THREE

"Please, get her something to eat as soon as she wakes up," he urged the hotel staff.

As he left the room, Ashford was at the door waiting for him. "What was that for, Kai?" Ash asked him. Why was he going to such lengths for a mere servant? The man ignored him at first but halted, deciding that Ashford might have some of the answers he wanted.

"Why was she being beaten?" Alpha Kai asked.

Ash shrugged. "That's my mother's way of correcting her. She's too stubborn," he said as he rolled his eyes.

Kai was disgusted at his approach to that kind of torture but he let Ashford walk with him. "So what was your mother correcting her for?" he asked further.

"Oh, that. She was being disrespectful to me today and I wasn't having it but it's not in my place to discipline her since she's my sister's serving girl. So I told my mother instead as soon as she came home," he explained.

By then, they were back at Ashford's mansion. Kai couldn't bear to look at him so he continued to look forward.

"Are you coming with me to oversee the other affairs?" Ash asked him, not minding his odd countenance.

"Uh, no. Nevermind. I just want to walk around myself for a while then I'll be with you," Kai replied and Ash nodded before leaving him.

He went straight to the party hall that was still being worked on. He observed as the girls worked, particularly taking note of their clothes. Even slaves of the old eras weren't that shabbily dressed. Their dresses were torn at different angles. Whatever colors they had in the past were overrun by brown dirt.

"Is this how they treat people here?" he muttered to himself.

The girls worked in hard silence. Each of them avoided his eye at all costs but within themselves, they wondered what he was doing there. Whenever one of them had to come close to him for whatever supplies lay near him, she was always quick as lightning.

One of them had already left with the supplies she needed when he called her back. "Please, I would like to speak with you," he pleaded.

She looked around, pointing at herself. "M- me?" she asked him, unsure.

"Yes, you. I promise I won't waste your time," he assured her.

Excited but careful, she closed half the distance between them and didn't move an inch closer.

"Um, I want to ask you about what happened here a few minutes ago. What happened exactly?"

She looked at him suspiciously. What if he was sent by the werewolf queen to find out how they felt about her? She didn't want to fall into that trap. But if she didn't answer him, she would be regarded as Rylee's fellow insubordinate.

Sighing, she said, "Alright, sir. I will tell you what happened." She rapidly narrated what transpired between the queen and the slave girl. "She's always fighting back and getting punished. That's what happened this afternoon."

"Okay. Thank you," he said gratefully, squeezing a note into her hand as he left.

~~~

Rylee was staring at the walls of the room in astonishment. They had brought her food, which she ate slowly. She had never felt so comfortable for as long as she could remember. "I wonder who decided to do this much for me," she said to herself. All she could remember was the blurry face of the man who stopped her from hitting the ground.

"Hello, Miss. I'd like to look at your sores, please," a doctor said as one of the hotel staff let him in.

She looked at the strange man in confusion but she sat still and let him do his job. He had her bandaged in a few minutes and she was allowed to finish her meal.

The void in her heart was still there. She wished more than ever that she could talk to Ava. At least make sure she was okay. Since there was no way for them to communicate, Rylee decided to let it be. She looked at the wall clock and automatically panicked. It was already 4 pm. It would soon be time for Ashford's inheritance ceremony. Though she wanted to stay — and at least thank the kind man who helped her — she needed to leave or Cassandra and her mother would have her head.

"Whoever you are, may the moon goddess do you well," she whispered before she left the room.

She got to the mansion earlier than she expected. It was to be expected since she ran like someone who was in training for the Olympics. She was breathless by the time she got back but she forced herself to go on into the house. One part of her simply wanted to go to her shoe closet room and lay down but the more realistic side of her knew that kind of peace was too farfetched for her to think of.

Deciding on the safest option, she went to the party hall to help in whatever she could. If wishes were dust, Rylee would have blown some on herself and disappeared when she got there.

"Oh! Our little slave is here again!" Cassandra laughed when she saw Rylee.

"Not again," the servant girl groaned.

Luna Sophia's pale grey eyes flashed in anger. For a while, she just stared at her runaway servant then marched toward the girl. Before she could process anything, Rylee felt her knees scraping the floor. Luna Sophia took her by the arm and dragged her to her destination with Cassandra happily following behind.

"Serves you right for being stupid. You think you're smarter than the queen of the Halfmoon pack?" she kept taunting the serving girl.

More cuts opened on Rylee's knees, making her hiss in pain. That was a bad idea because the luna stopped walking and turned around.

"You just don't like to learn, do you?!" she growled, striking the girl across her face.

Alpha Kai followed the trail of Rylee's blood to where the three ladies were. "Stop this!" he roared. The next time the luna raised her hand, he caught it midair.