Chapter 8: What rumor?

Several days passed, and Rayne was not yet back. It was late at night when Isabella sent for Selene to be brought into her room. Selene, who has been practicing in secret how to communicate with her wolf, got called by the guards to follow them.

She thought she was going to work again at night when the guards took a right turn down the corridor and opened the door for her to come in. “She is here, my queen," the guard said, pausing Selene to stand in front of the queen.

Isabella sat on the chair with her legs crossed. “I was wondering if the rumor circulating among the maids was true. I wanted to confirm.” Isabella explained standing up from the bed to stand behind Selene as soon as the guards left.

“What rumor, my Queen?” Selene asked in a calm tone. She was already exhausted and didn't have time to banter words with the Queen, which would only double her punishment as she was in no position to reprimand her.

Selene already heard about the news circulating, but it was not true. Who would believe her?

“I heard the king has an affair with you in your room, and he keeps coming to your room every night,” Isabella explained calmly as she stared at Selene in the room, waiting patiently for an answer. She wanted to snap her neck, but the king had already taken a liking to her.

"I don't know what you are talking about, my queen. I didn't do anything with the king.” Selene confesses because that's the truth.

“Are you trying to tell me that the king is not someone you can have a thing with or that the king is not worthy of your filthy body, you this whore?" Isabella accuses Selene before rising from the bed to slap her across the cheek.

Selene's eyes became red with the way Isabella slapped her hard on the face. She was still a mere human, but Isabella used her strength to slap her and make sure her lips bled. She knew the woman was a wolf, but why would she slap her with such strength?

"Are you trying to seduce him, or don't you know I'm the Queen and Luna of this kingdom?” Isabella explained in anger, happy that Selene's lips were indeed bleeding. Her gaze became blurry as her eyes welled up in tears. She wanted to be brave, but she wondered if the woman would kill her right here.

A sudden knock on the door prevents Selene from saying anything as she glares at Isabella, sitting back on the bed. “Come in,” Isabella called, and a man came out of the hidden wall in the room. He was tall and well-built, with strong arms and a hardened face.

Selene wondered what was going on when she saw Isabella smirk at her with an evil glint in her eyes.

“Strip her! I want to see what is so special about her,” Isabella said with seriousness before walking back to sit on the bed.

Selene was in shock after the slap and the words uttered by Isabella, took three steps back as she made her way towards the door. Turning the doorknob, Selene struggled with the lock as the huge man kept on walking towards her.

Isabella laughed as she watched the drama unfold. Selene knew the door wasn't locked before, but who locked it just now?

“Did she use her abilities to lock it?” Selene asked herself in silence, her heart racing.

“There is no escape, Selene,” Isabella said as she directed the man to undress her.

“I will make sure you lose your sanity. No one takes what is mine,” Isabella added, her voice etched with jealousy and anger. The huge man tore off Selene's clothes from her body while she screamed in fear.

Selene's clothes were torn off her body by the huge man. With only a petticoat in her body, she wraps her hands around her body with fear. Even when the Alpha King saw her exposed breast, she wasn't disgusted like this. She watched as Isabella laughed, watching her with a smirk.

“I told you it wasn't me. Why can't you just believe me?” Selene finally voiced out with a shaky voice.

Her body boiled up in a rage, and Isabella was shocked by the way she suddenly talked back to her.

“I told you to strip her naked!” Isabella said with an authoritative voice that she was taken aback by this woman's bravery. She wanted to see how long she would remain courageous. Selene didn't want to be weak anymore. She calculated in her head what to do, and just when the man was about to touch her body to tear the rest of her clothes, the door swung open, and Harold walked in, bowing his head.

“My Queen,” Harold said after stepping into the room. The huge man moved back, leaving her on the floor with the petticoat clutched to her body.

Isabella was shocked to see Harold in the room without the room informing her of what happened, but she didn't let it show as she smiled at the man.

"Oh, Harold, what is the matter?” Isabella asked in her sweet, gentle voice.

“The Alpha sent a message to me and told me to inform you that he will be back by dawn tomorrow,” Harold explained to Queen Isabella as he briefly glanced at Selene on the floor and the big man, whom he believed to have not seen before.

“Okay, Harold. Thank you,” Isabella replied nervously.

"That will be all. Have a beautiful night's rest, my queen," Harold bowed deeply as he quietly left the room. Isabella knew more than anyone that her secrets would be exposed if Harold reported what happened here to his Alpha.

“Go back,” Isabella said, facing the giant man. The man bows his head deeply as he leaves the room. Selene didn't care about anything; she wanted to hear that voice again. She wants to confirm if she wasn't daydreaming.

"You're lucky, Selene. You should go to your room," Isabella said, but she knew she would still have the chance to deal with the human.

Selene didn't dare take a look at the queen before leaving the room hurriedly. Her legs moved fast against the wooden floor. The guards were still at their posts, but there weren't as many as before. Selene shut the door behind her as she quickly rushed towards the mirror.

Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate to see if her skin was scratched, but when she saw her reflection in the mirror, she knew she wasn't okay.

Her mind replayed what happened just now in the Queen's room, and she wondered if the palace had always been like this.

“Moon Goddess, what should I do? I never pray for this." She said this as she curled up in the corner of the room. Her heart bleeds at the realization of what would have happened today if the king's beta hadn't come in.

‘I want to go home. I never want this. Selene lamented as her eyes wailed up in tears. Her hands and feet felt numb as she wondered what fate awaited her in the palace. With the sudden disappearance of the king in the palace, she didn't know what would happen again tomorrow since the Queen somehow hated her existence.

'If only I could sense my wolf, then I would gladly escape from the palace.’ She said it in her mind. With tears streaming down her eyes, she slept on the floor and curled herself up like a ball.