The palace at night was a different creature.
During the day, it was all sharp eyes, formal words, and polished marble echoing with the measured footsteps of guards and courtiers. But after the torches were lit and the moon took its throne, shadows pooled in the corners and every creak of wood or flutter of curtain felt alive.
Natalie had just left the library, a book clutched to her chest,not because she intended to read it tonight, but because walking empty-handed through the silent halls made her feel exposed. The air was cool against her skin, and the moonlight slicing through the high windows seemed to follow her as she made her way toward her chambers.
She had almost reached the east wing when she heard it.
"Natalie."
Her name was barely more than a whisper, but it froze her in place. She turned slowly, her pulse quickening. From the shadow between two marble columns, a figure emerged,a young woman in a plain servant's tunic, her brown hair tied back hastily, eyes darting like a cornered bird's.
Natalie's fingers tightened on the book. "You shouldn't be speaking to me in the open," she murmured.
The servant glanced over her shoulder before stepping closer. "I had to. I've been looking for a chance to speak with you alone." Her voice was soft but urgent, each word threaded with a kind of reckless courage.
Natalie studied her for a moment. She recognized the girl faintly,one of the Alpha's household staff, always quiet, always in the background. "What's so important that you'd risk this?"
The servant swallowed hard. "I know things… about the Alpha. About his history. And about you."
Natalie's heart lurched, but she kept her face neutral. "You don't know me."
The girl's eyes flickered. "I know enough. Enough to know you weren't the one he was promised to. Enough to know someone sent you here in your sister's place."
A chill swept through Natalie, prickling every inch of her skin. The halls seemed suddenly narrower, the shadows darker.
"That's a dangerous thing to say," Natalie said quietly, forcing her voice to stay steady.
"I'm aware," the girl replied. "But I don't care about court politics. I care about surviving this place,and I think you do too."
Natalie didn't respond immediately. Her instincts screamed caution. This could be a trap, Alpha Damien might have sent her, or worse, one of his advisors could be testing her loyalty. Yet there was something in the girl's trembling hands and quick breaths that felt… real.
"What do you want from me?" Natalie finally asked.
"Safe passage," the servant said, stepping closer still. "Beyond the palace gates, beyond the pack lands. I have family in the southern valleys. I want to reach them before winter sets in."
Natalie frowned. "And you think I can arrange that?"
The girl nodded. "You're the Alpha's mate. Even if he… watches you closely, you still have influence. You can make a request, send someone on an errand, create a distraction. Something that gets me past the gates unnoticed."
Natalie let out a slow breath,first time being referred to as the Alpha's mate...tho the Alpha hasn't acknowledged that....not yet....maybe because the marriage was arranged then her mind drifted back to the servant. "And in exchange?"
The servant's gaze sharpened. "I'll tell you what I know. About the Alpha's past,and yours. The truth about why you were brought here. The truth no one else will dare to speak."
The words hit Natalie like a blow to the chest. The truth. She had been chasing pieces of it ever since she set foot in the Moonblood Pack's territory. Damien's suspicion, the courtiers' whispers, her mother's tight-lipped silence before the wedding,it was all part of a puzzle she couldn't yet solve.
But this… this could be the missing piece.
Natalie's thoughts tangled. Helping the servant escape could put her in direct conflict with Damien's authority. If she were caught, it wouldn't just be the servant's neck on the chopping block,it would be hers.
"You realize," Natalie said slowly, "if anyone finds out about this, we're both dead."
The girl's expression was grim. "Better to die for trying than to live knowing what I know and saying nothing."
They stood in the dim corridor, the quiet pressing in around them. Somewhere far off, a guard's boots clinked against the marble. Natalie's mind raced her mother's warning before the wedding, Selene's smirk when she left the pack lands, the way Damien's gaze always seemed to pierce straight through her.
Maybe this was reckless. But the danger was already at her door, and the longer she stayed blind, the easier it would be for someone else to decide her fate for her.
"All right," she said at last, her voice low but firm. "I'll help you. But on my terms."
The servant's eyes widened. "Your terms?"
"Yes. You tell me the truth first. Everything. Then I find a way to get you out without either of us ending up in the dungeons."
The girl hesitated. "If I tell you now, and you change your mind....."
"I won't," Natalie cut in, though a part of her knew it was a promise she might regret. "But you're not getting out of here without me. And I'm not risking everything without knowing exactly what I'm risking it for."
The servant studied her, then gave a small, tense nod. "Tomorrow night. Meet me in the old laundry hall. The guards never go there after dark. I'll tell you everything then."
Natalie narrowed her eyes. "Why not now?"
"Because a guard would pass through this corridor in 2 minutes"
Natalie exhaled slowly. This was dangerous,too dangerous,but curiosity and the gnawing need for answers had already hooked her. "Fine. Tomorrow night."
The girl took a step back into the shadows. "One more thing," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper that barely reached Natalie's ears. "Some things can't be unheard once you know them. Be sure you're ready."
And then she was gone, melting into the darkness like she had never been there at all.
Natalie stood in the corridor for a long moment, the cold stone beneath her bare feet seeping into her bones. Her heart was still hammering, her mind replaying the servant's words over and over. She clutched the book to her chest, not because she needed it, but because she needed something to hold on to.
When she finally moved, her steps were slow, deliberate, as though each one took her deeper into something she couldn't yet see,but could already feel closing in around her.