"I don't know what happened. I have been experiencing pain all over my body.
I wanted to go and ask for pain killers but haven't had the time yet." I emphasized and exaggerated the condition of my body to get Karl to stop insisting on going to watch the moon together.
What goddess fulfills desires? Isn't it just looking for an opportunity to cheat me out of my innocence?
I would be crazy to entertain his requests anymore.
"That bad? Then I'll get you some painkillers. Why don't you go and rest for a while if you are so sick?" Karl asked as if he was a very concerned friend.
I didn't want to deal with him anymore so I just replied offhandedly, "Alpha Mike ordered me to finish all the chores and I am not done yet. So, I can't rest."
I meant nothing with that remark. I just wanted to get Karl off my back, but what I didn't know was that my simple remark had opened a can of worms.
"Oh! Then I'll get you the painkillers." Karl said before stuffing another chocolate in my hand and leaving.
The kitchen had been so quiet when Karl was there that I had nearly forgotten that there were other people working there.
It was only when Karl's back vanished completely that another sound came from the other end of the kitchen.
"Some people are just shameless. Complaining about aches and pains as if you want the young alpha to drop everything and give you a massage. Why didn't you just demand for him to marry you?" Someone said sarcastically.
This had become normal whenever someone saw me with Karl. They would start dropping such degrading remarks that left me feeling guilty as if I had defiled Karl by being close to him.
But now, I felt nothing.
Not the guilt nor the happiness I used to secretly feel when others were jealous of me.
Now, I just thought that I could at least use him to avoid some punishments.
I didn't care what others said about our relationship anymore.
Lunch was served on time, thanks to the chocolate Karl had given me which gave me energy and his presence in the kitchen that forced the other workers to do their actual duties instead of piling them on me and expecting me to perform magic and prepare everything on time.
While serving dinner, Karl handed the painkillers he had gotten from somewhere to me and I didn't stand on ceremony.
I took them and immediately put them in my pocket.
I would take them once I was in the privacy of my old room.
For some weird reason, Mike called out to me just as I reached the door.
He pushed a plate filled with pasta and meat sauce towards me and ordered me to take it back and eat.
I looked at him long and hard before taking the plate and leaving.
Everyone around the table was shocked by what Mike had done.
Innocent was about to shutter the fork she was eating her pasta with.
That was the second time that day that Mike had shown interest in me.
The second time she had wanted to choke me to death but had to hold back.
She wanted to question Mike. Why was he showing such interest in a slave? But she didn't dare to.
Not if she wanted to stand by his side as his Luna.
Mike didn't like it when people questioned his authority. So, she would have to suffer in silence for now. Until she was confirmed as Luna.
But for the time being, she would make Valerie's life as miserable as humanly possible.
I took the plate of pasta back into the kitchen and found a corner before sitting down and began to eat.
I had suffered from hunger long enough to know that when I got food and an opportunity to eat, I had to grab onto it.
If I waited even for a second, someone else might show up and take the food just so that they could feed it to a dog.
So, without doing anything else, I polished the plate of pasta and stood up to wash it clean before returning it into its rack.
The other workers in the kitchen were different from me.
Even though they worked in the kitchen, they were paid and they could eat whatever was left in the pot while serving. Or they could go home to eat.
However, they were surprised that day as they watched me eat such a large plate of pasta.
Moreover, it wasn't leftovers but a fresh plate of food.
It was the first time this was happening in eight years.
"Did you steal that plate of pasta?" The mean woman who splashed me with water that morning asked judgmentally.
I looked at the woman blocking my way and sighed inwardly.
The woman was plump for a wolf, but who could blame her, she ate almost everything that was left after every meal.
Most of the time, she was the reason I had to eat leftovers from other people's plates instead of what was left in the pot.
The pack might have been rotten, but there were still some decent people and some of the kitchen staff left some food for me without being too obvious.
Unfortunately, the woman in front of me always took advantage of her daughter being friends with Innocent and ate everything.
No wonder she looked like a hippo.
"I brought that plate from the dining table. Do you think I could have stolen a plate of pasta in front of three alphas and a bunch of shifted wolves?" For the first time in years, I talked back to someone.
Even if it was just kitchen staff, I straightened my back and spoke.
This shocked everyone in the kitchen as well as Mike, who was just walking into the kitchen at that moment.
The kitchen went silent for a long moment before sound could be heard again.