KAIFrom the second we’d had our first encounter, I knew that it’d become my self-ordained purpose to break Cora until there was nothing left of her. I’d vowed to make her fall to her knees and begin the same withered and humiliating voice as her father had— or worse, I’d enjoy it much more if it were worse.And so far, I’ve been having a swell time working toward that goal.However, for the past two days, while Cora was on her hunger strike, things seemed oddly unappealing and uneventful as they’d usually been. She still had an angry face each time I dragged her out to accompany Leila and me during our meals, but she wasn’t as mouthy as usual and she barely reacted to any of the insults of crumbs of food that were hauled at her.It might make me seem psychotic, but her compliance bothered and irked me rather than consoling me that she was being passively respectful or some shit.What I genuinely craved was the burning spark of anger and competitiveness that she ignited in me each tim
CORAThe two days of a hunger strike that I’d been punished with seemed to have gone by very quickly for me unlike the last where the days dragged out painfully. After my first experience, I’d grown a much tougher skin to being starved and dehydrated.Still, my appearance betrayed me and my skin paled terribly while my lips cracked and got scarred from the constant tears.Despite my resilience, the toughest parts of both days were the moments when I’d been dragged through the hallways just to kneel and watch Kai and Leila enjoy various delicacies that’d made my throat dry from how much I’d salivated.However, after the second meal, I quickly found a trick where I’d completely zone out of their conversations such that I wouldn’t have to be infuriated by their crude remarks toward me. I simply tuned into the memories of my family and loved ones that’d kept me going, and after repeating that at other meals, I realized that I’d found a happy place and an escape despite all the chaos.It’d
CORAI heard a series of wicked pounding in my dream, and I shut my eyes when tighter to make it go away. It stopped for a while and I relaxed a bit, but after a few minutes, I heard the pounding again and this time it felt like it was happening right inside my damn skull.That minute I realized that I’d rather be awake than stuck in such a horrible dream, so my eyes flew open, and I immediately met with the same deafening pounding that made me realize that it’d been happening in reality.As someone who’d never been a morning person, it felt like I was stuck in hell if I was being awoken to such a horrific around when the sun hadn't even risen. Someone had better call the devil and ask him to shut down hell because Kai’s palace had definitely stolen the title from him at this point.The pounding on the door came again and I groaned out in annoyance and kicked my feet against the bed before I got off of it grudgingly.“god, enough. I'm coming!” I called out as I stomped angrily toward
Cora’s POVFor about a week, I’d been slaving away as the only one on hallway duty and it wore me out every damn day. It was also the longest time I’d gone without seeing Kai but my hatred for him hadn’t waned one bit since I knew that he was responsible for my predicament where I was working as a maid and being bossed around by the matron that acted like an evil stepmother.The matron in question was also quickly making her way up the list of people I planned to murder viciously with my bare hands since she never failed to pound my door maniacally every day at exactly 5 am. What was much worse was how she rudely ordered me to mop a hallway all per again if my work wasn't satisfactory to her.Luckily for me, this morning I’d jolted awake without any pounding on my door about fifteen minutes to 5 am, and I hurriedly washed up and changed into my maid outfit. I then hurriedly ran toward the door and immediately I opened it I found the matron right outside my door and her hand had paused
Kai’s POVAs I walked away from Cora, I felt her eyes piercing into my back angrily after I’d spilled the contents of her mop bucket and it brought a huge smile to my face. It was also very refreshing to confirm that the look of hatred and pure unadulterated anger in her eyes whenever she looked at me hadn't waned one bit.Of course, I couldn't help but give myself a pat on the back for my success in preserving that look by assigning her the task of mopping the hallways very early in the morning.Still smiling, I finally arrived at my chambers and walked right into the shower to wash off the sweat that’d dried up after my training session. While I hummed and dried my body clean after getting our of the shower, an idea suddenly sparked in my memory and I knew I had to implement it quickly.So, immediately after I dressed up, I walked out of my chambers and scanned the area for a guard.“You! Come here!” I called out immediately I found one and he immediately ran in my direction making
Cora’s POVI grudgingly cleaned up the horrible mess that Kai had made of my hard work by spilling dirty water and by the time I was finished I was so hungry and drained that my stomach was growling so loudly that I was sure it was echoing through the hallways.Quickly, I packed up my cleaning equipment and headed toward the kitchen to grab my breakfast before they ran out of servings. As I entered the kitchen, I thanked my stars that there were still bowls of food left and I grabbed one hastily and made my way toward the door.However, I halted my footsteps when I felt someone’s eyes on me, and I immediately turned around to find who the culprit was.Her again?! I grumbled inwardly.The same maid that had been staring at me awkwardly like a stalker on my first day walking in the hallways was crouched in a corner staring back at me with wide, questioning eyes. And if course, like the last time it pissed me off and I decided to get to the bottom of it once and for all so it wouldn't re
Her tattoo was a uniquely carved half moon and it rested just a little below her chin, and I’d know that tattoo even if i was awoken from a trance that lasted a million years because it was the same tattoo that I’d been given the minute i clocked 16, and it was in that exact same location. My head spun as I stared back at it and I blinked rapidly to check if my eyes were deceiving me or not.All of the women from my pack that had been born into royalty or had some form of relation to the royal lineage had that tattoo, and I’d assumed that I would be the last person to ever walk the face of the earth with it.Well, until her.I watched her eyes follow mine to find the reason why my eyes had remained fixed on her neck and the minute she realized that I’d seen her tattoo, she used her palm to cover it which forced me to move my eyes from her neck and face her against my will.“Like I said, I'll tell you everything you need to know. But it's not safe to talk here, come with me to a more
Cora’s POVI’d never dwelt on the fact that after losing my entire pack to Kai’s cruelty I’d become a lone wolf who didn't belong anywhere until I heard Nina’s confession and it shook me from my core to the roots of my very being.My wolf and I had consequently been knee deep in emotions for a couple of hours after meeting one of our own when we thought we never would.However, I knew that it was extremely foolish to dwell on foolish emotions so I snapped out of it and reminded myself that I had a much greater mission, which was to get my long overdue revenge for losing my family.And if my encounter with Nina was proof of anything reasonable, it was only that she’d become an extra reason for me to toughen up and see the mission through to the end because I also needed to get revenge for the child labor she’d endured under his reign that broke her spirit and made her such a timid woman when the women from my lineage were naturally fierce.I needed to teach Kai a lesson, and I needed to