Nicolas bumped into Verena as she was leaving her father’s room.
“You didn’t tell him, did you.” He asked her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Tell him what?” Verena asked. “I have no idea what you’re talking of.”
Nicolas sighed. He knew something like this was going to happen. “Verena stop playing around and answer me!”
“Why does it matter?” She said with a shrug. “He chose her over me, fine. He can go ahead and marry her if he wants.”
Nicolas sighed in exhaustion. He knew that if Asher found out about Karen, he may ask Kai to execute her.
And if Asher asked Kai, Kai would have no choice but to obey.
Nicolas honestly didn’t want that to happen. He had just seen Kai well rested for the first time in years. If Karen had that effect on him, then that was a good thing. Even if it was the only good thing that came from her.
“I was really hurt you know,” Verena suddenly said. “He keeps pushing me away, breaking my heart Everytime. And when I try to go to him, it’s even worse.”
Nicolas sighed. He understood in detail how Verena felt. Staring at her as she talked about Kai’s rejected hurt his heart in more ways than he could imagine.
Ways he could never bring himself to tell her about.
“Are you even listening to me?” She asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
“I know how you feel ” Nicolas said at last. She stared at him in pure disbelief.
“You’ve never had a lover, how could you know?” She spat. “You think you can understand my pain?”
“In more ways than you can imagine, Verena. And I’m really sorry you have to go through all this.”
Verena sighed and raised her chin up. “I don’t care. He can do whatever he likes. If it bothers me too much, I’ll go back with my father.”
“You’ll leave?”
“Yes.”
Nicolas wanted to tell her to stay. But what was here for her? Absolutely nothing. He sighed and nodded. She looked at him
“You’re so weird.” She said. “No wonder Kai keeps you around.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He said with a half smile.
“Anyway,” Verena announced. “My father is leaving tomorrow.”
“But he just got here.”
“Exactly my words. So please convey the information to Alpha Kai,”
Nicolas nodded. “I will.”
Verena looked at him one last time, shook her head and walked away. Nicolas watched her leave, his heart feeling unsettled. He was torn, unable to choose a side.
This hurt too much for him.
***
Karen was given work elsewhere aside from Kai’s suite.
She couldn’t understand the logic behind it. After spending the most amazing night of her life and getting the best night of sleep, he just throws her away.
She waited everyday, checking up on Inez to know if he had summoned her. Inez would shake her head sadly, indicating that he hasn’t. Karen would sigh and return to her duties.
Verena’s taunting became even bad. What’s worse, she had other maids and servant taunting her as well. Karen believed she took take their insults and abuse, but it was seriously getting out of hand for her.
She barely saw Nicolas talk less of Kai. And when she did bump into Nicolas, he barely spoke to her aside a simple “hello”
Karen sighed heavily and scrubbed the last stain off the hallway. She wondered if she could go to Kai herself, but Inez had warned her against it severely.
Kai didn’t like being interrupted unless he sent for you.
Karen couldn’t understand why she wanted to see him so badly. She wondered if she missed him, if she was starting to develop feelings for him.
And it had only been two days.
She heard from Inez that Verena’s Father had come visiting. According to Inez, it was Asher who rescued Kai and Nicolas from her father. Karen thought it made sense now.
Seeing Asher bad probably reminded him of all the suffering he had to suffer before he was saved. And seeing her would only just reopen those wounds again.
Karen understood, but that didn’t make the pain hurt less.
She finished cleaning up. She got to her feet, cracking her back from being in one position for a long time. She grabbed her cleaning bucket and scrubbing tools, dragging them with her as she made her way To the servant quarters. She returned them to the supply room, to her surprise most of the servants were already done with work and fast asleep.
Karen wasn’t feeling sleepily at all, her worried mind wouldn’t let her. Having some free time on her hands, she decided to go to the gardens before it got too late.
She walked outside into the night, the air cool and crisp. She made her way over to the garden. The night flowers were in full bloom, spreading their lovely perfume through the air. She paused and smelled one of the flowers. It was a bit to strong, making her sneeze.
“Bless you,” A deep voice said.
