Princess...

Chapter 28

Accalia 

I awoke with sore, red eyes the next morning and I must have been crying in my sleep as the pillow where I lay was soaked through. I turned it over to hide the evidence and stood up, feeling the familiar numbness I experienced after I was banished returning to coat any emotions I was feeling. Janie told me that humans subconsciously forced themselves to go numb, to prevent any more trauma after a damaging event. She related it to when her grandparents died within days of each other, but I knew the trauma I'd experienced was way worse, it was criminal in a human's eyes. I trudged into the kitchen, shaking my hair in front of my face to hide my swollen eyes from the workers. Honi was sitting at the island counter and I paused in front of her, hesitating on whether to ask the question that had been eating me up since last night

"The Farkas daughter you mentioned yesterday, how did she die?" it wasn't hard to fake a casual tone, I could feel nothing at the moment and had to remind myself to blink normally like everyone else

"You don't remember? She was out for a walk outside of their territory when a rogue group attacked her. It was all over the news for weeks, I think the new Beta of the Farkas pack was her mate. He pleaded on air for days for her to 'return to him' or some shit. If you ask me, the more that family suffer, the better." I nodded distractedly, not even bothering to give too deep a reaction as I picked up the hot breakfast plates, taking them into the dining room with my head firmly down and I focused on each step I took. In the distance, I heard Alpha Lupus growl in contempt, probably because my hair was down and I was blatantly defying him, but I didn't have it in me to care, never looking up as I moved between the kitchen and dining room to serve breakfast. As I placed the plate in front of Alpha Lupus, his hand came out to grip my wrist harshly and I flinched, tugging my hand back and stepping away from the table. I didn't even have the strength to complete the wolf etiquette, trudging back into the kitchen and ignoring the breakfast plate waiting for me

"Come on Ace, you need to eat. Alpha Lupus has given me strict orders to ensure you eat more food." Raula encouraged but I walked past her, my eyes not even meeting hers as they glazed over, focused somewhere in the distance.

"If Alpha Lupus cared so much, he'd speak to me himself. I'll be outside when you're ready to work, Jet." I called back absentmindedly, my movements only pure instinct as I pulled on my gardening clothes and took a seat on the warm grass outside. A few members of the pack were already training on the other side of the field but I paid no attention, my old pack's faces crossing through my mind in some kind of sick slideshow as I stared off into the distance. What would happen when Z'ev finds me? If Alpha Lupus doesn't kill me first, my ex-mate will make my living hell for moving on after him. Z'ev acted like he hated me during our time together, but would get possessive and jealous whenever I spoke to any male that wasn't him; beating me into submission until I begged for forgiveness. A tear slipped from my otherwise unblinking eyes and brushed it away, standing up when I saw Jet making his way over to me.

"You're watering the flowers again, princess." He gave me a lazy smile but I rolled my eyes in response, my mouth set into a firm line as I found the watering can and brought it back to the flowerbeds. I took an extra-long time to water the flowers today, spending the whole morning by the colourful petals that I hoped would brighten my mood somehow. Was I sad that my parents had died? That was a complicated question. On the one hand, no I wasn't. They stood back and watched me be abused by my mate for years and then when I finally took a stand, they banished me without a shred of sympathy. But then the other hand was also fighting for dominance, to say that I was in fact sad about them passing; because despite everything, they were my parents and I guess a small part of me hoped we could reconcile our differences in the future if I ever made it out of Salt Lake City alive. I knew that I couldn't mope about like this forever, it was part of being a werewolf and I had to handle it; though a more prominent reason stood out against any other pitiful excuse I gave, it was distracting me from my purpose of staying alive long enough to escape. Once I'd replaced the watering can and Jet was nowhere to be found, I made my way back into my bedroom to change into my uniform, sluggishly seeking out Louvel and Adolfina who were just finishing up their lunch.