Vivian’s POV

“Ouch!”

“I told you that you were weak.”

I glared up at Chris from my position on the ground. He had just swept my feet out from under me, landing me flat on my back. He hadn’t been kidding about 4:30am, and he hadn’t been kidding about me being weak.

I was surprised when he reached a hand out to me to help me up. I wasn’t surprised when he quickly took that hand away, and I fell backward. “Gotta keep you guessing, Vivid.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Nope.”

A howl signaled the end of training. Chris left me there, glaring at his retreating back. I still hated him, but at this point, he was all that I had. I scrambled to my feet and ran to catch up with him. “Where are we going now?”

He arched an eyebrow at me. “We?”

“Well, what does the pack do after training?”

“Breakfast, then patrol. You’re just training, though. So you can play in some dirt or something. You can’t go on patrol yet if it’s something you can earn the right to do.”

“Oh.”

“What?”

“I’m just…nothing. I’ll figure it out. Thanks again.”

He nodded and jogged away to join his friends, leaving me alone. Again. I needed to get used to this. Without Zeke, this was going to be my new norm, especially with the pack now treating me like I had a contagious disease since my birthday. Nothing but looks of pity and whispers being spoken around me.

I still couldn’t understand what happened. Just then, I saw my ex-best friend exiting the mess hall, laughing loudly, his arms around the new girl. Samantha. They both looked at each other like they couldn’t get enough of one another. I froze, wanting to disappear into the ground beneath me. Maybe they didn’t see me, and I could slip away and skip breakfast. I started to turn, but Zeke caught me at the last second. “Vivian!”

I froze. Why was he calling my name? I spun around. “Yes?”

“Come here.”

I narrowed my eyes, moving closer to where he and Samantha stood. “Yes, Zeke?”

“I heard you’ve started training with the warriors this morning.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I want to make myself useful to the pack.”

He nodded. “I think you’d be better suited as a maid. My maid, to be exact.”

I jerked my head up. “What? No.”

“Excuse me? You should be honored I allow you in my presence, mutt,” Zeke sneered.

Gasping, I looked over at Samantha, who I’d never spoken to but hoped she’d see some reason for how he was treating me. But a smirk played across her lips. She didn’t even know me, but it was plain that she hated me. “You shouldn’t be so disrespectful towards your future Alpha.”

“You’ll report to my chambers every morning to serve me breakfast at 7am and will work until 7pm every day. That’s how you will be useful to the pack.”

“I still have time to train then. They start at 5am.”

Zeke rolled his eyes. “Fine. Do what you want in your free time. Just don’t burden the warriors with your bumbling around. Since I’ve already had breakfast this morning, run to laundry and get started.”

“Can I go eat breakfast first?”

Rolling his eyes again. “Fine. Just go.”

I nodded again and ran, not wanting to further annoy him. This was not the same person I grew up with. When I looked back, Samantha was whispering in his ear again. What secrets did they already share?

*****

My first day as Zeke’s maid had been exhausting. It was full of laundry. He had me on wash the entire pack house’s laundry today, along with the curtains and the linen. It didn’t need done but he had insisted. He wanted to start our professional relationship fresh, he said. Whatever that meant.

By the time I was slinking my way back home, I forgot I had needed to go grocery shopping. Our small pack town was meant to be all walking distance but it was still a distance to go everywhere. And the grocery store was the opposite direction of home. I sighed, turning around and making my way back the way I came.

Foot steps behind me had me swirling around to catch a glimpse of movement before I was on my back. “I can’t believe you let me catch you off guard like that. Where are your wolf instincts?”

Chris stood over me, glaring. Ivy was silent on me since the rejection. I hadn’t heard her at all. Not even during training. She was upset and confused. But at the question of her instincts, I felt her bristle inside. She was still with me.

“I’ve had a busy day today, Chris. Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Nope. Where you headed?”

“I need to get groceries.”

“I’ll come with you. You need a lesson in the proper diet of a warrior so you aren’t so weak.”

I stood up, ignoring the fake offer of his helping hand. “Thanks but no thanks. I can handle groceries by myself.”

“It wasn’t a request, Vivid.”

“Shut up.”

“Whatever you say, Vivid. Now let’s get going. We have an early day tomorrow. You can prattle on about your day while we walk and why it was such a long day. Figure out a way to be less of a waste of space?”

We started our way towards Nelly’s Grocery, as I started detailing my day, him grunting in return. “And why did he want you to be his maid?”

“To humiliate me more, I guess?”

Chris grunted in response. I grunted back. He grunted. I grunted. He paused and looked at me. “Why are you grunting?”

“I’m just doing what you’re doing. All you do is grunt. It’s so weird.”

“I do not.”

I grunted. He made the noise back, and I continued the cadence. We burst out laughing. I continued laughing, doubling over and holding my side, tears filling my eyes. Was I really here in the middle of the street laughing at grunts with my bully?

