"You bitch! You've been owning me for months and you refused to pay us!" A slap to the face and a kick to the stomach was a normal routine in the life of Katrina Thompson. A girl whose father left with a lot of debts and a blind sister she had to feed. Katrina's life was far from better.
"I promised that I'll pay back next week," Katrina shouted as she was pushed to the ground by one of the many debtors her gambler of a father left behind.
The man whose arm looked like he was born in the gym grabbed a handful of Katherine's beautiful Black raven hair and pulled her up. She pushed her to the nearest wall of her home and slapped her across the face. " you said that last week and the weeks after. You think I would fall for your stupid tricks, "The man yelled into her face, his breath smelled of garlic and onion which was unpleasant to Katherine's nose but there was nothing she could have done.
" I'm serious," Katherine managed to speak. "I just secure a job at the king's castle," she announced.
The man raised his eyes brows in confusion unable to understand what Katherine meant. "I am talking about the home of the werewolf king!" She smiled.
Everyone in the world knows the werewolf King was not a place for just anyone not even Katherine who was nothing but an omega. "You think I would buy that right?" The bulky man laughed. "How dare you lie through your teeth about getting a job offer when you are just a worthless omega!" The man threw her across the room.
"Katrina, is that you?" Her blind sister's voice sounded from their room. "What's going on? Are you alright?"
"I am fine," Katrina spat out blood from her mouth and stood up from the ground. "Don't worry, it's going to be fine," she assured her sister and stood up from the ground to face the man who had barged into her home and hit the crap out of her. "I swear I shall pay you back next week Ernesto," she pleaded. "I just secured a job at the palace I swear and I am...."
"Enough!" Ernesto shouted at her. "I shall give you that one week and whatever your fantasies are about the blue mansion are less of my worries. If you don't bring my money to me before that one week, "Ernesto moved closer to her while she took a step backward until her back reached the wall. " I shall break every bone in your body!" He cleared his throat and walked out of her home.
Katrina straightened her clothes and rushed to her room where her blind sister was sleeping on the ground. "Elena," she sat beside her sister and ruffled her hair. "I'm glad I have you," she confessed as a lone tear escaped her eye.
"Why do you smell like blood Katrina?" Her sister asked.
"I hit my hand on the wall earlier," Katrina lied to cover her pains so her dear sister wouldn't have to worry.
"Be careful," Elena told her sister. "If only I could see then I would help out," Elena heaved a sigh Of displeasure. "I should help you out and not let you carry the burden alone Kat."
"Nonsense Elena," Katrina chuckled. "You are my sister and I am older so I get to take care of you," Katrina laid her sister's head on her lap and caressed It gently. "Your sister just secured a job at the royal castle and sooner or later, we are going to have our lives back and you are going to get the eye surgery you've always wanted," Katrina announced the news to her sister and smiled. "I'm going to make sure that you get better," Katrina kissed her sister's forehead.
"Wow!" Elena exclaimed. "So you are going to the castle and live like a princess!" She clapped her hands and laughed heartily. "That's amazing!"
"Yeah, " Katrina replied with a hint of sadness in her tone. She wasn't going there to be a princess like her sister had wished but to become a maid who scrubbed the ground.
"Where I'm I going to stay?"
"With my friend Leilani who lives close to the royal castle."
"But I want to stay with you, "Elena cried out," you promised that we would always be together. I want to live in the castle too," she whined.
Most times, Katrina gets irritated at her sister's annoying attitude but what could she possibly do. It was her fault that their mother died and her sister got blind. If she had not forced her mother to a Movie night out then her family would still be together and her father wouldn't have turned into an abuser and a drunkard overnight. It was all because of her.
"I'm not staying in the castle. I would be working there and I promised to visit you every weekend," Katrina assured her sister.
"That's great," Elena argued no farther and continued telling her sister about the king's mansion but Katrina's mind was far away. It was in the castle she was going to spend the rest of her life until she had achieved a great sum of money that would last her and her sister for life. Before getting a job in the royal castle, Katrina had worked in different places as a waitress and a storekeeper. All of this was to clear the debts her father left behind when he died from getting stabbed in their home.
When she saw the news about the requirement for new maids in the royal mansion, she applied and got lucky as one of the maids in the palace.
A palace that no ordinary wolf goes to except if they were chosen or invited.
~~~~~~~~
"It's so nice to see you again!" Leilani squealed when she saw Katrina and Elena alight from a yellow bus in front of her home. "You are here!" She rushed to hug the girls. "I thought that you might never come," Leilani said.
Leilani, a daughter of a beta of a pack in Africa but decided to stay in the royal pack because of her mate who was a warrior in the palace. An elegant black woman with bouncy curl hair and a pretty round face with brown eyes and a lovely personality. She was a petite woman, unlike Katrina who stood tall at five feet 7 inches.
"Elena has no one to stay with and you are my only hope," Katrina stated her reasons for not visiting Leilani in the past few years. They were friends once upon a time when Katrina had a happy family but she moved from the countryside to the capital city of Miranda.
"It's so great to see you again!" Leilani chuckled. "You look a little different, " she pointed out Katrina's acne face and her body that had become thinner even though she still has curves in the lower body. "Oh my goddess, you must be Elena," Leilani helped hugged them, and beckoned to them to come into her bungalow. "I have two rooms in which Philip and I share one," she referred to her mate.
Katrina marveled at Leilani's home. It was better than her home where she had sold almost the home furniture. The living room was of small size with two couches which were two seats and a flat tv screen. A portrait of Leilani and her mate was on the wall and Katrina stared at them and wondered how her life would have been if she had a mate and a home to call her own.
The kitchen and the living shared the same space except for a tiny door that separated the two.
"There are two rooms here, " Leilani informed them. They walked down a hallway that had two doors opposite one another. "This is my room," she pointed to the room with a name tag L and S. "I did it in case you can't differentiate the doors," Leilani laughed.
Katrina nodded in response without saying a word. Leilani opened the door and walked towards the window to open the shutters. Bright light from the sun illuminated the room. It was a small room that contained only the bed with nothing else except the closet that was on the right side of the room and a door opposite the bed. The door might probably lead to the bathroom or maybe another room.
Katrina lead Elena to the queen-sized bed and the latter squealed. "Finally, a bed!" Elena shouted happily.
Leilani and Katrina both exchanged looks and laughed. Katrina was happy that her sister was content with the room. "I've called a nanny for your sister since I won't always be around," Leilani informed Katrina as they walked out of the room into the living room.
"But Leilani, I...."
"Don't worry about the expenses, I will pay her."
"But Leila, you've done enough for me," Katrina refused to accept her kind gesture. Although she needed Leilani's help, she didn't want to become a burden to her.
"It's okay Katrina."
"I will pay you back once I collect my first salary," Katrina said.
"Whatever you want but I want you to know that I'm doing this not because I wanted your money but because," Leilani placed her hand on Katrina's shoulder. "I'm doing it because you are my friend."
"Thank you, Leilani," Katrina smiled at her.
Now that her sister was in safe hands, all that she had on her mind was how to be freed of her debts and the job at the mansion could solve all of her problems if she worked hard.