Karen’s heart leapt with joy. For a second she thought it was Kai till she turned and saw a tall unfamiliar man with striking golden eyes.
Karen took a step back, her danger bells going off in her head. “Hello?” She said tentatively.
“Please my dear, relax.” The man said, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
Karen took a step back, her eyes warily on him. “I’m sorry sir. I have to go now.”
“Just a minute of your time, okay?”
“If I am seen with you as the alpha’s slave I’ll be in a lot of trouble. And so will you.” She said hastily. “Have a good night.”
“The alpha’s slave?” The man asked.
Karen nodded and was already making her way back to the pack house. Her heart hammered in her chest. She turned and ran into the pack house, looking over her shoulder to see if the man was following. Thankfully he wasn’t.
Karen exhaled deeply, a sigh of relief. She didn’t know what it was, but that encounter scared her. Who was that man? She wondered to herself. Was he a member of the pack that she hadn’t seen before? Or was he a visitor?
Karen didn’t have the answers to her questions.
***
Nicolas flipped through the reports in his hand, his eyes moving to Kai every few seconds. Kai was relaxed, more so than ever before. His face was free of a snarl or a glare, just blank. Nicolas noticed the change in his aura, and had been able to keep mute about it for a long time.
“Verena told her father about Karen.” Nicolas spoke up.
“I know.” Kai replied. “He talked to me about it.”
“And?”
“And what? She’s my slave. My property. No one tells me what to do with her.”
“You’ll continue to keep her around?”
Kai didn’t reply.
“What of Verena? You’re just going to break her off?”
“I never said that ” Kai said and raised his head. His eyes shone brightly. “What’s with all these questions? We have work to do and you’re chatting away.”
“I’m just really surprised that’s all. It seems Karen is more than a slave to you.”
“Yes, and how does that sound to you?”
Nicolas thought about it for a while. “Very stupid.”
“Thank you.”
A noise attracted his attention. He turned to see a maid packing up her cleaning supplies. A maid that wasn’t Karen. It suddenly felt odd to him, seeing another maid aside from Karen in Kai’s suite.
“Get out.” Kai said to her sharply.
She bowed and hurried out of the room.
“You fired Karen?” Nicolas asked.
“I don’t want her around.” Kai said simply.
Nicolas had an idea of what was going on. And it made him sad. He found himself thinking that maybe Kate could in fact be useful to Kai. That maybe she wasn’t her father. That maybe Kai was right keeping her around.
But he didn’t dare voice his thoughts.
“The rights to the company have been bought.” He chose to say instead. “You’re now the proud owner.”
The company He was referring to was a food company in the human world. For a while now Kai had been making plans to expand into the human world.
“You have a way of making everything sound like an insult.” Kai said with an eye roll. “It’s just one small company. There’s a lot more to be done.”
“The pack will be moved to the human realm?”
“Not exactly.” Kai replied. “More like a back and forth. Open a gates of some sort.”
Nicolas thought about it. He hadn’t been to the human world. Their world right here was self sufficient, everything they needed they had it. There was no need for humans and the likes to come in and ruin that. He had no idea exactly what Kai was planning, but he supported him.
“You should get some sleep.” Kai said at last. “It’s late and we have a busy day tomorrow.”
Nicolas rolled his eyes. To most people in the pack, Kai was a cold hearted unfeeling alpha. But Nicolas knew otherwise. He knew the kind side of Kai. And he was seeing that kind side a lot these days, thanks to a certain slave.
“Take your own advice.” Nicolas said.
Kai looked at him sharply. A lot of unspoken words swirled in his eyes. Nicolas understood.
He couldn’t fall asleep. He had tried and failed.
Kai turned back to the reports. “If you want to stay up all night, suit yourself.”
“You should appreciate my company. You know it’s gold.” Nicolas said, his chin raised.
Kai glared at him. “Shut up and work. You’re awfully chipper today.”
Verena had agreed to stay. Nicolas was overjoyed to hear the news. Much more than he imagined.
He smiled to himself and picked up a report. “You wouldn’t understand.” He said.
Kai scoffed. “Trust me, I don’t want to understand.”