Once A Princess, Now A Slave

6- Like

Kelsie’s POV

I am in my white silky bathrobe and currently in the comfort of my bed while Gia, one of the omegas in our pack, is giving me nail polish.

“Princess, do you want me to change your cucumbers?” she asks.

“Mmhmm,” I answered.

I do not want to open my eyelids because my cucumbers will fall. Also, I am too comfortable to even move in my bed. I couldn’t see her given the slices of cucumber on top of my eyelids, but I can feel her hands putting colors into my fingers.

Gia removes the cucumbers on top of my lid. I open my eyes for a brief second and see the ceiling of my peach-themed room. Gia put back new slices of cucumber on my eyelids and continue putting nail polish into my nails.

Today is my pamper day. I have to be gorgeously ready because tomorrow is my training. Every wolf in the Black Claw pack is doing their training on their own field of expertise.

Unlike other werewolves in our pack, I have my own training ground. Originally, my stepsister should be joining me at every training, but I told my father that I want to be alone. Good thing Kristine also doesn’t want to share a training ground with me.

Well, I understand her. She wouldn’t be able to focus on her training when all she can see is me doing my best in all areas.

I am not bragging. I am not certain if this is because of the Alpha blood or maybe because my father trained me to be a strong and independent she-wolf since I was seven years old, but I’m undeniably gifted in battle arenas. Although I haven’t experienced a battle yet, according to my personal trainer, Garnor, I am a fast learner and the best in every field.

My mother died when I was at the age of 7. Our pack was attacked by the rogues. Although we won, it is impossible to not have casualties. And one of them was my mother.

I am in the middle of my self-care when suddenly, a loud sound of the door opening and crashing onto the wall was heard by my sensitive ears.

My brows twitch but I did not dare to open my eyes. I am on my rest day and no amount of negativity can break it.

“That is so unlady like, Kelsie!” My stepmom barged in the door.

I did not even flinch at what she did. I am still enjoying the cool cucumber on my eyelids.

“Omega, out!”

This time, I jolt up on my bed. The sliced cucumbers in my eyes fell on my lap.

“Gia, stay, I firmly said.

I cross my arms over my chest and look at my stepmother coldly.

I raise a brow at her. She’s on my doorstep, leaning on my currently opened door. “What are you doing here in my room?” I ask.

She tilts her head and places her hands on the sides of her waist.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” I ask even though I know what she is talking about.

“Your behavior!”

“What’s with my behavior? I told you, I did not intend to harshly put down that glass!”

Goodness! She’s overreacting! Even Zyko did not make it a big deal. She just wants to act like a good mom to me even though we both know she’s a fake!

“What’s happening here?”

My brows furrow after hearing a man’s voice. Then even with closed eyelids, I feel like my eyes widen. I quickly remove the sliced cucumbers from my eyes and seats on my bed.

“Father?!” I hiss.

“Darling…” my stepmother calls.

He’s in my doorway, being held by Kristine. One of my brows raises and my eyes drop to her hands holding my father’s arm, giving him support to balance his weight.

My dad is standing with a cane. He’s old but he’s quite strong.

I instantly stand on my bed and rush over to him.

“Dad, what are you doing here? You should be staying in your room!” I exclaimed.

If some of the pack members saw my father, they will certainly talk about it. We are trying to cover up the absence of his presence by saying that he’s busy managing thing son his office room, when in fact, he is taking medicines and private health care from a few Sentinels.

“And you, why didn’t you tell me that father would be walking?” I tried to maintain a soft voice, but I couldn’t help my presumptuous tone.

I look behind me and my eyes darted at Gia. She looked at my father with pure concern in her eyes.

When she felt me staring, Gia’s eyes shifted to me. “I do not want any of this to spread, okay?” I say in a serious tone.

My father’s hoarse laughter echoed in my room. He waves his hand and shakes his head at me.

“It’s fine. I guess it is also time for the pack to know the condition of their leader. I’m not getting any younger.”

“What do you mean?” I ask confusingly.

It is important for the pack to have a strong Alpha. And if our pack will know the condition of my father, it might bring risk to the pack and attracts enemies!

“It means it’s time for you to get serious in your role, Kelsie,” my stepmother intervened.

I know what she is talking about but I still furrow my brows at her. I don’t like it whenever she acts like a good mother in front of my dad. I still remember how she favors her biological daughter whenever my father is not around.

“Yeah, right. Tell that to your daughter who held a party here in the Alpha’s house while I am away visiting other packs.” My voice is calm and mellow yet, my mother acted as if I screamed at her.

Her hands flew on her chest and her eyes widens at me. I only give her a crumpled forehead.

“How could you raise your voice at me?”

“For the record, sister, I held a party for the sentinels because we just gather enough herbs good for the whole month. I think they all deserve that kind of recognition and rest,” my stepsister replied.

She held my father’s arms and caress them. My father gently tapped her hand, acknowledging her, then he turn to look at me.

“It’s okay, Kelsie. Let them have a simple party. Also, your sister’s celebration—”

“Stepsister,” I respectfully cut him off.

He nods his head at me. “—Your stepsister’s celebration is coming soon. You two should focus on finding your mates instead of fighting against each other. Understood?” His head bounces to the two of us.

