MATED TO THE ALPHA KING AND HIS SON

CHAPTER 2

ALESSIA♡

I didn't sleep that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Alpha Jared's cold judgement, heard Lucian's cruel words, and felt the weight of all those accusing stares.

By dawn, I was exhausted and big eyebags had formed. I had to go to the kitchen, a familiar place, to feel a shred of my sanity.

I might have been branded a thief, but I still needed to work if I wanted to eat during my remaining days here.

I thought that if I showed up, proved I wasn't trying to hide, people would see I wasn't guilty.

I was wrong.

The moment I stepped into the large communal kitchen, conversations died.

Ten wolves who'd been laughing and preparing breakfast turned to stare at me with expressions ranging from disgust to pity.

"What are you doing here?" Marcus, the head cook, posed, crossing his arms with a visible frown.

He'd always been kind to me before.

Now he looked at me like I was something he'd scraped off his shoe.

"I... I came to work." I responded, finding my voice in the sudden silence.

"My shift…"

"You don't have a shift anymore. The Alpha King made it clear you're not to be trusted around pack property."

"But I need to eat. I need…"

"Should've thought of that before you stole from the Alpha Prince." A younger wolf named Derek sneered at me.

"Omega trash."

"I didn't steal anything!" The words came out, louder than I intended.

"Someone planted that bracelet in my room. I was framed!"

"Right." Marcus's expression didn't change.

"And I suppose it just magically appeared under your mattress?"

"Yes! Exactly!" I stepped forward, desperate to make them understand.

"Think about it. Why would I steal something so valuable and then just hide it in the most obvious place? Why wouldn't I try to sell it or get rid of it?"

"Maybe because you're stupid as well as dishonest," Derek suggested. A few others laughed.

Marcus sighed. "Look, Alessia. I don't know what happened. But the Alpha King's judgment is final. You're not welcome here anymore. Go back to your quarters and stay there until it's time for you to leave."

"But…"

"Get. Out."

I fled.

I ran from the kitchen with my heart heavy and my eyes stinging, past more pack members who stopped to stare and whisper.

By the time I reached my room, I was breathing hard, my hands shaking so badly I could barely turn the doorknob.

Inside, I found my dresser drawers open, my few belongings scattered across the floor. Someone had gone through my things while I was gone.

Looking for more stolen items, probably. Making sure the thief hadn't hidden anything else.

I sank onto my bed and pulled my knees to my chest. One day down. Six to go.

The days blurred together with my humiliation growing.

No one would talk to me except to scream at me or shame me.

Someone scratched the word "THIEF" into my door.

I found rotting food left outside my room.

When I went to the communal bathrooms, the other omegas would leave immediately, some of them checking their belongings to make sure I hadn't stolen anything. And making sure that I saw.

Outside the bathroom, I ran into someone.

I looked up to apologize and found Uma standing there, her expression concerned.

"Alessia." She reached for my arm, but I stepped back instinctively.

Something in her eyes made my wolf not to trust her.

"I've been looking for you. Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" The words came out harsher than I intended, but I was too sad to care.

"I know this has been horrible for you." She moved closer, lowering her voice.

"Listen, I might be able to help. I've been talking to some of the pack elders, trying to convince them to speak to Alpha Jared on your behalf…"

"Really?" I felt a shred of hope.

"Uma, if you could do that, if you could just get them to listen…"

"It's not guaranteed. But I'm trying." She squeezed my hand.

"You're my best friend. I hate seeing you go through this."

I wanted to believe her. I needed to believe that someone was on my side.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Of course." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Just... hang in there, okay? Maybe everything will work out."

She left, and I stood there feeling somewhat better.

At least I had one person who believed in me. One person who was trying to help.

That small comfort lasted exactly four hours.

I was walking past the training grounds that evening, trying to avoid the main pathways where I'd encounter more pack members, when I heard voices from behind the equipment shed.

Something about the tone made me stop and press myself against the wall to listen.

"...can't believe she actually bought it." Uma's voice came on, laced with a hatred I couldn't understand.

I froze.

"You're evil, you know that?" A male voice I didn't recognize joined in, but he was laughing.

"The omega actually thinks you're helping her?" He continued.

"She's pathetically grateful for any scrap of kindness. It's almost sad." Uma laughed too, the sound nothing like her usual warm chuckle.

"Did you see her face when the guards dragged her in? I had to bite my lip to avoid laughing."

"I still can't believe you managed to pull it off. Sneaking into her room, planting the bracelet, weren't you worried someone would see you?"

"Please. Everyone was at the communal lunch. And even if they had seen me, they'd just think I was checking on my grieving best friend."

The lack of emotion in the last three words brought me to tears.

"The timing was perfect. She was so pathetic after her mother died, she didn't suspect a thing."

My legs felt weak. I slid down the wall until I was crouching, my hand covering my mouth toavoid making a sound.

"And Lucian really has no idea?" the male voice asked.

"None. He thinks she's just another omega who tried to use him. It's perfect. He won't even look at her now, and after she's banished, I'll be the one consoling him. The one he'll turn to."

"Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"Oh, Alessia did that all by herself. She just had to talk to him, didn't she? Had to be all intelligent and interesting. Lucian looked at her like she was someone special, and I've been trying to get him to look at me that way for years." She spoke with no hint of remorse.

"Well, now she gets to lose everything. Her mother, her home, her reputation. All because she dared to think someone like him would ever truly want someone like her. Foolish girl"

I heard more footsteps approach them and they started walking away, their voices fading.

I stayed in that position for a while, my mind moving from one thought to the other.

Uma. My best friend. The person who'd held me while I cried over my mother's body. The person who'd brought me food and told me everything would be okay.

She'd destroyed my life because Lucian talked to me.

I walked back to my quarters in a daze. Everything made sense now.

The bracelet had been missing the day after Lucian and I spent hours in the courtyard together, talking about everything from the bright moon to the flowers by the lake and our only shared interest: reading books.

Uma had been there that day too, watching from across with an expression I'd mistaken for happiness for her friend.

I'd been so stupid. So blind.

In my room, I crawled into bed fully clothed and stared at the ceiling. I didn't cry. I was tired of crying. I just laid silently in my misery.

My mother was dead. My best friend had betrayed me. The boy I'd foolishly let myself care about hated me.

And in three days, I'd be cast out alone into the world with nothing and no one.

I'd hit rock bottom. I didn't think things could get worse.

I was wrong about that too.