Aurora''s POV


    I slowly walked out of my room full of sadness. I had waited so long for Alpha Bane to arrive so we could go for the stroll, just like he promised but he was nowhere to be found.


    Very early in the morning, one of the guards came knocking on our door and Alpha Bane went to open up. They spoke for a while. I heard the guard say something about Alpha Bane''s father. Then he left and Alpha Bane walked straight to the wardrobe and began to search for a shirt to wear.


    "You''re leaving?" I asked him, but he didn''t say anything. He probably knew why I asked. He had assured me that he was going nowhere. He promised to take me for a walk. Yet, he was about to do exactly what he said he wouldn''t.


    "Don''t worry, my love," he finally said to me. "I''ll be quick. It''s a matter of urgency and my dad wants me there now."


    I nodded, believing his words. I even smiled when he kissed my forehead before leaving. "I''ll be here before you know it," he said.


    Little did I know that it wasn''t going to be the case. I waited for hours but he failed to return. Perhaps, what he went to do was quite bigger than he had imagined. I didn''t want to me him. I had to give him the benefit of doubt.


    As I walked down the corridor, my maid by my side, I couldn''t help but imagine how it''d have felt had Alpha Bane decided to ditch everything else to walk with me. As much as it might not have been the best decision for both him and the Pack, it was a gesture that I would have most certainly appreciated. It just wasn''t to be.


    I got out of the building, and into the streets, still casually taking gentle strides. I tried to enjoy the moment the best that I could. Even if he wasn''t there, I still had to have fun and make myself happy. At least, I thought so.


    "How do the royals in this Pack treat the maids?" I asked the maid who was assigned to me. "Please, tell me the truth."


    "Well, not bad at all. Sometimes, as expected, they could be a bit harsh but that''s mostly when we deserve it. Except for Dn''s mother, everyone else is so nice to us."


    "She''s not nice to you?"


    "Sometimes, she is, but most times, yeah. Yet, I''m no one to judge her or anyone for that. I''m just a maid. I can be treated in any way the royals deem fit."


    I nodded and we kept walking. Just as I walked past the garden, with the maid behind me, I turned my neck to say something to her, still moving forward and I saw her pointing to my front.


    "Ma''am..."


    "Ahh!" I gasped as I felt something that felt like a human hit me. I turned around to see that it was Dn''s mother whom I bumped into.


    I didn''t know that she was walking toward me from the opposite direction. I didn''t even see her at all and since she had probably seen me, I felt she should have easily avoided the collision since the road was quite vast.


    Our eyes locked and I felt a chill running down my spine that instant. She didn''t look happy at all. She looked at me with so much disgust, as if I had offended her or something but I had no memory of something like that happening.


    It was clear to me that she didn''t like me. She was like that with me the first day time I arrived at the Pack so this one was only a confirmation. What wasn''t clear to me was why she didn''t like me.


    As I stared at her, I began to feel my legs shake. Yet in another Pack, I already had an enemy. I thought it was all going to end with Sophia. Little did I know that there was someone on the other side waiting for me to arrive so she could pounce


    on me.


    I continued walking with the maid, eager to avoid her at all costs. I didn''t want any trouble and I felt the best way to avoid it was to simply leave the area.


    She had other ideas. As we just passed each other, she held my hand, stopping me in my tracks and stared at me in a very condescending manner.


    "Why didn''t you greet me, young girl? Do I look so small to you?" She asked, weighing me with her eyes.


    "I''m so sorry, ma''am. Good day," I said to her even though I didn''t mean it. I just hoped it was going to be enough to help us avoid her troubles but she was determined to go on.


    "You''re so useless. You know that right?" She insulted me, eyeing me from head to toe. "You''re nothing but a gold digger! You are just with Alpha Bane because of what he owns. You just want to be the Luna of the Pack. Just a little taste of power and you''re already running helter-skelter, looking for any opportunity to grab more power. But I ask you a question, youngdy. Are you not ashamed of yourself? Even just a little?"


    Those words hurt me so much and I didn''t know exactly how to react. I couldn''t tell why she thought so low of me. I never wanted anything that had to do with power. I never even imagined it. Had Alpha Bane not revealed the truth, I''d have been very content with my position, just like I''d been for so many years. She was simply being rude and arrogant for no just cause.


    I opened my mouth to talk but she brought her right hand in front of my face to shush me. "I liked the other girl; Sophia is her name, right?" She continued. "She was a lot more sophisticated and fitting for the position. Not to sound insulting or anything of that sort, but you look like someone from the gutters. I''m sure you can attest to that if you''re being true to yourself but yeah, I know your type. You lie even to yourselves."


    I felt so insulted and I wanted to say something to her. I couldn''t let her keep saying such things to me because she felt she could. But my lips weren''t as bold as I was. They kept trembling, but I was determined to talk.


    As I managed to get myself to open up my mouth, I heard a voice from afar and I instantly froze. It was Alpha Bane''s voice. It seemed like he was also taking a stroll with his guards in the garden.


    I turned around to see him and there he was, just a short distance away from us.