Emma

Everything was ready.

Moira had finished her spell to hide my scent, Laurine organized my interview, Glinda and Leo helped prepare me to see my mate again. I was trying my best not to freak out. I had been accepted as a maid for a trial time. Hopefully, the trial time is all I am going to need to do my job. 

I couldn't bring weapons into the castle because I would get spotted and put under suspicion. That meant I could try to bring some discreet hidden ones, but no guns which is a pity. I am a really good shot. It is a useful skill to have. 

Laurine interrupts my thoughts, "That's everything. Say good-bye and we will send you on your way, Emma. Or should I say Emilia."

I roll my eyes, "Why did you get to pick my cover? I don't like the name Emilia."

She smirked, "I do, so deal with it."

I turn to Max, "Don't you dare tell my family I took this mission. If they ask, I am in Canada."

Max hugs me, "Sure thing, Emma. I won't snitch a second time."

"You better not," I warn him playfully.

Glinda basically knocks me over as she hugs me and whispers in my ear, "Stand strong with your mate. I expect you to come back to me."

I smile, "Of course, I'll come back with your sister too."

I pick up my bags and start heading out of the door, "Bye!"

As soon as I leave the premises, I take a car that I have recently bought using my alias Emilia. We take these undercover jobs seriously. No one can know who I am. Moira's potion makes me look differently to everyone but myself and smell differently. It is a work of genius. Now, I just have to hope that Alec doesn't smell me out. From the rumors coming from the castle, I assume not. But who knows?

My nerves distract me for most of the car ride to the castle. Well, what the werewolves refer to as the castle is literally a castle. The Alpha King bought this huge piece of land from the humans and there is a castle. It has been in their hands for centuries ever since the Alpha King was established. Don't get me wrong, the castle is modern enough. There is even an employee parking lot. That's where I put my car. I want to have one with me in case I ever need to escape that way.

As I get out of the car, my nerves return ten-fold. I am usually not this jittery before a mission. It's the chance of getting caught by my mate which scares me. I am desperate to see him again, but at the same time, I wish to never cross paths with him. I am honestly torn and it feels like one half of my brain is yelling at the other half.

There is a woman here to welcome me at the servant's entrance, "You must be Emilia. I am Jane, the head of the maids. I am going to show you to your room and give you a tour to explain your duties."

I don't even get a chance to answer when Jane is already halfway down the hallway. I speed up to keep up. She is a very no-nonsense type of lady. Jane doesn't even attempt any kind of small talk at all. She is a very cold person.

Jane stops in front of a door, "This is your room. There will be six uniforms inside. You are allowed to do your own laundry once a week and you work six days out of seven. At the beginning of the week, you must come and inform me which day you want off. You can also work every day of the week and keep your free days for an extra vacation."

I try to be polite, "Thank you. Is there anything else I need to know?"

Blatantly ignoring me, she checks her watch, "It is 10 o'clock. I will send a maid here at 11 o'clock to show you around. You will be working with a senior maid during your first week and a half with us. You start really working tomorrow. Now, you have an hour before another maid comes to organize your room. Chop, chop!"

With that, she is gone. Jane apparently really only wants to get her job done as fast as possible. What a prick! I hated undercover assignements for this reason. I hate authority figures, had a problem with them all my life. And Jane is an especially snotty one. 

It takes no time at all for me to put my stuff away. I put on a maid's outfit and wait patiently on the bed. In my head, I am going over the layout of the castle, comparing it to what I have seen so far and the blueprints I memorized. 

Soon enough, a knock on the door comes, "Can I come in?"

I get up and open the door, "Hello, I'm Emilia."

The older looking maid looks me up and down, "I'm Margot. I am helping you get the hang of our work here. C'mon, I have to get my part done in addition to getting you situated."

I am starting to feel like all the maids here have a no-nonsense attitude, at least all the older ones. I haven't met a maid younger than 50. I was hoping to have some girls my age in their early twenties. It's at this age where girls love to gossip. So far it was a bust. I had two weeks before my trial period was up. I wanted to be done by then.

Margot stopped in the middle of a room, "This is the grand parlor. Your job is to clean it. Let me explain how the system works. Each of us maids have chores assigned. For you, you have to clean the parlor and the 10 guest bedrooms. I have other jobs too. You can switch, but it all needs to be done at the end of the day. We have to take extra duties on the side like kitchen duty. It really depends. For your trial period, you are going to be on prep for dinner and clean up for breakfast. Understood?"

I nod, "Perfectly."

"Good, let's get to work. We have to do my chores and yours," Margot stated.

I followed her lead. I cannot afford to draw attention to myself. I plan to use today and tomorrow to watch and find a way into the Alpha King's office and the dungeons. I am under the impression like all old castles there must be secret passage ways in the walls. I want to try to find them too. 

Cleaning is a more tiring job than I thought. Once we were done with everything we had to do, it was time to go help in the kitchen with dinner prep. Apparently, our Alpha King is having other Alpha Kings coming to visit and more help in the kitchen is necessary. I was already sore and exhausted from cleaning and dusting and walking the huge ass staircases everywhere. I enjoyed kitchen work, it was a secret pleasure. I always did it at home, so honestly I didn't mind my job. If I could, I would have taken a position as a chef rather than a maid. But as a chef I have less access to the castle.

Soon enough, everything was done. What was truly freaky for me was that all this was done in the utmost silence. When I ran into other maids my age, they were silent, almost afraid. I could not see a reason to their fear, but I understood it just the same. I was curious what had sent it off for all the servants in the castle.

It was after dinner when I approached Margot about it, "Margot?"

She sighed loudly, "Yes, Emilia?"

I whisper, "Why is everyone so quiet?"

Margot looks around as if checking to see if people are listening, "Since you are new, I am going to warn you. Something happened over two weeks ago which set the Alpha King off. Don't ask my what, I don't know. All I know is that if we disturb him, we get killed. There is a reason your post was open. My suggestion is avoid the Alpha King at all costs and make no noise to attract attention. Follow me a little."

I listened and she stopped in front of a seemingly random statue and said, "Hit this wall and a door will open. You can travel in the walls like most of us maids. None of the nobles use it. This way we are out of sigh and out of mind."

"I WANT HER FOUND!" a voice yelled. Sadly, I recognized that voice, it was my mate, the Alpha King, my Alec.

A look of complete terror overcame Margot's face, "Run, go."

Before I could blink, Margot was gone and I was left alone in the hallway. Quickly, I entered into the passage she had just shown. Just in time, I shut the door. I could see through the thin door and hear too. 

Alec was pacing really close to me and was very mad. I pity the poor soul who is responsible for his anger. I wouldn't even wish it on my worst enemy. Well, I guess technically Alec is my worst enemy. But whatever.

The poor man stuttered, "W-we h-h-have looked A-alpha K-king. T-there is no t-trace of her. T-troy w-would h-have been a-able to d-do this b-better."

I perk up at the name Troy. Isn't that Stuffy Man? The guy who tried to throw me out of the castle and called me a whore. What happened to him I wonder? 

Alec says in a scary voice, "Troy is dead. You better find her or you will be too."

Well, that answered my question. I was torn between feeling sorry for the dude or satisfaction at his death. The biggest part of me was happy he was dead. If you are going to call me names, you better be prepared to defend yourself. Meanwhile, Alec and the man left in silence. 

It had been a pretty successful and tiresome day. I had found sort of the secret passages, but right now I needed to take Moira's potion again and sleep.

So, that's what I did. I made plans to study the passages tomorrow too. I fell asleep dreaming of my mate. 

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Word Count : 1731