Chapter 12: What now?
Ariel caressed her cheeks that stung like hell. The metallic tang of blood filled her mouth and she resisted the urge to spit it in the head cook's face. It would earn her another slap and while she prided in her perseverance, it was not a very good idea.
She stomped across the dark marbled floors of the mansion, thinking of a number of creative ways she could poison both Damien and the head maid. Though, it would be pretty obvious if she used poison. They would trace it back to her. She thought about grinding glass as an ingredient in their food and decided against it. They would definitely trace the deaths back to her.
They already thought she was something she wasn't. It would not be hard to pin it all on her.
Stupid mansion. Stupid head maid. Stupid Alpha.
Her thoughts wandered to that night, that moment everything had gone to hell. That moment something deep and powerful had taken a strong hold within her. A bond so strong it had caused her knees to buckle. Her heart skipped three beats just thinking about it and she hated herself for feeling it. The pull. The longing. The need to claim. She hated all of it and wanted nothing to do with it. Damien obviously didn't want anything to do with her either.
Maybe she didn't want to kill him. Perhaps, a little bit of laxative would do. It would give her a good laugh to see him running all day to the restroom.
She found herself chuckling evilly at the thought of it and she covered her lips to hide her dubious smile. Yes. The laxative would do.
Ariel walked past the yard and she paused. Taking a few steps backwards, she peered into the courtyard where she spied Alex kicking and throwing punches at the dummy. His arms were slick with sweat and he seemed oblivious to the numerous maids staring at him from where they perched on the huge windows of the mansion.
As if sensing her eyes on him, Alex turned around and Ariel scuttled off before he could sight her.
She knew she ought to rush back to the kitchen and get to work again but she didn't particularly feel like it. Her limbs were protesting and begging for mercy. Her fingers were jagged and broken from washing, her feet hurting from standing too long and her belly grumbled from having nothing to eat yet.
Ariel looked to the skies as she dragged herself back to the kitchen and wondered where her father was now. If Luna would ever forgive him for the atrocities he had committed. She often wondered why, but she had no answers. The dead do not speak.
She often took to staring at the skies in response and speaking to her wolf who would usually whine back in response or fill her with warmth.
Well, that was before Damien.
Her thoughts no longer belonged to her and her wolf kept pinning after another.
She didn't feel like herself anymore. It was not like there was much to work on to begin with. She was a nobody, asides the name and the title given to her. Daughter of traitor, Ariel. Daughter of murderer, Ariel. It was never just Ariel. They would never see her for just herself. She was that one egg that had to be thrown away or it would infect the others. So why didn't they just throw her out? Why make her a slave in the miserable house? Why subject her to so much especially when she couldn't fight back, at least not yet?
It didn't make it any better that her wolf had started acting strangely since recognizing Damien as her mate. It was like she was at war with herself constantly. Her wolf too. It was bordering between abhorring Damien and craving his lips on her skin. She knew the latter part wasn't her. Could never be her. It was her wolf pining after his wolf.
There were times she wished he just went ahead and rejected her rather than let her suffer the distance, the suspense, the tension between them. It was nearly as painful as the torture he had inflicted on her.
Luna, did she hate him more than anything.
As if on cue, she felt the miserable tug of the bond within her and her wolf purred in response as a wave of unidentifiable emotion flowed through her. It wasn't coming from her. It was coming from him. Another useless gift the mating bond left her with.
Feeling his feelings. Feeling his hate every time he set eyes on her. Feelings his disgust everytime their eyes met. It was enough to make her knees go weak.
And she hated him too.
For everything he'd done to her, the devil bastard from the very fiery pits of hell.
She touched her cheek once more as she took the turn to the kitchen, narrowly escaping being hit by trays of food carried by Zita and Jenna.
"Watch where you're going!" Jenna spat and while Ariel would normally mumble a reply, she found that she wasn't particularly feeling generous.
She walked past without a word, ignoring the words they threw at her back. The words that would haunt her for the rest of her life. The rest of her miserable existence.
She was not sure whose sick joke it was to pair her with Damien of all wolves but somehow, the dreams she had had that a mate would one day save her from all of it was completely squashed. When ones dreams get squashed, there's little else to look forward to. Little else to fear. Hope is completely lost.
Even if her cheeks stung from the impact of Courtney's blow, Ariel much preferred it to Damien's torture and she was more than joyous that he was gone, no matter what he was doing wherever he was that kept making her heart jump and her wolf purr. Silently, she wished he would never come back. She wished he remained there and she didn't have to see his startling blue eyes ever again.
The kitchen was a burning furnace and smelled of smoke and spices when she entered. It might have choked her before but now, it was welcoming.
Bertha presided over the oil and plucked out the chicken from it one by one. Ariel's stomach growled in protest and she averted her gaze, lest she decided she didn't really care if they added one more name to the list they had given her and stole the chicken.
She was so hungry.
Her eyes felt heavy and her limbs dragged.
As she walked to her usual station, she felt fatigue. A fatigue so deep it rattled her bones. She could already feel the soda and the water reaching up to submerge her arms as she washed. She could already feel her irritation rising from each plate being tossed into the basin. She could feel the urge to hit Courtney with one of them so she would stop considering her as weak and stop talking down to her.
She was yet to start washing again and she could already feel so many things at once.
Each step to her corner of the kitchen was an effort and her hands trembled as did her legs.
Her trembling fingers then tapped the faucet and water gushed into the basin, filling it up to the brim before she shut it off.
Then the plates came rolling in. The dishes, the spoons... everything. Her eyes stung with unshed tears. She should be used to all of it, she thought to herself. Still, why did it all hurt? Why did it hurt so much in her chest?
"You're wasting time!" Someone yelled close to her, jerking her out of her reverie.
She blinked back the tears that had started to blur her vision until it cleared.
Her fingers moved to take the first silverware when the sound of a whistle pierced the air.
Ariel looked up from the basin as the cooking paused as well. She frowned. What now? What could it possibly be now, she thought.
She dipped the silverware into the lathered water and motioned to bring it out when Courtney rushed into the kitchen.
"Everybody out!" She yelled, ignoring the greetings and the honorifics of all the maids alike.
There was a moment of silence and confusion and when the rest began to ask why, Courtney yelled again, causing them to start moving out rather quickly.
Ariel, however, ignored. If she was expected to do the laundry after doing the dish then she did not think she had the time for the gathering.
"Are you deaf or are you just daft?" Dark eyes observed her with unhidden distaste and Ariel paused in her washing. "I said, everyone out!" Courtney gritted through her teeth.
Ariel tilted her head slightly in observation but made no move to argue before dropping the silverware and heading out of the kitchen before Courtney would find reason to hit her again.
She edged around the counter as she walked, taking pains not to bump into the head maid.
As she reached the corridor where the rest stood, she couldn't help but wonder what was important enough to make them all pause in their duties.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone