ELISE’S POV.
For several minutes, the three of us worked in silence.
Then another set of footsteps approached.
These ones were lighter.
I didn’t even need to look up to know who it was.
Tara.
The moment she stepped into the kitchen, the entire atmosphere changed.
She looked beautiful and every bit an alpha’s daughter.
Her long blonde hair fell perfectly over her shoulders, and her expensive clothes probably cost more than everything I owned combined.
A bright smile sat on her face.
The smile of someone who had never known a day of hardship in her life.
“Good morning,” she sang cheerfully.
Neither Anna nor Lillian looked particularly happy to see her.
I focused on arranging fruit.
Tara strolled deeper into the kitchen.
“I hope breakfast is almost ready.”
“It will be,” I replied.
“It better be.”
I clenched my jaw.
Tara leaned casually against the counter.
“Oh, by the way, Derek likes his pancakes with extra honey.”
I said nothing.
“He mentioned that the last time he visited.”
Still nothing.
Her smile widened.
“I suppose you already knew that, though.”
My grip tightened around the knife.
Beside me, Anna visibly stiffened.
Lillian looked ready to throw an apple at someone’s head.
Tara seemed delighted by my silence.
“Oh, and hurry up with that so you can get started early on other things.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“I want everything to look perfect for my engagement ceremony tonight. Especially because, you know, his cousin, the Alpha King, is going to be attending. Mmhmm, that’s right. King Alexander is going to be here tonight for my engagement ceremony, Elise. I want everything to be perfect. Is that understood, sis?”
I could hear the smirk in her voice, but I ignored it.
“I’m working, Tara,” I said. “Please leave me alone.”
Her laughter echoed through the kitchen at my words.
“Oh, come on, Elise. Don’t tell me you’re still bitter about what happened?” Tara mocked, leaning over the counter to look at my face. “Seriously, it’s your fault for thinking you could actually have a man like Derek in the first place, don’t you agree? I warned you not to get your hopes up, but you didn’t listen. Now look where that’s gotten you—heartbroken.”
I carefully placed the knife on the counter and slowly turned, facing her fully.
“Heartbroken?” I asked. “Over who, Tara? Derek? A man who doesn’t even know what he wants? No, thank you. You can go ahead and have him, Tara. He’s all yours. Because I don’t want a man like that as my mate—”
The words barely left my mouth before her hand came flying toward my face, but I quickly slapped it away.
“Don’t touch me,” I whispered. “I can take the treatment from my father, even your mother. But not from you, Tara.”
The kitchen fell quiet.
For a moment, all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart.
Then another scent drifted into the room.
A scent I would have recognized anywhere.
My entire body went rigid.
Mia went completely silent.
Slowly, Tara’s smile widened again.
Because she had noticed it too.
I looked up, and there he was, standing in the kitchen doorway.
Derek.
My ex-mate.
The man who had shattered my heart months ago.
And judging by the look in his eyes, he had heard every word.
Derek walked further into the kitchen and wrapped his arm around Tara, his hand resting firmly at her waist.
“Is everything alright here?” he asked her in a low voice, his tone gentle in a way that made something painful twist inside my chest.
Tara tilted her head up at him immediately, smiling as though nothing in the world could ever go wrong for her.
“Of course everything is perfect,” she replied sweetly, her voice light and satisfied as she rose slightly on her toes and kissed him.
It was not a quick kiss.
It was slow.
Deliberate.
Her arms slid up around his neck as she held him closer, as though she wanted to make sure I saw every second of it, as though she wanted to carve the moment into my memory as punishment.
Derek did not stop her.
He did not pull away.
He simply accepted it.
The smell of pancakes and honey filled the kitchen, warm and comforting to anyone else, but to me it felt like it was pressing against my chest, making it harder to breathe.
I forced my hands to keep moving.
Forced my body to stay steady.
Because I had learned a long time ago that breaking in front of people like them only made things worse for me. I refused to give them that satisfaction.
Tara finally pulled back with a satisfied smile still resting on her lips, as though she had just proven something important.
Her eyes shifted toward me almost immediately.
“Make sure you hurry up with breakfast,” she said casually, her tone light and careless, as if I were nothing more than a servant she had been assigned to supervise.
I did not look up at her.
I didn’t say a word.
Derek did not speak.
He did not even look at me properly.
Not even once.
There was a time when his eyes used to search for me in every room.
Now, they passed over me like I was part of the furniture.
Instead, his attention remained fixed on Tara, like she was the only person worth existing in the room.
Without another word, they turned and began walking out of the kitchen together.
At the doorway, Derek paused for a moment.
I felt it before I saw it.
His attention had turned back toward me, but I did not lift my head.
I kept my eyes on the food.
On the work.
On anything except him.
“Derek,” Tara called suddenly, her voice sweet but sharp underneath it. “Are you coming, honey?”
Only then did I slowly glance up.
Derek was still standing at the door.
“I think your parents just arrived,” Tara added smoothly. “Let’s go welcome them.”
Derek blinked slightly, as if pulled out of his thoughts.
“Right,” he said quickly, adjusting his posture. “Coming, babe.”
And just like that, they left.
The kitchen door closed behind them.
The silence they left behind was heavier than their voices had ever been.
For a moment, I just stood there, staring at the space where they had been.
