I turned my head and a middle-aged woman with curly brown hair in a long purple dress was looking at me and smiling, with a glass of wine in her hand.
"Yes, I'm Lyra, may I know who you are?"
I was puzzled; I had no recollection of this woman and couldn't remember when I had seen her before.
"Oh little Lyra, you don't recognize me anymore, but it's not surprising. Your father and I are cousins, and we indeed haven't seen each other for many years. How is your father?" the woman inquired with a smile.
"I think you may be disappointed to know that my father died three years ago." I bowed my head. If Dad hadn't chosen to save me then, he would have been well and alive.
"My goodness! I can't believe no one told me about this, little Lyra. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up something that upset you. My name is Suzette, you can call me Mrs. Suzette or Auntie."
She reached out and hugged me.
The sudden appearance of an aunt was a little too much for me to take in, and my father was no longer there.
Even my mother, who had to accept all of Darius's arrangements, was distancing herself from me at the same time. But I understood her very well.
She was already Darius's wife, and letting me live with Darius's wolves was already his greatest "forgiveness" to me.
If she was still as close to me as before, it would attract the pack under Darius to attack me. Her being distant and indifferent instead made it safer for me to stay in the pack.
"Thank you for your concern, I'm fine, Mrs. Suzette." I lifted my hand and gave her a hug.
"I thought you were going to call me Auntie, but that's fine, I understand. Lyra, I'm glad you're here to help," Suzette said with a smile as she let go of me.
Although I didn't want to admit that I was here to be a servant, I had no choice.
Suzette took me on a busy tour of the villa, and I realized it was bigger and more gorgeous than I had imagined.
Even the patterns on the wine glasses and plates were beautiful in a way I hadn't seen before.
Suzette told me that the party hadn't really started yet, and that all those who came that day were people who wanted to make friends with the Hawthorne family.
The real party wouldn't start until tomorrow, so all I had to do was get everything ready before then.
It wasn't until darkness fell that it was all over, and I was too tired to walk.
When I got home, it was late at night.
Selene was sitting in the living room eating a snack. When she saw me, she just gave me a smile and said nothing, got up, and cleared the table to go back to her room.
I knew she was waiting for me to come back.
Only when I got back to my room did I see several text messages on my phone from my good friend Harrington.
"My goodness, you haven't gotten back to me all day. Did you run into an alien abduction?"
"Lyra, I promise, if you don't reply after this night, I'll call the police to save you."
Looking at the messages, I couldn't help but smile.
"Harrington, I'm fine. I went to a bad party today, and it wore me out. And what makes matters worse, I have to go to the party tomorrow," I replied.
Not long after, the phone rang. I hurriedly pressed to answer.
"Thank God you're not just alive, but you're able to reply to my messages!" Harrington shouted on the other end of the line.
"I'm sorry, I forgot my phone on the way out. I can't bring it tomorrow either; I'll just have to tell you how bad it is after the party is over," I said helplessly.
On the way back, Suzette told me that tomorrow I must wear a maid's uniform and stay in my area at all times.
So I couldn't bring my cell phone there.
"Well, that's really another bad news I heard. By the way, I'm going to school tomorrow. That place is just boring as hell," Harrington complained. She didn't like school at all, even though she was doing well in her studies.
After talking to her for a while, worried about disturbing Selene and Darius, I hung up the phone.
Early the next morning, I was on my way to the Hawthorne family again.
After I got changed, Suzette placed me in a spot near the front door.
This allowed me to reach out to the people attending the party without being too tired.
Soon people were entering the hall one after another.
I saw a petite girl following a man in a suit with a big smile.
The girl had light brown curly hair with a red bow pinned to it. She was wearing an expensive tiered dress, and her delicate face and snow-white skin made her look more like a princess coming out of a castle.
They were from the northern red-blooded wolf clan: Alpha Corvin and his daughter Dahlia.
Dahlia was only fifteen years old, not yet at her coming-of-age ceremony. Corvin was very affectionate to her, just as my father once had been.
The two young men who came in behind them were also friends with Adrian. They were wearing dark blue suits with big smiles, greeting the people around them warmly.
The Gamma Wolf Pack's Andel and Naro, both mild-mannered looking but strong, followed them.
Next were Beta Cameron and his mate Lucia.
Cameron was very handsome, and his mate looked elegant and beautiful. She had just completed her coming-of-age ceremony, and everyone felt envious of their pairing.
The last one to enter the hall was Adrian Hawthorne, the star of the party.
When he appeared, almost everyone's eyes were drawn to him.
Adrian was tall, with simple, clean blond hair and perfect features. The sun shone on him like a heavenly god descending.
His gaze swept over everyone, his powerful overlord aura seeming to declare him king of the world.
My eyes met his briefly, and I was so nervous I could barely hold the plate in my hand. His eyes fell on mine, frowned, and quickly moved away, as if he'd seen something distasteful.
I felt a little lost and didn't know why.
It was only when Adrian walked into the hall that all of the guests followed him in.
The banquet officially started.
All I could do was stand in a corner off to the side and watch them chat and dine.
"Honey, come with me," Suzette said as she appeared beside me.
I followed her to a separate room, surrounded by a dozen people dressed like me in servants' outfits.
A delicate cake was placed on the table.
"Happy coming-of-age ceremony! Little Lyra," Suzette said as she closed the door to the room and gave me a warm hug.
"But we shouldn't be celebrating here. We'd be in trouble if we're found out."
I was a little worried that if Adrian found out, he would be very angry.
"Oh no, Lyra, after today, your coming-of-age ceremony is over. I don't want you to have any regrets, so make a wish," Suzette said, pulling me over to the cake with the candles lit.
When I closed my eyes, I seemed to see a snow-white shadow.
"Lyra..."