QUEEN ROSE’S POV
I marched down the corridor, MY gown sweeping behind her like a moving storm.
Every servant I passed pressed themselves flat to the wall, heads bowed low, eyes avoiding my gaze.
Even the guards stepped aside too quickly, as if frightened the marble beneath them might crack under the weight of my fury.
I could taste it.
The rage and anger that I dispelled with every single step I took
I ignored all of them.
My mind was burning.
How dare he...?
After everything that child had suffered...?
To make her serve again? To scrub floors? To pay a debt she never owed?
My fury built with every step until it was almost a living thing wrapped around her ribs.
The more I thought about it, the further I was enraged.
The sinking quest to relinquish my rage unto him made me further upset.
When I reached the throne corridor, two royal guards stood stiffly at the double doors. They bowed deeply.
I could hear the laughter between him and his friends.
I clenched my fists in rage.
"Your Majesty," one began, "the King is-
She didn’t let him finish.
"Open the doors."
They hesitated for only half a breath.
I looked at them, my eyes sharply crossed. "This is my Kingdom. When I demand something you obey me without question!"
They hurried bowed in apology and the great doors swung open with a heavy echo.
Inside, the King sat with his council three Alphas and two Lycans reviewing scrolls on the long table.
His voice carried a practiced, easy authority as they laughed but he they silent the moment the doors closed behind Rose.
No one uttered a goddamn word.
When he saw my face, his own expression shifted.
"Rose?" He began gently as he sat up from his seat, wine still in his hand. "What happen-
I hand slammed onto the table.
Everyone jolted.
"Leave," i said.
That single word froze the room.
The King raised a brow. "Rose-
"I SAID LEAVE!."
My voice cracked across the chamber like a whip and the walls of the room shook.
The lit fires were now burning at an uncontrollable force.
The council members scrambled to their feet and hurried out so fast I didn’t even have to look at them.
The doors shut.
Silence swallowed the room.
I could feel my palm burning with fire.
My husband slowly walked up to me as he lowed his hand. "Take it easy Rose. Take it easy."
I closed my eyes and despite how angry I was, I calmed myself down.
My burning hands that were clenched in a fist were very slowly released.
The fires in the room calmed and the walls stopped shaking.
The King exhaled. "You frightened them."
"They should be frightened," i snapped, my voice trembling from pure, controlled rage. "You my husband should also be frightened."
He blinked. "Rose... what has happened?"
I stepped closer. Too close.
My small frame was nothing compared to his tall, battle-trained body but the fury in my eyes dwarfed him.
"I just found out," I whispered, "that you enslaved that child."
The King stiffened. "What?"
My voice rose like thunder.
"You made her CLEAN ROOMS to earn her stay in our home? In my palace? A girl who has lived through nightmares you cannot even imagine?"
He opened his mouth, but I cut him off.
"Do not lie to me."
My eyes shone with a dangerous glint.
"I asked her myself. And she told me the truth. She thought she had to work to be worthy. To stay here. Because of YOU."
The King rubbed his temples in frustration. "I told her she needed to contribute. All our guests do-
"CONTRIBUTE?" Rose hissed. "Sweet goddess Selene. She is not a guest. She is family."
His jaw tightened. "She is not of our pack neither is she family! Rose."
"I see her as my family!" Rose fired back. "I have seen her as my own! Must you be bound by blood to become family? Are members of our pack bond by blood? Yet they are still family?! How can you say such a thing!"
The King looked away.
He knew I was right. I knew him too well.
I stepped closer again, my voice low and trembling.
"Do you know what she told me?"
My breath rose slightly.
"She didn’t want to seem ungrateful. To me. Because she believes every kindness given to her must be repaid with labor."
The King’s shoulders sank slightly.
My eyes softened not with gentleness but with heartbreak.
"That child is alone, frightened, exhausted, and still healing from the Crescent pack and everything that has happened to her. And your answer was to hand her a broom? To make her scrub Auburn’s floors?"
The King swallowed. "Still doesn’t change anything."
I turned around, my mind feeling as though it were going spiral.
Then I turned to him and viciously said.
"That girl lost her child! She lost a child!"
He remained mute.
"I lost a child! And you know what that did to me! I feel what she feels! I understand how she feels so how dare you be so cruel to her?! Being cruel to her is being cruel to me!" I screamed.
Silence settled between them, heavy and accusing.
The King stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"Rose... what happened in Auburn’s room?"
Her eyes hardened again. "Auburn’s necklace is believed to be stolen and the last person
Supposedly in the room was Jasmine ."
The King’s brows drew together. "Do you believe she stole it?"
Rose’s answer came instantly.
"No."
He nodded slowly. "I knew that girl was nothing but trouble."
I could hardly believe my ears.
After everything I said this was what he chose to still say?
He cleared his throat. "I’ll investigate and-
I rose my hand instantly silencing him. "No. I will investigate. Because I cannot embrace such cruelty and I will never let her be judged unjustly."
Her voice dropped to a deadly hush.
"And I know exactly how to deal with this!"
I said.
"Are you insinuating Auburn is lying?" He hissed.
I ignored him.
The King pinched the bridge of his nose. "This will tear the family apart. How dare you say such a thing?!"
I lifted her chin.
"Good," she said coldly. "Perhaps it is time."
Then my voice softened not with tenderness, but with the weight of a thousand unspoken pains.
"And Jasmine... she will not lift another broom in this palace. Is that understood?"
He simply mumbled to himself.
"And you will apologize to her."
He blinked at me. "I have never-
"And you will!" I finished for him.
Giving him a warning glare, I left the room.