HELEN'S POV
Nara spotted me lingering by the kitchen doorway and waved me in. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she whispered, "Where did you sneak off to last night? Don't pretend nothing happened—because guess what? For some strange reason, the triplets were also nowhere to be found."
I froze mid-step, my fingers tightening around the hem of my apron. King's warning echoed in my mind like a siren. Say a word, and there will be consequences. I offered Nara a nervous shrug.
There was no way I could tell her anything. Even if King hadn't warned me, I still wouldn't have.
What would I tell her? That I found my mates but they have decided that it is good if no one knows? That I was nothing but a secret they hated keeping? Or the fact that I was far less than what they hoped for?
No, I already carried enough problems in my life. I don't need more.
She gave me a look, the kind only best friends could exchange. "You're hiding something. I know that face," she muttered, then leaned closer. "You know who that girl was—the barbie doll who arrived with them?"
So we are referring to her as barbie doll now?
I blinked at her, pretending ignorance.
"She's Cassidy," Nara said. "I heard she is the Royal Beta's daughter. From the king's court." Her eyes brightened as she told me. Nara had always wondered how the palace of the Alpha King would look like and how the Royalty lived. She wished for that kind of life.
My throat tightened. Of course she was.
"I heard Luna Flora talking with one of the female Elders this morning. She hopes one of her sons is mated to Cassidy. An alliance with the Royal Bloodline? It'd make our pack the strongest in the region."
I didn't say anything. There was no point. If I opened my mouth, the scream building in my chest might come out.
I wasn't royalty. I wasn't strong. I wasn't even someone worth remembering. Why would Luna Flora ever approve of someone like me for any of her son or all of them?
Nara shook her head, clearly not sensing my internal storm. "And you should've seen the way they looked at her, Helen. Infatuated. In love. It was like they had found the moon itself. Kaden, especially. And now they've ordered everyone to treat her like a queen. If anyone disrespects her…"
Her voice trailed off, swallowing hard but we both knew how that sentence ended.
Kaden.
I knew that once he made that threat, he would follow up with it.
A shiver crawled down my spine, and not the kind that made you feel warm. The kind that warned you of danger you couldn't outrun.
Nara leaned in again. "Anyway… your shift last night—how was it? Painful? Awesome By the way, what's your wolf's name?"
I froze. I thought she had forgotten? What would I tell her now?
Wolfrainia had warned me not to tell anyone, not even Nara and now…
Before I could answer—or lie—Veronica stormed into the kitchen like a tornado in heels. Her eyes swept the room and landed on me like a curse. Always. I can never go invisible in her presence.
"You. Come." A sense of dread loomed over me. Why did she need me now?
Nara shot me a sympathetic look as I followed the Head Maid into the hallway. My legs felt like lead. My stomach churned with unease.
"You'll take breakfast to the triplets' quarter now!" She ordered.
My eyes went wide. Which of the triplets? As if she could hear my thoughts,
"To Alpha Kaden's room," she ordered, her tone clipped.
My mouth parted in protest. Kaden? Why him? But I nodded silently and accepted the heavy tray she shoved into my hands.
The corridor leading to the triplets' quarters was silent, save for the sound of my heartbeat slamming against my ribcage. With each step, my hands trembled. I didn't want to see him or any of them. I had hoped that I would stick to the kitchen but it seemed fate had other plans.
I didn't want to remember the way he'd looked at me last night—like he didn't know me. Like I was a shadow in his world. The way he had tormented me back in the river. That was no way to treat one's mate but it was a way to treat a mate they didn't want.
I closed my eyes tight to relieve myself of the pain building in my chest.
I reached his door and knocked. No answer. First lesson I had learned when I came to work in the Alpha's house was always knock and wait for a response or else… you risk walking on a butt naked Kaden, an angry Kael or a brooding King with chaotic storms.
I waited still. What would I expect anyway?
Then I heard it. A moan. Breathy. Feminine.
The tray in my hand shook as I froze.
