Betrayed by Blood, Claimed by the Alpha-Chapter 33

Betrayed by Blood~

Avery stood in front of the chore list pasted on the board, her lips caught between her teeth, her mind running back and forth at what was written. Her first task for today was to clean Alpha Cain’s office. She had never been assigned a task like this before, and she was always grateful for it. At least the goddess let her keep that part, well, until today.

Avery’s stomach twisted in knots at the thought of being in his office again. Her last visit there was a week ago, and everything that had happened after that day was forever stuck in her memory. Avery let out a shaky breath and turned, her gaze flickering over the other maids who were talking. Her gaze flickered to the wall clock; it was exactly 6 am. Cain couldn’t be in his office now. She grabbed her cleaning supplies and walked out of the room.

The walk to Cain’s office felt longer than it should have. Avery tightened her grip on the cleaning supplies, her knuckles white. She stopped right at the door, her heart pounding hard in her chest, her hand hovering over the handle. "Just clean and get out," she told herself before stepping into the place.

The room was empty, just as she’d hoped. Avery let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and stepped inside, closing the door behind her.

Cain’s office was sharp, as always. Dark wooden shelves lined the walls, filled with books she doubted he ever read. His desk sat near the large window, neat and intimidating, much like the man himself. She set down her supplies and got to work, starting with the shelves.

She made sure to be careful and swift, wanting to leave as soon as possible. She had done everything in her power to avoid the said man, even though it landed her in trouble most of the time. She’d never go close to where he was, never walked by if she could as much smell him. She made sure to stay clear of him regardless of how difficult it had been.

As she wiped down the desk, her fingers brushed against a stack of papers, sending them sliding off. Avery scrambled to pick them up, her heart pounding when she saw the name written boldly on the paper. The blood hunt.

Her brow furrowed as she quickly set the papers back on the desk. She’d heard most of the maids speaking of the hunt. Many were excited, while some were frustrated. Avery still hadn’t been able to deduce what the blood hunt meant, but it had to be something important if everyone was excited about it.

She was just finishing the desk when the sound of footsteps outside the door made her heart leap. She barely had time to straighten up before the door swung open, and there he was.

Cain stepped inside, his sharp green eyes locking onto her immediately. His presence filled the room, suffocating and overwhelming. Avery bowed at him, "Good morning, Alpha," she said quietly. The last time she saw him was the day he kissed her and threw her out. The same day he slept with Kendra.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked, his gaze dropping to her cleaning supplies and the towel in her hands. It was quite easy to discern what she was doing.

"Cleaning. It’s my turn today," Avery whispered.

He hummed, his gaze sweeping over her before landing on her arms. His gaze darkened as he noticed the faint bruises peeking out from under her sleeves. A strange tension rumbled in his chest, uninvited and certainly unwelcome. He looked away just as quickly, his face hardening. Avery awkwardly pulled her sleeve down even more. Although the bruises were almost done healing, they were still visible.

"Don’t take all day," he said sharply, "I don’t have time to wait for you to finish."

Avery nodded, keeping her head down. "Yes, Alpha," she murmured, resuming her cleaning, her hands trembling. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Cain sat down, the sound of her towel wiping against wood piling on his nerves. He leaned back, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She moved quickly, careful not to disturb him. Too careful. It irked him.

She hadn’t spoken more than a few words, hadn’t looked at him once unless she had to.

The realization grated on him, though he couldn’t say why. Was she trying to ignore him? Or avoid his attention altogether? He couldn’t figure it out, and it irked him even more.

"Are you done yet?" Cain snapped after a second, his irritation spilling over.

"Almost," Avery replied softly.

