Selena

I froze for a moment, as my mind completely stopped working.

Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I hadn’t expected to see him standing there.

Alpha Kael stood at the top of the stairs looking down at all of us.

The moment our eyes met, everything else around me seemed to fade. The whispers from the servants disappeared. The nervous shuffling of feet disappeared. Even the pounding of my own heart became the only sound I could hear.

The mate bond pulled at me instantly, that invisible force that always seemed determined to remind me of his presence no matter how much I tried to ignore it.

I hated that it affected me. I hated that even after everything, after all the reasons I had to keep my distance, one look from him could make me forget how to breathe.

But I forced myself to look away as this was not the time.

Not when nearly twenty servants were standing around me, waiting for answers. Not when my entire plan could collapse within seconds.

A servant beside me suddenly stepped forward. "Alpha," he said quickly, bowing his head. "We were... we were only preparing something."

Alpha Kael’s expression didn’t change as he asked. "Preparing what?"

The servant swallowed. "We are planning a surprise."

"For who?" Alpha Kael asked with his brow creased together.

The hesitation of the servant was obvious before he muttered. "The headmaid, Her birthday is tomorrow morning and we just want to plan something small for her."

A terrible excuse. A desperate one but it was the only one we had. The only one that probably came to the servant’s mind at that moment.

Alpha Kael stared at him then his gaze moved across the room slowly and carefully until it landed on me And he stayed there.

My stomach tightened at the look that I was getting from him. The look was so intense that I almost cowered in fear.

’Does he know something?’ I didn’t know how much he knew, but the way he looked at me told me he wasn’t convinced with the lie the servant told.

For several seconds, no one moved. No one dared to breathe too loudly.

Then, without saying a word, Alpha Kael turned around and walked away.

The moment he disappeared from sight, the tension broke. A few servants immediately started whispering.

"We should leave."

"Coming here was obviously a huge mistake."

"The Alpha knows what is going on here."

"We are going to get punished for this revolutionary nonsense."

I looked at them and I decided to put a stop to the negative words.

"Don’t say such words." I said and they stopped talking to listen to me. "We are not leaving."

A few looked at me like I was insane. "The Alpha just saw us."

"And he walked away." I said, trying to make a point.

"That doesn’t mean anything." The servant scoffed, obviously not having my words.

"It means we still have a chance." I said and they exchanged uncertain looks.

I stepped forward to introduce myself to everyone. "My name is Selena. I am the person who gathered you all here."

Their expressions changed. Some looked surprised while some looked suspicious.

"I am the one who wants to start this." I looked around at them. "A revolution against the blood suckers."

The word itself seemed to make some of them uncomfortable.

"I know what you’re thinking," I continued. "You think this is impossible. You think people like us cannot change anything."

No one answered but I continued anyway. "But you came here after receiving those letters."

That made them share glances with themselves.

"You came because some part of you believes things can be different than they currently are."

A servant crossed his arms before speaking. "And what exactly is your plan?"

The tone wasn’t respectful, It wasn’t rude either but It was doubtful. More like they didn’t believe anything could come out of this.

"The main point is, I want to fight against the vampires."

A few scoffed as one asked, "With what?"

"Fight Against creatures who have controlled us for centuries?" Another said.

"You think letters and meetings will change that?" Another added.

I looked at them and asked, "Then why are you here?"

The room fell silent as I stepped closer. "No, seriously. Why?"

Nobody answered as I continued. "Why did you risk coming here tonight?"

The silence stretched until finally, one servant spoke. "My mate was taken."

Everyone turned to him as his voice became quieter. "She was sold to the vampires a year ago."

His hands clenched. "I thought I was just unlucky. I lost someone I loved."

He swallowed. "Then I had just discovered she was my mate."

The pain in his voice was obvious. "I lost my mate because of them."

Another servant looked down. "My brother was taken too."

Then another. "My parents."

"My sister."

"My friend." One by one, their stories came out.

The room that had been filled with doubt became filled with grief.

Everyone had something. Everyone had lost someone.

I listened until I finally raised my hand. "Stop." They looked at me. "Everyone here has a reason for showing up here."

I looked at Sally and she immediately understood. She brought out the pieces of parchment we had prepared.

"Write it down." The servants looked confused. "Your stories."

I took one parchment. "Write everything."

A servant frowned and asked "Why are we writing it out?"

"Because these stories are going to remind us why we are doing this." I looked at them. "Every day, we will read them."

I placed the parchment down. "We will remember what was taken from us."

Some looked uncomfortable as one servant shook his head. "Selena... some memories are painful."

"I know It’s not easy." My voice softened. "But neither is living with fear."

I looked at each of them. "We have two choices. We either face the pain and use it to fight." I paused before continuing. "Or we hide it until it destroys us from the inside."

Nobody spoke, then slowly, they began writing. Even Sally.

I watched her quietly as she wrote her own story. The same girl who claimed she trusted no one. The same girl who always acted like nothing affected her.

Her hand trembled slightly but she kept writing.

When everyone finished, they looked at me. "So what do we do first?"

I shook my head. "Nothing yet."

That surprised them. "What?"

"We wait." A few looked disappointed.

I understood they wanted action, they wanted revenge but revenge without a plan would only create more graves.

"We need to remember who we are fighting." My voice became serious. "The vampires have existed for centuries."

I looked around. "They have defeated powerful packs. They have survived every rebellion that came before us."

"They have power."I paused. "And we need strategy to win them in a fight."

I explained what we needed. A base, Communication, Information and a way to move without being noticed.

The servants began offering ideas. Some were good. Some had problems.

"What if we meet outside the castle?" They started making suggestions.

"Too risky."

"What if we send messages through the guards?"

"Too suspicious."

"What about using the market?"

"Too many eyes." One by one, the excitement began fading.

Some servants started looking afraid then random noises came from the stairs.

The servants glanced toward the sound and a few immediately left out of fright.

Eventually, only eight remained. I looked at them, it wasn’t many but it was something.

We continued with more ideas. The kitchen workers had the best idea.

"When food is sent around," one servant suggested, "we can hide information with the meals."

I nodded. "And the payment pouches too."

Everyone understood it the same way we had started.

"As for the base... we should use the old storeroom."

Sally looked at me. "The one in the servant wing?"

I nodded. It’s the same room where I had caught Niamh and Ryuiji weeks ago making out.

Nobody questioned it. After I assured them that we would gather more information, more people, and create something stronger, they finally left.

Sally stayed behind with me before speaking. "Then why didn’t we have our meeting there first?"

I looked at her. "Because not everyone who came tonight can be trusted yet. We had to filter out the ones who weren’t interested before using the storeroom."

She nodded. "That’s smart."

Then she sighed. "I’ll go to the market this week to restock the kitchen. I know someone who might help us find a place outside the castle."

I smiled slightly. "Thank you."

After Sally left, I stayed behind alone.

I looked around the empty hall. A week ago, this would have been impossible. But now... I had started something.

And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t regret anything.

I lifted my head and froze. Alpha Kael was standing so close to me that my face brushed against his chest.

Before I could move, he stepped closer and his eyes were unreadable.

"I know you were lying." He said and my heartbeat increased.

"Wh..a..t do you mean?" I stuttered a bit.

"The gathering." His voice lowered. "I know it wasn’t a surprise for the headmaid."

My breath caught.

Then his hand moved, he grabbed my throat and his eyes darkened.

"What do you think happens to people who lie to me?"