Chapter 4. Why Am I Here?

*Isla*

The head maid lets go of me when we hear a male voice demanding to know what she is doing.

She turns to address him as I cover my face, pain radiating through my cheeks and nose.

“Beta Seth,” she begins, “this girl was being careless with the king’s belongings and disrespectful to me. I was simply teaching her a lesson, the same way I would teach any new servant a lesson, sir.”

I wipe a bit of blood from my upper lip with the back of my hand and turn to see a handsome man walk into the room. He is tall with dark blond hair and white shoulders. His green eyes are focused on the other woman in the room, and his intense stare has her rigid stance wavering.

“How dare you?” he demands. “You were asked to show Miss Isla to her room, Mrs. Worsthingshorethinshire. No one asked you to teach her anything. I can’t imagine she did anything careless. What could she have possibly done? I didn’t see anything broken between here and the king’s offices.”

I watch as the woman’s throat moves viciously as she swallows. “Well, she bumped a table in the hall and then again in here and…”

“In her own room? So what?” He seems to be getting angrier by the moment, and as he takes another step toward her, Mrs. Whateverhernameisshire bumps into the table. “I suppose now that you’ve bumped the table, we should teach you a lesson, hmm?”

I notice then that there are two other men with him. Both of them are dressed in guards' uniforms. They are large, muscular men as well, and as Beta Seth raises a hand, they step forward.

“Oh, no, Beta, please,” she says. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Well, I’m sure Miss Isla didn’t mean to either. But you took it upon yourself to slap her until her face is bleeding. So… I think Daniel and Stephen shall do the same to you.” He snaps his fingers and moves aside.

I watch as one of the large men grabs her by the collar and the other begins to slap her across the face. It only takes a few smacks for her nose and lip to start bleeding. She begins to cry, begging them to stop.

“Please,” I say, my eyes wide. “Please, don’t.” I reach out to touch the Beta’s shirt sleeve, but I fall short of actually grabbing it. “Can that be enough, please?”

He turns and looks at me while the other two continue to slap her, taking turns now. He snaps his fingers and they stop, letting her go in the process, and she falls to the ground. “You think she’s had enough, Miss Isla?”

I nod. I wouldn’t have wanted them to slap her anyway. Even though she is an awful person, and she hurt me, I don’t like to watch others suffer.

He studies my face for a moment before one side of his mouth pulls up into a grin. “You are… different,” he assesses, and I don’t know if that’s good or bad. “Daniel, take Mrs. Worsthingshorethinshire to her chamber to gather her things. She’ll be departing the castle now.”

“Yes, Beta Seth,” Daniel says, and he hauls the woman up off the ground by her shirt collar as she begs to keep her job.

“You’re firing her?” I ask.

“Yes,” he answers as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. “You haven’t even seen your room yet. Here we are.”

I feel bad for the woman, even if she was a witch, but we have moved on, and as Beta Seth opens the door to my room, I can’t believe my eyes.

“This is… my room?” I ask.

“That’s right,” he tells me. “King Maddox wanted the best room for you.”

I stand in the doorway for a moment and take it all in.

To my left, there’s a large, cherry wood dresser with a beautiful mirror and a bench where I can sit and do my hair and makeup, if I had any makeup. Just down from there is a plush blue chair that looks cozy and inviting. A large window with drapes the same shade as the chair is next to it, and there’s a matching one on the other side of the bed.

The bed is massive, big enough for at least three people. It is a four-poster bed in the same cherry wood as the dresser, and the bedding matches the rest of the fabrics in the room. The mattress looks so plush and divine, I can’t wait to try it out. I’ve been sleeping on a thin piece of foam for so long, I can’t remember what a real mattress feels like

Next to the second window, there’s a door, which stands ajar, and I can see that inside is a bathroom, and a clawfoot tub looks so inviting, I want to jump right in. The tile on the floor is black and white checkered, and it looks very sleek and polished inside the en suite bathroom.

There’s a large fireplace, though it isn’t lit at the moment. The mantel has some beautiful blue vases and over it is a cottage scene that I imagine I could stare at for hours.

Near the fireplace stands a larger armoire that matches the other furniture, and there’s another door that I imagine is a closet.

In the corner to my left is a round table in the same cherry wood finish with four chairs, upholstered in the same blue.

The carpet is beige, but there’s a large throw rug that has beige and blue woven through it.

“Well?” Beta Seth asks as I stand there gaping at all of this.

“I think that Mrs. Worthershtirshirehover was right,” I say, noting that he is chuckling at my butchering of her name.

“What did Mrs. Worsthingshorethinshire say, dare I ask?” Beta Seth questions.

“She told me that she thought there’s been some mistake and that I’m actually supposed to be shown to the maid’s quarters. Beta Seth, sir,” I begin, bowing my head in respect, “I went to my Alpha to borrow money to repay a debt, and he brought me here to repay a debt he owes to the king. I believe I should be working to pay that debt off. Shouldn’t I be in the maids’ quarters to do that?”

Beta Seth’s smile fades. “No one told you then?” he asks me.

My eyebrows raise and I feel my heart begin to thunder in my chest as I try to guess what his words are supposed to mean. “No one told me… what?” I ask.

“No one told you what your duties shall be… in order to pay off the debt?”

I shake my head. “No, sir. No one has told me.”

He clears his throat. “I don’t really want to be the one to tell you, but if it isn’t going to be King Maddox himself, then I suppose it’s going to be me.”

“Please, sir. You’ve been so kind. I’d like to hear it from you, if you don’t mind.”

He nods, and I brace myself to hear what he has to say. I have no idea what it could possibly be. None at all.

“You’re going to repay your debts by becoming the Alpha King’s Breeder.”

I nod—but I’m still lost, and I don’t know how to tell him.