June 15 2026, 5:46pm
*Knock knock*
The sound of someone knocking fervently at the door snapped Nyx’ara out of her daydreams. She had spent the last hour sprawled on her bed with her eyes closed while she imagined life outside this pack... and away from werewolves entirely.
However, that dream had been so rudely interrupted by the sudden knock on her door, and with a frown, she rose quickly, scurried over, and pulled it open only to have her breath leave her parted lips in one fluid breath.
"Come this way," the same old woman from yesterday said without preamble with her frail hands hanging at her waist as she stared straight at Nyx’ara.
Just like the day before, her voice was clipped and emotionless. Her eyes however, held a hint of warmth— one that had not been there the previous day.
Nyx’ara noted this difference, but deciding not to push her luck, she raised her eyebrows and asked softly; "W-why?"
The woman frowned. "Were you deaf when the Alphas commanded that you should be moved to the main house today?"
The subtle insult burned, especially since it was half true. It made heat spread across Nyx’ara’s face until her cheeks and the tips of her ears were stinging with so much warmth, it almost felt feverish.
With a sigh and an internal eye roll, she took a step backward, stepping into the room, and muttered; "I-I am par-partially d-deaf, but g-give me a mi-minute please."
As soon as the old woman heard those words, and listened to Nyx’ara’s extremely calm voice, her face slowly fell. She suddenly felt like a bully. Like a bitch. She hated that she had just offhandedly pricked at the young woman’s insecurities, which she didn’t deserve whether she was a murderer or not.
Now, come to think about it, the more time she spends with this girl, the more she has started to believe that she is way too innocent to commit murder.
Her character was a little too pure... too childlike and too reckless. She seemed too innocent and didn’t come off as someone capable of doing something as evil as what was left of the Princess’s broken body by the time she was found.
Shaking off these thoughts, she turned to the young woman, eyed her dismissively, and snapped; "What do you need a minute for?"
"S-something imp-important! I’ll be d-done real quick!" Nyx’ara cut in, but she would not have that.
She rolled her eyes. "No. You’re coming with me and you’re coming right now!" The old woman snapped, sounding impatient, and Nyx’ara needed no soothsayer to know that she was one of those people who hated waiting.
However, Nyx’ara did not give a damn about that. She shrugged. "I-I ne-need to-to take some clo-clothes. I ha-have none."
She saw the way the old woman’s eyes darted from her face to the small wardrobe behind her, a flicker of something akin to annoyance crossing her features. Before Nyx’ara could take another step further into the room, she snapped;
"No."
No?
"No! Leave everything as it is! There are newer clothes waiting for you in your new room."
Those words made the frown on Nyx’ara’s face deepen. She stared at the woman as if waiting for something that would hint at foul play, but after a second passed, and several more rushed past as well, she frowned and asked the one question that had suddenly begun to bug her.
"A-re there clo-clothes in e-every room in th-this house?"
That made the woman smile.
The smile was warm and dazzling which was a stark contrast to her usual cold demeanor. She shook her head slowly and hissed;
"No. But this room used to belong to one of the resigned palace servants so the clothes you found in the room were hers. Now, you’re moving to a much better room so there will be better clothes for you there."
"A-and who oh-owns this new room?" Nyx’ara stuttered, only to be blessed with another dazzling smile from the woman.
I guess she’s not so bad after all.
"No one. It was just prepared today for you."
Even though Nyx’ara didn’t fully believe that, she decided not to drag the conversation any further. So instead of telling the woman her thoughts, she quietly said goodbye to the room that had housed her for the past couple of hours, wrapped her dress tightly around her body, and followed the woman out.
The trek was longer than she had expected, especially since the servants’ quarters were only an extension of the main house.
However, she realised that she had greatly underestimated the wealth these Alphas possessed as they rounded the last corner leading out of the servants’ quarters and then burst into the main house.
And dayummnnnn.
It was massive!
It was easily the grandest house she had ever seen in her entire life. The house was so grand it bordered on obscene.
Towering walls of pristine white stone rose beneath a ceiling painted with intricate gold detailing, while heavy golden tapestries cascaded between towering pillars, shimmering beneath the glow of enormous crystal chandeliers.
As they walked, she noticed the several statues of Greek gods lining the halls, their marble faces carved into expressions of divine superiority, as though even the house itself worshipped wealth.
But at the very edge of the grand spiral staircase, beside an enormous fountain spilling crystal-clear water into a golden basin containing several beautiful goldfish, stood four statues that made her stop.
She stared.
And stared again.
These weren’t Greek gods.
They were the quadruplets.
The four statues stood as larger-than-life statues of the four men themselves. They were bigger, grander, and more exquisite than the statues of the actual Greek gods. They were each carved in exquisite detail, standing proudly atop marble pedestals as though they had personally conquered the world.
She blinked.
Once. Twice.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Of course.
Because apparently being obscenely rich, terrifyingly powerful, and worshipped by half the damn world wasn’t enough. They needed statues of themselves, too to remind them of how powerful they were.
Nyx’ara stared at their stone faces, unimpressed, and with a flick of her wrist, she hissed;
"Ego-egoistic bastards."
"You say what?" Someone asked from behind her but she was too annoyed to care about who it was.
She snorted. "I-I sa-said, they are ego-egoistic bastards!"
The insult rang loud and sure. It vibrated through the air until it felt as though it had been powered by the wind, given wings to fly, and fluttered around them like a blind bat in unfamiliar territory.
She held her chin high and tried to move away from the statues to continue her way to her ’new’ room, but just as she took a step, large fingers closed around her wrist, keeping her in place.
Her eyes widened from the jolts of electricity that sent running down her spine before she even saw the fingers, and her breath left her lungs in one final whoosh when she spun around and her eyes met bluish-purple ones filled with fury.
She saw the familiar staff before she recognized who it was, and as soon as she did, her heart plummeted. Her face colored a deep red and all the bravado and sass she once possessed only a few minutes prior flew out the window even if there were currently no open windows.
"A-Alpha Draven...?" Her words sounded more like a question than a statement, and when his eyes dragged along her body, slowly... deliberately, making her feel even smaller than she already was, she squeezed her eyes shut and mumbled;
"I-I ah-am genuinely v-very sorry."