A Slave Among Wolves 1
I knelt down, my fingers trembling as I picked up the delicate lace. It was spotless, but I knew better than to point that out. I reached for my rag, but Lila’s foot shot out, knocking the bucket over. Dirty water spilled across the floor, soaking my dress.
I bit my lip, refusing to react as she laughed, her voice dripping with false concern. “Oh dear, how clumsy of me. Clean that up, too.”
“Yes, Luna,” I whispered, dropping to my knees to scrub the floor. My fingers ached, my knees bruised from the hard marble, but I kept my head down, scrubbing until the floor gleamed once more.
Lila watched me with satisfaction, her eyes gleaming with cruel delight. “You’re lucky I let you live,” she said coldly. “You should be grateful to serve me.”
I kept my eyes on the floor, my hands trembling as anger surged through me. But I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t defend myself. One wrong word, one act of defiance, and I would be back in the dungeons—or worse.
After she left, I sank back on my heels, my body trembling with exhaustion and rage. I wanted to fight back, to scream the truth for all to hear. But no one would believe me. Not when she had Kaden wrapped around her finger.
Kaden... His name was a curse on my lips, a wound that refused to heal. Every day, I served him and his guests, forced to watch him smile and laugh with Lila, his arm wrapped around her waist as if she were his everything.
I was nothing to him now. A slave. A shadow. A ghost of the girl he once knew.
One evening, I was ordered to serve during a banquet. The hall was filled with pack members, their laughter and voices echoing off the walls. I moved through the crowd, keeping my head down as I refilled drinks and cleared plates.
Lila’s voice rang out, sickeningly sweet. “Ella, more wine!”
I hurried to her side, the bottle trembling in my hands as I poured her drink. She watched me with that familiar smirk, her fingers brushing against Kaden’s arm as she leaned into him.
“Careful, Ella,” she cooed. “You wouldn’t want to spill anything on my dress.”
My hand shook, the bottle tipping dangerously. I steadied myself, focusing on keeping my movements calm and steady. But Lila’s foot shot out, kicking my ankle just as I finished pouring. I stumbled, the wine spilling across her lap.
Gasps echoed through the hall. Lila stood, her face twisted in fury. “You clumsy little fool!” She slapped me hard, the force knocking me to the ground.
I tasted blood, my vision spinning as she loomed over me, her eyes blazing with anger. “You ruined my dress!” She turned to Kaden, her voice breaking with false tears. “She did it on purpose, Kaden. She’s trying to humiliate me.”
Kaden’s eyes flashed with anger as he stood, his towering presence suffocating me. “You dare to insult your Luna?”
“No,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I didn’t... I would never...”
But my words meant nothing. He grabbed my arm, dragging me to my feet, his grip bruising. “You’ve crossed the line, Ella. You’ll pay for this.”
I opened my mouth to plead, but he backhanded me, his strength sending me crashing to the floor once more. Pain exploded in my head, and I tasted blood again.
Lila’s laughter rang out, sweet and mocking. “Take her to the dungeons. Let her rot there until she learns respect.”
The guards seized me, dragging me away as the crowd jeered and laughed. My vision blurred, pain radiating through my body, but I refused to cry. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
As the darkness closed in around me, one thought echoed through my mind.
One day, they would pay for this.
I would survive. And I would make them all pay. Would they really pay for my suffering? It a question I begin to ask myself as the humiliation and bully increased....
---
Life as a slave in the pack house was hell. It wasn’t just the cruelty of Lila and Kaden’s cold indifference that tormented me. It was the constant abuse from everyone around me.
The other servants despised me. They saw me as a traitor, a cursed wolf who had tried to trick the Alpha with dark magic. Lila had spread her lies well, poisoning their minds against me.
Mira, the head maid, was the worst. She took pleasure in making my life miserable. She was tall and strong, her wolf fierce and dominant. I was nothing compared to her—a weak wolf, a slave with no power or protection.
Every morning, she would burst into my room, kicking the door open and yanking me out of bed. “Get up, lazy rat! You think you get special treatment just because you used to be part of the pack?” She would slap me across the face, her nails digging into my skin. “You’re nothing now. Less than nothing.”
I learned to wake up before dawn, washing quickly and hurrying to the kitchen before she could find another excuse to punish me. But no matter how hard I worked, it was never enough.
“You missed a spot,” Mira would sneer, deliberately stepping into the bucket of soapy water and kicking it over. “Clean it up. And when you’re done, scrub the entire hallway again. On your hands and knees.”
The other maids would laugh, whispering cruel things as they passed by. “Look at her, the great Ella, reduced to a dog scrubbing floors.”
“She deserves it,” another would say. “My cousin told me she tried to curse the Alpha. She’s lucky they didn’t kill her.”
I kept my head down, scrubbing until my fingers bled, refusing to react to their taunts. I couldn’t defend myself. If I did, they would report me to Lila, and she would have me thrown back into the dungeons—or worse.
But the work wasn’t the worst part. It was the little cruelties they inflicted when no one else was watching.
One day, I was washing dishes in the kitchen when Mira sauntered over, a wicked smile on her lips. “You missed a spot,” she said, pointing to a clean plate. “Are you blind, or just useless?”
Before I could respond, she grabbed my head and shoved my face into the soapy water, holding me down. My lungs burned, water filling my nose and mouth as I struggled to breathe.
Finally, she released me, and I gasped for air, choking and sputtering as she laughed. “Pathetic. You can’t even clean properly. Maybe I should tell the Luna to throw you out with the trash.”
I coughed, my body trembling with fear and humiliation, but I forced myself to nod. “Yes, Mira. I’m sorry.”
She smirked, tossing a wet rag at me. “Clean up this mess. And if I find even a single spot, you’ll be sleeping outside with the dogs tonight.”