Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother

As I headed inside, I had to ignore the stares of the workers and maids as I passed. The whispers. The judgment.

I was used to it by now.

"María José is cursed."

"She brought this upon herself."

"No wonder Don Diego has to be strict with her."

I didn’t care.

I needed to find Juana.

Father had summoned her earlier and I needed to know why. I could only hope deep down, that she wasn’t in any form of trouble because of me.

I searched the halls, peering into rooms, scanning for the one person in this entire house who had ever been kind to me. My best friend.

When I couldn’t find her, I stopped one of the younger maids. "Have you seen Juana?"

The girl stiffened, her eyes darting around nervously. "I—I don’t know."