Chapter 42 Serena’s Scheme Begins 1

Chapter 42: Chapter 42 Serena’s Scheme Begins 1

Talia’s POV

The rest of the night passed quietly, and the days that followed were just as normal as before when I first came to the pack.

Normal was a strange word, because nothing about my life had ever been normal.

Not in Cresswood, and not here either. But I pretended. I smiled when I needed to, I ate when I was supposed to, and I slept when the room went dark.

And every morning, I woke up and did it again.

Some days Kaelen spoke to me, and other days, he just came into the room, took a shower and went to sleep without even looking at me, like I did not exist at all.

I knew he was watching me closely, and I made sure to not fail or make mistakes, until I was ready to reveal my secret.

Days passed after that, and the Luna trials drew closer.

I could feel them approaching like a storm on the horizon, and the weight of them pressed down on my chest every morning when I woke up.

Some mornings, I could barely breathe, because the weight was so heavy.

I would lie in bed and stare at the ceiling, counting the cracks in the stone. There were twelve near the hearth, fourteen near the bed, and seven near the door. Numbers did not lie, and I held onto them like a lifeline.

I spent most of my time in the library, reading about the history of the Shadowfang Pack and the trials that Lunas before me had faced. I wanted to be prepared for whatever was coming.

When I was not in the library, I visited Nora in the kitchen. I helped her peel vegetables and chop onions when the cook was not looking. It felt good to use my hands, and it felt good to feel useful for something.

Kaelen and I still shared the same room, and we still slept in the same space. But we did not talk about what had happened, and we did not talk about his suspicions or my secrets.

We just existed, and the pack watched.

After that, the whispers started.

They were small at first, so I did not notice them right away. The pack house was always full of whispers, as wolves talked behind my back from the first day I arrived.

But these whispers were different.

They were sharper, meaner, and they followed me everywhere.

I tried to ignore them, I really did. But they cut deeper than the old whispers. The old ones said I was ugly and weak, but these new ones said I was a liar, a fraud, and someone who did not belong.

When I was called Ugly, I could handle it. And when I was labeled Weak, I could survive it. But a liar? That word stuck.

I walked to the library, and I heard the whispers.

I walked to the garden, and past the field, and I heard the whispers.

I walked past the training grounds as I went on my walks, and I still heard the whispers.

I stopped walking and looked around. Wolves who used to bow or nod now looked away, and their eyes slid off me like I was nothing, or like I was already gone.

I did not understand, but I knew something was going on.

At first, I told myself I was imagining it.

But then a servant passed me in the hallway. The same servant who had smiled at me yesterday. But today, she looked at the floor and walked faster away from me.

Another servant saw me coming and turned down a different hallway.

The cook, who had been kind when I visited the kitchen, now pretended not to see me.

I wanted to ask her why. I wanted to grab her arm and make her look at me, but I knew the answer. Whatever was going on had gotten to her, just like it had gotten to everyone else.

I had learned that fear spreads faster than truth. I learned that in Cresswood, and I was learning it again here.

I knew for sure now that something was wrong, and it had something to do with me.

I walked faster, keeping my head down, and my eyes on the floor. I did not know where I was going. I just needed to get away from their stares.

I turned a corner and almost ran into a group of wolves.

They were standing in a circle, with their heads close together, whispering.

They did not see me at first, so I quickly stepped back into the corner.

"Did you hear?" one of them said. Her voice was low, but I could still hear her. "Serena said the contract was forged."

"Forged?" another asked.

"Yes. She said it was fake, and that Talia is not really his mate," the first one said.

My heart stopped.

"Serena would not lie," a third voice said. "She has been part of this pack her whole life, so she knows a lot of things." 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

"Then what is Talia doing here?" another voice asked.

"Trying to steal what is not hers," the first voice said.

I pressed myself against the wall, and my hands were shaking.

They had not seen me, so I could still walk away, and I could pretend I had not heard anything.

But my feet would not move.

"Serena said the Alpha will figure it out soon," the first voice said. "He will reject her, and then everything will go back to normal."

"Good," another said. "She does not belong here."

I pushed off the wall and slowly walked away.

I did not even remember how I got back to my room.

My feet carried me through the hallways without permission, and wolves passed me, but I did not see them, and I did not hear their whispers.

All I could think about was what they had said.