Chapter 45: 45: If They Wanted Me Dead
I felt my stomach drop the moment the knock broke through the silence of my bedroom. I stared at it, trying not to make a single sound. Maybe that way, whoever was behind that door would go away. I highly doubted that it would be Jessie standing on the other side.
However, they weren’t as easily deterred as I hoped they would be.
"I know you’re in there," came Violet’s voice. I cursed internally. Of all the people who could’ve shown up, she was the worst option. "Let me in before I spill your secrets."
I stood to my feet, but before I took the next step, I stopped. If I opened the door, I would be admitting to the fact that I had any secrets at all. Violet had never mentioned anything, and for all I knew, it could just be bait. She might not even know anything. Even if she did, I wouldn’t know what she was referring to.
Slowly, I put my feet back down. I waited for half a minute more, and I could hear a sigh come from outside.
There were some footsteps that sounded as though they were headed away and down the corridor. I waited for a little more, making sure I breathed as lightly as possible in case she could hear me.
Seconds passed, then a minute or two. Finally, when no further sound came from outside, I slowly made my way to the door.
I cracked it open and cautiously peered outside. My breath hitched in my throat when I realized that she had fooled me so easily. Violet was still outside, thankfully alone, her arms folded across her chest. Her eyes immediately found mine through the small crack of the door, and she narrowed her gaze.
When I didn’t immediately hold it open, she rolled her eyes and scoffed. Stepping forward, she pushed the door with much more force than necessary. I stumbled back, clutching the wall for support as she strode into the room and sat at the edge of my bed. She folded a leg over the other and examined the room, all while her lips were curled in disdain.
I closed the door, frowning.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"What a pathetic room," she scoffed under her breath.
Rolling her eyes, she finally spared me some attention. Her eyes scanned me up and down before finally landing on my stomach. I tried not to listen to my instincts of placing my hands there automatically.
"If you’re here to complain about my room, perhaps you would like to take those complaints to the Alphas instead," I sarcastically said. I matched her stance, folding my arms across my chest.
"Nice try," Violet said with a snort. "But you ought to remember your place. You’re just a servant. I am the Luna."
"Congratulations," I said with a deadpan. "Should I present you with a medal for that?"
Violet clenched her jaw, her cheeks red with anger. Then, she took a deep breath in, schooled her expression, and smiled. I felt a chill go down my spine seeing that sickly sweet smile of hers. It looked so unnatural in comparison to her look of annoyance.
"No," she said, her tone light. "But if you’d prefer to continue running your mouth off like that, perhaps I will speak to the Alphas. After all, their patience with you is already running quite low. I wonder what they might do to you if you continued proving your disloyalty to their new Luna."
I slowly unfolded my arms, my expression hardening. She immediately noticed my discomfort. My failure to hide my feelings brought Violet immense amusement, for she smiled even brighter than before.
"What do you want, Violet?" I asked. I didn’t care to use any formalities, and truthfully, I highly doubted Violet actually cared at all. There were other things she resented me more for.
In fact, she even smiled.
"Just wanted to see if you’re alright," she said. "I would be very upset if you actually fell sick. After all, you didn’t seem too peachy this morning."
My lips pinched tightly together into a fine line.
"I ate something bad," I plainly said. "You made sure of that."
The food they served to omega servants was bad enough, but the grub that Violet made sure I had for my meals was even worse. They were just enough to give me energy to complete my daily tasks, but I would still be left with the feeling of hunger throughout the day.
Most importantly, they almost always tasted and smelled so bad that it was torture just to swallow it.
But if I didn’t eat it, I would starve. She had given the cooks explicit instructions to make sure I stayed out of the kitchen and was not given any food other than the food I received at mealtimes.
"I made sure you’re fed," she said pointedly. "If it were up to Alpha Cassian, you would be starving, groveling for even a morsel of food. You seem to forget that your fated mates barely want you alive."
"And yet I am still here," I said, spreading my arms out. Her presence was starting to tick me, and I knew just what would trigger her back. "I wonder why they kept me around."
Violet laughed, her voice tinkling and light. Amusement sparkled in her eyes as she glanced at me.
However, that laughter disappeared in a split second.
She had me pinned against the wall even faster than my eye could blink. Her long nails clawed my throat, slamming the back of my head against the wall as I hissed in pain. A clatter sounded as the test kit fell out of my pocket and onto the floor a short distance away.
"D-Did I hit a sore spot?" I said, choking out my words, trying to smirk. Though it probably looked more like a grimace than anything else.
She squeezed my neck even tighter, the rim of her eyes turning red with anger.
"You think you’re so funny, do you, Briar?" she hissed. "You are nothing to the Alphas. I could kill you right here and right now, and they wouldn’t even bat an eyelid!"
"Then do it," I taunted. "Snap my neck. Choke me out. Avenge your best friend, if you so wish."
Violet’s hands began to shake. Her nails dug further into my skin, causing it to sting. However, even though she looked like she wanted to crush my neck, she didn’t go any further than this. A sneer slid its way onto her doll-like face, and I knew she wouldn’t go through with it.
After all, Rowan, Soren, and Cassian kept me alive for a reason. If they didn’t want me alive, they would’ve already killed me the day after Willow was presumed dead.
Violet didn’t know whether or not she would get into trouble for killing me. The Triplets had never accepted my rejection. By all definitions, we were still fated mates, and as such, connected.
Her eyes flickered over to the floor, landing on something. Then, her eyebrows rose to the top of her forehead before she eventually laughed coldly.
"Well, well," she said. "Do the Alphas know that they’re about to become a father?"
I felt my blood go cold.
