Alpha’s Omega Mate

Chapter Twenty-four: a must

Cassy chuckled. “I would have my bath first,”

She stood up and began to walk to the bathroom. She was at the door when she stopped and turned to Joanna who was bringing out her dresses from the armoire.

“Joanna?” she called out and the lass looked up at her with a smile on her face. “Can you please help me?”

Joanna was surprised when she asked her to help her take her bath.

Usually, Cassy forbade them from helping her in taking her bath. Why was she asking now?

Joanna nodded. “Yes, your highness. It would be an honor,” she replied, her face still holding a surprise look.

Goddess, what was she saying? She almost winced.

As Joanna helped Cassy scrub her back, she could not help but wonder what was wrong with her lady.

Cassy seemed to be faraway in her thoughts as she kept staring into space without uttering a word which was unusual.

She was usually chatty with her and Joanna was used to it.

Joanna exhaled and opened her mouth to ask her what was wrong but closed it back. She could not muster the courage to speak a word.

She gave Cassy a towel and she wrapped it around her chest before sitting on the stool in front of the wooden tub and bending her head over it.

Joanna applied shampoo on her hair and began to wash her silky dark hair.

The bathroom was silent. Only the sound of water splashing against the wooden tub and Cassy’s sighing at intervals could be heard.

The silence was choking. Joanna knew something was bothering Cassy and she wanted to talk to her about it but still could not summon up the courage to do it.

“Perhaps, did you hear what the servants who were cleaning spoke about?” Cassy asked after several minutes of deafening silence.

Joanna shook her head and poured more water on Cassy’s hair.

“No, my lady–”

“You can call me Cassy,” she interjected and turned to look at Joanna who looked stunned. “You may speak freely to me.”

Cassy did not see any use for the formalities. It wouldn’t change anything anyways.

Moreover, she and Joanna were already really close. She was always supportive and took care of her.

Just like Jasmine, Joanna was already like a sister to her.

Speaking of Jasmine, she had promised to bring her to the palace soon.

How come she did not remember until now? She needed to find a way.

“No, my lady. I– I am afraid I cannot do that. The Alpha–”

“Does he look like he cares?” Cassy smiled. A smile that Joanna knew was fake.

Joanna exhaled and wrapped a towel around Cassy’s head.

They returned to the room.

Cassy glanced at the dress Joanna laid out on the bed for her to wear. She sighed and went to the armoire.

After searching for a while, Cassy picked out a light kirtle and threw it on.

“My lady–” Cassy narrowed her eyes at her, causing her to smile.

“I am not going anywhere, so what is with the dress?” Cassy spoke, looking at her frame in the mirror.

Joanna sighed and nodded.

Cassy removed the towel from her head and went to sit in front of the dressing table.

“What is on your mind, Cassy?” Joanna asked after some minutes of quietness, brushing her hair.

Her lady had asked her to speak freely, so she would.

Cassy exhaled.

“What did I ever do wrong to him? Why must he always oppose me? I don’t want him to love me romantically, I never asked for it. All I ask is for him to treat me well.

I only want to feel wanted and not invisible but all that I experience is what I do not want. What did I ever do wrong for this predicament to come upon me? Why has the moon goddess decided to curse me? Have I done anything wrong!?”

At this point she was boiling with rage as she banged her palm against the wooden table.

Joanna allowed her to let out her thoughts and frustration but when she began to sniffle and hiccup, her hand beginning to hit the table weakly, she knew she had to step in.

“It’s alright, Cassy,” she pulled her in for a hug.

“Why am I so unfortunate? Why?” she wailed, her tears smearing Joanna’s dress.

“I thought everything would be finally okay when I finally find him but–”

Joanna drew invisible circles on her back, calming her down.

Cassy sniffed and tried to calm herself down.

She separated from the hug and wiped her cheeks before letting out a small smile.

“Thank you, Joanna” she sniffed, still trying to calm herself down. “Thank you so much.”

Joanna smiled and the both of them giggled.

She returned to her spot behind Cassy. She picked up the brush and began to brush her hair.

The room became silent but this time, the silence felt comfortable.

Cassy felt better and lighter especially now that she had let out her thoughts and frustrations but however, one thing still bothered her.

“But who is she?” Cassy asked, voicing out her thoughts.

Joanna stiffed, gripping the handle of the brush in her hand tightly.

“W– who?” she managed to voice out.

“Isabella,” Cassy uttered, observing Joanna from the mirror. “I mean, why is she always acting like she owns the world? And why is no one stopping her?”

Joanna swallowed and opened her mouth to say whatever that crosses her mind but she just could not.

She wanted to tell Cassy that she was his lover. She wanted to tell her that she was the future Luna but Cassy could not bring herself to say it for some reasons.

The first and most important reason was because she knew how much it would affect Cassy and her wolf. Cassy was already going through a lot, adding the fact that her mate housed his concubine under the same roof as his mate.

The second reason was because Alpha Kai had made them swear that no one was going to mention a word about Isabella being his mistress.

“Joanna?” Cassy called out, jolting her out of her thoughts. “You seemed lost. Is anything wrong?”

“No. Not at all,” she shook her head vigorously and exhaled.

“I have no idea who she really is and why she is always acting too entitled but I may have heard from a servant that she was a daughter to a well respected elder,”

Oh, Joanna, where did you get that from?

“Oh. I see,” Cassy replied, trying to process her words.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

“You have a very beautiful hair,” Joanna said after a moment of silence.

Cassy chuckled. “Never stop saying that and I would never stop saying that I inherited my beauty from my ancestors who were mermaids,” she joked and the both of them burst into a round of laughter.

