Maya closed the door of her bedroom and fell to the floor with her back against the hardwood. She was breathing hard from rushing to her room. Tears streamed down her face, wetting her neck.

Her left hand still held her injured shoulder, and there was a painful burning sensation radiating all over it that she feared her shoulder was dislocated.

She shivered as she sat by the door. Maya was unsure if the tremors traversing through her whole body were because of the pain, the fear she was feeling, or perhaps the disappointment in her chest that just kept growing.

She didn’t want to think of what would have happened if Asher hadn’t shown up when he did. She knew Keenan didn’t believe a word she said, but each time she was shocked by the magnitude of his distrust.

She could hear her heart loudly screaming. It was a feeling she couldn’t put into words. If her heart had eyes, she was sure tears were streaming down them as they were running down her face.

Why would I lie about going to the kitchen?

She wondered what he thought she was doing instead. He probably thought it was another plan to deceive him, like the one with her fainting, but just how could she possibly do that?

Will I ever atone for my sins?

She raised her gaze to the ceiling as she screamed her heart out, but no sound escaped. Her legs were bent awkwardly, but she didn’t even have the energy to correct them. She just sat alone in the spot, silently screaming for as long as she needed.

After some time passed, she wasn’t sure how long, Maya put aside her grief and gently massaged her shoulder. She tenderly kneaded it with her fingers to ease the pain, wincing through every step. It would be sore for a few days, but at least it wasn’t dislocated.

She pushed herself to her feet and walked to the makeshift bed she had made before dark and threw herself onto the clothes. They smelled a little damp from being on the floor, but the feel of the material under her did offer some comfort.

It was the hardest thing she had slept on in a long time, and Maya didn’t need anyone to tell her she wouldn’t be sleeping much tonight, but she tried her hardest. Closing her eyes and pushing her emotions down as she always did, she slowly drifted off to sleep.

She is hanging off a cliff, about to fall. The edge was loose earth, and parts of the cliff were already breaking off. Maya struggled to hold on, but her grip was loosening.

"Alpha Keenan," she pleaded.

He was standing over her, looking down at her impassively as she struggled to hold on. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Please, help me. I am Penn. Please help me."

Suddenly, he smiled and, lifting his leg, brought it down with enough force to snap her fingers and break her hold on the edge of the cliff.

"No, Marcus. No!" She screamed as she fell into the endless dark hole.

Maya’s eyes flew open. Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead, and her heart was beating loud enough to outplay an orchestra. She brought her hands to her chest as her dream replayed in her mind.

Bang!

"If you don’t open this door this moment, I will go in there and drag you out."

Maya’s gaze jerked to the door as she realized she didn’t wake up on her own. She had thought the loud bang was from her dream. However, it was Alaina, and she sounded very angry.

It wasn’t dawn yet. The window was still open, and the night sky was looking right at her. If Maya had to guess, she would say there was at least an hour until dawn.

Maya rushed to her feet, tripping over the fabric on the ground. She fell forward but managed to break her fall in time. Unfortunately, the force of hitting her palm on the hardwood only restarted the pain in her shoulder.

She let out a soft shout, but there was no time to pay attention to the pain radiating in her shoulder. Alaina was going to break the door any moment.

Maya was worried about the consequences. If Alaina was already angry, how angrier was she going to get if she delayed, and what would Alaina do in retaliation?

She pulled the door open, and Alaina glared down at her. She wasn’t alone; the maid Bess was standing next to her with a self-satisfied expression. In the maid’s hand was an oil lamp which she held closer to the door, partially blinding Maya.

"You stupid pig!" Alaina yelled as soon as the door opened. "Didn’t you hear me knocking?"

There it is again.

Maya visibly winced at the insult. It was hard not to react, and she couldn’t help but think that Alaina knew who she was. She wished that wasn’t the case. If Alaina was already treating her this badly, she knew it would only get worse if she knew she was Penelope.

However, that was the least of her worries. Maya was more worried that she would tell Keenan. He already hated her; if he knew who she was, Maya didn’t want to imagine. She wanted to keep that memory pure for as long as she could—at least until she could make some amends.

"Did you not hear me?" Alaina asked and raised her hand.

"Lady Alaina is speaking to you," Bess added, her confidence rising with Alaina there.

Maya flinched, fearing Alaina might hit her, but that wasn’t what happened. Rather, she grabbed Maya’s healing cut wrist, purposely digging her nails into it as she pulled her.

Maya couldn’t even fight it. With a wolf, Alaina was significantly stronger than her, and she had just woken up. Maya was still dazed and coupled with the dream, she was disoriented.

"This is not your father’s house!" Alaina was yelling as she dragged her. "If you’re going to eat food, make yourself useful. You deserve the same fate you gave the Alpha—to rot in a dark cellar."