Chapter 53 Elara's POV
So I watched and listened and felt my anger building day by day.
One afternoon, I was walking past the servant quarters when I heard raised voices.
"I told you to polish every piece of silver in the dining room! Every single piece!"
Selena's voice is sharp and cutting.
"I did, ma'am. I polished everything-”
"Don't lie to me! I found a spoon that wasn't shining to my standards. Do you know what that means? It means you're lazy and incompetent!"
I moved closer to the open door. Inside, Selena stood over a servant who was kneeling on the floor. The servant's head was bowed, her shoulders shaking.
It was Kara.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Kara said, her voice trembling. "I will polish it again right away-"
"You will polish the entire set again from the beginning. And you will do it without dinner tonight. Maybe hunger will teach you to pay better attention to details."
"But ma'am, I haven't eaten since-"
"I don't care when you last ate! You work until the job is done correctly!"
Something inside me snapped.
I stepped into the room. "That's enough."
Selena turned, surprise flashing across her face before being replaced by that practiced smile. "Elara. How nice of you to join us. We were just discussing proper standards for the household staff."
"By denying them food? That's not discussing standards. That's abuse."
"It's discipline, something these servants need or they get lazy."
"Kara isn't lazy, she works harder than anyone."
"And yet she can't even polish silver properly." Selena crossed her arms. "This is a pack business, it doesn't concern you."
"It concerns me when you're mistreating people."
"I'm not mistreating anyone. I'm maintaining order. Something that's fallen apart in this pack house since the servants stopped having proper oversight."
I looked at Kara, who was still kneeling, tears streaming down her face. She looked exhausted, terrified, beaten down.
And I couldn't stand it anymore.
"Kara, stand up," I said.
She hesitated, looking between me and Selena.
"I said stand up."
Slowly, Kara rose to her feet.
"Go to the kitchen," I told her.
"Get something to eat, take the rest of the day off."
"She will do no such thing!" Selena stepped forward. "I gave her an order-"
"And I'm countermanding it."
Selena's eyes narrowed. "You have no authority here, you are not Luna. You're not even officially recognized as anything other than a guest the Alpha is protecting for mysterious reasons."
"Maybe not. But I'm also not going to stand by and watch you torture people for your own amusement."
"Torture? That's a dramatic word for basic discipline."
"Call it what you want. I know what I see and I'm telling Kara to go eat and rest."
Selena moved closer to me, her smile disappearing entirely. "You are making a mistake. Undermining my authority in front of the servants. Do you know what that does? It creates chaos. Disorder."
"I don't care.”
"You should care because the pack is watching. And they're seeing you interfere in matters you don't understand. They're seeing you act like you have power you haven't earned."
"And they're also seeing you abuse people weaker than you. So which one of us looks worse?"
We stood there facing each other. The tension in the room was so thick I could barely breathe.
Kara stood frozen between us, clearly terrified about what would happen next.
"This isn't over," Selena said finally, her voice low and dangerous.
"You've made your position clear. And I've made mine. Let's see which one the pack supports."
She walked out, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
I turned to Kara, who was staring at me with wide eyes.
"Go eat," I said again. "And don't worry about her threats. Just focus on taking care of yourself."
"Miss Elara," Kara whispered. "Thank you. But you shouldn't have done that. She'll retaliate. She always does."
"Let her try."
Kara left quickly, and I stood alone in the servant quarters.
My hands were shaking. My heart was pounding. I'd just confronted Selena directly. Had challenged her authority in front of a witness.
Damian's words came back to me.
"Stand your ground. Don't let her make you feel inferior or unworthy."
Well, I'd stood my ground. For Kara. For myself. For all the servants who couldn't stand
up to Selena without risking their positions.
But as the adrenaline faded, fear crept in.
What would Selena do now? How would she retaliate?
And more importantly, had I just made things worse for everyone?