I do not want to disrespect him so I nod to give him the assurance that I will.

Well, for the record, I already know who my mate is. The problem is, I have no plans of accepting him.

My father needs someone who will inherit the throne. It means, I need an Alpha mate. I will never let my stepsister get that spot. If someone should inherit my father’s position, it should be me and my future mate. And for that to happen, I need to reject Connor.

Connor is a Beta. I need an Alpha. I know my actions earlier and the other day is because of the mate bond. I felt that way towards him because he is my mate. And I am certain this feeling will fade if I reject him.

I need to be serious now. Our pack needs an Alpha. I have to find an Alpha mate.

“That’s what I’m saying, Darling. Earlier, I made Kelsie meet the Alpha of the Silvermoon pack. You know the pack on the west? Silvermoon is one of the strongest packs there!” My stepmother went to my father and held him on his other arm. “While on the day of Kristine’s birthday, I am planning to invite the Alphas of the neighboring pack. This will help Kristine find her mate!”

My jaw drop. How come she never did this on my birthday?! He did not even invite the alphas of the packs that showed interest to me before!

Like I’ve said before, our pack is isolated from the other packs and not everyone can just do a random visit. In the last few years, we have been receiving invites from the other pack, asking if they can meet me. My stepmother always refused by saying I am not at the right age to meet alphas sons yet. But when I turned 18, she did not even invite any of them! Instead, she made me meet one of the weak packs and an alpha far from here!

“That’s great, Kelsie. I will be looking forward to hearing about your progress on this,” my father replied.

I want to voice out all of my concerns, but I am also considering my father’s health. I do not want this kind of problem to even reach him. He’s too old to even think of my premature problems. I know I can handle this.

I flashed my father a smile, but when I faced my stepmother and stepsister, I both gave them a rolled eye.

“Sure father,” I say without a tiny bit of enthusiasm.

“Alright, I’ll go back to my room. I just went out to have a little walk. It’s been too boring in my room,” he says while turning his back on me.

“I’ll go with you,” my stepmother says. Kristine handed him to my stepmother.

The sight of him walking away tightens my chest. I feel guilty for not having time to visit him these past few days. My stepmother is making me busy doing random visits on the packs and meeting weak Alphas!

“I’ll visit you often, father!” I yell. He only waves his hand at me, struggling to face me completely since it would take him much effort to do so.

The two faded in my sight. I sigh. I was about to jump back on my bed and ignore my stepsister standing in my door way until she spoke.

“Can we talk?” she asks.

I roll my eyes in my mind. Since I know I am already not in the mood to continue my self-care, I turn to look at Gia who is quiet the whole time.

“You can now leave,” I say.

She only nods her head and exits the scene. When she vanished, I completely face my stepsister.

“What?” I asked in a lazy tone. I have no plans of talking to her for longer than a minute.

“What’s going on between you and Connor?” she straightforwardly asks. Gone is her sweet and soft voice.

Her question got my attention. I straighten my back and look her straight in the eye. She noticed my sudden stance which made her step a little backward. She silently clears her throat and looks at me with the same intensity I gave her.

“What do you mean?” I ask, trying to clarify what she was asking.

It is impossible for her to notice or even see what Connor and I were doing. We were careful the whole time.

“I just noticed that you two are getting close. Which is kind of new since you don’t like anyone here in the pack,” she raised a brow, which is again, not her usual reaction whenever other people are around. This is why I hate her. She’s a manipulative girl who acts innocent and sweet in front of others.

I scoff. “Excuse you…” I like my trainer, Garnor, and the omega who happens to be my personal assistant, Gia!

I chose to not voice it out. I tried to compose myself. She’s not worth the time and energy.

I let out a deep sigh and stare at her languidly. “What’s with you if I and Connor are close? It is not impossible to be friends with someone who I grew up with. Besides, I knew her for 7 years longer than you.”

A small taunting smile appears on my lips. She and her mother arrived on this pack months after my mother died. I am still grieving at that time, yet my father has Alpha duties. He needs to find a Luna as soon as possible for the pack. Hence, I knew everyone here in this pack 7 years longer than her.

“You don’t like him, right?” she asks. I can sense the anxiousness in her voice.

My eyes narrow at her and an idea pop into my mind. I fix my stance, walk towards her, and smiled sweetly.

“You know… Connor is a great man. He is skilled. He can even pass as an Alpha…” I watch her reaction. The fact that she bites her lower lips and played with her finger makes me enjoy this. “Almost all girls in our pack like him. And I am also a girl… it is not impossible for me to like him.”

Her face paled. It looks like the blood left her body. I tried so hard not burst out laughing. I am at the edge of losing control over my emotion when suddenly, the smell of honey and milk devoured my nose.

Stunned, I search for the owner of the scent.

In the far corner of the hallway, I saw Connor, leaning on the wall with his hands in his pockets, grinning at me.

I gulp.

‘F*ck. Did he hear it?!’

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Unedited. English is not my first language. My apologies for the grammar, sentence construction, and wrong spelling.

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Once A Princess, Now A Slave

By: Joanne Cristel

©2023