The Maid Who Stole My Alpha

(Daciana POV) The first thing I heard that morning was not the sound of birds, but the sharp whisper of fear moving through the pack house. I opened my eyes slowly, already feeling that something was wrong, because the air around me felt colder than any winter night. The servants outside my room were speaking in low voices, but my wolf heard every trembling word through the heavy wooden door. They said Alpha Bardolph had called an emergency meeting in the great hall, and every elder had been ordered to attend before sunrise. My heart began to beat faster because Bardolph never called the elders before sunrise unless blood had been spilled or someone had betrayed the pack. I pushed the blanket away and stood up, ignoring the cold floor beneath my bare feet as I reached for my white Luna robe. As Luna of the Blackfang Pack, I was supposed to know every danger before the others, but that morning, nobody had come to tell me anything. That silence scared me more than shouting, because silence in the Pack house usually meant someone powerful had already decided your fate. I tied my robe with shaking fingers and stepped into the hallway, where every maid looked away as if my face suddenly carried a curse. Only one person did not look away from me, and that person was Ashina, the quiet maid who had served me for almost two years. She stood near the stairs with a silver tray in her hands, but her eyes were too calm for someone to hear terrible news. Her brown hair was pinned neatly behind her head, and her mouth held the smallest smile before it disappeared behind a mask of pity. “My Luna, you should not go down yet,” Ashina said softly, but her voice sounded more like a warning than concern. I looked at her carefully because my wolf suddenly growled inside me as if she smelled smoke before fire appeared. “Why should I not go down, Ashina?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady though my hands were growing cold. Ashina lowered her eyes quickly, but not before I saw something strange shining there, something sharp and pleased like a hidden blade. “The Alpha is very angry,” she whispered, stepping closer until the tray between us trembled with the cups upon it. I felt my stomach tighten because Bardolph’s anger could shake warriors, silence elders, and make guilty men fall to their knees. “My mate may be angry, but he has no reason to hide pack matters from his Luna,” I said, moving past her. Ashina touched my sleeve, and the tiny movement shocked me because no maid had ever stopped me from entering my own hall. “Please, my Luna, you must believe I tried to protect you,” she said, and those words made my blood turn colder. I pulled my sleeve free from her fingers, then walked down the stairs while every servant stepped back like I carried death. The great hall doors were open, and the voices inside stopped the moment my feet touched the black stone floor. Bardolph stood near the Alpha chair, tall and dangerous, with his dark hair loose and his golden eyes burning like a storm. The elders stood beside him, including old Adolphus, cold Boris, and silent Farkas, who never came unless judgment was about to be passed. My mate looked at me as if I were not the woman he had marked, loved, and sworn to protect under the moon. He looked at me as if I were a stranger who had walked into his home wearing the face of his Luna. “Daciana,” Bardolph said, and my name sounded broken in his mouth, like he hated himself for still knowing how to say it. I took one step forward, but two guards moved between us, and their fear told me they had been ordered to stop me. “What is happening?” I asked, staring only at Bardolph because nobody else in that room had the right to judge my soul. Bardolph’s jaw tightened, and for one painful second, I thought I saw doubt flash across his face before rage swallowed it whole. “You know exactly what is happening,” he said, and his voice cut through me harder than any silver blade. I shook my head slowly because the man before me looked like my mate, but his eyes held no trust at all. Ashina entered behind me then, making a small, frightened sound that caused every face in the room to turn toward her. She carried a folded piece of cloth in her shaking hands, and I noticed red stains across the white fabric before anyone spoke. “My Alpha, please do not make me say it again,” Ashina whispered, though her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. Bardolph’s eyes softened when he looked at her, and that small change hurt me in a way I did not understand. “She has already told us everything,” Boris said, watching me as if he had waited years to see me fall. “Told you what?” I asked, but my voice came out thin because Ashina’s tears looked too perfect on her pretty face. Ashina dropped to her knees and pressed the stained cloth against her chest, as if she were the victim of something terrible. “My Luna threatened me last night,” Ashina cried, and the hall filled with shocked whispers before I could even breathe.