The wine glass scattered as it made contact with the hard wall, its contents splattering on the wall and the ground.
"Brainless woman!" Alpha Caden roared as he violently slammed his fists on the dining table after flinging the glass filled with wine from the table.
His wife flinched, startled by her husband's sudden, unexpected outburst.
She was sure he would be pleased after she gave him the news of what she had done today, but instead, when he came in, he was already aware of her actions, and instead of receiving praises from him as she had expected, he threw a wine glass past her head.
"I–I thought—" she began, only to be cut off by Alpha Caden.
"You thought what, huh?" Alpha Caden asked amidst angry huffs.
"I was just trying to offer a solution to our problem. The vampires needed extra help in their household, and I provided one in your place," she replied, wondering what she had done wrong.
"Our problem?" Alpha Caden smiled an evil glint in his eyes, as he pointed to himself and then to her, taking slow steps closer to where she sat.
Though there was a smile on his face, but his wife only grew more on edge because of the rage in his eyes that followed with that smile. The mad rage in her husband's eyes only seemed to increase even as he smiled.
"Our problem, huh?" he repeated, stepping even closer as his wife sank in her chair, trembling with fear.
Fear of her husband's anger.
"Since when did this pack become our pack? Since when did this house become our house? Since when did you start making decisions for me?" he asked as he violently grabbed her jaw, pressing hard as she winced in pain.
"Let me make myself abundantly clear, Grace," Alpha Caden said, leaning close to her face.
"This is my pack, my house, my decisions—not yours, not ours. You do nlt make decisions for me. There is no us. Do I make myself clear?!" he roared in her face as her lips trembled in fear.
"Y-yes, Alpha Caden," Luna Grace responded, her words breaking.
"Good," Alpha Caden said, letting go of her clenched jaw and straightening up.
His gaze fell on the other empty seats around the dining table.
"Where is my son and your whore of a daughter?"
"Darian volunteered to be on extra patrol duty till morning. I tried to stop him, but he already had his mind made up. Sophie is up in her room," Luna Grace responded, her gaze down as she rubbed her reddened jaw.
Saying nothing more, Alpha Caden took his seat at the head of the table and began eating quietly, like nothing had just happened. His gaze fell on his wife when he noticed that she wasn't eating her food, and he frowned.
"Eat," he commanded.
Grace was still tense, her fingers gripping the cutlery tightly. She managed to flash a small smile as she brought her food up to her mouth.
Sending Camelia to work at that house was not the only thing of note she had done today. She had done something else, something more wicked, something she did not regret doing.
But she feared that if her husband found out, she would be in even more trouble.
....
In the brightly lit dining room, the faint clatter of cutlery echoed, a solitary sound in the otherwise quiet space. Two blood bags lay on the long table, one drained dry, the other half full.
The entire family sat gathered, yet Ian was the only one eating real food.
Beside him, Ayria sat close to her husband, her lips pressed gently to Lucas's neck as she drew from him in slow, languid sips. Lucas, in turn, had his fangs sunk into Greta's wrist, one hand resting casually on the table, while the other held up the woman's wrist.
At the far end, Thomas watched with clear disgust. He picked up the second blood bag between his fingers, its contents sloshing faintly, and frowned. His lips were already stained crimson from the first bag he had finished.
"This is filthy and stale," he snapped, glaring at Lucas. "Why do I have to settle for this while you drink from her?"
Lucas released Greta's wrist and turned toward his brother, his lips still glistening with fresh, warm blood. He gestured for the woman to leave and took a napkin to wipe his mouth.
Greta bowed and quietly left the room, leaving only the siblings and the couple behind.
"We came here with four maids, Greta included, making them five." Lucas began.
Thomas's expression darkened; he already knew where this was going.
"Now you've killed two in your tantrums and drained another this morning," Lucas continued, sighing softly as Ayria bit down harder on his neck. "Tell me, Thomas, what else do you expect to eat?"
His eyes narrowed, voice dropping lower. "You should be grateful Ayria was kind enough to share her reserved blood bags with you."
"Tch," Thomas clicked his tongue in irritation.
"My reason for killing those two maids was justified," he said firmly.
"And the one this morning?" Lucas asked, raising a brow in quiet challenge, as if warning his brother to drop the matter.
Thomas glared at his brother without responding. He lifted the second blood bag to his lips and bit into it, drinking until it was completely empty.
"Well, I won't have any use for this tomorrow," Thomas said at last, a pleased smile curving his bloodied lips as he dropped the drained bag onto the table.
Ian, who had been silent the entire time, finally glanced his way.
"Why? Have you decided to starve until we leave this place or maybe feed on the bunnies roaming the woods?" Ian asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"Haa..." Thomas's smile only widened, his fangs glinting faintly. "I have a better option in mind. I'll drink from the new girl. I've had my eyes on her since we arrived, and now that she's within my grasp, what better food source could there be than her?" he said, gauging his brother's expression with a sly, deliberate look.
The table fell utterly silent.
Ayria, who had been latched onto her husband's neck, finally pulled away, her gaze shifting to Ian as if waiting for his reaction.
But Ian's face remained stoic, his green eyes unreadable.
"Go ahead then…" Ian said, setting down his cutlery and dabbing his lips clean with a napkin. "That is if you can manage to digest a werewolf's blood." he added.
He had already eaten his fill. He rose from his seat with quiet composure.
"I'm going out to take a walk."
His eyes lingered on Thomas one more time.
"I should not sense you trailing me," he warned before taking his leave.
"Hmm, that certainly wasn't the response I was expecting from him," Ayria murmured, cleaning the smear of blood from the corner of her lips before drawing her thumb to her mouth.
"The girl…" Lucas's gaze met his wife's. "You're sure she's a werewolf?" he asked.
Ayria nodded.
"Without a doubt. I confirmed it when I healed her injuries. Her blood is definitely that of a werewolf, even though she doesn't smell like one."
She had been the one who tended to Camelia after Ian brought her to the house that day, and she had taken the liberty to test her blood after closing her wounds.
"Maybe her wolf has been bound," Thomas suggested as he rose from his seat, his tone careless. "But what does it matter? It's none of our concern," he added.
"I'm going to follow that brother of ours to see where he's heading, or at least try to."
Lucas frowned deeply at his words.
"But he warned you not to follow him."
"When have I ever been known to listen?" Thomas said with a smirk, already striding toward the door, his shoes echoing faintly against the tiled floor.