Chapter 21

There was enough food in the kitchen, so I served up some of it for Domarius and me, and we had a quiet dinner. After that, I gave him a bath and tucked him into Nana’s bed to sleep.
I showered too and chose one of Nana’s old dresses to wear. It felt odd wearing the dead woman’s cloth but I had no other option.
Curling up beside Domarius under the covers was the best part of the day for me. His warm little body and soft snoring brought a happy smile to my face.
I did my best not to think about what had happened at Apex Woods this afternoon. Remembering that humiliating conversation with Dominic and Brianna made my blood boil.
I wasn’t sure what to do next, but I was too tired to think of a plan. I would do that tomorrow but for now, I needed to relax and sleep.
We woke up the next morning to the loud noise of someone knocking on the cabin door. I wondered if it was Sonia but why would she knock so loudly?
“Who is it?” I asked sleepily as I approached the door.
“Warriors of the Woods Pack,” a man replied outside.
My heart immediately began to beat fast. What now?
I opened the door and saw a warrior from the Woods Pack standing there, while his four colleagues waited behind him.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“The Alpha Kings have asked that you come with us to the palace immediately.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know but we must leave now.”
“What’s the urgency about? Has something happened in Apex Woods?”
“I do not have answers to your questions,” said the warrior curtly. “We were simply ordered to bring you and your son to the palace right away.”
I didn’t like his tone and I sure as hell don’t like being ordered about like a mindless puppet.
“You can go now. We will come later,” I said and tried to close the door.
The warrior stopped the door with his foot and then grabbed my arm.
“What the – “
“Get the child!” He ordered his men and one of them entered the cabin to carry Domarius.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I shouted at them. “Leave us alone!”
“We have our orders and we’re following them,” replied the warrior.
Domarius and I were carried on horseback like criminals and we were taken to Apex Woods. I couldn’t believe that my mates would allow their warriors to treat me and my son with such disrespect.
It wasn’t enough that they stabbed me in the back by sleeping with my enemy, of all people! Why were insisting that I returned to the palace?
Once we reached Apex Woods, we were marched straight to the throne room where the three Alphas were waiting on their thrones.
My mood soured when I saw Brianna sitting on her little throne beside them. She had that annoying smug look on her face again.
What hurt me the most was the distant look in their eyes. It was as if they didn’t recognize me anymore, including Dominic who had talked with me yesterday.
They didn’t even show any emotion when they saw Domarius. They barely even looked at him.
“Dominic and Brianna told us what happened yesterday when you came here,” said Damian.
“And we are disappointed in you for trying to pin your misfortunes on our mate, Brianna,” said Darius.
“Your mate?” I asked. “If she’s your mate, what am I?”
“As of today, you shall become our concubine,” said Damian coldly. “And that is only because you have given us an heir.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What?”
“You have been demoted, Jade. That’s what,” said Darius. “You don’t expect us to keep you as our Luna when you’ve spent four years living as another Alpha’s whore, do you?”
His harsh words cut me like a knife. What was happening?
“You will live in a separate wing from ours in the palace,” said Dominic. “You and Domarius will be well taken care of as long as you abide by our rules and conduct yourself with respect.”
“I can’t believe this,” I said in amazement. “Do you all think I wanted to be a slave in the Highlands? Brianna sold me!”
“I will not hear of that lie again!” Darius shouted at me. “Let this be the last time you utter that baseless accusation in this palace, is that clear?”
“We know you tried to get us killed before went whoring in the Highlands,” said Damian. “We will forgive you for that because you probably did it to protect your unborn pup.”
“Why would I want you dead?” I asked them. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“So you say,” said Darius dismissively.
“We also know that you aligned yourself with that ungrateful old hag called Nana,” said Damian. “I’m sure she has corrupted you with her fairy tale sorcery.”
“Nana is dead,” I told them. “She died yesterday.”
“I thought she would never die,” said Dominic dryly and Brianna giggled.
Their lack of emotion amazed me. “What happened to you three?” I wondered aloud. “When did you all become like this?”
“You can wonder about that in your room,” said Damian. “The servants will take you and your son there now.”
“My son? Is he not your son too?”
They ignored my question and Brianna chuckled like an idiot. I felt like strangling her.
“And if you try to leave the palace again without permission, we will forget that you were once our Luna and have you executed for disobedience,” said Dominic. “Be warned.”
For the second time in my life, I was a prisoner again. I had a beautiful living quarter with a den, bedroom and a large bathroom. I had a balcony to myself and I was served good meals every day like a queen.
My son had his own room down the hall from mine and he had a royal tutor who trained him every day.
However, I was very unhappy. I still couldn’t understand why my mates now disliked me so much. They spoke to me rudely and rarely came to visit me. And when they did, they treated me like trash.
How did they go from loving me so much to hating me like this? What did Brianna do to them?
Only Dominic seemed to be nice to me when we were alone, but once his brothers were around, he would be mean to me just like them. I figured out that they were controlling him and he was afraid of offending them by being kind to me in their presence.
It was so frustrating and all I could think of was how to run away. I remembered Hycinth and wished that I had stayed with him instead.
“It must really suck to be you right now,” said Brianna, walking into my den without invitation.
“What do you want?” I asked her.
“Oh, nothing. I just came to see how you are doing.”
“As if you care.”
“Actually, I don’t. I just came to let you know that my mates will be coming to you tonight. They’re getting ready to attack the River Pack tomorrow and they need to relax tonight.
“Make sure you take good care of them, ok?”
“Get out!” I said to her angrily.
“Don’t be rude, Jade,” she said with a victorious smile. “I am your Luna, remember?”
“You won’t get away with any of this, Brianna. You won’t.”
“But I already did,” she said smugly and started to leave. “I hope you’re strong enough to withstand my darlings. I added some powerful aphrodisiacs to their meal tonight to make them extra horny.”
“Get lost!” I shouted at her and she left, laughing like a witch.