Chapter 10
1181 Words
Francine's POV
I'd thought my ordeals for the day were finally over until one of the servants came running, saying I’d been summoned again. Apparently, I was to serve at the ball.
At first, I thought she was mistaken. I wasn’t one of the kitchen hands and I knew well enough that there were more than enough paid workers whose duty was to serve at the high table. But somehow, for reasons I couldn’t fathom, I was chosen to serve as well, at a place I didn’t belong, before people who would never see me as anything more than filth.
“What are you standing there for? Move!” a sharp voice snapped, dragging me from my thoughts.
I swallowed back the lump in my throat and fell in line with the others, forcing my feet to move even though my pride screamed at me to stay still.
“You should be grateful for this opportunity, Western rabid dog,” the girl in front of me hissed under her breath, her tone dripping with venom. “I’m sure you’ve never even touched fabric this fine in your poverty-stricken pack.”
I said nothing. Over time, I’d learned that silence was my safest weapon. Words only fed their cruelty and they thrived on the reactions they provoked. They’d made up their minds about me, about what I was, where I came from and what I deserved. Nothing I said could change that.
“What’s the matter?” she mocked when I didn’t respond. “Playing princess now? I’ll swear on the graves of my parents your father killed that you’ll never wear a dress more beautiful than this for the rest of your miserable life. You’ll die an ugly, abandoned princess turned slave of the North.”
Her words drew quiet laughter from the others around us, a ripple of mockery that spread like wildfire. I could feel their eyes burning into my back, judging, sneering and feeding off her hatred like wolves on carcass. Why were they all the same? Girls like Jennifer. Like my stepsister, Stephany. Always finding joy in breaking others who never even wronged them.
I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to reply. But something bitter and reckless slipped from my tongue before I could stop it.
“I’m not the reason you’re ugly,” I murmured, my voice calm but sharp enough to cut through her smirk. “Nor the reason no wealthy man has formed a mate bond with you.”
She froze, her head whipping around to glare at me. I knew I’d hit where it hurt most. I’d overheard them whispering about their desperate hopes that one of the noblemen at the ball would notice them. They dreamed of being fated mates to wealth and power, or at least mistresses to it. A life of ease, luxury and vanity was all they truly cared about. Some had even painted their faces tonight, clinging to the fantasy that a rich man might glance their way.
I stepped closer, keeping my voice low so only she could hear. “We’re all workers here. Even if I’m a slave and you call yourself a servant, we both wear the same chains. You think I’m your problem, but you’re just like me. You’re mocked for being an omega from the North, the same way I’m scorned for being from the West. The only difference is that you’ve convinced yourself you’re better.”
Her lips parted in shock, the insult she was preparing dying in her throat.
“Silence!” barked the woman leading the troupe. “I will not tolerate any noise disturbing my ears!”
We halted instantly, heads bowed. The corridor fell into a tense hush, our shadows flickering against the dimly lit walls. But even as we moved again, I could still feel the weight of their stares and the silent anger burning behind them.
“It’s the western rabid dog,” most of the girls’ voices said in unison. I rolled my eyes, meeting the few gazes bold enough to hold mine.
The madam’s footsteps echoed sharply as she approached and her palm cracked across my cheek.
“I do not want to hear one more noise from you!” she snapped.
“I wasn’t the only one talking,” I retorted, my voice trembling with controlled anger. “How could I have been the only one whose voice you heard when there were dozens of them whispering and laughing—?”
“Not another word!” she hissed, cutting me off, pretending to catch her breath in front of me like she hadn’t just shown her true face.
“I wouldn’t have brought you here if not for Luna Jennifer,” she sneered. “I told her bringing a slave along was a foolish decision.”
I said nothing. My silence wasn’t submission but fury. I was right all along. That wretched woman was the reason I was here. No wonder when my name was called among those “honored” to serve the Royals, it had felt like mockery.
It wasn’t an honor. It was a humiliation. A twisted game meant to break me and make me jealous when she rose to power as Luna, while I, once destined to be a princess, was reduced to a servant.
If only she knew.
If only she knew that I was never truly a princess and worse for her, that I was already the Alpha’s fated mate.
Luna? I scoffed inwardly. She wasn’t even found as the Alpha’s mate yet and she was already parading herself with the title.
“Once this evening is over,” the madam continued coldly, “I will have you severely punished. I’ll speak with the Luna myself. Being a servant is far too generous for someone like you. Serving as a breeder for the pack’s warrior department would suit you better.”
My heart stilled. A breeder.
I didn’t even know such camps existed in the North. My father had one where willing she-wolves volunteered to be impregnated by warriors, birthing pups who’d be raised to fight for the pack. Some mothers sent their children there willingly. Others, out of desperation.
But me? She didn’t plan to send me there. She planned to bind me there, strip me of dignity and name, force me to bear children for their army like a caged animal.
“I’m sure powerful warriors will be sired at the camp through your Alpha blood,” she added mockingly as she turned, leading the others forward.
I didn’t move. The others marched ahead, but I stood rooted, watching her back. My hands trembled, my vision blurred with rage.
I hadn’t meant to speak it aloud. It was supposed to be a whisper to my heart but fury has a way of spilling out, sharp and unforgiving.
“I promise you,” I said, my voice low yet venomous, “when I get out of here, you will be the one sent to that camp as a breeder before I ever am.”
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