Chapter 13

Ava walked into the dining room with her head held high. The other concubines were there already, laughing and giggling but the moment she stepped in, a hush fell over the space.

Lily was the first to meet her gaze, her eyes stricken with remorse, but she quickly looked away as if the weight of Ava's stare was too much to bear.

"How are you feeling now?" Nelly asked, watching the others as she spoke.

"Right as rain," Ava responded smoothly, taking her seat as one of the maids placed a plate of pancakes in front of her. She picked up a knife and fork and took her time cutting into the small stack.

"I would like to have a personal maid." Ava said.

The suddenness of her words made the atmosphere shift, made even more noticeable by the barely concealed scoff from Sarah.

Nelly tilted her head. "It is not unheard of, but why, if I may ask? Isn't it more efficient to use any available maid?"

Ava smiled and placed her utensils down gently, then wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin before meeting Ava's gaze.

"As it turns out," she began, "some people are out to get me. I need someone I can trust attending to me and only me. We wouldn't want another 'devil beans' accident, now, would we?"

Sarah continued eating, pretending not to care, but the slight twitch of her hand as she gripped her fork tighter gave her away. Lily, on the other hand, dropped her gaze completely, playing with the food on her plate, her guilt practically seeping through her skin.

Ava leaned back slightly, her smirk deepening. "Et tu, Lily?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily murmured, still not meeting Ava's gaze.

Nelly sighed and turned to one of the maids standing nearby. "Zari, you will attend to Ava from now on."

The young maid bowed her head. "Yes, ma'am."

"And you will attend to only me," Ava added.

Sarah's fork clattered onto the plate, the sharp sound echoing in the room. She shot up from her seat, her chair scraping noisily against the floor.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" She hissed. "Do you think you're the queen of us?"

"Sarah…" Nelly warned.

"Oh, go to hell, you old hag!" Sarah spat at Nelly before whirling back to Ava. "Both of you are working together! You want to make her Luna, don't you?" Her lips curled into a sneer. "Well, keep dreaming, because it's never going to happen."

Ava didn't react. She simply picked up a bottle of honey and drizzled it on her pancakes, slowly as if Sarah's tantrum was nothing more than background noise.

Sarah seethed. "You are nothing but an inconsequential plaything to the alpha. a wolfless slave. He'll discard you just like he got you."

Ava let out a small sigh. Then, she looked up, locking eyes with Sarah.

"Tell me," she said, tilting her head. "What do you think the Alpha will do when I tell him what happened to me yesterday?"

The room fell silent. "Ah, you didn't think of that, did you?"

Ava let the tension stretch.

"Something tells me," she continued in a soft tone, "he will sniff the culprit out. And who knows what the punishment will be?" She smiled then. "See, the moment I arrived here, I ceased to be a wolfless omega. Now, I am a wolfless concubine." She leaned forward slightly. "And who knows? Things may change soon."

Sarah faltered, her confidence wavering for just a second before she quickly masked it with another glare.

But Ava had already seen the crack in her armor.

Lily, on the other hand, looked like she was on the verge of tears. Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but fear had locked her words inside.

Interesting.

Sarah slumped back into her chair. Furious, but quiet.

Now that was satisfying.

Nelly, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke, "Now that everyone has put their claws away, can we enjoy our breakfast?"

Ava smiled, standing up. "Actually, I'll finish mine in my room."

Zari, already understanding, quickly picked up the rest of her breakfast and followed her out.

Once Ava was gone, Nelly turned to the two women left at the table.

"I have never seen such astounding stupidity," she said. "I have treated you like sisters since you arrived here. Instead of extending that same hand to whoever our Alpha favors, you choose to ridicule yourselves and jeopardize your positions." Her eyes narrowed at Lily. "And I expected better from you."

"I swear, I didn't do anything," Lily said, her voice desperate.

"But you allowed it," Nelly snapped.

Lily flinched.

"And you, Sarah," Nelly continued, turning to her. "Do you really want to bet that the Alpha won't find out what happened?" She smirked. "Because we both know he will. And when he does… you better pray to the Moon Goddess and hope that your punishment will be mild."

Nelly sighed, grabbing her mug of coffee. "I suggest you both make your way over to Ava and grovel at her feet."

"Never!" Sarah spat.

Nelly shrugged. "Suit yourselves." She took a sip from her mug, then stood. "A bunch of stupid bitches acting like pups."

*****

Ava sat in front of the mirror; Zari's hands moved gently over her skin, applying a mask on her face. She still had some ointment on her skin to soothe the red marks from all the scratching she had done.

But the irritation on her skin was nothing compared to the fire burning inside her.

Her body felt alien to her, as if it no longer belonged to her alone. Every nerve felt raw, hypersensitive, awakened. Kade had done something to her.

She had felt it last night, sinking into her skin and into her bones, and he took her with his fingers and his mouth. Now every time she moved, that aching feeling was there, curled in her lower belly.

Her nipples were taut and achingly sensitive. Whenever they rubbed against the fabric of her dress, she would bite down on her bottom lip to suppress the rush of desire shooting through her.

She would squeeze her thighs together, but that only made it worse.

Her body craved more.

And touching herself? That wouldn't be enough. No amount of pressure, no amount of friction, would satisfy this.

She needed Alpha Lucas to put out this fire. That was the only option. She had to get rid of this temptation to jump Kade's bones.

The knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts as Zari stepped back.

The door opened, and Lily stepped inside.

Ava arched a brow. "What are you doing here?"

Lily swallowed and shifted on her feet.

"I came to apologize," she said softly, "I shouldn't have been cruel to you. I knew Sarah was planning something, but I didn't know exactly what it would be. I should have stopped her."

Ava studied her.

"I let myself be consumed by jealousy," Lily admitted. "I wanted him to treat me the way he was treating you, look at me the way he looks at you. But that's not an excuse."

Ava tilted her head. "So, does that mean you're not jealous anymore?"

Lily let out a quiet, "No," she admitted. "It just means I'd rather have peace than let this eat me alive. We live in the same house, bound to the same man. What's the point of fighting it?"

Ava tapped her fingers on her knee.

"Fine," she said at last. "I'll forgive you if you help me with something."

Lily blinked. "With what?"

Ava patted the empty chair beside her and waited for Lily to sit down. She gestured to Zari to leave the room.

Ava leaned in slightly.

"How does one please the Alpha?"