Greymoor Academy: I Accidentally Bonded With Four Lycan Royals! novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57: 57. A Hellish Loop

Maisie

I was caught in a hellish loop.

It was the Night Shade Pack all over again.

I could tell you about how Corazon woke me up the next morning with sad eyes and told me Master Soren wanted me moved from my bedroom to the outhouse with the rest of the staff.

I could tell about how it felt like the knife in my chest dug deeper when he said without feeling, "We need more hands with the wedding preparations, and you have more than enough experience being a maid. Of course, there’ll be a monthly wage attached in addition to earning your keep."

I could tell you all about how I considered my options carefully. Which was the lesser evils? This shit position or returning to the Night Shade pack and becoming Cole’s breeding mare? Or maybe I could just leave and start over somewhere far away from here.

The last option seemed the most enticing, until I realized leaving the Lycans ’protection’ would put me back at the mercy of the Night Shade pack, as the only reason the Council hadn’t yet summoned me and forced me into the marriage with Cole was because of the strings I knew the Lycans still pulled to buy me immunity until I was completely turned.

Leaving Ashbourne would mean abandoning my scholarship. I had worked too hard to get here and would be damned if I ruined my own life because I couldn’t stand being around them.

It was a difficult thing, swallowing my pride and taking the job. But I told myself it would only be for a little time. Until the transition was over. Until I was safe from death. Until I could stand on my own two feet.

I convinced myself that there was a bright side to this. For one, the wage was way more than anyone would have paid if I’d taken a side job. For two, living in the outhouse meant I didn’t have to see her. And them.

I was dead, fucking wrong.

She made me an active part of the wedding preparations. She made me hold up the fabric the designers brought for hours, while choosing which colors she would look best in.

She made me present for every dress fitting, cake and wine tasting, without ever acknowledging me.

She made me hold up a tray of biscuits during their meetings to discuss to manner of consummation of the wedding night. She never touched the biscuits.

I stood off to the side while they decided where the honeymoon would be.

The Lycans never looked at me. And when they did, it was fleeting and empty.

I could’ve told you I didn’t look at them, either. But that was a lie. I couldn’t not see them. They were everywhere. In the kitchens while I cleaned. On the staircases while I mopped. Making out against the walls, unable to keep their hands off each other. They were in my dreams.

I was dying on the inside.

Grabbing the mop and the bucket, I made my way over to the kitchen when a sobbing girl ran out, clutching her cheek, red and raw with handprints etched into her skin.

I stared after her, wide-eyed, before I heard Corazon behind me, "Mason—"

"Maisie," I corrected.

"The crazy woman wants you tending to her bedroom."

I stiffened, clutching the mopping stick tighter. "But she has enough maids tending her."

She had such exhausting demands, the previously emptied mansion that was run only by Corazon was now fully staffed to cater to her every whim. Which seemed something new every other minute.

Corazon looked at the direction toward which the girl had gone running and shuddered. "That’s the sixteenth one in six days. I doubt that one’s coming back." Her eyes returned to mine. "Just... do as you’re told and it’ll be fine. I think."

My hands grew clammy around the mop stick as I took the stairs and came to a halt in front of the bedroom Tessa shared with Soren. My heart skipped a beat, and some. Regardless of how many times I told myself, I’ll just clean and get out of here, my lungs wouldn’t function properly.

I felt like the other woman, impeding on a couple’s private time.

I rasped my knuckles against the door twice before slipping into the bedroom.

My chest thudded with such force, I thought I might vomit. Soren wasn’t in, but the sheets were in a twist.

The air in the bedroom was heavy with the unmistakable smell of sex and their mingling scents.

I stared at the dark sheets.

Did he kiss her first? Was it soft? Was it rough? Did he wrap his fingers around her delicate neck when he took her? Did he strangle her while he did it? I bet he was gentle. I bet he kissed her slowly afterwards and held her close. I bet he didn’t call her a slut when he was inside her.

"In here," Tessa’s cold voice came from the bathroom.

I shut the door behind me and moved on trembling legs.

I hated her. The twisted creature inside me wanted to launch at her and rip out all of her hair and shriek like a banshee because she smelled like him. She smelled like... mine.

Oh god. I was going to die.

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