Mark of Mars - Book cover

Mark of Mars

Mutemoonfairy

Chapter 2

After a while of walking and climbing many stairs, Dana and I finally reached the west wing.

Even though I hated being there because of how anxious the place made me, I couldn’t help but notice how downright stunning the castle was. I was mute, not blind.

Everything in the castle, from dark cherry wooden furniture to hanging chandeliers, had been crafted with such beautiful attention to detail.

If it were mine, I wouldn’t change a thing about it, except for maybe its residents. It almost made me despondent that such a beautiful place was home to so much hate and anguish.

I awoke from my reverie upon bumping into Dana’s broad back. Signing a quick apology that met an irritated huff from Dana, I was pushed toward the large wooden door in front of us.

“This is Master’s private dining quarters. You are to clean it spotless, then promptly move to the next room. Break anything, and you’ll be answering to the big bad wolf. Got it, short stack?”

Dana gave out an evil chuckle, her stomach shaking as she clutched it. She then ruffled my hair playfully, seeing my scared expression.

“You’ll be fine, kid. Just don’t fuck up. Should be no problem, with you being a neat freak n’ all.”

I gulped audibly. Being a perfectionist where nothing was ever actually perfectly clean was a difficult business. ~This is gonna be a long day.~

Dana then shoved me into the room and left, slamming the door and making me jump. You’d think I’d be used to her doing this by now. But I was always so timid; living among werewolves, everything scared me.

Finally taking a good look at my surroundings, I was amazed by its hugeness! Dining quarters? This was more like a ballroom. You could fit fifty of my apartments in here and still have room for a parking lot.

Looking down at the intricately placed pieces of marble, I quickly stepped back as I realized they formed the shape of a large black wolf.

Its eyes, deep forest green in color, crafted from a type of precious stone, stared directly into my eyes, giving me the chills.

Shaking my head, I decided I’d probably sniffed too many cleaning products over the years. I then ran over to the nearest maid’s closet to grab supplies and began mopping.

Cleaning wasn’t by any means my favorite thing to do, but sometimes, it kept my mind off of what was happening in my life.

Mopping, in particular, reminded me of a movie I had once seen a clip of while babysitting a pup belonging to a guest in the east wing.

A woman in a flowing blue gown danced with a man in a garden, singing something about love, I don’t quite remember. She seemed so happy; sometimes, I’d pretend mopping was a sort of dance, and the mop was my prince.

The way I moved my body as I mopped looked like a dance. Melissa was usually my partner when we had free time, which didn’t happen often.

She would teach me some steps her father had taught her when she was younger. He was a dance teacher for the werewolves in the upper class.

When he had passed away, she was put into my class, the lowest of the lows—the South section. At least, she had such warm memories, unlike me, who had never met my parents.

I often thought about what they were possibly like. Were they voiceless too? What did they look like? But most of all, why did they leave me?

There was one thought that I was particularly afraid to entertain; but it was always there, nagging me by lingering at the back of my mind: Did they leave me because I was mute?

After a long while of mopping, I realized I’d forgotten all about the space underneath the large, very visible dining table at the center of the room.

Looking down at my kid’s wristwatch of a cheap make, I realized I’d gotten way too carried away. Getting on my hands and knees, I scrubbed the floors as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Finding a tough spot on the marble, I immersed myself in trying to erase it. It almost looked like blood, but… No, I’m sure someone just dropped some ketchup. Yeah, ketchup.

I must not have noticed the door opening and closing, because, out of nowhere, I heard two voices, one belonging to Dana and another to a man. They seemed to be in a heated conversation.

“I don’t care how it’s done. Just find her! I know she’s here. I can smell her all over you!”

The man’s voice seemed familiar, almost comforting even, if you ignored the growls. If he was a werewolf, there was no way I knew him, with absolutely no reason for his voice to comfort me.

Looking down at my watch, I shook my head as strands of baby hair fell over my forehead. I had to get out of there, or I was gonna miss the bus!

And I couldn’t afford to be out that late. I wouldn’t make it back in time for curfew. Even though my life was kind of terrible, it was better than nothing.

Just as I was about to meekly pop my head out from under the large table and maybe gesture a shaky “surprise!”, I heard Dana’s raspy voice.

“Yes, Alpha. Um, with all due respect, sir, I just don’t know which one of my girls could possibly be the next luna. It doesn’t make any sense.”

What in the world was Dana saying? I couldn’t believe my ears.

First, she said that one of the maids could be the next luna, and second, the alpha king himself was standing right outside that haven of a table!

TABLE… My eyes opened wide again. I could barely breathe, still under the table. ~How am I supposed to get out now, with him here?~ Eavesdropping on Lycan royalty would be punishable by death.

Another large growl thundered through the air, sending a hard shiver down my spine.

“Are you doubting my ability to sense my own mate?! Is it so, Danika Swartz?”

There was an uncomfortable silence before I heard Dana’s shaky gruff voice. “No, Alpha. Um, I mean, yes, Alpha! Friends call me Dana, though!”

The conversation made my skin crawl. If Dana was that nervous, then I was definitely going to be wetting myself on those freshly cleaned floors.

“Well, Danika. She was here this shift. Her scent is still strong.”

I heard him sniff the air, making me nervous that he’d be able to smell me from under the table.

“Bring me a list of today’s maids for the west wing, and I might let you keep your job.”

My eyes widened even more as my brain connected the dots. The future luna worked in the west wing. But so far, I hadn’t seen any other maids in that wing.

“Actually, Alpha, there’s only one. There was a shortage of maids today due to a problem with one of the buses. But I’m sorry to say, she’s just a mute girl from the South section.”

Oh, how wrong I was! I just about died inside, my heart dropping to my stomach, making me nauseous. At that point, there was no holding back the tears of panic streaming down my cheeks.

I unconsciously let out a small hiccup, quickly realizing my mistake. Dead silence filled the room, and my eyes shot open in fear.

Looking up, I was met with the intense green eyes of the alpha king peeking under the table. His eyes seemed to glow intensely, as if a striking jet of green light was piercing me.

At that moment, I felt something within me change, or maybe something entirely new settling in.

Horrified, I quickly crawled toward the opposite side of the table, bruising my knees against the cold marble as I tried to move faster.

Feeling a large hand grasp my ankle, I let out harsh gasps, trying to call Dana for help. But as expected, no help could be found, sending me deeper into my panicked state.

“Ssshhhh… Calm down, little one. You’ll only hurt yourself.”

I was then pulled out from under the table, making me thrash harder against the legs of the chairs. The combination of hitting my head on the hard floor and a panic attack had me blacking out.

The last thing I remember was being held to a warm chest and hearing his low growl. “MINE.”

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