POV: Echo
It was already 3pm when I dumped the last of the dirty linen down the laundry chute, swiping away the sweat that was dripping from my brow. Wasting no time, I began to make my way to the kitchen, knowing I needed to be there right away.
Rushing down the hallway, I made it to the stairs, seeing no one else around. Unfortunately, one of the last people I want to see is walking up the stairs. Embry is the Alpha’s mate, making her the pack’s Luna, and she is the sister of the pack’s current Beta. She was a gorgeous she-wolf, but too many years of being doted on as a high-ranking wolf had turned her into a nightmare that was impossible to please.
Irritatingly, she noticed me at the same time I noticed her, making it impossible for me to slip back down the hall and out of sight. Embry narrowed her eyes at me, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder and narrowing her eyes as she stormed over to me. “What do we have here?” She sneers, propping a hand on her hip.
With a deep breath to keep myself calm, I bowed my head and stared at the floor. I know that with Embry, silence is usually better than answering her. But looking down like that also meant that I didn’t see her move until her backhand knocked me off my feet.
“I asked you a question!” She growls, just loud enough to be heard over the ringing in my ears. I tried to blink away the blurriness from my vision, focusing on making the room stop spinning. It has been too many days since I’ve eaten, and it’s been all I could do to stay on my feet up to this point.
“Sorry, Luna.” I choked out, eyes glued to the floor. I still had to make dinner, and if I planned on eating this week, I couldn’t allow my strength to falter now. She pouted for a moment, and I knew she’d been hoping for a little more resistance from me. Sighing as though disappointed, she turned to leave. I didn’t move a muscle, trying not to give her any reason to turn back toward me.
“Pathetic.” She chuckled as she crushed my fingers under her heel on her way past. A pained hiss flew from my lips as I clutched my hand to my chest, assessing the damage. Her high-heeled boot had broken at least one of my fingers!
While we werewolves heal more quickly than normal humans, several factors play a key role in the speed of a wolf’s healing. First being that an unshifted werewolf does not heal as quickly as a werewolf who can shift, as their wolf isn’t as strong before their first shift. The second factor is a wolf’s general health both prior to their injury and during the healing process.
That is where my problem lies, in both my status as an unshifted werewolf and in my poor physical condition. If I were to put it bluntly, I have simply suffered too many injuries and missed too many meals to rely on my werewolf genes to heal me sufficiently right now.
With a sigh, I pull myself to my feet, swaying as I try to regain my balance. I knew I needed to keep moving, so I took several steadying breaks before I headed down the stairs, rubbing the bruise that was already forming on my cheekbone.
Once I reached the ground floor, I glanced across the dining room before darting from the bottom of the stairs to the kitchen door once I was sure it was empty. I stop only to peer through the doorway and make sure the kitchen is clear of wolves before making my way into the room.
Thankful that no one was around to bother me, I swiftly moved to my personal med kit and pulled my well-worn finger splint from the top. I tuck the little kit into my back pocket for safekeeping, as within it are the only first-aid supplies I may use.
Carefully inspecting my broken finger, I note the odd angle of it before I grab and pull it straight with a grunt. Then I splint it with an efficiency learned over many years of treating my own broken fingers and toes.
With that taken care of, I carefully pull out the ingredients for dinner. I usually make enough breakfast and dinner for about 30 wolves, most of whom live in the twelve-plus rooms in the pack house. There are also a handful of wolves that own their own houses on pack land who also come to the house for dinner. They are mostly mateless wolves and warriors after late training sessions or those coming and going for patrol shifts.
The pack house is a massive three-story mansion, with the alpha quarters taking up almost two-thirds of the third floor. The other third being beta quarters, with a handful of guest rooms for visiting alphas from other packs between them.
A group of paid maids make the beds, put away the clean laundry, daily sweeping and mopping on all three floors, dusting, and other general household chores. The responsibilities that the maids have decided they don’t get paid enough to deal with fall to me.
The pack considers me to only be useful enough to strip their rooms, cook, serve, and clean up after their breakfasts and dinners, and set out and put away the grab-and-go lunches. That and washing, drying, and folding all the laundry for the entire pack house, as well as the spare clothes left by the treeline wolves who shift back and are without them.
I frowned as I put together the massive pot of beef stew, my broken finger aching from the work. I get to work filling the massive pot with pound after pound of beef, potatoes, carrots, gallons of water and beef stock, seasonings, and enough slurry to thicken it to perfection.
My arms shake as I give it the final stir, my stomach grumbling in protest. Even though I made the dinner, I would not be eating until later, and only if I was permitted. This evening, however, the delicious smell of dinner cooking was a genuine test of my self-control. I’d made this meal a thousand times before, and never had I struggled so much with my self-control as much I did this evening.
I remember when I was younger and more impulsive, I would sneak bites of food here and there as I cooked meals. It wasn’t worth it though, as Embry and the future Alpha would always pin me to the wall and shove their fingers down my throat until I threw it all up.
Frustrated, I shook the memories from my mind, pulling the last pan of buns from the oven and tipping them onto the cooling rack. Once the buns are cool, I fill the bread baskets and top up the butter dishes before placing them at regular intervals along the dining hall tables.
When I return to the kitchen, I fill the large tureens with stew, placing a ladle in each before carrying them out. The table had to be set up before I returned to the kitchen, where I washed the dishes from cooking dinner, wiped the counters, and monitored the dirty dish bins in the dining hall. As each bin filled, I replaced it with an empty one and then scrubbed the dishes from the hall.
By the time everyone finished eating, and I’d washed the last dish and wiped down the tables, I was dragging my feet heavily. I’d hoped that fresh buns and a hearty thick stew would put the pack members in a good enough mood that I might eat tonight, but I’d had no such luck.
