Chapter 16 Duty
Meira’s POV
No matter how many times I turned on the thin palace mattress, the encounter with the Alpha Prince refused to leave my mind. His voice, his eyes, and the unbearable pulleverything lingered like a scent woven into my skin. The more I forced myself to ignore it, the stronger it clung, haunting me even in the dark silence of the servant quarters.
He had already made it painfully clear that the Alpha King despised me. As if I hadn’t known that from the moment the guards dragged me into the palace like an unwanted stray. The last thing I could afford was to tell him or anyone about the strange bond tugging at my chest whenever he was near.
That would be the fastest way to get myself killed.
I rolled over again with a sigh. Jacinthe slept peacefully on the other side of the room, her soft breath filling the quiet space. I envied her, envied the way she slept without fear, without nightmares, without the weight of secrets pressing her into the mattress.
I wished I could sleep like that.
I wished my mind would shut up long enough to let me breathe.
Just as exhaustion finally began to tug at my eyes
A sharp, shrill sound sliced through the room. Not quite a whistle, deeper, louder, like something metallic scraping across stone. I blinked, confused, trying to sit up
Before I could react, a bucket of ice-cold water crashed over my head.
I gasped, my entire body jerking violently as the freezing shock ripped me from half-sleep to full awareness.
My eyes snapped open.
A girl stood over me. Hands on her hips, chin raised, disgust etched into every feature like she’d rehearsed the expression in a mirror. She wasn’t much older than me maybe by two or three years old but she carried herself like she had ruled the palace for decades.
Her eyes slid over me like I was dirt beneath her shoe.
I stared at her, water dripping from my hair into my eyes. “And why,” I asked slowly, voice steady despite the cold stabbing my bones, “did you decide to wake me with a bucket of water instead of… I don’t know… tapping me like a normal wolf would?”
Her eyes widened, shocked that I dared speak back. Clearly she expected me to sit there shivering and mute.
“Oh,” she scoffed, folding her arms. “Look who has a sharp mouth.”
“And look who has terrible manners,” I muttered, squeezing water out of my hair.
She sucked in a sharp breath, eyes narrowing. “Just so you know, cursed girl—”
There it was.
The word everyone loved to throw at me.
“…you’re a servant now. Servants wake up early. I hate lazy creatures… especially cursed ones.”
“Lucky me,” I said under my breath. “I get to be insulted before sunrise.”
She stepped closer, her expression tightening. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“No,” I said bluntly. “But I’m sure you’ll tell me. Loudly.”
“I am the head maid of the royal pack,” she snapped. “I have the authority to report your insolence to the Beta. And he will inform the Alpha King. I can have you punished easily.”
I stared at her for a long moment.
I wanted to respond.
To snap back.
To let my sharp tongue cut her down like she deserved.
But the truth was…
I couldn’t afford another punishment.
Not after everything.
Jacinthe still slept peacefully across from me, untouched. Not a drop of water on her blanket. Of course. Whoever this girl was, she chose me specifically. She wanted a reaction.
She wasn’t getting one.
Not today.
I swallowed the anger simmering in my chest and pressed my lips together.
“Good,” she said, mistaking my silence for obedience. “You know your place.”
If only she knew how many times I’d heard that phrase.
She dropped a small stack of cleaning tools onto the floor beside me. “Your duty today is to clean the library.” Her nose wrinkled like the word "library" offended her. “Thoroughly. It’s been untouched for months.”
She turned to leave, then paused at the doorway and shot me a nasty glare. “And change your clothes. You smell like a wet dog.”
“Funny,” I said, tilting my head, “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
She froze.
Her head snapped back toward me, eyes blazing.
“What did you…?”
“Nothing”
Once she was gone, I changed quickly into the plain clothes given to palace servants. They were rough, itchy, and smelled faintly of old wood, but at least they were dry.
I tied my hair back, grabbed the cleaning supplies, and headed out.
I didn’t know where the library was, so I asked around. Most servants avoided looking at me. Some stared with thinly veiled disgust. A few whispered behind their hands as soon as I passed.
Being here was going to be hell.
I accepted that already.
But when I finally found the library, my mouth fell open.
It was enormous.
Not big, it was ginormous.
Books stretched up an entire wall, towering so high the ceiling disappeared into darkness. Dust layered every shelf like a forgotten memory. Moonlight filtered through tall windows, painting the room in soft silver.
I placed the bucket and rag on the floor and slowly stepped inside.
I loved books.
I wasn’t the fastest reader, but I cherished every chance I got. Aunt Elizabeth had hired a tutor for Claribel and Anabelle, and I used to sneak into lessons whenever I could. Not because she allowed it, far from it but because books were the only escape I had.
There on the middle shelf I spotted a familiar spine. My breath caught.
A book Aunt Elizabeth got for Claribel.
“Chaos of Being in Love”
One I had managed to get my hands on once before Aunt Elizabeth snatched it away and tossed it into the fire the moment she saw me reading.
My heart pounded as I reached out and touched the cover gently, as if afraid it might vanish.
I lifted it from the shelf and held it in both hands. Slowly, carefully, I opened it, flipping to the section with a soft song I remembered humming years ago.
The melody lived somewhere deep in my memory.
I inhaled and began to sing.
Softly at first.
Then louder as my voice echoed beautifully through the vast room.
My voice wove through the shelves, sweet and lingering, bouncing off walls like the library itself was listening.
For the first time since arriving here…
I felt something warm in my chest.
Something like peace.
But then, a sharp sound, someone was beside me.
I froze.
My throat tightened mid-note.
Goosebumps crawled over my skin.
The book slipped from my trembling hands and fell to the floor with a loud thud.