Chapter 37: You're Here To Convince The Alpha, Not Me.

Chapter 37: You're Here To Convince The Alpha, Not Me.
Seraphine found Harris in the east courtyard before supper.

He was leaning against the stone wall with a cup of wine, looking at nothing in particular, which was something Seraphine had noticed about him. Harris always looked like he was doing nothing. She had learned enough about powerful men to know that the ones who looked like they were doing nothing were usually the ones doing the most.

"Lord Harris," she said, approaching with a smile. "I was hoping to find you."

Harris looked at her pleasantly. "Lady Seraphine. Are you enjoying your stay?"

"Very much." She stopped beside him and looked out at the courtyard. "It is a beautiful pack. The Alpha runs it well."

"He does," Harris agreed.

A comfortable silence. Seraphine let it breathe for a moment before she continued.

"I could not help but notice," she said casually, "that you pay particular attention to the Alpha's maidservant."

Harris said nothing. His expression did not change.

"I only mention it," Seraphine continued, "because I find myself in a situation where I could use a friend in this palace. Someone who understands how things work here. Someone with influence." She turned to look at him. "My father's alliance comes with considerable political weight, as I am sure you know. Trade routes. Military support. Access to the southern territories." She paused. "Those benefits could be directed in many directions. Not just toward the Alpha."

Harris turned his cup slowly in his hand.

"That is a generous offer," he said.

"It is a practical one," Seraphine said. "I am not a woman who wastes time on sentiment. I know what I want and I know what stands in the way of it." She held his gaze. "Help me remove the obstacle and the rewards are significant."

Harris looked at her for a long moment.

Then he smiled. That warm, easy smile that meant absolutely nothing.

"You are very direct," he said.

"I find it saves time."

"Mmhm." He took a sip of his wine. "Let me think about it."

Seraphine studied him. She had expected either enthusiasm or refusal. This was neither, and she was not entirely sure what to do with it.

"Do not think too long," she said. "My father concludes his business with the Alpha tomorrow."

"I am a fast thinker," Harris said pleasantly.

She held his gaze one moment longer, then nodded and walked away.

Harris watched her go.

The smile left his face the moment she turned the corner.

He looked down at his cup.

Seraphine was not wrong that he had been watching Olivia. She was also not wrong that he had influence in this palace. What she did not know – what she could not know – was that Harris's interest in Olivia had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the fact that he had destroyed her life and his wolf had not let him sleep properly since.

He was not going to help Seraphine remove her.

But he was also not going to tell Seraphine that.

Not yet.

He finished his wine and set the cup down on the wall.

This was becoming complicated in several directions at once.

++++

Seraphine found Olivia in the east corridor carrying a tray loaded with plates and cups from the officials' lunch. Several other maidens walked alongside her, chatting amongst themselves.

Olivia spotted Seraphine first and greeted her immediately with a small bow. "My Lady. How was the lunch?"

Seraphine's eyes sharpened. "Excuse me. You do not have the right to ask me that."

"I apologise, my Lady." Olivia bowed again. "We are heading to prepare for dinner."

"I am sure you are." Seraphine stepped closer, lowering her voice so that only Olivia could hear. The other maidens walked on ahead, unaware. "I am going to say this once. And I am going to say it plainly because I think you are intelligent enough to appreciate plainness."

Olivia shifted the tray in her hands and waited.

"You are an omega," Seraphine said. "You have no pack. No bloodline. No name that means anything beyond these walls. You came here with nothing and the only reason you are still here is because the Alpha has a soft spot he has not yet examined clearly." She tilted her head. "Whatever you think is happening between you and him – whatever he has said or almost done – it is not real. It cannot be real. Not in any way that lasts. Not in any way that matters."

The corridor was very quiet between them.

"The elders will never accept it," Seraphine continued. "His council will never accept it. The allied packs will never accept it. You would make him weak. You would make him a joke." Her voice was very level. Very certain. "Walk away now, while you still have something resembling dignity. Or stay, and I will make sure you are removed in a way that leaves you with nothing. Not even this job."

She finished and folded her hands, waiting.

Olivia looked at her for a long moment.

Say something, Lisa urged inside her. Tell her. Tell her right now…

"Lisa," Olivia said quietly.

Seraphine's eyes twitched. "What?"

"Nothing, my Lady." Olivia adjusted the tray. Then she looked at Seraphine with an expression that was not angry, not frightened, not defeated.

Just steady.

"You said you would say it once," Olivia said. "You have said it. And I have heard you." She balanced the tray back on her head. "But with respect, my Lady, you came to this palace to convince the Alpha. Not me."

"If you will excuse me," she added. "Supper will not cook or serve itself."

She walked past Seraphine and down the corridor without looking back.

Seraphine stood alone between the high windows.

Her jaw was tight.

Three times.

The girl had walked away from her three times.

++++

Olivia set the tray down in the kitchen where the other maidens were already washing the lunch dishes noisily. She was heading toward the storage room when Debby, one of the younger maidens, touched her arm.

"I noticed Lady Seraphine speaking to you twice today," Debby said, her voice low and serious. "I could not hear what was said but her mood never seemed bright after. Is everything alright? You can talk to me if something is wrong."

Olivia looked at the girl's genuinely concerned face and felt something warm move through her chest.

"It is nothing," she said with a small smile. "Thank you, Debby."

She went into the storage room and stood alone for a moment.

Her hands were trembling slightly. Not from fear. From the effort of holding herself that steady when everything inside her had been anything but.

You did well, Lisa said softly.

"Did I?" Olivia asked.

You did not cry. You did not beg. You did not apologise for existing. A warm pulse in her chest. That is more than you would have done three months ago.

Olivia leaned against the shelf and stared at the ceiling.

Seraphine was not wrong about any of it. The elders. The council. The bloodlines. Every single word she had said was true and Olivia had known it since the night by the broken fountain.

But Seraphine had also said something she had perhaps not intended to reveal.

Whatever he has said or almost done.

Almost done.

Seraphine had seen what happened in that room. And it had frightened her enough to find Olivia alone in a corridor and deliver a personal warning. Women like Seraphine did not warn women like Olivia unless they felt threatened.

Olivia straightened up and picked up the basket of fruits they would need for the evening juice. She was almost at the doorway when she stopped.

Seraphine was standing right outside it, smiling.

Oh no, Lisa said.

"Oh no," Olivia agreed quietly.