Evaline:
The moment I stepped into the dimly lit corridor leading to the servants' quarters, I knew she was waiting for me. It seemed like every time I ended up encountering one of the Rogue Kings, it led me straight into her waiting arms.
Sera was leaning against the cold stone wall, with her arms crossed, and her lips curled into a knowing smirk.
"You just can't help yourself, can you?" she sneered, not bothering to hide the gleam of malice in her eyes.
I instantly tensed and my grip tightened around the ragged hem of my apron. I had been dreading this moment, yet I knew it was inevitable. Sera thrived on moments like these... moments where she could twist the knife a little deeper.
She pushed off the wall and stepped closer before speaking again. "First Alpha Oscar, then Alpha Kieran… and now Alpha Draven?"
My breath hitched at the clear accusation. "I didn't-"
"Silence," she snapped the moment I tried to defend myself. Her voice echoed through the empty hall, cold and unforgiving.
"The other maids saw you coming out of the library," she continued in a voice that was dripping with satisfaction. "And I heard from a little bird that you were caught somewhere you shouldn't be."
My heart sank at her words, and realization dawned on me-the whispers had already begun to spread.
It didn't matter that I hadn't done anything wrong. It didn't matter that I had barely spoken to Draven, or that my presence in the library had been a simple mistake. In the eyes of everyone here, I was guilty.
"You enjoy this, don't you?" I asked bitterly as I was unable to hold myself back. And while my voice barely was above a whisper, but Sera heard me loud and clear.
She tilted her head, and mock innocence flashed across her face. "Enjoy what?"
"Watching me suffer."
Her grin widened at my words. "Oh, you bet I do."
She stepped closer, until she was mere inches from me. And I didn't fail to notice how the scent of her cheap lavender perfume was clashing with the musty dampness of the corridor.
"You'll be cleaning the main hall floors after midnight," she announced with a bright smile. "And don't expect any food before then."
I clenched my fists, the only thing I was able to do in this moment.
Even though I wanted to fight back, to tell her she had no right to treat me this way, that I had done nothing to deserve it... I remained silent. There was no point.
The Alpha brothers were making my life hell. And Sera was taking every opportunity to make it worse.
I had no allies here. No escape. No hope.
Running was no longer an option as I knew I could never stay hidden for long from these four extremely powerful brothers, let alone the entire rogue community.
So... if I wanted to survive, I needed another plan.
---
By the time I finished scrubbing the main hall floors, my arms were feeling like dead weight. The stone was ice-cold beneath my fingers, and my knees had become raw from kneeling for hours.
The massive chandeliers above were casting eerie, flickering shadows on the walls around me, and the silence of the empty hall seemed to be pressing down on me like a suffocating weight.
I had long since stopped feeling hunger.
There was only exhaustion now.
With shaking limbs, I dragged myself back to my tiny chamber. The mattress was thin, barely more than a sack of hay, but right now, it felt like the most inviting place in the world.
I collapsed onto it, pulling the threadbare blanket over my trembling form. My eyes fluttered shut, but the moment I allowed myself to relax, a strange sensation rolled through me - a deep, twisting nausea.
It started as a dull ache in my stomach, then turned into a sharp, unbearable churn. Panic seized me as I bolted upright, barely making it to the bathroom before I was heaving.
My stomach clenched violently as my body rejected the nothingness inside it. Tears burned at the corners of my eyes as I gasped for breath, pressing my forehead against the cool wooden frame.
It took a few moments before the nausea finally faded, allowing me to think properly. And as my thoughts started wandering, trying to think what could have caused this sudden wave of nausea, a sudden realization finally hit me hard.
I could have dismissed it as nothing. Or blamed it on the fact that I hadn't eaten even a single proper meal in days. But I just couldn't, not after that one certain thought registered in my brain, refusing to leave no matter what.
The horror settled deep inside me. Something far worse. It was a cold, sinking realization that had me panicking.
I pressed a trembling hand to my stomach, my brain trying its very best to deny the thought that was taking root deep within me.
No.
It couldn't be.
It wasn't possible.
And yet… as I recalled the night with Ethan and the fact that we didn't use protection... I started panicking even more.
My period was almost two weeks late, but I had been ignoring it, thinking that it was due to lack of proper food and all the stress I have been going through ever since I ran away from my pack.
But now...
Terror clawed at my throat as the truth settled over me like a suffocating shroud. There was a high possibility that I was... pregnant.
With the child of my ex-mate - Ethan.
My hands curled around my stomach, as my breath started coming in short, panicked gasps.
How could my life keep going from worse to worst? How could there be no ending to my sufferings?
Even before I realized it, tears were streaming down my cheeks. I was trembling, my breaths coming in short gasps.
If... I turned out to be indeed pregnant... what I was going to do?