The Maid Who Stole My Alpha

Chapter Four

(Daciana POV)

The words struck me harder than I wanted them to, because something in her voice sounded too sure to be only a threat.

I remembered the strange pain I had felt through the mate bond last night, the pain that drove me to the healing room alone.

My stomach twisted as a terrible question rose inside me, but I refused to let Ashina see it break my face.

“What did you do last night?” I asked, and my voice became quiet enough to sound more dangerous than a scream.

Ashina touched the side of her neck, where a scarf covered skin I suddenly wanted to rip open with my claws.

“I comforted your Alpha when he believed his Luna had betrayed him,” she said, and every word carried a cruel little smile.

The room tilted beneath me, because the mate bond flared with pain as if it remembered what my mind could not prove.

“You are lying,” I whispered, but my wolf did not answer because even she felt something broken in the bond.

Ashina leaned closer, letting her perfume crawl into my lungs like smoke from a poisoned fire.

“Ask him why he smelled like jasmine this morning, then ask yourself why he could not look at your mouth without guilt.”

For one moment, I wanted to strike her so badly that my hand shook with the need for violence.

But Ashina wanted that, because a single scratch on her skin would become another knife placed against my throat.

So I smiled instead, though the smile felt like glass cutting through my own lips.

“You are brave when the Alpha is near, Ashina, but stolen warmth becomes cold when the truth begins to breathe.”

Her smile faded for the first time, and I saw fear move behind her eyes like a mouse under a floorboard.

Then she stepped back and opened the door, returning her frightened mask before anyone in the hallway could see the monster.

“I only came to ask what dress you want sent to your punishment hearing,” she said loudly, making two servants stop and stare.

My blood went cold, because nobody had told me there would be a punishment hearing before the elders.

“What punishment hearing?” I asked, but Ashina’s eyes had already filled with false pity again.

“The Alpha will decide whether to reject you before the pack tonight,” she said, soft enough to sound merciful.

The hallway spun around me, and for a second I could not breathe because rejection was worse than losing a title.

A Luna could be removed and still live, but a rejected mate carried a wound that never fully closed.

Ashina looked at my pain like it was a feast prepared only for her, and I knew she wanted me broken before sunset.

When she finally left, I sank onto the narrow bed and pressed both hands against the mark on my shoulder.

The mark still pulsed with Bardolph’s power, but now it felt like a chain tied between two people drowning apart.

I closed my eyes and remembered the night he claimed me under the blood moon, when his hands trembled against my face.

He had promised that no lie, enemy, or crown would ever stand between his wolf and mine.

Now one maid’s soft voice had done what enemy armies had failed to do, and that truth nearly destroyed me.

(Bardolph POV)

I stood alone in my study, staring at the letters that accused my mate while my wolf tore at my control.

Every line looked like Daciana’s hand, but every memory of her eyes told me she could never sell my pack to Conri.

That was the worst part, because my mind saw proof while my bond screamed that something was wrong.

Hrolf stood across from me, silent and patient, with his scarred hands folded behind his back like a loyal servant.

“You are hesitating because she is your mate,” Hrolf said, and his calm voice made my wolf bare his teeth.

“I am hesitating because the truth has begun to feel too neat,” I answered, throwing one letter onto the desk.

Hrolf’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he hid the reaction beneath years of practice and old warrior discipline.

“Betrayal often feels neat after it succeeds, Alpha, because the guilty have already planned every answer before they are questioned.”

His words made sense, and I hated him because sense could be more dangerous than anger.

I turned toward the window and saw Daciana below, standing behind the servant wing glass with one hand on her mark.

Pain struck my chest so sharply that I gripped the window frame, because the bond still recognized her as mine.

My wolf growled her name, not with rage but with grief, and that weakness made me furious at myself.

“She looked me in the eyes and denied everything,” I said, though I did not know whether I spoke to Hrolf or myself.

“Most traitors deny truth until the rope tightens,” Hrolf replied, stepping closer as if he had waited for that opening.

Before I could answer, the door opened without a knock, and Ashina entered carrying tea with trembling hands.

I should have ordered her out, but the sight of her red eyes pulled at the guilt I was trying to bury.

“My Alpha, forgive me, I only thought you had not eaten since sunrise,” she said, lowering her head with perfect obedience.

Hrolf watched her with approval, and that alone should have made me question why he trusted her so quickly.

Ashina placed the tea on my desk, then winced as if the movement hurt her wounded hand.

The bandage around her palm was stained red, and my wolf went quiet because injured pack members were my burden to protect.