Rebecca’s POV
The heavy scent of blooming roses usually brought me peace, but today, it just felt like another reminder of everything I had lost.
I knelt in the dirt, my hands covered in thick gardening gloves as I used a pair of rusty iron shears to trim the dead leaves off the bushes.
A bitter tear slipped down my cheek, and I wiped it away quickly with the back of my dusty glove.
I used to be a princess in this pack.
Before I was stripped of my title and forced to work as a servant, I would have been walking through these gardens in beautiful dresses.
Now, I was just a servant.
”You shouldn’t be doing this, Becca.”
I jumped slightly at the sound of the deep, familiar voice.
I turned my head and saw Ryan walking down the stone path.
He was wearing his dark warrior leathers, his broad shoulders catching the afternoon sun.
Ryan was Enzo’s best friend and his Beta, the second most powerful man in the pack.
But unlike Enzo, who looked at me like I was a piece of trash on his shoe, Ryan always looked at me with attention…
with love.
”It’s my job, Beta Ryan,” I said, forcing my voice to stay cold and steady as I stood up, wiping the dirt off my apron.
“The head maid ordered me to finish the garden before sunset.”
Ryan stopped a few feet away from me.
He didn’t use his Alpha-lite Beta authority to command me.
Instead, he reached out, his large, warm fingers gently catching my wrist.
He pulled my hand up, looking at the raw, red skin where the heavy shears had chafed against my palm.
”Enzo shouldn’t have put you out here,” Ryan murmured, his hazel eyes dark with a mixture of anger and sympathy.
He looked at my disheveled hair, my stained uniform, and the dark circles under my eyes from not sleeping.
“You were born to be a Luna, Becca.
Not a servant.
It kills me to see you like this.”
Hearing his kind words after days of pure agony made something snap inside my chest.
I thought about what I had shouted at Enzo before I stormed out of his room.
If you don’t want to fuck me, Enzo, I’ll just go get it somewhere else.
I am pretty sure Ryan will be more than willing to do it.
I looked up at Ryan through my eyelashes, deliberately stepping a little closer to him.
If Enzo wanted me to stay away from him, if he wanted to treat me like an immature child, then I would show him exactly what a grown woman could do.
”Am I that bad, Ryan?” I asked, my voice trembling as I stepped even closer into his space.
“Just like Enzo…
do you think I’m just a spoiled princess?”
Ryan scoffed immediately, his hazel eyes flashing with fierce defense.
“No.
Of course not, Becca.
Don’t ever say that.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, my heart hammering against my ribs as I pushed further.
“Then…
do you think I’m attractive?”
”Yes,” Ryan breathed, his grip on my wrist tightening as his gaze dropped to my lips before snapping back to my eyes.
“Becca, you are fucking attractive.
Who the hell made you doubt that?
Is it Enzo?
He is a total dickhead if he can’t see what’s right in front of him.”
I swallowed hard, the heavy silence stretching between us.
The words were right on the tip of my tongue.
I wanted to use him to hurt Enzo.
I wanted to tell him to take me right here in the dirt, to fuck me just to prove a point, to completely destroy Enzo’s pride.
But as I stared into Ryan’s eyes, reality hit me like a bucket of ice water.
I couldn’t do it.
The words died in my throat because I realized, with a sickening wave of clarity, that I didn’t actually want him.
I never wanted anyone but Enzo.
I couldn’t explain it, but my attraction toward Enzo was entirely beyond physical.
We weren’t fated mates—neither of us had found our true mate yet—but there was a deep, invisible string pulling me to him that I couldn’t break.
No matter how much he humiliated me, my body and soul refused to belong to another man.
”Please excuse me,” I choked out, tearing my wrist from Ryan’s grip before he could say another word.
”Becca, wait—”
I didn’t listen.
I turned on my heel and walked away as fast as my legs could carry me, practically running up the stone path.
I made my way back toward the mansion, aiming for the side entrance to avoid the main halls.
But as I rounded the corner near the outdoor training arena, I froze.
The breath was completely knocked out of my lungs.
There, in the middle of the courtyard, was Enzo.
He was shirtless, his massive, tattooed back glistening under the afternoon sun, showcasing every hard muscle I had been clutching two days ago.
His large, powerful arms were wrapped completely around Clara from behind, guiding her hands as he taught her how to hold a bow and shoot an arrow.
He was holding her close, his chest pressed into her back—the exact way he should have been holding me.
I stood there frozen, my heart sinking straight into the pit of my stomach.
The pain was so sharp it felt physical.
As if sensing my presence through my scent, Enzo’s head suddenly snapped in my direction.
His green eyes locked directly onto mine.
For a split second, the air between us turned heavy and suffocating.
I couldn’t bear to see the coldness in his face.
Before he could see the tears threatening to spill over my lashes, I turned and ran away.
I bolted inside, my vision blurry as I hurried into the main living room.
Thankfully, it was completely empty.
My hands were shaking violently as I scanned the liquor cabinet.
I didn’t care about the rules anymore.
I grabbed a bottle of dry gin and another bottle of whiskey, clutching them tightly against my chest like a lifeline, and ran straight toward the servant quarters in the back of the estate.
I burst into my tiny, cramped bedroom, slammed the heavy wooden door shut, and turned the lock.
Dropping to the floor with my back against the door, I uncapped the whiskey with trembling teeth.
I didn’t bother with a glass.
I lifted the heavy bottle to my lips and gulped down a massive quantity of the burning amber liquid.
It scorched my throat and set my chest on fire, but I welcomed the burn.
I wanted to get drunk.
Perhaps if I did, I would finally find the courage to go back out there and fuck Ryan.