>>>>>BE MG CUP BEARER

“Just shut up,” Ragnar said, waving Brevin off with a lazy flick. “Still talking like you’ve got a pair down there. What are you now—an inch of a man? Barely got a cock, can’t even grow a beard.”

“Come on, Brev…” Ragnar kept going. “You shouldn't be speaking when we talk about dicks and fucking women. Sit this one out, nephew.”

Brevin stared at him for a while; those words didn't hit like they used to. Back in the day, they got under his skin and riled him up, but now it was just all jokes to Brevin. He ignored Ragnar, refocusing on his drink.

With that, Ragnar turned to Akira, who was standing a few inches away from him. He flashed her a small smile. “Come on, girl, pour me some wine, beauty,” he urged, grinning from ear to ear.

Akira stepped in quickly, eyes down, face blank, but her shoulders tensed as if she were holding her breath. Meanwhile, Dominus was turning red, his fists clenched tightly under the table, but he didn’t move. Akira grabbed the wine jug and started to pour Ragnar's wine. He leaned back, his tongue hovering over his lips seductively as he examined her backside, thinking of different ways he was going to fuck her and make her scream.

He couldn't control it anymore, so he went for it. He wrapped his hand around her waist possessively,and a mix of anger and possessiveness shot through Dominus. Uncomfortable, he pushed his chair backward, the legs scraping against the floor, his eyes burning with fury as he locked with Ragnar's.

Ragnar's grin stretched. “What’s your name, dear?” he asked Akira.

“Nia,” she replied in a shaky voice. Ragnar nodded. “That's a beautiful name.”

“When did you come here?” Akira lowered her gaze at once. She swallowed hard before answering.

“A very long time, my lord.” Akira forced a small smile, trying to appear respectful, but she knew she had to lie; she came three years ago. Dominus was there, and if she backtracked on the amount of time, he’d believe it was his lost Akira.

“A very long time?” Ragnar murmured under his breath. “So why have I not seen you all this while? Why have I never set my eyes on you?”

Akira chuckled dryly. “I scrub floors, my lord. I am here today because I’m covering for my friend.”

“Floors?” Ragnar arched a brow, raising his gaze at her. “Those hands are too good for scrubbing floors,” he pointed out, and Brevin’s eyes flickered to him, curious.

“From today onwards, you won't be scrubbing the floors any longer. I will tell the old lady Estelle,” he said with a boastful smirk. “You will serve me in my quarters after today.”

“No, she won't,” Dominus cut in suddenly, and Ragnar turned to him, curiosity piqued.

“She won't be serving in your quarters, Uncle. She is already serving in mine. She serves me, so I’d advise you to pick some other slave to serve you,” Dominus stated boldly.

Akira’s brows shot up slightly in disbelief. Why was he standing up for her? She knew what Beta Ragnar wanted from her, trying to push her into serving in his chambers, but as usual, she had no choice. Brevin, on the other hand, immediately sat up, his face lighting up with pure delight. His brother just saved the day—saving Akira from the old man’s annoying womanizing act. .

Ragnar looked at Dominus for a while, then let out a soft chuckle, trying to break the tension. “Come on, nephew. What does she do for you? Scrubbing your floors?”

He rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh. “You can find any one of the other slaves to scrub the damn floor for you. Nia is too good for that. She thrives better pouring wine for lords like us.”

Dominus didn’t reply at first. He leaned back slowly in his chair, his thoughts all over the place.

The slave wasn’t his Akira, but he was still drawn to her in ways he couldn’t explain.

Perhaps it was the guilt of losing Akira and how he had treated her in the past that haunted him now.

He yearned to correct his mistakes and treat her well now that she was gone. Since that day, he hadn’t stopped thinking of her. Even worse, he had to see baby Rex. Each time he saw the boy, he remembered Akira.

Each time he looked at Nia, all he saw was his Akira, and he felt like making it right with her.

His jaw clenched as he watched Akira step away after pouring wine, her head bowed low.

Ragnar wanted to make her his personal servant, pouring wine in his quarters, —he wanted to make her his whore.

Dominus wasn’t letting that happen, never! He’d rather die than watch him make her his servant.

Looking at her, an idea formed in his head at once. Thanks to Ragnar, he was also going to make Akira his personal servant who poured him wine.

Why hadn’t he thought of that before? He scolded himself.

“She thrives better pouring wine, you say?” Dominus echoed with a teasing grin, swirling his goblet. “Then let her pour wine in my quarters. She belongs to me.”

Ragnar narrowed his gaze, his teeth gritted together in anger. Dominus was about to spoil his plans.

“What if I have her for tonight? Wine is divine, so I'd love someone as divine as it to match up for tonight's rites,” he said with a grin.

Dominus’s gaze lingered. “She doesn’t do night service,” he set the record straight at once.

Ragnar gave him a side-eye and let out a low whistle. He took a sip of his wine, refusing to accept defeat, especially after having touched Akira's soft ass.

Brevin almost choked on his wine, subtly mocking his uncle. Dominus didn’t smile. He turned his cup slowly on the table. “Nia, fill up my cup.”

Akira moved smoothly and filled his goblet at once. She felt slightly relieved that he had just saved her from the monster who was about to fuck her silly tonight all in the name of being a cupbearer.

As she filled Dominus’s goblet, she could feel his gaze on her. Every inch of her skin prickled under his lingering attention.

“Listen,” Ragnar didn’t give up easily. He pushed his goblet toward Akira, urging her to fill it. “Let her serve us here, fine. You win. But after tonight, I’m taking her to my wing. That’s final.”

“She’s not a wager,” Dominus replied coldly. “I said she’s under my care. You don’t need to understand what that necessarily means, but you will respect it.”

After a while of dead silence at the table, Cierra cleared her throat. “Now that y’all are done fighting over some low slave girl, does anyone have better stories to tell as we wait for the rites to start?”

She narrowed her gaze at Dominus. “Anything to tell us about how you took out your most prominent rival, Klax of the Eastern pack?”

Everyone sat up at once, all of their attention on Dominus. Klax was the first prince of the Eastern pack, next in line to be the Alpha King. He was known for winning every fighting competition across the four axis. Everyone believed he was poised to surpass Dominus's legacy as the most feared knight. Although he wasn’t as old as Dominus, he had achieved more than half of what they praised Dominus for.

Klax was known across the four axis not just for his skills in fighting and being a beast in his wolf form—only a few Alphas could stand against him when he transformed—but also for his infamous beauty. Everyone regarded him as the most knightly to ever grace the werewolf kingdom. Every she-wolf wanted him for themselves.

“Oh, those riffraff?” Ragnar stated, then hissed. Akira stiffened at the mention of her brother's name. She swallowed hard, nervously gripping her dress to control herself, especially with the tears that were almost spilling from her eyes at the thought of her brother. Klax was her favorite. He loved her the most and was the eldest. During her time in school, he had visited more than her parents. He had promised her many things—from attending her last day of school to taking her to Night Vale and different forests for training. He was the only one who was okay with her being a tomboy; he was even her tutor. She still couldn’t believe they had killed him.

Worse still, his killer was sitting right in front of her.

She narrowed her gaze at Dominus, her jaw tightening. Her eyes darted to the knife next to him…