When we finally stopped, I stood up straight, and Chris was staring at me. “I got to go.”

“Okay.”

Without a word, he shifted and took off into the darkness. I smiled softly, maybe I could have half a friend.

Vivian's POV

The following day, Chris was there at 4:30am sharp. I almost wanted to grunt at him in greeting, to rekindle our inside joke, but I didn't want to run it into the ground and look desperate. I was already getting too attached, and it'd only been a couple of days. And this was Chris. I hated Chris, and Chris hated me.

"What did you get for groceries?"

"Chicken, rice, and broccoli."

"Good for you!"

"Just kidding. I thought that's what you wanted to hear. I got a lot of junk food."

Chris glared at me. "Seriously?"

"Kidding! I got the boring stuff! I'm taking this seriously."

He rolled his eyes and started walking down the street. "Come on, you're gonna make us late. I don't have time for your games."

His strides were long, but I was light on my feet, so it was easy to keep up with him. For the first time, Ivy finally spoke up.

'He's fun.'

I almost stumbled at her comment. 'No, he's not. We don't like him. He's a jerk. Remember who tore Mr. Buttons to shreds when we were four?'

'Then remember who saved us from him? Look how that turned out. Things aren't always as they seem.'

Before I could argue, she went silent again, and I was left with a scowl. Chris interrupted my thoughts. "What are you scowling so hard about?"

"Don't worry about it, asshole."

"Who pissed in your cornflakes today?"

"Everyone. Just damn near everyone."

He shrugged and kept walking. Chris wasn't my friend. He wasn't half a friend. He felt sorry for me after Zeke's humiliation and probably didn't want me thrown out of the pack. He might hold some honor due to his status as a top warrior in his family. Or maybe he'd miss his favorite verbal punching bag. He loved harassing me. He'd help me gain footing, and things would return to normal.

*****

After training, I didn't bother to say goodbye to Chris. I ran straight to breakfast, grabbed a muffin, scarfed down, and then went to Zeke's room. I knocked lightly. I heard a female giggling. Did Zeke have a girl in there? Zeke said he was saving himself for his mate. He had been saving himself for me…

But he rejected me. So, of course, that meant he could now be with whoever he wanted. The reality brought tears to my eyes. They quickly evaporated when the door swung open, and Samatha's bright red curls greeted me. "Hello, Vivian. Do you mind giving Zekey a couple more minutes? He's indisposed at the moment."

She winked at me like we were two gal pals and weren't discussing my mate. Ivy growled. She accepted the rejection, but the audacity of this female still enraged her. "Yeah, sure. I'll be out here."

Samantha slammed the door in my face. I braced my back against the wall and slid down to the floor. This was my life now—training with my enemy in the morning and then serving my ex-best friend and his mistress.

I have yet to figure out my compensation package with Zeke, but hopefully, it will be enough to get a decent one-bedroom apartment somewhere. There were few since most of the pack coupled up. The ones who didn't were of high status and could afford more than one bedroom. But I couldn't continue living with my parents. Not that it mattered much. They barely existed to me and vice versa.

It took half an hour for Zeke to finally summon me inside his bedroom and Samantha to leave, her winking at me like we held a secret. He was lounging in bed, shirtless. I'd seen him shirtless plenty of times, but the way the sheets laid across his hips made him look more mature than I'd ever seen him. My breath caught in my throat. For a moment, Ivy came back again. 'Mate?'

'No. Not mate.'

"You always did have a thing for me, didn't you?"

I stuttered. “W-w-what?”

He threw back the sheets and swung his legs over the bed. He wore nothing but boxers. His legs were perfectly toned. He walked towards me slowly, his eyes taking me in. Ivy started quivering. 'He rejected us. Why is he coming near us?'

He stopped a breath away, towering over me. "You always liked me more than a friend, didn't you?"

"No, Zeke. You were like a brother to me."

His nostrils flared. "Stop lying to me."

"I…I had a small crush, maybe. But I would never have let it ruin our friendship. It meant more to me than anything."

He tipped my chin up, looking at my lips. "It's too bad."

"What?"

"That I was mated to someone as worthless as you. You'd make a lovely breeder, though…"

I slapped his hand away, appalled at what he said. "What the fuck, Zeke! Breeders are outlawed! And how can you say that to me? I was your best friend!"

"Breeders can still volunteer. I can make your life so miserable that you'll beg to be my breeder. You wouldn't be a pack breeder."

I gagged. "Why would you want me to breed with you?"

"They say mate pups are the strongest pups. And if I'm to be Alpha, I need the strongest. Without you as my Luna, I can still have those pups if you're my breeder."

"You're disgusting."

"I'm looking out for the pack's best interest, V."

"Do not call me that. Do not ever call me that again."

I spun around and ran out of the room, ignoring his shouts to come back. Even his Alpha aura couldn't keep me and Ivy in that room.