The Lunar Curse: A Second Chance With Alpha Draven-Chapter 75: She Made Them Bleed

Meredith.

I pushed the door open faster than I meant to, but I couldn’t help it.

They were all here.

Azul was kneeling beside Arya, carefully wiping her arms with a damp cloth. Cora stood rigid near the wall, eyes wide.

Kira and Deidra hovered close, trying to look calm—but failing. And Arya... Arya stood stiffly with one arm resting lightly at her waist.

Her smile was weak, but she tried. "My lady."

I walked over quickly, eyes scanning her, taking in her posture. The tension in her shoulders. The slight wince when she shifted her weight.

"Arya," I said, my voice already trembling, "are you alright?"

She nodded, but it was the kind of nod you give to stop someone from worrying, not because it was true.

"My lady, only Arya received two beatings," Kira informed me.

"Let me see," I said, reaching out to Arya.

Arya shook her head softly. "It’s nothing. I promise."

I paused, hand suspended mid-air. My throat tightened. I understood.

She didn’t want me to see the marks. Didn’t want me to carry that image.

I slowly withdrew my hand and nodded once. "Okay."

Deidra looked up from the floor. "Miss Fellowes was furious when the Beta came with orders from the Alpha to halt the punishment," she murmured. "She tried to argue, but the Beta didn’t listen to her."

Wanda was really determined to punish my maidservants.

If I hadn’t gone to Draven immediately, and if he hadn’t given the order when he did, the others would have been hurt as well.

But he was the reason Wanda even thought she could do as she pleased. He gave her space. Power. And Arya paid for it.

Before today, I hadn’t truly hated Wanda. I just saw her as another possessive, jealous woman vying for Draven’s attention.

But now?

Now I hated her.

"I will stay here," I said. "Arya needs to be treated properly. I can’t leave right now."

"My lady," Kira said, stepping forward. "You can’t miss breakfast."

"I’m not hungry."

"But the Alpha listened to you," she said gently. "He ordered our release. Please, don’t upset him again."

Her words made something twist inside me.

She was right.

No matter how I felt—no matter how much I hated him for so many things—he had listened. I wasn’t ungrateful.

"Fine," I muttered, already standing. "I will go. But you are all staying here. No going back to the servants’ quarters. Treat Arya here."

They nodded at once.

I stepped out with one last glance at Arya. She smiled again. This one softer.

But it still broke my heart.

---

By the time I reached the dining hall, I was already late.

Draven sat at the head of the table, tall and still, hands resting lightly near his cutlery.

Wanda sat, too, prim and polished like she hadn’t done anything vile just an hour ago.

That was what shocked me most—how easily she still sat there after being scolded.

If it were me, I would have starved before sitting across from the man who had humiliated me.

Maybe that’s why Draven always seemed frustrated with me.

Maybe he wanted me to act like her.

I scanned the room. Jeffery. Dennis. The little girl—Xamira—playing quietly with a fork.

Everyone was already seated. Everyone but me.

I remembered what Wanda had said when we first arrived at Duskmoor:

"Always arrive before the Alpha. And if you’re late... don’t even bother coming at all."

I stood there, unsure. Maybe I should turn back.

Then came his voice. "Don’t just stand there if you are here for breakfast."

He didn’t even look at me.

I stepped into the room, straightening my back.

I walked toward the table, then paused and bowed slightly. "Apologies, Alpha. I was late."

Draven didn’t lift his eyes. He asked me to sit and I did.

A server arrived promptly and placed a full plate in front of me—a warm sandwich, five strips of bacon, three hot dogs. A glass of fresh orange juice.

The scent made my stomach churn. I wasn’t hungry. My appetite was gone after the situation Wanda put me in.

I picked at the sandwich. Took two bites, ate one hot dog and three pieces of bacon.

The food was good unfortunately, I wasn’t interested.

My mind was back in my room, with Arya, and the marks she wouldn’t let me see.

I glanced at Wanda again. She was eating like nothing had happened. Her fingers graceful, her posture relaxed.

She was fine. My people weren’t.

I drank the juice in one long sip, then stood. "Excuse me."

No one spoke. But I could feel their eyes follow me as I left the hall.

---

The door clicked softly as I stepped back into my room.

Azul’s head snapped up from the bedside, eyes wide. "My lady?" she said, surprised. "You are back already?"

I offered her a faint smile as I unfastened the outer layer of my dress. "I wasn’t hungry."

She blinked but didn’t press further. That was why I liked her. She never pried, even when she wanted to.

I walked further in, my gaze falling on the small bed in the corner—Arya was lying on her side, her blouse rolled up to her shoulders.

Deidra held her still with one hand while Kira gently pressed a cold cloth—wrapped with ice—against her back.

Arya flinched.

Her entire body jerked just slightly, but it was enough to make my breath catch.

"It’s alright," Kira whispered to her soothingly. "It will help with the swelling."

Azul said to me, "My lady, you don’t have to worry, Arya’s wound is healing. By afternoon, it would have sealed up, thanks to her wolf."

I didn’t have a wolf, so I didn’t know what that felt like.

Cora pulled up a chair for me beside the bed and I sat down, eyes fixed on Arya’s back.

A few faint lines marked her pale skin—angry, red, and freshly raised.

Rage curled low in my stomach again. Wanda hadn’t just punished my servants today. She had made them bleed for me.

She had crossed a line.

And whether it was tomorrow, next week, a month or a year from now. I would repay her for it.

No one touches my people and gets away with it.