Chapter 12 Handmaiden From Hell
Aurelia
I hadn’t meant to protect Alpha Zhayad from my father’s cruelty. I’d only wanted the pain to stop, the overwhelming fullness to ease.
But as he continued to thrust, something colder settled in my chest.
Was he even worth saving? Or had I just handed him the map to a war he might never survive?
As I thought about it now, I realized the truth I hadn’t wanted to face: I wasn’t just his bait anymore.
I was his weapon. And I’d just loaded the gun myself.
“The Alpha’s convoy is waiting for you.” Ravina’s voice sliced through the quiet of the bedroom like a whip. “Get your lazy ass up from that bed and don’t keep him waiting.”
She stood in the doorway, her arms crossed, those lethal teeth already bared in a flash of fangs. The pack matron’s eyes were narrowed slits of pure loathing, the same look she’d worn every time she’d tried to break me.
I rose slowly, smoothing the skirt of the dark, fitted dress they’d forced me into. It was modest compared to the claiming gown, long sleeves, high neck, heavy black silk, but it still felt like chains disguised as clothing.
As I moved past her, she struck. Her hand clamped around my upper arm, yanking me back with enough force to make my shoulder scream.
Pain flared anew from the bruises she’d left after she'd nearly peeled off my skin with boiling water.
“Listen here, witch.” Her face was inches from mine, her breath sour with rage. “You’re just his bait and nothing else. The council has rejected his choice of Luna. Your father made things simple for us. Soon, you’ll be kicked out like the imposter you are, thrown back into the dirt where you belong.”
Spittle flecked my nose. I tasted bile.
“He killed five pups from our pack. We should take you to the pyre and set you ablaze to spite your father, but for some strange reason, the Alpha seems to still want to keep you after your father's crime.”
Every word was punctuated with hate and fury, and I could tell she was waiting for me to slip so she could attack.
I jerked my arm free, my skin burning where her nails had dug in.
“Threaten me all you want, Ravina,” I said, my voice low and steady despite the tremor in my hands. “You can’t break me. I'm not my father, you should remember that.”
Her eyes flashed. In the next heartbeat, her fist twisted into my hair, yanking my head back sharply enough that stars burst behind my eyelids.
“It’s Matron Ravina to you, disrespectful bitch.
The title was spat like poison. She twisted harder, forcing me to meet her gaze. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes from the pull, but I refused to let them fall.
Last night’s punishment still echoed in every sore muscle, every tender mark on my body. Alpha Zhayad had made it clear that defiance had a price.
And if he walked in now and saw this, saw me marked again by her hand, he might misunderstand and decide right away that I deserved another lesson.
So I swallowed the pain. I swallowed the rage and the overwhelming urge to lash out with magic that would only give her more ammunition.
I waited. Ravina held on a moment longer, savoring the power, then released me with a rough shove that sent me stumbling forward.
“Get moving,” she hissed. “The Alpha doesn’t tolerate tardiness. And neither do I.”
I straightened my spine, smoothed the locks of hair she’d yanked loose and walked out without looking back.
Alpha Zhayad stood near the convoy’s lead vehicle, deep in conversation with an Omega. All I could make out were low voices and clipped gestures, the kind of exchange that carried weight without volume. I paused at the edge of the stone steps, watching from a distance.
I ignored the unfriendly looks being tossed my way. If they didn't hate me before, they would definitely loathe me now with what my father had done.
For a split second, his eyes flashed a bright, unnatural green, like emeralds catching sudden fire.
Then they dulled back to their usual shade, as if nothing had happened.
Were my eyes playing tricks?
I descended the steps, the black silk of my dress whispering against my legs with every movement.
The bruises from Ravina’s grip throbbed faintly under the sleeves, a secret ache I carried alone.
Before I even reached them, he turned. This time there was no mistaking it.
His eyes ignited, a vivid, luminous green that glowed with an inner light that stole the breath from my lungs.
The mate bond flared between us like a furnace suddenly thrown open, heat roaring through my veins, tugging at every nerve, every hidden place he’d already claimed.
The bond was fiercer now because we'd consummated our union last night, no wonder his eyes were flashing like contact lenses.
The Omega bowed quickly and retreated without a word.
Zhayad’s gaze stayed locked on mine, heavy and unblinking.
“We’re attending Alpha Varrick’s ascension anniversary,” he said in a controlled voice. “There, we will use you to lure your father right into our trap.”
I searched his face for any softness, any flicker of the man who’d unraveled me last night. I found nothing but cold purpose.
He was denying the bond, I could feel it, fighting it with every breath and every word. The pull between us was a living thing, aching and insistent, but he refused to let it comfort him. Refused to let it comfort me.
And it was crazy, because he'd chosen me that night as his Luna, and he hadn't been vengeful about it.
Alpha Zhayad's character was a puzzle to me, and I didn't want to try solving it.
My father’s latest crime had only made the divide wider and the stakes bloodier.
“Will I get hurt? I mean, while using me as his bait?” The question slipped out before I could stop it. I bit my lower lip, hating how vulnerable it made me sound.
His eyes dropped to the movement, he tracked the way my teeth pressed into soft flesh, then lifted slowly back to mine.
Something darker flickered in that glowing green.
“He hurt five of my own,” he said coldly, each word edged with old grief. “Children. If you’re hurt in the process, it’s only fair. Then we’ll be even.”
The words landed like a slap.
I swallowed dryly, tasting the bitter edge of regret. I should have let the question die unspoken. I should have kept it locked behind my teeth.
But it was out now, hanging between us like smoke.
He stepped closer, close enough that his heat brushed my skin, close enough that the bond pulsed harder, demanding, pleading.
“Get in the car, Aurelia,” he said quietly.
I obeyed without hesitation. The moment the shifter-guards slammed the SUV doors shut, the sound echoed like a coffin lid closing.
I froze, my breath trapped in my chest, blinking hard as if the darkness inside the vehicle might dissolve like a bad dream.
It didn’t.
Irina sat across from me on the opposite bench seat, her legs crossed, posture perfect, a picture of false elegance in a sleek black dress that matched the night.
Her lips curved into the most gruesome smile I’d ever seen. It was too wide, too sharp, all teeth and malice.
“Hello, Luna,” she purred, the title dripping with mockery. “I’ll be your hand-maiden at the party tonight.”
My heart plummeted into my stomach.