Then I exhaled slowly and forced myself back into motion.
There was no room for thoughts like this.
No room for pain.
Breakfast was not finished yet.
When everything was finally ready, I carefully lifted the trays and balanced them in my hands before stepping out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
The moment I entered the corridor, the pack house felt different.
Everywhere was alive and busy, filled with movement and noise.
Servants rushed past me carrying food and drinks, while guards stood at attention near the walls. Voices echoed from every direction, blending into a constant background of anticipation.
Today was important.
Not just for both packs, but for everyone inside it.
By the time I reached the dining hall, most of the tables were already filled.
Pack members sat together in groups, laughing, talking, and discussing the day as though it was something sacred.
As I moved between them, placing plates down and refilling cups, I kept my head lowered and my steps steady.
I had learned how to disappear in plain sight.
It was something I had become very good at.
“…it’s such an honor, honestly,” Maryse said as I passed behind her table.
Her voice was full of excitement, almost breathless.
“The Alpha King himself is coming. That’s amazing,” she added, as though she could not believe she was saying it out loud.
My hand paused for a fraction of a second before I continued walking.
The Alpha King. King Alexander.
I had heard the name many times, but it always felt distant, like something that belonged to another world entirely.
“I can’t believe our little Tara is getting engaged to not just any alpha but one who’s connected to the royal family. The Alpha King’s cousin,” Elder Raymond said, his voice filled with pride as he looked at my father across the table.
“That’s right,” my father responded quickly. “Same royal bloodline. It is not every day someone from the royal family attends a ceremony like this.”
I placed a tray down carefully before moving on, my expression carefully neutral.
“So Derek really managed to convince him to come?” someone asked from across the room.
“Of course,” Derek replied confidently, his arm around Tara, who sat on his lap with her arms around his neck. “My father is his favorite uncle, remember? Alexander respects him a lot. It took effort, but he managed it.”
I continued serving food, placing plates in front of people who did not even look at me as I moved.
“This will be the most important engagement ceremony this pack has ever had,” an elder from Blackveil Pack said firmly.
“Everything must be perfect,” Maryse agreed quickly. “King Alexander does not attend events like this often. If he is coming for my daughter’s engagement ceremony, then everything must be flawless. Who knows? That might get him to attend the mating ceremony too when the time comes.”
I moved from table to table, quietly refilling cups and adjusting plates while their voices filled the room.
“Elise.”
The sound of my father’s voice immediately got my attention.
“Yes, Alpha?”
I didn’t call him Father. The last time I did, it didn’t end well.
He barely looked at me as he spoke.
“The royal guests will need additional rooms prepared for their stay.”
“I want the west wing cleaned before noon.”
“Have the servants finish setting everything up before sunset.”
I nodded.
“Of course. I’ll make sure it’s done.”
He simply nodded and turned back to his conversation.
No thank you.
No acknowledgment.
No warmth.
Just orders as usual.
I lowered my eyes as I set another tray down.
No one was looking at me.
No one was speaking to me.
And no one cared that I was there at all.
They were talking about power.
About alliances.
About futures that would shape entire packs.
But none of those futures included me.
The sound of footsteps made me turn toward the door, and I saw Jake walk in.
Jake was Maryse’s son and the son my father always wanted. Everyone was still trying to understand why he didn’t make Jake his heir and chose Derek instead.
Jake immediately walked over.
“Morning, Father.”
My father actually smiled.
A real smile.
He even placed a hand on Jake’s shoulder.
“Morning, son. There you are.”
The contrast should have hurt.
And it did, but I did my best to ignore it.
“The security arrangements?” Father asked.
Jake smirked.
“Already handled.”
Father nodded proudly.
“Good. You’ve done well, son.”
Something he would never say to me.
Jake’s eyes shifted to me, and his smirk grew even wider, causing me to immediately look away to avoid seeing anything else.
“He’s such a creep,” Mia muttered in my head.
As I moved to the next seat, a calm voice stopped me.
“Elise.”
I immediately recognized it.
Clara.
Clara was Tara’s twin, but they looked nothing alike. Born fraternal twins, the only thing they had in common was their less-than-pleasant attitude.
I turned back toward her.
“Yes?”
Clara glanced down at the cup in front of her before looking up at me.
“Did I somehow offend you this morning already?”
I frowned slightly, confused.
“No.”
“Then why is my cup less full than everyone else’s?”
My eyes dropped to the table.
It wasn’t.
Every cup had been filled the same way.
I opened my mouth before quickly closing it again.
There was no point.
“I’ll fill it up,” I said quietly.
A small smile touched Clara’s lips.
Not a warm smile.
A victorious one.
I picked up the pitcher and filled her cup until it was nearly overflowing.
“Is that enough?”
“Better,” she answered.
Then she tilted her head slightly.
“Honestly, Elise, sometimes I wonder what you spend all day thinking about.”
A few people nearby chuckled.
Heat crept into my face.
Clara wasn’t finished.
“Mother gives you one responsibility and you still struggle with it. How pathetic.”
She picked up her cup and took a sip.
Then she smiled pleasantly at the others around the table.
“As I was saying…”
Just like that, the conversation moved on.
I stood there for a moment longer before turning away.
What readers are saying 0
Share your thoughts with everyone reading this chapter.
