Chapter 288: Crown and Collar
HAZEL
The other Ogas kept their heads down, focused on folding my dresses with precision I didn’t know they possessed. They moved like clockwork. Efficient and as quiet as they could manage. Nobody t my eyes anymore.
Delta stood frozen by the door. Her fingers twisted together. I watched the way her chest as it rose and fell too quickly.
Then she moved. Small steps at first. Hesitant. She crossed the room and stopped a few feet from my bed.
"Luna Hazel." Her voice ca out barely above a whisper. "Can we talk?"
The title made sothing warm bloom in my chest. I let myself smile. Really smile. Not the polite curve of lips I’d perfected over the years but this was sothing genuine and sharp.
I couldn’t help myself. The jokes just fucking wrote themselves.
"It is Luna Hazel now, is it?" I tilted my head, studying her pale face. "Is it because you realize now that you are trapped too? Is it sinking in now like teeth that you are not safe."
She flinched.
I leaned forward slightly. I made sure my voice stayed light, conversational though. "You know you will have no allies in Lily of the Valley. Just as I will not. But your case is going to be so much worse because you know I can make your life hell." I paused, letting the words sink in. "Are you afraid because you know what I could do to you there?"
Delta’s breath hitched. Her eyes were wide, glossy with unshed tears.
I leaned closer until my mouth was near her ear. My voice dropped to a whisper. "Because you are not wrong. It will happen. I will ensure you don’t survive Lily of the Valley. You will not last a fucking week."
Her knees buckled. She dropped to the floor so fast I heard the thud of bone against the hard floor.
"I’m sorry." The words tumbled out of her mouth in a rush. "I’m so sorry, Luna Hazel. I didn’t know what really happened and it all just got in my head." She looked up at , tears streaming down her face now. "Perhaps this is why Ogas are ant to be runts of the pack. We have no idea what to do with power. Especially the kind of power your kind holds."
I sat back and let my gaze drift to the other Ogas. They’d stopped packing. Their hands stilled over my clothes. Nobody made a sound but I could feel their attention, heavy and thick in the air.
"Look at them." I gestured lazily toward the others. "No one seems to have the sa vitriol they seed to have before. No one is eager to be your dog to attack
anymore." I turned back to Delta, watching her shoulders shake. "They have realized not all Ogas are cut from the sa coat and at the end of the day, I wasn’t born an Oga and neither will I die one."
Delta’s hands clutched at the fabric of her plain dress. Her knuckles went white.
"If you want my rcy—" I stretched out my leg slowly, deliberately, until my foot hovered inches from her face. "I want you to lick it. Then I’ll consider forgiveness."
The room went dead silent. Even the rustle of fabric stopped.
Delta stared at my foot. Her whole body trembled. "Consider?"
I shrugged, casual as anything. "It is not like I owe you anything. This is just
being rciful." I paused, letting the silence stretch. "But I can change my mind real soon and real quick. Do not make ."
Her hands shot out. They wrapped around my ankle, shaking so badly I felt the tremors through my skin. She glanced to the side, toward the other Ogas. A few of them spared quick looks before returning to their packing.
I watched Delta’s face. The humiliation written across every feature. The sha burning red in her cheeks. The way her lips pressed together in a thin line.
"Is there still pride in you, my dear Delta?"
She shook harder. Her mouth opened. Then it closed. But she forced it back open in quick succession. Then her tongue ca out. Pink and wet. It hovered over the sole of my foot, so close I could feel the warmth of her breath.
I yanked my foot back.
"Ew." The word ca out sharp and disgusted. "Were you really going to do it?"
Delta’s eyes went huge. Like she realized she just lost sothing.
"I will. I can." She reached for my foot, fingers grasping at air. "Please, Luna Hazel, I will—"
I shoved her with my foot. Not hard to hurt her but with just enough force to push her back. "Forget it. I’m over it."
"No." She scrambled forward on her knees. Her hands clawed at the sheets, trying to reach . "I want to live. Please." Her voice cracked. "I want to live. I’ll be your slave. I am your slave. I will never act above my station again. I am nothing. I will never amount to anything. I am a nobody—"
The laugh burst out of
before I could stop it. It started as a chuckle but grew into sothing bigger. My shoulders shook with it. I couldn’t rember the last ti sothing had been this funny. It almost made
forget the heartache and the rage that currently consud .
Delta’s face crumpled. Fresh tears poured down her cheeks.
I kept laughing. The sound filled the room. When I finally caught my breath, I wiped at my eyes. "Delta, it’s fine. I forgive you. Really."
She froze. Her hands stilled mid-reach.
