After dealing with Faye and her two personal maids, Zuri went to take a bath. That bastard of an alpha had purposefully stained her dress and face with that omega’s blood.
Because she didn’t have any personal maids right now, she ran the water herself and dipped in the cold water filled tub. The coldness bit into her skin, but it was what she needed. The pain was… comforting.
Zuri ended up sleeping in the tub for two hours and when she came up, her skin was all wrinkly. She asked a maid to bring her lunch to her bedroom and eat alone. She didn’t know what Xaden had done to them and she was not in a hurry to know.
She ate her meal slowly.
‘You need to lose weight.’
‘Remember to lose your weight.’
‘You have gained weight. Look at your body.’
The food tasted like sand in her mouth and every piece that she shoved down her throat made her want to throw up. She felt guilty for eating. Her stomach was churning and she put away the food to run toward the bathroom to throw up.
She bent down her body and regurgitated all the food that she had consumed, only then she felt better and the voices in her head disappeared.
***
Xaden returned to his and Zuri’s bedroom very late at night. He didn’t want to have a conversation about the punishment with her, but from what he learned, she had been sleeping since afternoon. She even skipped her dinner altogether.
Right now, the woman was lying on the bed, her black hair covering her pillow and half of her face. She looked tired, there was a scowl between her brows, as if there was something in her mind that bothered her.
Xaden knelt down beside the side of her bed and stared at her sleeping face. He was angry at her for forcing him to punish Faye, but he was astounded that she could figure out about those people, who were plotting behind her back.
“Only if you are the woman that I want…” Xaden said, his voice was so low. It sounded like a whisper. “Things will be easier for us.”
He was mad at her, but the feeling was equal to his admiration for her.
Shaking his head, the alpha walked toward the bathroom and cleaned himself before he joined Zuri in bed. They slept on their own sides, as though there was this invisible wall between
them.
The next day, Xaden informed Zuri about the punishment that he gave to the three women. Sarah and Esther were locked inside the dungeon for the rest of their lives, which meant Zuri had to find other personal maids, while Faye…
“She is stripped from her status as an omega and now she is a slave in the warriors’ quarters.” Xaden informed that through his gritted teeth.
Omegas were of the lowest rank in their hierarchy, but a slave… a calf would hold more value than you and for Xaden to send Faye to the warriors’ quarters meant those warriors could do whatever with her. It literally meant… whatever.
Zuri said nothing and Xaden couldn’t tell whether she was pleased with the punishment or not.
“I will inform my father,” Zuri said. She finished her meal and drank her water. They were currently having breakfast together in the garden, creating an image of a strong and harmonious union for people to see.
“I will send you the dress for your first visit to the palace a week from now.” Xaden, finished
with his food, stood up.
“Okay.” Zuri couldn’t care less about the dress that she would wear to meet the king.
“Any signs?” Xaden asked as he glanced at her flat stomach.
Zuri laughed when she heard that and Xaden was mesmerized by her beauty. The soft light of
the sun fell on her face and she looked ethereal.
“We just did it three days ago. What sign do you want to see?” Zuri shook her head. Men like Xaden didn’t even have any idea how pregnancy worked.
Xaden cleared his throat when Zuri was still laughing, she seemed to be in a good mood. “Let’s try again tonight.” After saying that, he left for his morning meeting with his warriors.
When Xaden left, Zuri returned to their bedroom and threw up her breakfast.
This was not the first time Zuri did this, in fact, it was her mother, who taught her how to do it. She needed to keep her appearance impeccable and as her only daughter, she was made to believe that and follow her methods religiously. This was the fastest way to stop her from gaining weight.
Zuri shoved her fingers down her throat to regurgitate her breakfast. Tears streamed down her face and once she was done, she was spent. She sat next to her own vomit and stared at the ceiling while the voices in her mind kept going.
It was quiet here, but not in her mind.
“I really need to take the medicine,” she said to no one in particular. “They are getting too loud.” She nodded to herself as if she had a friend to talk to. She had none.
Pushing herself up, she went back to her bedroom after asking an omega to clean up after her. She took the medicine and fell asleep until it was late at night.
When she woke up, she found Xaden sleeping next to her. He was fast asleep. This morning, he said that they were going to try for the baby again, but probably because he saw that Zuri was fast asleep, he stopped himself and chose not to bother her.
Zuri was not sure whether she should be grateful for that or what, since she heard a lot of scary stories about male shifters, who forced themselves on their mates and it was within their right to do so.
The blame would be put on the female shifters if they didn’t comply with the demand.
Out there, the sky was still so dark, indicating the morning was still hours away, but Zuri was wide awake, therefore, she chose to get out of bed. She glanced at Xaden one last time before she walked out of the room.
It was still in the middle of spring and the wind was warm. Zuri could smell the scent of flowers in the air as she walked in the hallway and a few guards nodded their heads in respect to their luna.
Ever since what happened to Faye, they were wary of her, which was good. If Zuri couldn’t get their respect yet, wariness would do for the meantime.
In the end, Zuri went close to the woods and shifted into her beast. It had been a long time since she shifted into her beast and she felt great to let loose.
Her wolf was black in color and smaller than the average wolf. When she was still in the River Creek pack, she loved to run in the woods with her third brother, Rhett. He was the one who taught her everything, probably because they were closer in age.
She missed her brother. Their father didn’t like him, even though he was the most capable one among the three of his sons and it was because his first mate died during childbirth when she gave birth to Rhett. Alpha Roland kind of blamed his son for her death.
The black beast ran through the woods, until its legs were in pain. She found a clearing and only then she stopped near a river.
Zuri shifted back into her human form and took off her dress to dip in the cold river. It felt so good against her sweaty skin.
In their world, they could preserve their clothes whenever they shifted, because it was their beast form that made an appearance, while their human form was dormant. Therefore, she didn’t need to bring a new dress whenever she wanted to shift.
“You shouldn’t fall asleep.”
Zuri furrowed her brows. She didn’t need to open her eyes to know who it was. She had sensed his presence when she was still in the woods.
However, the thing that made her open her eyes was the sound of water splashing.
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