The Alpha’s Slave

BRIANNA’S POV

What the maid said felt like a blow to the face. With Aunt Gigi around, it was so embarrassing I wished I had a shell I could retract into. Though Aunt Gigi pretended not to hear it and focused on her drink, I know she did.

What did these maids see me as? A baby? A helpless invalid? It’s not like I had a severe stroke or was entirely paralyzed. Some parts of my body were still working fine.

I know Sebastian gave the order, but at this moment, they couldn’t do that. Not with Aunt Gigi around. We needed privacy because we would be talking about a lot of things. Why didn’t the maids think of that before saying what they said?

“That won’t be necessary,” I forced an awkward smile. “My aunt and I need some privacy. And my left hand is working just fine. I can manage with it. It’s just biscuits and juice. I don’t need a fork and knife. Okay?”

“Are you sure Miss Brianna?” The other maid asked adamantly. “We were given strict orders by Alpha Sebastian. If he happens to come back and see you eating on your own, he will be very angry and will punish us…and…and we don’t want what,” she said with a pleading expression.

At the mention of Sebastian’s name, Aunt Gigi raised her head slightly from the glass cup on his face and furrowed her brows as though the name struck a cord in her. This wasn’t our kingdom so she didn’t know him and must be wondering who he was. I wished Sebastian was around so I could introduce them. It will be really nice for two of the most important people in my life to meet.

I let out a heavy sigh in frustration but maintained my smile, wishing the maids could just go and stop insisting. “I will explain to him. He will understand. No one is going to punish you. Please you can go. I will send it for you if we need anything, okay?”

Reluctantly, they nodded in unison and shrugged, exchanging weary glances that said they tried their best before leaving. It made me wonder what kind of punishment Sebastian threatened them with if they let me do things on my own. Firing, suspension, reducing their pay or seizing it entirely?

“This man,” I said inwardly and heaved a sigh.

Honestly, he needed to stop with that. As much as I appreciated it, he couldn’t go about threatening the maids with punishments if they let me do things on my own. I wasn’t entirely paralyzed. I could still do a few things without their help in this state.

I turned my attention back to Aunt Gigi. Quickly, she kept the glass cup that had been lingering on her lips.

“Brianna…are you okay? Please tell me what happened to you. I’m worried sick right now.”

“It was an accident,” I answered, avoiding her extremely curious gaze as I kept them on the biscuits on the tray.

“Accident?…” she gasped and scoffed, not sounding fully convinced. “What type of accident will leave you like this? Was it a road accident?…”

She yearned for an answer, sounding extremely worried and concerned. I understood. After my parents died when I was just 8, she took me in. I spent my entire adolescence with her. She treated me as a mother would and taught me everything I needed to know growing up as a young woman.

She never maltreated or deprived me of something because I wasn’t her child. The only problem was that I couldn’t complete school because the fees were heavy on her and her husband. They were already paying for their four children so I understood and even felt for them because it wasn’t easy training four kids.

To make sure I wasn’t idle and worried too much, Aunt Gigi had me working in her jewellery shop. She made me her top salesgirl and even placed me on a monthly salary so I could save up enough to continue school if I wanted. As much loved to do that, I never really got the chance and lost interest.

“It wasn’t a road accident,” I answered in a low tone, meeting her gaze with a sad expression. “I fell. I fell down the stairs.”

She gasped louder this time, looking at me with so much sympathy that made me regret telling her.

“Brianna….” She muttered and leaned forward with a suddenly urgent expression on her face. “You know you can tell me anything right?”

I nodded hesitantly, wondering why she got all serious and urgent. Did she think I was lying? Think something else happened that I didn’t want to tell her?

“Tell me, did that Sebastian or whatever he’s called do this to you? Is he hurting you? Is he violent? Is he the type of men who use their partners as punching bags? Honey, you can tell me. Don’t suffer in silence, okay? A lot of women have died because of this…And how did you even end up in this place, to begin with…?” She glanced around the castle and looked back at me, sighing exhaustively.

“No…” I grimaced in extreme shock and disapproval. “Sebastian isn’t like that…he’ll never lay a finger on me or do anything to hurt me. On the contrary, he has been taking very good care of me. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. If not for him, I’d be more than dead by now.”

That calmed her a bit. She relaxed back on her seat and looked away, thinking deeply, struggling to believe what I just said.

I didn’t want her to think I was suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Or think I was one of those women who are afraid of leaving a toxic abusive relationship because they’re too afraid to start over again. Afraid no one will love and understand them like their abuser.

Sebastian is a sweet man. A nice man. Maybe the nicest man to grace the face of the earth. If she could stay till he came back and saw him, she’d definitely attribute to that fact.

“How did you find me?” I asked gently, snapping her from her thoughts. “How did you know I’m in this kingdom and this castle?”

She folded her lips and managed a dry smile. “Ken told me. You remember Ken Johnson right? He’s regular at the store?”

“Yes, I remember him,” I tightened my jaw and looked away in anger.

That filth. The last time I saw him was when he tried to have his way with me in the kitchen the morning after he and Catherine finished messing around. I would have stabbed him in that kitchen if he dared touch me. That’s how much I loathed him.

From the way Aunt Gigi spoke about him, it was obvious she still didn’t know what a pervert he was. By now, I thought any of those other salesgirls would have reported him to her. I wanted him forever banned from coming there. Forever banned from coming close to young girls.

I sighed and shook my head slightly. Those salesgirls probably didn’t want to tell Aunt Gigi because they thought she wouldn’t believe them. Aunt Gigi will probably think they wanted to sabotage her relationship with one of her best customers.

I understood. I used to think that way too and it made me afraid whenever I thought of reporting him. But I’m not. I have nothing to lose. I will tell Aunt Gigi everything bad he did, leaving no detail behind.

“What exactly did he tell you?” I looked back at Aunt Gigi.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“I complained to him about not seeing you for a long time and he said he heard you were brought to this place. I was confused so I kept pushing.. asking him more…but he said that was all he knew and nothing more. I’m so confused right now, Brianna. What happened? Why were brought to this place? Aren’t you meant to be Hermes’s wife and the Luna of our kingdom? It was as if you just vanished from the face of the earth.