"Then hurry up!" He snapped, and for the first time, she looked at him, not directly but enough for him to catch the flicker of emotion that flashed. His jaw clenched tighter when he realized what it was. Deep down, he should be satisfied; she’s finally known her place. He knew it, for a week when he didn’t see her shadow. When he caught her taking a longer route to avoid walking past the training yard. She had finally learned to stay away and watch from a distance. To wait until the two months lapsed and he broke it off. She’d learned that he controlled everything, and yet he still wasn’t satisfied. He should’ve been happy seeing her try to stay away, but it only irked him. For one week, he’d been insufferable.

Avery was finally done; she grabbed the rest of the supplies and bowed at him again before stepping out of the office.

~~~~

The sun shone brightly as she walked across the yard, heading for the stables. She was already on her sixth chore for today, and her body was already begging for a break. She should’ve taken her break already but couldn’t, seeing as her list of chores was longer than the others.

Avery had a large bucket with her to dump in the used cups when she saw her. Her steps faltered as she saw Martha, bent over, shovel in hand, digging out the horse stalls. It was like she hadn’t seen her in forever. The former head maid looked miserable. Martha had her hair tied up, long large yellow gloves to her elbows, her face was scrunched in disgust and frustration.

Avery’s stomach twisted at the sight of the woman. Truly, she hadn’t seen Martha ever since she saw her being whipped at the yard. Martha rarely came into the pack house. Avery took a deep breath, her gaze heavy on the woman. She couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of guilt towards the woman even though she shouldn’t. Martha did what she did. She took a deep breath and stepped forward, wanting to clear the air.

"Martha," Avery called out, her voice quiet and hesitant.

Martha looked up from what she was doing, her dark eyes meeting Avery’s, and a frown immediately rested on her face. The look was immediate, cold and filled with disgust.

"Well, well, look at this. The little maid has come crawling to me. How noble of you. What is this, some kind of pity visit?" Martha spat out, her face scrunched with disgust.

Avery’s throat tightened at the sharpness in Martha’s voice. She had expected coldness, maybe irritation, but not this—

"I just... I wanted to clear the air," she managed, taking a small step toward her.

"Clear the air? About what?" Martha snapped, her voice filled with bitterness. She didn’t bother pretending to be polite. "You think you can walk up to me and act all innocent? Spare me. Do you honestly believe I’d buy into that weak little act of yours? You’re here because you couldn’t resist, weren’t you? Watching me, enjoying the sight of me digging in the dirt like a common animal. You get off on it, don’t you?"

Avery swallows hard at this; maybe she should’ve just walked away and not stopped. "I just thought—well, after everything—after how things went—I thought we could talk. I didn’t mean—"

Before Avery could finish, Martha cut her off with a sharp, humorless laugh. "Clear the air? You have a lot of audacity, don’t you? Do you really think you can win any kind of sympathy from me? Oh, I see you now, Avery. You’re just a two-faced bitch. Didn’t you enjoy watching me stripped of power, broken, humiliated?" Martha spat out bitterly.

Avery’s eyes widened at her words, immediately shaking her head to refute. "W-what? No! I would nev-"

"Oh, save it for someone who cares! I couldn’t give a fuck about your care, but don’t pretend to care about me. You know exactly why you’re here. You want to watch me suffer, isn’t that right? Well, I hope you watch and see this because I will rise from this....I hope you enjoy your chores, enjoy your little life here while you can. It won’t last long. Soon, you’ll be back where you truly belong. In the fucking sewers! You piece of crap." Martha sneered hardly and then spat on Avery. Her spit landing on Avery’s cheek.

Avery shut her eyes, her throat tightened, and her heart heavy. She wiped the spit off her face, her eyes on Martha who had now walked back to the stable and continued digging the horse’s excrement.

With nothing else to say, Avery turned back. Her hands trembled as she grasped her bucket again, her mind spinning. She walked away, oblivious to the person that had now stepped out of the shadows she’d been hiding when she’d seen Avery arrive. The person pulled off the hat they wore, a smirk making its way to their lips as their eyes found Martha’s.

Martha stood up, her lips stretching into a smile when she saw her. Carol.