39- Uncertainties and Discoveries
POV Lunara Grimwald:
"The cupcake is awful," one of them revealed, throwing the cake away.
My heart sped up and I wavered as I looked at all of them, seeing that everyone, without exception, agreed with their companion.
"That's impossible..." I whispered, running through every step of the cupcake preparation in my head. I had done everything exactly as my mother had taught me. At home, I made the recipe all the time. I had memorized each step.
A female snatched the cupcake from her son's hand brusquely and brought it to her lips, biting off a piece. She chewed once before spitting into her own hand and casting a murderous glance in my direction.
"You bitch, as if we had to tolerate your presence, now you want to poison our pups, tricking them?"
"W-what?" I stammered, eyes brimming.
"This tastes like pure salt," another mother said, making a face at me.
I looked at Celindra, who was studying me with a furrowed brow, then at Lyris. Panic was setting in. This was not how I had imagined things would turn out. I had followed the recipe, step by step. I had cooked with so much love and care.
"I... I don't know what happened," I confessed, in a whisper. "I did everything right."
A cake hit the wall next to me. I looked at the mothers, stunned. Then another flew toward me, hitting a little lower. Another and another, until they were all being hurled at me. Some struck my face. I held my arms out, trying to protect myself.
"Enough! Stop this!" Celindra shouted.
But they didn't listen; they continued tossing cupcakes at me.
"Edric will wipe you out when he finds out—" Lyris threatened, in a growl, utterly impatient.
One mother laughed.
"He's too busy spending time at his lover's house instead of being with his mated partner—do you really think we believe he cares?"
I swallowed hard, feeling weak.
"This mutt will never be our queen, she'll never be anything but entertainment for our alpha," another mother declared.
"Disgusting bitch, we don't want you here!" another yelled.
Lyris closed her hand on my arm and pulled me out of the room, leading me away from them and the pups. They kept shouting insults and ordering me out, full of harshness and contempt.
The omega pressed me against a wall and inspected me, trying to find any injury.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," I sobbed, in shock. "I swear I don't know what happened."
Her eyes shone, taken by anger. I curled in on myself, expecting her to do as the others had, but she turned her head, directing her fury at someone else instead of me.
"Because I know exactly what happened," she spat. "Andrei tasted the batter and praised it; it can't have gone that wrong."
"Many things can happen in a small lapse of time..." purred Thalira, approaching us, twirling a lock of hair around her index finger.
"What are you talking about?" Lyris demanded. Thalira shrugged.
"Like, for example, a jar of salt falling into the bowl with the batter, completely by accident."
Lyris turned toward her, ready for a confrontation. Celindra appeared immediately and held her back, pushing her away from Thalira.
"Leave that jealous bitch alone, it's not worth it," the teacher said.
Thalira laughed and clapped, smiling like a pup who had achieved her greatest dream.
"Edric will know about this," Lyris threatened.
"Will he?" Thalira taunted, clicking her tongue. "And who exactly do you think he'll believe? Me, his most faithful, constant lover, or the female he just met?"
I bowed my head and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears.
"He will believe me," Lyris spat. Thalira hopped a little, all cheerful.
"So what? He doesn't care about her. She means nothing to him. At most, he'll be angry about the pups, that's all. And the next day he'll be back in my bed."
Lyris fell silent, staring at the wolf as if she could kill her with a look. Celindra did not seem much different; as calm as she was, Thalira had played very dirty, harming the pups to get ahead.
But they didn't say anything because, deep down, they knew the wolf was right. No matter what she did, Edric would always end up in her bed.
She means nothing to him.
Thalira knew it. Everyone knew it.
It was so obvious. Edric had made it so obvious.