~Daliah's POV~
Alpha Zarek had a child?!
The thought was all I could think about as I stumbled through my remaining chores for that day. I couldn't believe it! And what made it even more unbelievable was the fact that he had told me.
Me!
The omega slave he had acquired from an auction house!
My head buzzed with the information as I rushed through the house and breezed through my chores diligently. However, I was soon snapped out of my reverie when I noticed brown muddy stains on the marble floor I had just scrubbed clean— on my hands and knees— I whipped my head angrily in the direction of the person who must've caused the trouble and instantly regretted it when I was met with Ms Jennifer's icy blue eyes.
She sneered; "What?"
"Nothing." I quickly respond, looking away. " I didn't notice you coming. Good afternoon ma'am."
She scowled instead, saying nothing and deep down, I prayed that this would be the last of it. That she would leave me alone… at least for now. But I was wrong. She didn't leave.
Instead, she crouched in front of me, in such a way that now we were both on the same eye level and from this close, she appeared more scary. Almost evil. I recoiled when she grasped my face in her hands and with their talon-like nails grating uncomfortably against my skin, she drawled; "I told you I never want to see you with the Alpha anymore, didn't I?"
"You did." I answered, squeezing my eyes shut, "but I only went to his chamber today to deliver his dinner to him."
"Liar!" She snapped, causing me to jump in fright.
Goosebumps erupted on my skin when her claws dug into my flesh and I cried out as a sharp sting followed, accompanied by the smell of my blood. I winced.
"I cannot disobey his direct orders whenever he calls on me…"
"He didn't call on you. A little birdie told me she saw you both having a chit chat at the Beta's home. Was that a direct order?" She snapped, interrupting me and tears sprung into my eyes when she pinched harder into my skin, drawing blood.
I shook my head.
"Words." She snapped, "use your words."
"It wasn't a direct order. I'm sorry."
Just as if a light bulb had been turned on— or in this case, off— her face darkened. Gone was her pretty sultry expression with her mischievously glinting eyes and sharp tongue. Now she was rigid. Dark. It made a shudder run up my spine.
"Sorry for yourself!" She barked, hit me across the face with so much force, my head whipped to the side. Tiny stars danced in my line of vision and an agonized cry threatened to slip through my lips but I held it back, bowing my head.
If I must be weak… it would never have to be in front of this monster.
"The next time I see you anywhere close to My Zarek— for any reason that has nothing to do with your duties around here, I'll kill you and feed your torn up carcass to the hunting dogs!" She snarled in my face, and I knew that this was supposed to be the part where I promised her that I wouldn't; the part where I was supposed to plead for her forgiveness, but the words just wouldn't leave my lips. I stared pointedly at her.
"Do you hear me, slave?!" She yelled but still, I was mute.
If there's anyone she's meant to be training now then it should be the Alpha, not me.
Silence…
"Since you're so stubborn, your daughter may just have to pay the price for your folly."
Those words were enough to snap me out of whatever self-induced haze I'd been stuck in. I looked up at her then with tears burning at the back of my eyes. My lips trembled as I tried to rasp out the words I wanted to say but I couldn't.
Images of Amara's bruised arm filled my mind. And her fear… her desperate plea to get her out of here. My heart squeezed with so much hurt… so much pain that I feared I would suffocate from it.
And then I whispered; "Please."
She snorted. "Please what?"
"Please help me escape from here. I do not want to be here anymore… I do not wish to be a burden to you and I do not want the Alpha's attention."
Ms Jennifer's eyes widened in surprise.
An intense feeling of helplessness enveloped me as I looked up to her disbelieving large blue eyes. And I sobbed. Not because I was scared of her but because I was tired. I was tired of constantly running… of constantly being treated like a piece of garbage. I was tired of seeing my daughter suffer. Hell, this was not the kind of life I promised her.
Ms Jennifer opened her mouth then, as if to speak but then—
"Jennifer?"
The deep masculine voice sounded not so far from us, causing us both to look in the direction in which it had come from.
"Alpha…" I whispered, bowing.
"Baby!" Ms Jennifer cried out, and I winced as an uncomfortable feeling settled at the base of my stomach when I heard her say those words.
Just as if a light switch had been suddenly flickered on, her mood shifted from all monstrous and dark to sunshine and rainbows. She smiled softly at him. "I wasn't expecting to see you just yet."
He hummed. "I'm still quite busy… I only stepped out for a bit of fresh air."
"Oh, that's love—"
"Dahlia...?" He called to me, interrupting Ms Jennifer, his voice laced with a tinge of worry, and I couldn't help but notice how her eyes instantly darkened. When he tried to look closely at my face, I took a step behind Ms Jennifer to hide the tears streaking down my face and bowed again.
"Oh, yes. She and I were having a lil chitchat earlier." Ms Jennifer stepped in to explain to him but despite this, I still felt the heat of his eyes on me. I could still feel the way he stared in my direction as if trying to look into my soul, to unravel me. It rattled me. "… Dahlia, you can go now!"
Her voice was like the propeller— and I clutched to it, using it to push my limbs forward. I bowed once more to them and then gathered my skirts before hurriedly leaving the place, blissfully ignoring the fact that Alpha Zarek hadn't dismissed me yet.
On a normal day, I would've cared about that but today I didn't. I couldn't. Not when my life and my daughter's were literally on the line.
My heart hammered frantically against my ribcage as I rushed down the several corridors leading to the slaves' quarters and by the time I arrived at my room moments later, I was panting… hyperventilating. I shut the door behind me then and sank to the floor, crying as hurt and guilt clawed at my heartstrings, almost squeezing life out of me.
I cried for a long time and for a lot of reasons. I cried for myself… for Amara. For the countless threats Ms Jennifer has made to me. For the ignored mate bond between I and Alpha Zarek. For the injustice of it all.
I do not know how long I sat there but soon I began to feel weak. My eyes drooped so low, I could literally pluck it from the floors. Dragging myself to the small bed in the corner of the room, I hoped to take a nap but as soon as my body hit the hard mattress, a loud scream tore out from the back of my throat.
"Arrrgghhh!"
I saw white. A white sizzling pain as my body felt as though it was on fire as it soon began to sizzle and burn, eliciting more cries from my lips.
Shooting out from the bed, I stumbled backwards, my eyes wide, and that was when I noticed it— the drenched bed… the metallic stench in the air… the burn, the pain— Wolfsbane.
Someone had thrown quite a lot of it on my bed and right now it was burning through my dress, though my skin and inflicting me with red hot pain.
Bloody hell?!