3

Rina Zante

Thirty minutes ago

We stood waiting for the worker, as we studied the place we were in. The interior of the house was even more beautiful. Intricate arches, mosaic tiles and precious artifacts adorned the waiting room. All in all, I couldn't help the joy that bubbled through me at the thought of working here. Even if it was as a maid. Maybe things were looking up finally.

A woman in a checkered apron approached us, her black hair tied in a bun. She appeared to be in her early thirties. "Buona giornata. Welcome to Alpha Moreno's residence. I am Lucia the head maid, and I will show you to your room, follow me."

As we ambled up the stairs, Lucia informed us that when we reached our room, she was going to give us an hour to settle down, freshen up and change into our uniforms, then another maid would be sent to our room to give us a proper tour of the mansion, after which we would be sent to her office to be assigned our places of duty.

We nodded along absentmindedly to everything she said. To be more specific I wasn't really paying attention to all she was saying because in all honesty, I was distracted by the house's interior. I had never seen such lavish furnishings, it was an exotic masterpiece. There was not even a speck of dust to be seen. At all. Wow.

We arrived at a corridor. I could only hear a faint chatter. They were hard to distinguish since my wolf was weak and I couldn't hear things that much as a regular wolf would. Walking down the corridor, all I could think of was how I would never go back to my old life starting from today. At least now we would be able to afford a better lifestyle.

"The maid quarters, ladies," Lucia announced, slightly turning her head to us. I snapped out of my melancholic trail of thoughts, focusing as she stopped in front of the third door to the right. Pulling out a set of keys from the pocket of her apron, she unlocked the door and went on talking, "So this is where you two are going to be sleeping. The bathrooms are down the hall."

"Feel free to go in," she added as she opened the door and handed my mom a key while she slipped the other 3 back into her pocket. Then she left.

Stealthily, we walked in, as if we walked so fast, we would wake up and see that all our good fortune had all been a dream.

But we knew it wasn't, especially when we sat down on the very soft bed. a little sound of awe escaping my mother's mouth. I looked at her and the very dark, heavily lashed eyes that I inherited from her stared back at me and we both beamed widely at each other. That was enough communication between us- finally, at long last, things were turning around in a good way for us.

"Hope the room is to your liking? If not there's another-" a voice asked. I averted my head quickly. It was Lucia. She stood in front of the door. I thought she had left but it seemed like she came back.

Mom replied, gratitude in her voice, "No, signora Lucia. This is more than enough for us. Thank you very much and may the goddess bless you."

Lucia's lips widened in humor. "Very good, so I will leave you both to settle in and freshen up. Remember in an hour's time someone will be coming to give you a tour so ensure you are ready because it's going to be your first test. I need to know that you can keep to time."

"Yes ma'am, thank you very much," mum said while I bowed my head.

"Very good. Your uniforms are in the closet over there." She pointed at the white closet by the corner of the room before she finally left the room.

Immediately she was sure Lucia was gone, mum took me into her arms and squeezed me gently. "You'll see bambina, good things will come our way from now henceforth." Her tone was cheerful as I fell into her comforting hug. This was the most I had seen her smile and be so happy since dad died. It was refreshing to see.

Our room was spacious and simply furnished. On one side were two small beds opposite each other, a bedside cabinet beside both beds, and a night lamp on both cabinets, then on the other side was the white little walk-in closet where our uniforms hung.

Before the one hour was up, we had already settled in and changed into our uniforms, which happened to be a very loose black garment with a white collar that was clearly not designed for fashion purposes. The gown was paired with white socks and brown loafers.

My mum laughed heartily again, drinking in the good fortune we'd seen ourselves in, glee shining in our eyes until we were interrupted by a knock on the door. I opened the door and saw a tall and slender lady, her golden hair was in a neat bun like Lucia's. Dressed in the same uniform as us but with hers better fitting, she looked down at me with icy blue eyes. They slowly assessed me, most likely taking in my brown skin and voluptuous curves that could still be seen even in the oversized clothes I wore.

When her eyes finally met mine I knew from the disgusted expression etched on her face, that I hadn't passed whatever mental evaluation she had just carried out. But then, despite the ache in my heart at her withdrawal, I was still used to this kind of treatment. From where I was coming from, it was nothing new to me.

Nevertheless, I wore a hopeful smile and moved away from the door to let her in. "Hello, I am Rina Zante and this is my mother, Camila Zante." My mum waved at her. 'We are the new housema-"

'Si, si, I know," she cut in rudely, as she sauntered in. "I am Mia, the assistant head maid and signora Lucia has sent me over to show you two around, so if you both are ready, we can get on it." She uttered this with little to no emotions, her beautiful face pinched like this was the last place on earth she wanted to be. From all endeavors, right from the guards, it was seeming like we were the only ones pretty excited here.

"We are both ready." I heard my mom say, my excitement winding down.

"Perfectta. Let's be on our way then," Mia said, already walking out, with us walking closely behind. "Pay close attention because there are some places that you must never ever step your foot into. Ever." Her voice echoed, bouncing off the shiny walls and curdling the blood in my veins.

I knew that I should have heeded her warning back then. I really should have because the next scene that happened afterwards made me wish that I did.