Annie's POV:
The wedding hadn't happened yet—that was the whole of it.
I was engaged to the Beta. The pack was talking about it, but nothing had changed. Not officially. A maid doesn't stop being a maid until the ceremony is done, so I put on my uniform that morning, went to the kitchens, and scrubbed the pots like I had scrubbed them for years.
Jasper had offered to have me excused. I had told him no. I would rather work than sit in my cabin and give the pack a reason to whisper that the Beta's bride was already too good for the kitchen. The steward still had my name on the duty list—I still had my pride—and the two of them agreed on one thing: I belonged at my post until the ceremony said otherwise.
The maids had other ideas about what I was too good for.
"The Beta's bride, scrubbin
