Chapter 1
"Why are people so afraid of them? I think they look just fine!" Wainona frowned, looking at the spider on my bedroom wall.
Wainona had made a habit of just walking into my room and either touching my stuff or telling me stories about her day. Sometimes she made me braid her long dark hair. Her mother hated when she came to me, but like our father when he was still himself, Wainona was stubborn. At just 12 years old, Wainona was a rebel, but her mother Esther loved her too much to keep scolding her. She knew Wainona was safe with me because I adored her, but it did not stop her from lashing out at me for the littlest things.
"Well, some spiders bite. It's just like people. Not all people are bad, but some people can be bad," I told her as I finished packing everyone's laundry. My bedroom was a tiny room close to the kitchen. It was supposed to be the servants' room, but after my father died, Esther had refused to pay any more servants, so she chased most of them away.
The twins, her two daughters that she came with after she married my father, Esmerelda and Dahlia, used to share a room next to mine. After Father died, she gave Dahlia my room and sent away our servant Maria. She put me in Maria's room downstairs near the kitchen.
Basically, that was when I became a servant in my own father's house.
I couldn't do anything about it. I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't one of them, which meant yes, I was human. My father was first married to my human mother, Aria. She died when I was younger, when I was just 5 years old. My father was devastated, and even at my young age, I wanted to see him happy again.
So the very next year, before the last season ended, he met Esther and her two twins, who were also my age. I was happy to see my father happy again, but that happiness was short-lived. When Esther had Wainona, everything completely changed. She complained a lot about how my father neglected her and her children.
She shouted a lot too, and they fought every single day. When my father got sick, she pretended to become nicer and sweeter. I was old enough by then to know that she was bad. She only did that hoping my father would leave her everything in his will.
However, I knew my father was a fair man, and he taught me everything I know. I had his intelligence and wisdom. I knew he had left me more than just our horse Betty, but Esther and her cousin Raymond, the lawyer, claimed he only left me Betty.
But with a fake smile, she promised me we were family, and that everything here was ours and we would continue to live happily.
That was all lies.
It didn't even take a day for her to share all my clothes and pretty jewelry with her daughters. She took everything—my shoes and my ribbons. Now I wore Maria's servant clothing and shoes. I had nothing, but I was clever, and this was my time.
I had almost enough money saved up to leave this place once I turned 18 in a few days. Food and clothing would not be a problem at all. I had everything planned out.
I looked at my little sister Wainona. Sometimes I wondered if she would be alright without me. Her other sisters barely paid her any attention. All they did was play dress-up and talk about boys all day, or on rare occasions they would let Wainona play dress-up with them.
I shook my head. Of course she would be okay. She was their blood sister anyway, and she was a werewolf like them. She had the gene. I was different. I was human, and this was no longer my family.
I would visit Wainona when I had everything in order—my life specifically. If I stayed here, I would die sad, lonely, and with nothing.
Wainona's voice distracted me from my thoughts.
"Are you listening to me?"
"Sorry, what did you just say?" I smiled at her annoyed little frown. She looked so much like my father with her dark curls and little freckles dotted around her cheeks. She even had his green eyes.
"I said Mother and those two noisy girls are back," she said, bouncing out of my room before Esther found her in there again.
I cleared all the laundry and packed it into the large basket before I heard my name being shouted out. Esther really sounded like a crazy woman in this house.
"Yes, I am coming!" I answered her call as I ran out of my room.
She was sitting with a happy face as she chatted with her twins. Dahlia and Esmerelda were not identical twins, but they did have the same red hair and hazel-brown eyes. Dahlia was a little on the chubby and short side, while Esmerelda was built like her mother—tall and petite.
When I walked in, Esther quickly dropped her smile.
"I truly hope for your sake that you are done with all our laundry. Tomorrow is a big day, and I have a list of things that I need you to do."
"Yes, Mother, I am done with all the laundry," I nodded softly.
She still didn't seem pleased.
"Tomorrow, one of my girls will definitely be picked by the Lycan King to be his next Queen. You will do everything I tell you, and you will definitely not call me mother! Do you understand?"
I nodded softly again. This time I knew better than to open my mouth because what she meant was for me to keep my mouth closed at all times tomorrow.
I did not know much about this event, but from what I had heard, I was glad I was not one of the crazy women who found this to be an amazing opportunity. Being picked only to be killed while trying to produce the next Lycan heir—it was a horrible thing.
And every rumor about the Lycan King only made things worse.
I almost felt sorry for the twins until I saw them squeal in excitement as they discussed being the next Queen and how hot the Lycan King was.
"You can go, and please find a better dress to wear tomorrow. I do not want people thinking I mistreat my servants," she literally shooed me away.
I nodded again as I walked out, my heart dropping.
Why did the Royal Diamond Ball have to happen so soon? I needed more time to clearly plan my escape and prepare myself more. This was a distraction I did not need.
I breathed in deeply.
Just a few more days, Reign. Just a few more days, and all this will be over.