“I have to agree because you are really pretty,” Joanna agreed.

She was serious. Cassy had pretty brown eyes which were complemented by her long eyelashes. Her pretty red lip could make any man swoon.

“Thank you so much,” Cassy cheeks were flushed. She rarely got compliments and she always flushed whenever she got any, especially those she felt were genuine.

“All done,” Joanna beamed, staring at Cassy’s reflection in the mirror.

She had Cassy’s hair held up in a high ponytail with a blue piece of cloth, matching with her dress.

“Thank you so much, Joanna,” Cassy looked at her with a broad smile on her face.

“Anytime,” Joanna smiled. “I have to check with the kitchen and have your meal brought to you here,”

“Thank you again,” Cassy was glad that she had someone who understood her.

Joanna bowed slightly before moving towards the door but turned when she seemed like she recalled something.

“I saw the letter you wrote and I had it sent to the beta’s manor,” she curtsied, her head lowered slightly. “I apologize for meddling with your things. I just felt–”

Cassy burst out laughing, interrupting Joanna and causing her to look at her confusingly.

“Don’t you think you are talking too much, Joanna?” she said in between bouts of laughter. “It’s alright. I had even forgotten to tell you to send it to my father. Thank you,”

Joanna smiled and bowed slightly, making Cassy roll her eyes.

Alec and Tabitha were sitting in the dining hall waiting for the servants to serve dinner.

“Where is Audrey?” Alec asked as the servants placed plates and cutleries in front of them.

“I am done with tolerating her attitude for the past weeks. What is her problem? Get her–”

“Are we not going to talk about your daughter who has refused to acknowledge us since she entered the palace 3 months ago. What is her problem? Why don’t you get her here too?” Tabitha retorted angrily.

“Watch your tongue, woman!” Alec half yelled, hitting his hand against the table.

Tabitha opened her mouth to spit out venom but Audrey’s low voice prevented her from doing so.

“What is going on here?” she asked, going to sit on a chair beside her mother.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s dig in.”

Alec breathed out through his lips and began to eat.

They were halfway through eating when Tabitha cleared her throat.

“Have you received a reply from Cassy?” her question was directed to her daughter.

“We still have not sent a reply yet, mother,” Audrey replied and rolled her eyes.

Why was her mother asking a clear question?

“I learnt that my daughter sent a letter but I am still yet to know about it’s content,”

Audrey cleared her throat.

“She said the palace was beautiful and she was doing fine. She also said that the Alpha took care of her properly just like she had promised you but the palace was boring since he would not allow her to do what she usually likes doing,” she paused to take a sip from the cup on the table.

“She also said she missed us a lot and one day, she would invite us over.”.

By the time Audrey was done with narrating the content of the letter, Alec had a smile on his face.

He felt so happy and relieved that his daughter was finally happy.

“Get me ink and paper, I would write a reply back to her now,” he uttered cheerfully.

Alec wrote with a smile on his face and when he was done, he folded the paper and handed it to a servant.

“Send this to the palace,” he ordered.

The servant was about to leave but Tabitha stopped him.

“Stop there! Where do you think you are going!?” she thundered, causing the lad to lower his head.

“What’s your problem, woman? Why are you stopping him from sending it?” Alec questioned.

“Sending what? You did not even check with my daughter and I if we wanted to send a message to her too,” Tabitha half yelled. “Have you now forgotten my daughter just because she is mateless?”

At the mention of that word, Audrey lowered her head.

She was not used to her mother comparing her like this and she was not sure she would ever.

Alec scoffed. “What do you want to tell her now? Do you care for her now? Have you ever cared?” he chastised, glaring at her.

He only wanted someone to act as a mother figure for his precious daughter but it turned out that he had taken in the devil herself.

It had been too busy and had not realised until it was too late that he had failed his daughter. He failed his wife too.

Tabitha’s tongue tied. She could not find any more words to say.

“Look, woman, I do not have time to argue with you like every other day. I have work to do, I can’t spend the whole day planning evil like you do,” he hissed before walking out of the hall.

Another night to sleep with regrets.

Tabitha was still in shock as she sat down on the chair with force.

If anyone had told her that Alec’s attitude would change, she would have laughed at the person but now it was happening and she still could not believe it.

“Did you see what he just did?” she asked Audrey who was cleaning her mouth with a napkin.

“See what? You called for it,” she replied nonchalantly.

Before Audrey could think of anything else, Tabitha’s palm collided against Audrey’s causing her to gasp.

Audrey stood up angrily. “Did I say anything wrong!? All I said was the truth!” her face had turned red, she was boiling with the rage she had been holding for weeks.

Tabitha rolled her eyes and stood akimbo.

“You have to listen to me, Audrey! Cassy can’t be in the palace enjoying while you are here moping around!”

Audrey looked away, avoiding her mother’s gaze.

“Didn’t you hear! She just returned from a trip with him and what are you doing? Going on hunger strikes and not heeding to whatever I say because you think you love her?” she broke into a manic laughter and stopped abruptly then leaned closer to her daughter’s ear.

“Search within you, you feel something. Audrey, we are both alike use that thing to fight for what you want–”

Audrey escaped from her seat where she was trapped.

“I am nothing like you and I never would be,” she spat before walking out.

“Come back here, Audrey! Audrey! You bastard!” she called out angrily but her daughter paid deaf ears.

“Arggh!” she pushed down the jug and cups on the table.

She needed to do something. Audrey was going to listen to her and it was a MUST.

A/N: thanks for reading this chapter