"We go way back and I know you may have had past grievances." I kept my voice light. Friendly even. "But since you are going to be the only familiar thing I’ll have at Lily of the Valley, I’ll extend an olive branch just this once." I let the smile spread across my face again. "I forgive you."
Delta stared at . Her mouth opened but no sound ca out. She slowly pulled her hands back. "You do not..."
My smile vanished and the temperature in the room dropped. "I do not what?"
Her face went chalk white. "I am sorry. Forgive ." The words tumbled out fast. "I ant to say thank you. I appreciate your forgiveness."
The smile returned. I reached down and patted her head like she was a good dog. It was exactly what she was. "Good."
One of the Ogas cleared her throat softly. "We’ve finished packing, Lluuunaa Hazel."
I looked at the bags lined up by the door. My entire wardrobe compressed into luggage. My life reduced to things that could be carried.
I stood and walked to my closet. The shoes that had already been picked out sat on the bottom shelf. Simple black heels. Nothing fancy. I slipped them on and walked back to the bed.
"Well." I sat down and crossed my legs. "We are ready." I turned to Delta, who still knelt on the floor. "Go tell my mother and grandmother that we are ready to go now."
She nodded quickly and scrambled to her feet. Her legs shook as she crossed to the door. She fumbled with the lock again before getting it open. The door clicked shut behind her.
I let out a long breath. The other Ogas hovered by the luggage, uncertain.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand.
I picked it up and saw the na. Gabriel.
My stomach twisted. I opened the ssage.
- I saved your life and now you owe . Bagging the Lily of the Valley Alpha is no small feat. Since you know nothing about your half sister Fia, a nice alternative would be spying on your grandmother for . I want two things. How did she bend Lily of the Valley to her advantage and what exactly did she use to try to kill Fia?
Another ssage ca through imdiately.
- If you do disappoint
or prove to not be worth your keep, you find out quite quickly how your new fairytale life can go poof in your face. I would ask you to be selfish like your grandmother and pick yourself in everything you do. It’s good policy.
Then a smiling emoji appeared.
My heart started pounding. The sound filled my ears, loud and insistent. My fingers tightened around the phone until my knuckles went white.
I still didn’t know this man’s deal but I had been warned to be wary of him even if he was the reason I still had my head on my neck.
But he wanting
to spy on Grandmother Pauline did not sit right with . It I had nothing on Fia, which let us face it, I did not have, I would have to get him sothing in grandmother. Two things actually.
I read the ssages again. Each word felt like a threat wrapped in politeness. The kind of thing that sounded reasonable until you really thought about what he was asking.
Spying on Grandmother Pauline. Finding out her secrets. Discovering how she’d nearly killed Fia? Nearly... So it was a failure then.
My thumb hovered over the keyboard. I could refuse. Tell him to go to hell. But then what? He’d already proven he could remould soone’s life with a few words to the right person.
And he was right about one thing. I did owe him. In a twisted, horrible way, he’d gotten
out of hell when my parents couldn’t do it.
Lily of the Valley might be a prison but at least it was most likely a safer cage.
I looked up at the Ogas. They still stood there, waiting for dismissal or orders or sothing.
"You can go." My voice ca out flat.
They left quickly, practically tripping over each other to get out the door.
I looked back at the phone. At Gabriel’s—or would it be Aldric’s—ssages staring up at
from the screen.
The smiling emoji seed to mock . Like he knew exactly how trapped I was. Like he’d planned this from the beginning.
My heart kept its rapid pace. Each beat felt too loud, too hard. I could feel my pulse in my throat.
I knew what was promised to Lily of the Valley.
But... What did Grandmother Pauline use to try to kill Fia? The question repeated in my head. Why did he want to know that? What would he do with that information?
And more importantly, what would happen to
if I didn’t find out?
I typed out a response and then deleted it. I typed another and deleted that too.
That was also when the door opened. Delta stepped back in, her face still blotchy from her crying. "They’re ready for you, Luna Hazel. The car is waiting."
I stood and smoothed down my plain dress. The phone stayed clutched in my hand.
"Lead the way then."
She nodded and held the door open.
I walked past her into the hallway. My heels clicked against the floor with each step. The sound echoed off the walls.
Behind , I heard the Ogas gathering my luggage. The soft shuffle of bags being lifted. The quiet murmur of instructions.
My phone stayed in my hand. Aldric’s ssages burned in my mind.
A day ago, I’d been a Luna. Now I was an Oga being shipped off to marry a man who wanted my half sister instead.
And sowhere in the middle of it all, I was now a spy.
Or I would be.
If I wanted to survive.
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