Chapter 2 Chapter two

Chapter 2

Ravenna's POV

The wind howled through the cracks in my wooden window frame, making the tiny flame of my single candle flicker wildly against the damp stone wall.

I lay frozen beneath my thin wool blanket, staring up at the dark wooden beams of the ceiling while my mind replayed every single thing Julian had whispered to me in the garden.

His voice felt like a warm weight in my chest, a shield against the freezing air biting at my toes.

He promised me a future.

He promised he would take me away from this living hell, and I needed that promise like I needed air to breathe.

If I did not have his words to hold onto tonight, I think the absolute darkness of this tiny servant room would have swallowed me whole.

My hand crept up to my shoulder, my fingers gently brushing against the faint, tender bruise where his teeth had marked my skin just hours ago.

It still tingled.

A soft, phantom warmth radiated from the spot, making my heart thump a little faster against my ribs.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to take a deep breath as I thought about the secret I had carried locked away in my soul for years.

The private prophecy.

I could still vividly remember the day the High Oracle had knelt before me in the sacred grove, his old, blind eyes seeing right through my skin.

He had whispered it directly into my ear, promising me that my true presentation would not happen early like the others, but would come with a massive explosion on my twentieth birthday.

That single whispered promise was the only thing that had kept my spirit alive through two whole decades of systematic abuse from my own blood.

I knew who I was.

I knew that the entire royal bloodline of Valerius consisted of nothing but dominant, terrifying alphas who ruled with absolute authority.

There was no way I could be a defect.

I completely convinced myself that my sleeping wolf was not missing or broken, but was simply an ancient, powerful force waiting for the perfect milestone to wake up and shake the world.

Tomorrow was that milestone.

But when the grey morning light finally broke through my window, it brought absolutely no relief or royal treatment.

The heavy wooden door to my quarters was kicked open before the sun was even fully over the trees.

The head maid threw a heavy bucket of polish and a coarse rag at the foot of my mattress, her face completely set in a harsh sneer.

"Get up, wolfless," she snapped, not even looking at me.

"Queen Valentina demands you spend the entire eve of your birthday cleaning the grand throne hall from top to bottom."

"The foreign dignitaries are arriving early, and she will not have a single speck of dust embarrassing the crown."

I dragged my exhausted body out of bed, my muscles aching as I picked up the heavy iron bucket.

By noon, I was on my knees in the center of the massive throne room, the smell of bitter wax and lemon oil making my throat raw.

The marble floor stretched out like a freezing white sea, reflecting the huge crystal chandeliers overhead.

My hands were red and raw from scrubbing the intricate brass fixtures at the base of the royal dais.

The heavy oak doors clicked open, the sound of light, mocking footsteps echoing across the empty room.

I did not need to look up to know who it was.

Princess Aurelia sauntered into the hall, her expensive silk gown trailing behind her like a golden cloud.

She did not stop until she was standing right in front of me, blocking out the light from the tall stained-glass windows.

Suddenly, a suffocating weight slammed into my chest, making my lungs seize up instantly.

Aurelia was deliberately releasing her golden wolf aura, letting the heavy, dominant alpha pressure flood the air around my head.

It felt like thick mud filling my throat, making it completely impossible to breathe as she forced her spiritual weight down on me.

I choked, my vision swimming with dark spots as I tried to keep myself from collapsing flat against the polished floorboards.

"You look so natural down there on your knees, Ravenna," Aurelia whispered, her voice dripping with fake sweetness.

Before I could even try to gasp for air, she extended her foot, bringing her sharp silk slipper down hard onto my raw fingers.

She ground her heel into my knuckles, crushing my skin against the sharp brass edges of the fixture I had been polishing.

A sharp jolt of pain shot up my arm, but I clamped my jaw shut, refusing to give her the satisfaction of hearing me scream.

"Let me make something incredibly clear to you before tomorrow," Aurelia hissed, leaning down until her perfect curls brushed my face.

"A wolfless freak like you will never sit on the throne of Valerius, no matter what lies you tell yourself."

"You are a servant, and you will die a servant."

She pulled her aura back with a sharp sniff, turning on her heel and walking out of the hall with her head held high.

I slumped against the dais, gasping for huge gulps of air as the pressure finally left the room.

My fingers were throbbing violently, dark purple bruises already forming under the broken skin.

I managed to finish the rest of the cleaning through sheer numbness, my mind completely checked out from the pain.

By the time I was dismissed, my head was spinning so badly I could barely keep my balance.

I staggered out into the grand corridor, trying to make it back to my room before my knees gave out entirely.

The air felt heavy, and a weird, hollow dizziness was making the white stone walls tilt around me.

"There she is," a cold, sharp voice boomed from the end of the hallway.

I blinked through the haze, my stomach dropping into a frozen pit as I recognized the woman walking toward me.

The Duchess Valerius.

Julian’s mother.

She was dressed in heavy midnight-blue velvet, her face twisted into an expression of absolute disgust as she looked at my stained tunic.

"You look like a drowned rat, girl," the Duchess sneered, stopping a few feet away from me with her arms crossed.

"You should pray to your stars tonight that you truly present as an alpha tomorrow."

She took a slow, deliberate step closer, her nose twitching as she took a deep, mocking sniff of the air around my neck.

"Because from what I can sniff on you right now, you might just turn out to be a pathetic Omega."

The word felt like a bucket of ice water poured directly over my head.

My dizziness vanished, replaced by a sudden, defensive spike of pure panic.

"There has not been an Omega in the royal family for centuries, Your Grace," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady.

"I am a true child of the bloodline. I will not be the first defect."

The Duchess let out a loud, cruel laugh that seemed to slice right through my fading confidence.

"The bloodline does not care about your pride, Ravenna," she mocked, waving her hand dismissively as if I were a piece of trash.

"An alpha can smell a true leader from a mile away, and you smell like absolutely nothing."

"If you embarrass my son tomorrow with a broken core, I will personally see to it that you are thrown into the wild."

She swept past me without another word, her heavy velvet skirts rustling against the stone floor.

I did not wait for anyone else to stop me.

I took off running down the corridor, my breath coming in short, ragged gasps as tears finally spilled over my eyelashes.

I sprinted down the secret servant stairs, threw myself into my tiny room, and slammed the heavy wooden door shut.

I collapsed onto the thin mattress, burying my face deep into the scratchy wool blanket to muffle the sound of my violent sobs.

The Duchess's words kept echoing in my ears, mixing with Aurelia's cruel laughter.

What if I was a defect?

What if everything Julian promised was going to break t

omorrow?

I cried until my throat was completely raw and empty, clutching my bruised hand against my chest as the dark night closed in around me.