Chapter 13: Is she dead

Chapter 13: Is she dead 13 ~Rowan’s POV "What the hell is going on with that bitch?!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the room. My hand slammed against the table, again, and a sharp crack split through the already-damaged wood. Papers flew. Rage burned hot in my chest, crawling up my throat until it felt like fire was going to pour from my mouth. Lisa. That name felt like poison on my tongue. She hadn’t even spent two full days in the palace, and yet she had managed to shake everything. Our rules. Our image. Our control. "She is not even fit to be a maid in the palace," Damon muttered, seething as he paced the floor. "Not to talk of being our Luna." Kael leaned against the wall, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, eyes narrowed like blades. "I’m done," he said finally, voice cold and flat. "I don’t care what the Moon Goddess thinks. That bitch will never be Luna of this pack." Damon and I turned to him, the silence between us growing heavier. "I’m going to reject her," Kael continued, uncrossing his arms. "Tonight, tomorrow, doesn’t matter. But I’m not living with that curse wearing a human face." I didn’t speak right away. My head was buzzing too loud for words. Lisa wasn’t just some random girl. She was our mate. Chosen. Fated. But Kael was right. She was ruining everything. She’d gotten under our skin. Made us feel... out of control. She didn’t belong here. She didn’t carry the strength, the power, the blood that this pack demanded of a Luna. Damon looked between us, jaw clenched. "You think rejecting her will break the tie?" Kael scoffed. "It’ll break something. And I’d rather destroy it all than let her destroy us." What about our curse?" I asked, my voice low, but it sliced clean through the silence in the room. Kael didn’t answer right away. His jaw tightened. Damon looked away, pacing again, his hand raking through his dark hair like it was the curse itself he wanted to rip out. They didn’t need to speak. I saw it in their eyes, the same fury I felt. The same helplessness we all buried beneath our cruelty. "The curse can rot," Damon muttered at last. Kael scoffed bitterly. "Let it rot with her." We stood there, three cursed Alphas, suffocating in a silence louder than any scream.View the correct content at That was when a knock came at the door. Sharp. Measured. A second later, the head of the maids stepped inside, her head bowed respectfully. "My Lords," she said calmly, though I saw her hands were shaking. "Your breakfast is ready. It has been served at the dining pavilion." I nodded curtly. Damon waved her off without a word. Kael gave her a look that made her flinch, then turned on his heel and stormed toward the corridor. We followed. The walk to the pavilion was silent, save for the heavy sound of our boots against stone and the distant rustle of morning wind in the trees outside. The palace was awake now. Servants bowed as we passed. No one dared speak. When we reached the pavilion, the scent of warm bread and roasted meat filled the air. Silver platters gleamed beneath the soft morning light, each dish perfectly arranged. The maids stood at attention beside the long polished table, eyes to the floor. We took our seats. Damon leaned back in his chair and spoke to the head of the maids without looking up. "Assign Lisa to the kitchen. That’s where she belongs." The woman blinked, startled. "Yes, Alpha." "And teach her," he added. "How to prepare baths. Clean floors. Scrub chambers. Teach her everything the lowest maids do." Kael chuckled under his breath. "Make her earn the breath she wastes." I said nothing. My knife scraped against the plate as I sliced through my food. The room was too quiet again. Then suddenly, crash! A sharp, clattering sound tore through the air. A maid had dropped a plate. We all looked up at once. The girl froze, eyes wide in horror, hands trembling. The shattered dish lay in pieces at her feet. Kael’s chair screeched back as he stood slowly. She began to shake. Damon was already on his feet. I didn’t move. I just stared at her, waiting to see if she’d run, or beg. The crash still echoed when the maid dropped to her knees, her face pale as moonlight. "I...I’m sorry," she stammered, bowing so low her forehead nearly touched the floor. "Please, I beg you. Forgive me, Alphas... It won’t happen again..." Her hands trembled against the marble floor, and her voice cracked as she tried to hold back tears. But Damon was already rising from his chair. He moved slowly, deliberately, like a predator that already knew its prey was too broken to run. He crouched before her, just for a second, and looked her straight in the eye. "I hate repeating myself," he said quietly. Then crack. His palm landed hard across her face. The sound snapped through the room like a whip. The other maids flinched. The girl fell sideways, catching herself with one hand, breath shuddering in her chest.View the correct content at Kael stood too, brushing the crumbs from his fingers with lazy disgust. "Take her," he said coldly. "Ten lashes outside. That should teach her the difference between service and carelessness." Two guards stepped forward immediately. The maid didn’t scream. She just wept silently as they dragged her to her feet, still bowing, still begging. "I’m sorry... please... please..." Her voice faded down the corridor as they took her away, begging, crying, barely able to stand on her own feet. Still, not a single soul in the room dared to move or speak. Fear held their tongues the way chains held wolves before war. Damon sat back down, his expression unreadable, except for that irritation still burning in his eyes. He reached for his goblet like nothing had happened. "These new ones are too soft," he muttered, almost like he was disappointed. I didn’t respond. I picked up my fork and stared at my plate. Meat, bread, wine, it all tasted like ash now. The silence around us stretched, heavy and sharp. Kael’s fist slammed down on the table. "Where the hell is this bitch?! Is she dead?!" he snapped, voice low but dangerous, like thunder right before the lightning. I looked up at him, and so did Damon. He didn’t need to say her name. We all knew who he meant. Lisa.