Then a sharp pain rippled through my belly, and I nearly doubled over. My wolf stirred weakly within me, uneasy.
She could feel it too?
I knocked again, forcing my voice to stay steady. "B-Breakfast…"
"Come in," came a deep, heavily-lusted, gruff voice.
I bit my lower lip to hide the way his voice made me shiver. I opened the door carefully and stepped inside.
And instantly, I regretted it. The air reeked of sex and sweats.
Cassidy was on top of him, bare as the morning sun. Her head thrown back in ecstasy, her fingers tangled in his hair. Kaden's hands gripped her hips, guiding her in rhythm. His eyes were closed, lips parted as she rode him, her breasts bouncing with every thrust. He reached up to grope them, slapping her pebbled nipples hard and she let out a loud moan. He squeezed them and tugged at hardened tips, earning a whimper from her.
I stood frozen, rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning.
"Yes, daddy. Fuck me harder…. Fuck… make me cum, daddy…"
My chest constricted. My vision blurred—not from shame, but from the unbearable ache of watching my mate with someone else. Even though we hadn't marked each other, our bond flickered in my heart like a wounded flame.
Pain flared through me and I closed my eyes tight, easing myself. I wasn't supposed to be feeling this pain. We haven't even marked each other yet but still… I wasn't normal.
Cassidy moaned louder. Kaden groaned, flipping her beneath him and moving harder, faster. He dipped his head, capturing one of her hardened nipple in his mouth and she let out a small whimper, holding his head in place.
"Oh, you know I like that…" She moaned, brushing her fingers through his hair.
I turned away, cheeks burning, willing myself not to fall apart.
I hurried to the side table and placed the tray down, fingers fumbling over cutlery just to distract myself from the sounds behind me. But the air was thick with sweat and lust, and even with my back turned, the image burned behind my eyes.
"Yes, yes… I'm coming, daddy…." There was a mixture of moans and grunts then the fast pounding before everywhere quietened.
Just the sound of deep, heavy breaths echoed in the room.
I just needed to leave. I needed to get out of here. The moment I was done, I hurried towards the door, relief washing through me at the freedom I would attain. Except, it was short.
Then Kaden's voice halted me. "Omega."
I stiffened.
Inside me, Wolfrainia stirred. "You are not an Omega," she growled.
But I was. That's what they saw. That's what I had always been.
"Prepare a bath for my princess," Kaden ordered, planting a kiss on Cassidy's lips. I could feel her smug gaze burning into my back.
Without a word, I moved toward the adjoining bathroom. The marble floors were cool beneath my feet. The silence here was deceptive—too calm, like the air before a storm.
As I turned on the faucet and filled the tub with hot water and began working, I felt it.
A presence behind me. His scent filled my senses, dulling out every single thought.
And then—a finger. Just one. Slowly trailing up my exposed arm in a sweet caress, causing goosebumps to rise.
I froze, every nerve in my body lighting up. My eyes met the mirror above the sink—and there he was.
Kaden.
But not the cold Alpha I had known all these years.
His eyes had changed. No longer ocean blue. They glowed—an eerie, molten yellow.
His wolf was on the surface.
And he was staring at me like I was prey.
I swallowed hard, heart thudding in my throat. His fingers lingered too long. I want to lean into his touch. I want him to—
No, I shouldn't feel this way. I shouldn't feel warmth where there should be fury. Desire where there should be fear.
I should not react to his touch this way. He just fucked someone who wasn't me. He dangled the whore he was fucking right before my face!
"Kaden," Cassidy's voice rang out from the bedroom.
Just like that, the spell broke.
He blinked. His expression hardened. He stepped away.
I snatched my hand back and bowed my head. "T-The bath is ready."
Then I fled.
Out the door. Down the hallway. Past Veronica. Past the buzzing maids.
Until I was outside.
Shame. Humiliation. Anger. It all swirled inside me like a storm.
They hadn't marked me. They hadn't acknowledged me. But still, my heart ached like it was shattering into a thousand pieces.
And worst of all…
I hated that his touch made me feel anything at all.