Rise Of The Deaf and Helpless Luna

Chapter 2

**ODESSA POV**

“Why are you not happy?” Princess Vesper asked, tilting her head slightly to the side, pretending to be innocent as if she had no idea what she had done wrong. Kael opened his mouth to speak but quickly fell silent, guilt written all over his face. "You think of me as a friend, don't you? You should at least be happy for me."

I glanced at my shattered wax tablet on the floor, then raised my head to look at Vesper. I pointed at Prince Kael and then at myself. Vesper looked confused for a moment before bursting into laughter. “Oh, my apologies. I know you were infatuated with each other, but you and I both know it wasn't meant to last.”

“Be quiet, Vesper,” Prince Kael commanded, but she completely ignored him and continued speaking.

"You are a slave who doesn't even know who her real father is, Odessa. Just because you have the privilege of being friends with a princess like me and have the prince lie to you about a happy ever after you don't deserve doesn't make you one of us,” she said, her voice was filled with hatred. Princess Vesper had always been nice and kind to me, so her words shocked me to the bone.

I blinked continuously, hoping this was just some kind of nightmare I was stuck in and none of it was real, but to my surprise, it was all real. The princess was really there, saying all sorts of hurtful things to me.

“I thought of you as my friend. Why did you feel the need to betray me?” I signed to her, while she laughed, rolling her eyes dramatically, and responded.

"A filthy servant and a princess can't be friends," she said. "Yes, I pretended to be your friend at first, but then I realized, why should you, a worthless slave, deserve the prince when I don't? I spoke to Father about my desire to marry Prince Kael. You can imagine how happy he was when I told him. Prince Kael and I have been betrothed for days now, and we are set to be married. I can't believe he didn't tell you this."

Tears rolled down my face as I wiped them away with the back of my hand, struggling to understand the betrayal. Vesper continued her horrible words. "You truly thought a prince would lower himself to be with you? Your entire existence is a joke. You were nothing but a pitiful distraction for him. Your lover and I will get married, and you will rot here, slaving away for the rest of your miserable life. While I live in luxury, wearing the finest clothes, dining on the best food, and bearing his heirs, you will be scrubbing floors and cleaning up after us."

She looked at Kael with a smirk, then back at me with disgust. "You thought you could escape this life? How laughable. You are nothing, Odessa. Just a mute, fatherless slave who dared to dream above her station. When I become queen, I will make sure I take you with me to be my slave and you are reminded of your place every single day. You will never leave the castle, and you will watch as I live the life you foolishly believed could be yours. It's delusional for a servant like you to think she could end up with a prince like him. You're destined to be nothing but a forgotten, voiceless wretch.”

"Enough!" Kael yelled at Princess Vesper, immediately silencing her. He looked at me with so much guilt in his eyes, but he couldn't say a word. I shook my head as tears streamed down my face, then turned and walked away, feeling hopeless.

"Odessa, wait!" Kael called out, trying to catch up with me. I immediately started running, not wanting to hear anything from him. I just wanted to be as far away from him as possible, and I would do anything to maintain that distance.

How could my best friend and lover betray me like that? It was the first time Princess Vesper had ever said something so wicked to me. I had no idea she hated me that much, or that she was so jealous of my relationship with Kael. I thought she cared about me, not knowing all this while she had just been pretending to be my friend. The pain of that betrayal was unbearable.

"Odessa, please just listen to me!" Kael called behind me, as some of the maids in the corridor stared, wondering what was going on. We were beginning to gather attention, but I didn't care. I desperately wanted Kael to leave me alone so I could be free from him in that moment.

I ran as fast as my feet could carry me, with Kael chasing behind. Without thinking, I spotted a room and considered it my escape. I barged into it, hoping to close the door and shut Kael out. But just as I entered, I collided with someone, startling me. I lost my balance and was about to fall, but the person caught me before I could hit the ground.

I looked up into the eyes of my savior, and there he was: a man who looked similar to Kael but older and much more handsome. He stared at me with piercing blue eyes, and I gulped, temporarily stunned by his beauty. His black, straight hair gently flowed against his perfectly sculpted face, and his physique, from what I could see, was impressive.

At that moment, as I stared at him, it felt like the universe suddenly took a twist. It was as if it was just the two of us alone in the world. I felt a bond towards him that I couldn't explain, a connection that made my wolf restless within me. My heart beat rapidly, and it seemed like my wolf wanted to come out just to be with this man in front of me. Even though I wanted to move away, I couldn't. It was then that my wolf whispered, "Mate..."

I looked at him in shock, and he seemed to have a similar realization. A slight look of recognition crossed his face as if he had just discovered that I was his mate. Just then, the door flung open, and I turned to see Prince Kael, who looked equally shocked to see us together.

"What are you doing, brother?" Kael asked, confused.

Brother? I thought to myself. The man immediately helped me stand, moving slightly away while still keeping his intense stare on me, which made me slightly uncomfortable.

"You should not be touching the servant, Prince Kaiden," the queen's voice cut through the room, and my eyes widened in surprise. Prince Kaiden. This was Kael's older brother, the golden child Kael had always talked about with such jealousy. From his appearance alone, it was clear why he was even jealous of his brother.

This was the first time I was seeing Prince Kaiden, and for some reason, I was his mate. Just then, Princess Vesper walked into the throne room, breathing heavily, a sign of her exhaustion from running to catch up.

"How dare you barge into the throne room! Come with me this instant," the head maid scolded, a look of disapproval on her face as she prepared to drag me away.

I had been so blinded by anger that I entered the throne room without thinking. This was bad—I was going to be punished horribly for this.

Princess Vesper, Queen Zora, and the Alpha of my pack King Valtor were present, along with Kael and Kaiden's parents. They were likely discussing the marriage between Princess Vesper and Kael.

If the entire family was here, it meant the marriage was set to take place any day from now, and I hadn’t known until now.

"Leave her. Don't take her," Prince Kaiden commanded the head maid, surprising everyone present.

"And why is that? A maid of her stature doesn't deserve to be in the throne room," Queen Zora, Vesper's mother, said.

"She deserves to be here as much as any of us," Kaiden insisted. Everyone was confused, and King Valtor, Vesper's father, asked,

"And why is that?" Queen Zora asked.

"Because she is my mate," Kaiden announced. , I was shocked as I shook my head in disbelief. I hadn’t expected him to blurt it out in front of everyone like that.

I suddenly felt exposed, all eyes on me in that moment.

"Your mate? She is just a slave," Queen Zora said. "A prince like you shouldn't be l with a nobody like her. You deserve better prince”

Prince Kaiden turned toward the queen. "If she is who the moon goddess has chosen for me," he said, turning back to me, "then I accept her as my mate."

What exactly was going on? I couldn’t understand at that moment. Why would a prince like Kaiden, the heir to the most powerful pack, agree to have me, a nobody, as his mate? It all seemed strange to me as I glanced at Kael, who looked as surprised as I felt.

"I Object to that," Kael suddenly blurted out of nowhere, shocking everyone. I looked at him, confused, wondering why he was objecting to this when he was supposed to marry Vesper. "You cannot claim her as your mate, brother."

"And why is that?" Kaiden asked, arching his brow. Kael glanced at me before answering, "Because she belongs to me and me alone. I will not let you have her” he said, causing a gasp from everyone.

What exactly has my life suddenly turned to in mere seconds