Rebecca’s POV

​The door swung wide, and for a moment I feared it was Alpha Kaden, but thankfully it wasn’t him.

​It was the head maid. She stepped into the room holding a small tray, but she stopped instantly when her eyes landed on Alpha Kane. The silence in the room became incredibly tense. Kane didn’t offer her an explanation. He simply gave me a quiet, lingering nod, brushed past her shoulder, and walked out into the corridor.

​The head maid didn’t say a word until the heavy sound of his footsteps completely died down the hallway. Once she was sure he was gone, she turned her gaze back to me. Her face twisted into a look of absolute disgust, and she spat her words right at my feet.

​"So, the Alpha King is not enough for you?" she hissed. "Now you want to fuck his brother too?"

​I forced my eyes down and ignored her. She was a woman in her early forties, more than twice my age, but she was looking at me like I was a piece of garbage that had ruined her palace. I didn’t want any trouble. I just wanted to lie down and let the pain in my stomach fade.

​I took a slow step forward, trying to walk over to the safety of the bed, but she blocked my path. Before I could even blink, her hand shot out and gripped a thick handful of my hair, pulling back so brutally that it felt like she was tearing off my scalp.

​"Who do you think you are?" she spat right into my face, her breath hot and full of hatred. "Making the Alpha King and his brother argue over you? You shameless bitch... you have already seduced Alpha Kane too, haven’t you?"

​The burning pain in my head exploded, and with it, a sudden, unfamiliar wave of hot fury hit me. I had been beaten, mocked, and pushed around my entire life, but something inside me finally snapped.

​"Let go of me!" I screamed.

​I didn’t think about the consequences. I just grabbed her wrist, yanked my hair completely out of her painful grip, and shoved her away from me with everything I had. I didn’t mean to hurt her—I just wanted her away from me.

​But I didn’t know my own strength.

​A terrifying, invisible force seemed to erupt from my palms. The head maid let out a sharp gasp as she literally flew backward across the guest room. Her body slammed hard into the stone wall with a sickening, loud crash, and she instantly dropped to the floor, sliding down into a lifeless, crumpled heap.

​My eyes widened in pure horror. My hands began to shake violently as I stared down at my own palms, then back at her motionless body. I was completely dumbfounded. How did my small, desperate push do that? I was just a weak wolf. I didn’t have that kind of power.

​Before I could even process what had just happened, the heavy wooden door burst open.

​A young maid, who must have been walking by and heard the loud crash against the wall, rushed into the room. She took one look at me standing there panting, and then her eyes landed on the bleeding, motionless body of the head maid on the floor.

​Her face went completely pale, and she let out a piercing scream that echoed down the entire wing of the palace.

​"Help! Guards, help!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, backing away from me in total terror. "The prisoner is attacking! Help!"

​Within seconds, the sound of heavy, racing footsteps thundered down the hallway. Three guards burst into the guest room, their weapons drawn, but they stopped dead in their tracks. They stood there, completely dumbfounded, looking back and forth between me and the bloody scene on the floor.

​Before anyone could say a word, a powerful, dark aura flooded the room, making the air freeze.

​Alpha Kaden walked in.

​His eyes were wide and full of absolute panic as he scanned the room. The moment his gaze locked onto me, seeing me standing there completely safe and okay, I saw that familiar flash of raw relief wash over his face. But it lasted for only a split second. His eyes immediately traveled down to the floor, landing on the unmoving, bleeding body of the head maid.

​"What the hell happened here?" Kaden demanded, his voice dropping into a deadly, terrifying rumble that shook the entire room.

​The young maid who had screamed stepped forward, her body trembling violently as she pointed a shaking finger at me. "Alpha... I was walking by and heard a loud scream from the head maid! When I rushed inside, I saw her lying there like this... She did it! The prisoner attacked her!"

​Kaden’s eyes snapped back to me, glaring with a look so sharp it felt like it could pierce right through my skin. The pure fury in his gaze made me want to shrink into the floor.

​He didn’t say a word to me yet. Instead, he moved quickly over to the head maid’s body. He knelt down beside her, his fingers pressing firmly against her neck to check for a pulse. After a tense moment, he looked up at the guards.

​"She’s alive, but her pulse is weak," he snapped. "Call the healer. Now!"

​One of the guards bowed quickly and sprinted out of the room to get help.

​My heart was racing so fast it felt like it would explode out of my chest. My legs were shaking so badly I could barely stand up, my fingers tightly gripping the oversized fabric of my gown. Was she really going to die because of me? The sheer terror of what I had done left me breathless.

​Kaden stood up slowly, towering over the room. He turned his full, terrifying attention toward me, taking a slow, predatory step in my direction.

​"What did you do?" he growled, the sound vibrating deep in his throat.

​"It... it was a mistake!" I cried out, my voice cracking as tears finally spilled over my eyelashes. I shook my head wildly, holding my trembling hands out in front of me. "I swear, I didn’t mean to push her that hard! She grabbed my hair and I just wanted her to let go... I didn’t know—"

​"Shut up!" Kaden roared, cutting me off instantly.

​The sheer power of his Alpha command slammed into me, forcing my mouth shut and making me flinch away in absolute terror.