"She's always been like that. Lazy, too." Innocent said through clenched teeth with that sickly sweet voice of hers that contrasted with her voluptuous body.
Mike hummed, noncommittal. "Is that so?"
I felt my wolf stir faintly then.
There wasn't anger or words, just a slight ripple that even Mike's wolf didn't catch.
My breath hitched for half a second before I forced it steady again.
"Valerie."
My name sounded different in his mouth this time. Like a claim.
The disgust was still there, but it wasn't as heavy as before.
I stepped forward mechanically and lowered my head further.
Any other wolf would have knelt from the authority coming from Mike, but not me.
I refused to kneel to my tormenter, alpha or not.
"Yes, Alpha."
The word burned hotter than the fire I had used to make pancakes.
Mike crouched slightly, close enough that I could smell him, pine and iron and something sharp beneath it.
His presence pressed harder, demanding submission.
My body reacted by lowering my head even further, but my soul resisted.
"Look at me." Mike commanded.
My jaw clenched as I slowly lifted my head.
Our eyes met. There were no fireworks like other mates claimed to feel when they met their mates.
There was only silence, at least on my part.
For a brief moment, something flickered in Mike's gaze, surprise perhaps, or irritation.
As if he hadn't expected my eyes to be so clear. So empty. So utterly devoid of longing.
He straightened abruptly.
The lack of any emotional response linked to the mate bond from me made Mike unsettled.
"See that she finishes her work," he said, already turning away. "She's still useful."
Useful.
The word echoed in my head long after Mike left.
The pressure lifted. The room breathed again.
I remained bowing for a second longer than necessary.
Then I stood up straight and returned to the stove without a word.
Innocent glared at me, nails digging into her palms, but said nothing. I could feel the glare like a sharp knife placed above my neck.
A knife that could fall any moment.
Innocent didn't know why Mike was suddenly interested in me, but she couldn't do anything to upset him.
So, she let me go, for now. Then she turned around and left the kitchen.
I didn't care.
Because for the first time since last night, something inside me wasn't silent anymore.
'I'm here.' It was a faint whisper that brushed against my consciousness.
A voice I was familiar with since the age of thirteen, yet I felt that it sounded different this time.
My fingers slightly trembled, but I said nothing.
I knew Lizzie would understand. She was the one who told me to keep her presence a secret after all.
But deep within my consciousness, beneath years of fear and obedience, something ancient and patient opened its eyes.
The rest of the morning passed like a blur that I didn't even notice.
The only thing that reminded me that time had moved was the pangs of hunger biting at my stomach, reminding me to collect the plates used for breakfast and see if there were any leftovers for me to fill my stomach with.
I looked up from where I had spent most of the morning scrubbing pots, wiping tables, and shifting trays from one spot to another.
I found myself staring straight into eyes that could only be described as venomous.
'When did she come back?' I thought to myself when I realized that Innocent was standing at the door watching me like a viper.
I immediately lowered my eyes and my body, conditioned by years of suffering and survival kept moving.
My hands continued to wipe the counter top where ingredients were placed before cooking as if I never planned to stop.
I had long learned that pausing in the midst of chores would be interpreted as defiance.
Especially when the person supervising was Innocent, who seemed to treat me as an imaginary enemy.
And today, Mike had made things worse.
Everyone in the pack knew that Innocent loved Mike, or rather, she loved his status as the heir to the alpha position.
Any girl who was seen talking to Mike, sometimes even greeting him would face her undisguised wrath.
There was once a girl who had seen Mike training shirtless, sweating all over the place and thought it must feel uncomfortable.
So, she took a towel and brought it to Mike for him to wipe his sweat. She never meant anything else, neither did she have any improper thoughts about him.
However, that simple act of kindness had ruined that girl's life.
Innocent had seen the girl giving Mike the towel with an innocent smile on her face and decided that she was seducing her supposed mate.
Yeah, Innocent went around telling everyone that Mike would definitely be her fated mate and they were going to get married and she was the future Luna of their pack.
Jokes on them, or maybe it was on me, the actual mate.
Anyway, Innocent had hired thugs to follow the girl and all that was known was that the girl had been found in the woods completely ravaged.
She had been tormented so much that she had lost her mind. During the incident, her wolf had gone crazy and torn the thugs to shreds.
Yet, when she was found, Innocent was the first to accuse the girl of cold-blooded murder.
The girl was too far gone to realize what was happening and was executed on order from the alpha for the crime of mass murder.
Yet, gossip circulated in the pack about the girl being innocent and having been framed just because she offered the future alpha a towel to wipe his sweat.
From that time, other girls stayed far away from Mike.
Yet, that day, Mike had decided to draw attention to her and let Innocent notice.
I wasn't sure how Innocent was going to torment me this time.
The only thing I could be sure of was that she wouldn't let me die, since Mike had said I was still useful.
Thinking of that word, Mike's presence, which I had tried so hard to ignore and forget all morning, surfaced on my mind involuntarily, lingering like a stain I just couldn't wash away.