Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Silence After the Storm
Selene’s Pov
The stone beneathwas cold. Hard. But | didn’t move.
Tears had dried on my cheeks hours ago, leaving nothing but the tight sting around my eyes. My fingers still
trembled from the confrontation. My muscles ached, but it wasn’t the bruises that made them sore. It was
everything else...the weight of being hated, the humiliation, the mark burned into my flesh, the helplessness
that clung to my skin like rot.
No one cfor me.
That was the only mercy the night offered.
| kept waiting. | thought someone would barge in through the door any moment and dragaway—maybe to
the dungeons, maybe to be whipped in front of the entire pack. After all, I'd struck back. | had thrown punches
and that too as a slave.
But nothing happened.
The silence stretched. My heart beat fast for a long time, but eventually, even fear grew tired. My body, pushed
past its limits, gave up. | curled up on the floor of my tiny, suffocating quarters still filthy from the scuffle and fell
asleep.
When | woke, it was to the sound of a single, firm knock. Not shouting or any threats.
| blinked, my head pounding. My back was stiff from sleeping on the hard surface, but the knock pulledinto
full awareness. | sat up slowly, arms tightening around myself.
The door opened on its own.
An older woman stepped in. She wore the standard omega uniform but carried herself with an authority that
madeinstinctively straighten. Her hair was tied in a strict bun, black strands neatly tucked. Her face was
lined but firm. She looked atfor a long moment, not with disgust or sympathy, just a measuring stare.
"I'm your new handler," she said curtly. "Assigned directly by Alpha Luca. My nis Mariam. From today, you
take orders from me—and the Alphas. No one else. Is that clear?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt| nodded quickly. | didn’t dare ask where the previous head maid had gone. Nor did | question this sudden
change. | had learned my lesson.
Mariam set down a folded bundle of clothes on the small wooden stool in the corner. "Two sets. Okay, They are
your uniform and your undergarments. Keep them clean. You will not get another if they got ruined. They're new.
And that’s a privilege most slaves don't get."
I glanced at the clothes. They were not good, not even soft, but... clean. The fabric wasn’t coarse. The underwear
looked plain, but not torn or used. | blinked rapidly, surprised by the wave of emotion that cwith that simple
kindness.
"Wash up. Eat in the servant's hall. Then report to me."
| nodded again, quietly.
Before leaving, Mariam added one last thing, her voice firm. "If someone tries to bully you again—tell me. I'm not
here to protect you. But | also don’t tolerate lies and sabotage in the Alpha’s household. Stay in your place. Do
your work. Keep your mouth shut. You'll live."
Then she left.
The silence returned.
| sat there for a moment, letting her words settle. There was no kindness in them. But there was also no cruelty. |
could live with that. | didn’t need protection. | didn’t want comfort. | just didn’t want to be dragged into more
traps.
If they don’t corner me, | won't lash out.
But if they do...
Then I'll make sure | bite harder than last time.
Because now, there’s nothing left to lose. I've already been branded, stripped and humiliated. What could be
worse than this?
| gathered the clothes and headed out of the room. The shared bathing chambers were a few halls away, but at
this hour, no one was there. The building was quiet. Everyone had already finished washing, and has gone to
wither eat or to work. That was fine by me. | didn’t want their stares. | didn’t want to hear their whispers again.
The warm water from the tap was rare. A luxury, really. | let it wash down my back in silence, scrubbing myself
until my skin stung. | didn’t care. | needed the old scent gone. The blood. The shand that bitch’s blood that
was all over me. | needed to wash it off, which had clung tolike dirt.
Once clean, | slipped into the new uniform. It wasn’t pretty—but it fit well. The sleeves weren't torn, the hem was
neat, and for the first tsince being dragged here, | didn’t feel like a walking corpse.
| walked to the omega dining hall next. Heads turned towards me. Every pair of eyes followedas | walked
past rows of benches. Whispers rose from every corner but | ignored them all.
q ) q a
| didn't sit at the center. | picked a
spot at the edge, close to the exit My
tray held stale, hrepdahd aYadle of
Ream Sew—but it was food. | ate
slowly and quietly. Not once did |
raise my head to meet their stares.
They wanted to seestarve. So i could collapse and they could further find a way to humiliate me.
But | wouldn't.
If they sawsuffer, it would feed their illusion of power.
| would not give them that.
Not anymore.
Each bite I took was bitter, but necessary. My body needed strength. Not for survival but for my plan.
It wasn’t tyet. But soon. A few more days. Just a few more.
Just as | placed the last piece of stale
bread into my mouth, a loud snigker
broke the low ur rCoF the ining
4 q
gl igh thave to look to know it
was directed at me. The tone was
too familiar. The content is on
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chapter there!
"Well, well," a voice rang out, deliberately loud. "Look who thinks she’s still worth something."
I didn’t flinch. | kept chewing, eyes fixed on my tray.
A tray clattered onto the bench
across mine. | saw movement from
the corner of my eve (yo onegas,
ges vaquelr&Edghized from the
cleaning rotations. One had
red-stained nails and the other wore
her jealousy like perfume. Cheap and
choking. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
"Didn't think you'd show your face again," the red-nailed one said sweetly, setting her chin in her hand. "After
all, didn’t you nearly rip out someone's throat yesterday?"