Chapter 8
1417 Words
Nyra's POV
I pushed myself off the floor, my eyes locking on Lydia.
Why was she here?
Neither of us moved. The silence stretched thin, fragile. Her gaze held no warmth, only something cold and festering. It pressed against my skin, crawling down my spine, settling heavy in my stomach.
She stepped further into the room, her eyes sweeping over everything before returning to me, there were sharp and deliberate.
I had no idea what she wanted.
And I didn’t want trouble. Not here. Not with anyone. I was only after one thing and that's survival—that was all I cared about.
“I should’ve known the moment I saw you…” She closed the distance between us, stopping just close enough to make it uncomfortable. Her posture was rigid, threatening. “That you’d be a pain in the ass.”
My brows lifted slightly, confusion flickering through me.
What was she talking about?
“I just got here,” I said, my voice steady despite the tension coiling inside me. “What’s going on?”
“You really don’t know what you did wrong?” she snapped.
Her tone grated against my nerves.
If there was a problem, she should say it. Not circle around it like this.
“But you should remember something,” she continued, her lips curling. “You’re nobody. You are just a little wolf sold off by her own family to a strange man in a strange land.”
My fingers curled into fists. A ray of anger igniting within me.
“Don’t start thinking you’re special just because Nickolas chose you,” she added. “You’re a slave. Nothing more. Stay away from him… or you’ll lose your head.”
A quiet scoff rose in my throat, though I swallowed it back.
So that’s what this was about.
She thought there was something between me and the Vampire King.
She was wrong.
And she needed to know it.
“There’s nothing going on between us,” I said. Her brows arched in disbelief. “And there never will be.”
My voice held firm, but beneath it, my wolf shifted uncomfortable, restless and uneasy.
She might have thought that she's truly found her mate, but there's no way I would mate to such a creature. I vowed to hate them not to love one of them.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” she asked, her voice very cold, almost venomous.
“Because I would never want him,” I replied. “And because I hate all of you.”
For a moment, something flickered in her eyes—shock, then anger. It vanished quickly, replaced by a smirk.
“Don’t ever let me see you near him again,” she said, her voice low. “He’s mine. No other woman touches what belongs to me. Or she loses her head.”
My wolf surged, violent and restless, clawing against my control.
I forced her down.
Not here. Not now.
One wrong move and I’d be dead.
If I attack her, none of the Vampires would spare me. They were ruthless, and kill without a second thought.
“From now on,” Lydia continued, “you’re my maid.”
The words hit harder than expected.
“You answer when I call. You do exactly what I tell you. Or…” She tilted her head slightly. “You won’t like what happens.”
My face distorted with anger. Heat flared through me, sharp and immediate. Though I said I didn't want to get on anyone's bad side, that I didn't want any problem. But that doesn't mean she can make me her maid. She's going too far.
“What?” she mocked, catching the dissatisfying look on my face. “You can’t do it?” She circled me slowly. “You might’ve been a princess back in your pack,” she said, her tone dripping with disdain, “but the moment they sold you, you became nothing princess or not. Here, you’re beneath us. You respect us. Especially me.” She stopped in front of me, eyes gleaming. “Because I’m your future queen.”
I drew in a slow breath, teeth grinding together.
I could endure a lot.
But I would not be owned.
Not by her.
Not by any of them.
“What?” she pressed, stepping closer, invading the little space I had left. “Cat got your tongue?”
Her finger jabbed against my head.
Something in me snapped.
My wolf lunged inside me, snarling, claws scraping against the cage I forced her into. She wanted out—wanted blood.
I swallowed hard, forcing her back.
Attacking Lydia here would be suicide.
She was the king’s favorite. Protected. Untouchable.
“Answer me,” Lydia demanded.
Her eyes flashed red. Fangs slid into view.
The pressure inside me built tight, suffocating. My pulse thundered in my ears as I fought for control.
Then her hand shot out. Her claws grazed my neck and sharp pain burned in me.
I stumbled back, breathing heavily as my wolf surged again, stronger this time—
“Lord Silas asked me to bring this to you.”
The voice cut through the tension.
The maid from earlier stood at the door, clutching a tray, her eyes wide as they darted between us.
Just like that, the moment broke.
Lydia straightened, her expression smoothing out as if nothing had happened.
“Lord Silas?” she repeated, scoffing softly. “I see. So it’s not just the king you’re after… but his cousin too.” She leaned in, her lips brushing against my ear. “You’re reaching too far, wolf,” she whispered. “This is a race you can’t win. Submit to me… and maybe I’ll show you mercy.”
Then she turned and walked out, her move slow but deliberate, like she owned the ground beneath her feet. When the door closed after her, a relief breath washed over me.
“She’s… something else,” the maid muttered, stepping deeper inside. She set the tray down carefully on the shelf beside the bed edge. “It’s okay to be scared of her. We all are.”
I looked at her, curiosity flared intensely in me. “Who is she?”
“Lydia. The king’s lover,” she said, shaking her head. “Arrogant too. But people tolerate it… because they believe she’ll be queen.”
“Queen?” I echoed.
It's even more wield that there's no queen at all.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “Why there isn’t one. It’s because the king refuses to take one.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “No one knows.”
That made it worse.
More suspicious.
Why would the kind not want to take any woman as his queen?
“But listen,” she added, her tone lowering. “Don’t get on Lydia’s bad side. Do whatever she says. That’s how you survive here, especially in the palace.” She added and walked out of the room, but her words didn't leave with her.
They lingered, loud and repetitive, like a broken alarm in my head.
I sat on the bed, burying my face in my hands as the earlier incident replayed in my head.
What have I done?
I had wanted to stay invisible. To survive quietly here in this strange kingdom. And now... I had caught the attention of the woman who might become queen. I was now on her bad side.
What was I going to do?
- Writer
