pounding of my own heart.
I took a shaky breath, trying to regain control of myself, but I couldn’t.
The Alpha Kings were already here.
And unfortunately, I was the one chosen to serve them.