iel

I stayed hidden, hearing keen, as I patiently wait for the captain to leave the boat, and anyone else on th

The breeze off the lake hits me the moment I hobble to my feet. It chills me right through my clothes, but it snaps my mi

tentatively, I place my first foot onto the wooden dock. I don't waste any time. I'm up and out of the boat as quickly as I can, tucking my jacket over my torso as I jog up toward the main building. I av

m holding onto hope Raven wasn't lying about a job here. Creeping around the building, I spot low lamp lights that flank a path that leads up the side of a mountain. The mountain I have looked at and wondered about for many years. The light allows me to

orted back to the mainland once I've been caught. The moment I start the trek up the mountain, I instantly realise how I underestimated how long it wo

glowing in a brilliant golden mass, each village becoming its own by the lights of every citizen. By the time I reach the top of the hill, I could swear the sun was about to rise. My legs ached,

red green, which leads to a fountain close to the manor. The clear water glistens under the light, sparkling as it

n my chest, I turn around, seeing where the voice came from. It's a girl who stands there, a confused expression

isn't cold right now. "You came from the docks, didn't you?" she questions flatly, raising an eyebrow as a warning. Don't lie

di

tern in front of her. Standing there dumbfounded, I have to wonder who she is. Her strawberry blonde hair has been twisted up into a knot o

ou com

walk beside her. "I mean, I assume you're going to the est

want to ask too many questions to bother her. She looks like she has a lot on her plate as it is. At least she is giving me

nor, rather than the front. It must be a servants entrance. If that's wh

the street used to attempt to paint the estate upon rumours they had heard from fired crew. However, I can now see none of them ca

leads me around the other side of the

ve done for th

op to unlock a set of double wooden doors, while she mut

up on this island. You don't e

s how it's been for awhile," she tells me, motioning for me to step inside. "We all had th

room. I'm immediately enveloped by warmth, which I attrib

n, on the lowest floor. Everything wiped clean, benches bare and sinks empty. It's pristi

ng quite a shortage of helping hands around here. Doesn't matter how much salary Ren gives them, for whatever reason, they don't sti

st want to make sure he doesn't run into me when I'm looking at my worse. Especially when I want a payche

re thinking they might have the Alpha fall in love with them. Y

hy

who do go in, never speak a word about him," Rose explains. I let that sink in, as we trot down the stairs, into a

ve to get used to, surely. Rose gr

to be true, you'd be foolish to do so." Before I can ask what