Chapter 5 Chapter 5
ANNA’S POV
I didn’t wake up on time.
When I did, it felt like my whole body ached. For a moment, I didn’t even know where I was, but I knew the sheets underneath me weren’t mine.
And that was when I remembered everything that happened last night.
The one-night stand with a stranger.
My chest tightened as I remembered everything—the way he gave me seven positions under seven minutes. How was that even possible? I was extremely drunk, and yet I remembered and loved every second of it.
I turned my head to the side and froze. The space beside me was empty. The pillow still had a faint shape where he’d slept, but it was cold.
He was long gone before I could wake up.
“What the hell?” I groaned, pushing myself up slowly. My hair fell over my face as I looked around. The floor was messy—two glasses, one tipped over.
But the stranger was nowhere to be found.
My stomach twisted, and I pressed my hand to my forehead, disappointed in myself. “He left,” I murmured under my breath. “Of course he left.”
It really was a one-night stand.
I hadn’t planned it. I hadn’t even known what I was doing when I walked into the club.
But I remembered how his voice sounded when he spoke to me. I remembered how his eyes looked when they met mine across the room. The way he had listened when I told him I was tired of everything. The way he insulted Elijah when we were having sex without even knowing him,
“He’s a fool for losing you.”
Yeah, right.
I groaned softly and leaned against the headboard, still disappointed with myself for being seduced by an attractive stranger. “You’re such an idiot, Anna.”
It wasn’t just what I did. It was everything — how I’d let myself believe in him, in love, in happy endings. How I thought I could be different. And the worst thing was that he’d left before I even woke up.
My eyes burned, and I rubbed at them quickly, refusing to cry again. The sunlight came through the curtains, landing across the floor. I frowned and reached for my dress, half-folded near the chair, but as soon as I saw the clock on the table, my heart dropped.
“Oh no,” I gasped. “No, no, no!”
I was late.
So late...
If my stepmother found out I hadn’t been home all night—if she even guessed where I’d been—she’d kill me.
When I finally stepped outside, I started walking fast—then running. My heart pounded as I headed back toward the castle. The path through the woods felt endless, and I knew I was going to be torn apart before I reached my destination.
What if someone had seen me? What if word reached the castle that I’d been at that kind of club? I’d be finished. My stepmother would tear me apart before the gossip even spread.
By the time I reached the castle gates, my legs were shaking. I slowed, trying to catch my breath, but my chest burned with fear.
She was waiting.
My stepmother stood near the entrance, her arms crossed tightly. The moment she saw me, her eyes narrowed at me in anger. “Where have you been?” she demanded. “You were gone all night!”
I froze. “I—”
“Don’t even try to lie!” she snapped. “Look at you. You smell like cheap perfume and filth.”
Her words hit me like slaps, and I bowed my head, my hands trembling. “I just needed fresh air...” I lied quietly, hoping she'd believe me.
But she didn't.
“Fresh air?” she hissed. “You think you can disappear like that? You think you can run away from me?”
“I’m sorry...” I murmured.
“You should be!” Her lips curled into a bitter smile. “Though, to be honest, I wouldn’t have minded if you never came back. You’ve been a burden since the day your mother died.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. The words weren’t new, but they still hurt so badly.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” I apologized again.
It was all I could say.
She smirked. “Now listen carefully, Anna. I’ve been promoted to the head maid of the castle. We’ll be living here from now on.”
My head jerked up. “What?”
Her smile grew crueler as she looked at me. “Oh, don’t look so surprised. You should be happy. Now you’ll get to see Alpha Elijah and your best friend in love every day. Maybe you’ll learn what a real woman looks like.”
My lips parted, but no words came. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted to scream, to tell her how cruel she was, but what would be the point?
She’d only laugh at me.
So I nodded weakly. “Yes, Mother.”
“Now get changed and join the other maids. There’s plenty of work to do in the Pack's kitchen today.”
I turned away before she could see my tears. I hated her. I hated myself even more for being too weak to fight her.
As I walked down the corridor toward the servants’ quarters, I could hear the other maids gossiping about something.
The air buzzed with excitement.
“What’s going on?” I asked one of them.
“You didn’t hear?” she said, eyes wide. “Alpha Elijah’s brother has returned.”
“Brother?” I repeated.
“Yes! Damon Darkburn. No one’s seen him for years. Some say he left after a fight with his brother. Others say he’s a dangerous hybrid that was banished, but he’s back after all these years.”
Dangerous...
The word sent a small shiver down my spine because I instantly knew Elijah's brother would be as wicked as he was.
We entered the hall, and everything went quiet.
The room was decorated gorgeously to celebrate his return. Soldiers lined the walls, servants stood still, and at the far end of the hall stood a man.
He was facing the window, his hands clasped behind his back so I couldn't see his face.
Not yet...
His shoulders were broad, and the air around him felt intense, like he carried power without needing to say a word.
Suddenly, he turned to look at me, and my heart skipped a beat.
It was him.
It was the stranger from last night.
For a second, everything around me vanished—the hall, the people, the murmurs. All I could see was his face, the same calm eyes, the same faint scar near his jaw. He looked even more dangerous now, dressed in black with a silver crest on his chest.
My breath stopped.
No. No, it couldn’t be.
I could feel my pulse in my throat.
The man who I had a one-night stand with last night—the man I had trusted with my body, the stranger who had vanished before dawn—was Damon Darkburn.
Elijah’s brother...