The Alpha’s Slave

BRIANNA’S POV

Rushing into the kitchen, I reached for a paper towel and tried to wipe the spilt coffee off my apron. Luckily for me, I had an apron over my dress. If not, the hotness could have penetrated through the light fabric of my dress and burned my skin.

The coffee stain wasn’t cleaning off. Instead, it smudged some more. It damaged the apron. And there was nothing I could do about it. Even though I knew the stain wasn’t cleaning off, I kept wiping it. Vigorously as tears of frustration stung my vision. Why was Catherine doing this to me? Why was she treating me like this? No matter how hard I tried, it all seemed to hit a brick wall.

Amid my frustration, a warm palm rested on my shoulder. I turned to see the large, emerald-eyed maid that had treated my lip bruise the night I came back from that cocktail party. If I remembered correctly, her name was Amelia.

“Oh, Brianna,” her eyes softened with sheer empathy as they met mine. “I’m so sorry. I saw everything.”

“I just don’t get why she hates me so much…what did I ever do to her?” Deep sobs racked inside me. I tried to stifle them. I didn’t want Amelia to see me like that. All broken and vulnerable. But the sobs got the best of me. They were like a load too heavy for me to bear and I just had to let them out.

“Don’t cry, Brianna,” she tried to comfort me. “It’s just that… Luna Catherine can be very tough at times. She is on a special diet and likes to follow it ardently. She takes only black coffee without added sugar or cream in the morning.”

Fuck! That was where I messed up. I knew of the added sugar. But forgot about the cream part. I had added cream for Sebastian and thought adding a little to Catherine’s will do no harm. Little did I know it’ll be to my detriment.

“Come on,” Amelia took the paper towel from me and attempted to wipe the stain. “The stain had stayed long. It’ll be hard to get it off this way. It needs a stain remover or the apron can be better off dumped. Hope you didn’t sustain any burns?”

“No,” I shook my head, my mind still occupied with the mistake I made. I found it hard to believe I could make such a mistake. I guess Catherine has been right all along about me always making silly mistakes.

“Why don’t you go change,” she said as she headed to the trash can to dispose of the paper towel. “I’ll handle Luna Catherine’s coffee.”

I breathed out in relief as she said that. I was grateful. Who knew what other fault Catherine might find if I went back in there? But as her words to me three days ago replayed in my head over and over again, a glazed look of despair began to spread across my face.

She had made it clear to me that I was to continue with my chores and tasks even when the maids got back from their leave. They may lend a helping hand by showing me how to do it or the way to go about it since I was a novice. But I was to do the majority of the work.

“But…But she made it clear to me that…” the words knot up in my throat and I found it hard to say them.

“But nothing, Brianna,” Amelia completed as she guarded me to the door. “I have worked in this castle longer than you. I know everything that Luna Catherine wants and how she wants them. Now, go and change. And you look stressed out,” she stopped at the threshold and faced me, her large eyes scrutinizing my face. “You should also get some rest. Didn’t you go on the three days’ leave she granted us?”

Slowly, I shook my head in response. My face slumped to the floor and a tear drop escaped from the corner of my eye.

“But why?” she leaned forward, her voice calm yet surprised.

“I don’t know.”

“Does that mean you’ve been doing all the work in the castle for the past three days we’ve been gone?”Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.

“Yes,” I muttered.

“Oh, poor thing,” she placed both her hands on my arms and rubbed them gently. “Even though we were happy about the leave, the news did come as a shock to us. Luna Catherine announced it the night Alpha King Sebastian left for his business trip. I’m sure he didn’t even know about it. But don’t worry, okay? Go change and get some rest. I’ll cover for you today.”

That was the problem. How do I tell her? Tell her that neither she nor the other maids can cover for me. How do I tell her that Catherine had instructed me to carry on with all the chores in the castle alone even though they were there? I wasn’t even supposed to talk to them until I was done with all my chores. Oh goodness.

I tried to say something. But Amelia won’t even let me utter a syllable. She kept convincing me to go which I did reluctantly after I removed my apron.

The coffee stain had penetrated the apron and equally stained my dress. The only luck I had was that the stain on my dress was faint and barely noticeable from afar. It could be easily washed off.

I took another shower to get the smell off my body. Having changed into a new dress and prepared well, I quickly made my way to the door. I needed to get back fast in case Catherine came looking for me. Amelia was kind and considerate. But there was no way I could let her cover for me. It was risky.

I jerked the door handle and pushed it open and suddenly, my breath caught in my throat on seeing Sebastian standing all tall and straight like a towering spruce before me.