Tears pricked my eyes as I thought of the sight I’d walked into at the end of dinner with a cringe, as multiple pack members had worked together to toss what little food was left straight into the trash. They had watched me with smirks on their faces as I’d watched in silent despair as my only hope for food was dumped.
Pushing the memory back, I took one last glance around the kitchen, making sure everything was perfect before I headed to the basement door in the corner. There is another door at the bottom of the stairs, with several locks placed strategically around it.
Glaring at the offending metal, I pushed the door open and made my way to the tiny bathroom on one side of the basement. Tucking my med kit away after using the toilet, I quickly switched over laundry and beeline to my bed. I collapsed on it heavily, asleep before my head even hit the pillow.
POV: Echo Slow, steady footsteps on the basement stairs jar me from my sleep. My bed, if you can even call it that, is nothing more than a thin foam mattress on the damp basement floor. Blinking the sleep from my eyes, I flip onto my back, focusing on slowing my racing heart. Reminding myself that there is no way it can be him, it’s absolutely not possible. He is away for meetings in another pack and isn’t due back for another couple of days. My eyes dart to the long, narrow window above the laundry machines. The half-moon shining high in the sky tells me it is nowhere near morning yet. I turned my head and looked toward the door; the steps still coming down. I quickly glance around the basement, and even though it’s too dark to actually see anything, I have the layout of the room committed to memory from long hours spent down here. Industrial-sized washers and dryers, the massive laundry folding table, multiple shelves filled with folded clothes and linen, varying sorted dirty pil
Pain. Extreme, scorching pain drags me back to consciousness. An intense burning sensation that radiates from my back all over my body. Swallowing the whimper building in my throat, I remain still as I listen for any signs he hasn’t left yet. Lying face down on the cold cement floor of the basement with the back of my shirt shredded, my body was wracked with involuntary shivers. Hearing nothing, I slowly opened my eyes, staring in shock at the fresh red stains on the surrounding floor. I drew in a sharp breath, nearly gagging at the thick scent of my blood as it combined with cedar and vanilla. “You’ve finally joined me,” he sneers wickedly. “I hope you don’t mind, but I kept myself busy while I waited for you to wake up." His finger traced across my back, near but not quite touching the source of the burning. I can’t help but flinch away from it, sending another wave of pain shooting from my back. Feeling his intense gaze on my face, I close my eyes in defeat, not wanting to know
POV: Echo I bolt upright with a screech of shock and pain as the frigid water splashes over me. Wiping my sopping wet baby curls off of my forehead, I shiver violently in my now wet clothes. Glancing around, I see the last two people I ever want to wake up to see standing next to my bed. Magnifying tenfold, the increasingly throbbing pain in my back steals my breath away, leaving me gasping for air. Flailing, I try to, and fail to keep the strangled whimpers and cries from passing my lips. Alpha Brady and Luna Embry smile maliciously as they watch me inch my way back toward the wall behind me. The small amount of movement is enough to make the room spin, and my body futilely attempts to empty the non-existent contents of my stomach. It results in excruciating dry heaves for several moments, causing tears to pour down my face. The violent movements had stretched the wounds on my back in a way that drove the excruciating pain deeper into my body than I thought possible. Collapsing on
POV: Echo “Eat!” Brady demands, as he places the fork firmly in my hand. Trembling, I looked at the plate in apprehension, wondering what kind of torture he'd come up with now. Grasping the fork so tightly my knuckles turn white, I scoop some eggs onto my fork and bring them to my mouth. I hesitate for a moment before placing them in my mouth and chewing. Waiting again after I swallow, expecting it to be laced with silver or wolfsbane. When no pain comes, I dig into the meal. Only a quarter of the way through, I had to stop. Slowly sipping on the glass of orange juice, I savour its sweet flavour. Having had nothing but water for so long, I’d forgotten how deliciously sweet that juice was. My stomach feels full and slightly painful, as I have eaten as much food this morning as I typically see over a period of days, maybe even upwards of a week. I feel absolutely stuffed. The Alpha has been watching me this whole time, and I have avoided looking at him, trying to pretend he wasn’t the
POV: Echo Working with the laundry has never been so uncomfortable in my life. I quickly emptied the dryers and then ran the washers again to rid the clothes of the stale damp scent clinging to them from sitting wet for three days. The pain in my back twinged every time I reached too far into the machines for the clothing, resulting in me having to almost crawl inside the massive dryers to get everything out. As I do so, I can feel Brady watching my every move with a purely animalistic gaze of desire. He stands just behind me, his eyes darkening with his wolf, making me desperate to get out of the basement before he acted on his desire. I thanked the Moon Goddess when I finished, and he simply gestured for me to head up the stairs in front of him. Not wanting to provide him with the time or opportunity to touch me or change his mind, I scrambled up the stairs as quickly as I could. Three steps into the kitchen, I paused, stifling a horrified gasp when I saw the state of it. In thre
POV: Echo The jolt of being tossed onto the soft mattress brought me back to my senses, just in time for him to move to the edge of the bed in front of me. Before I can react, he grabs me by my ankles and drags me until my legs hang off the bed and I’m lying on my back in front of him. Trying to control my emotions, I attempt to force my fear back, and replace it with calm. Repeating in a loop in my head, I tell myself that someone is going to interrupt him. Either his Luna coming home or a mind-linking pack member needing his help. Someone is going to stop this. Despite my best efforts, even I could smell the waves of complete panic rolling off me the moment he dragged a fingertip down my thigh. He sucks in a deep breath, smirking, and I can smell his arousal instantly. My wholebody trembles as he takes my hands and gently pulls me into a sitting position. Running his hands over my hair, smoothing it down, he slowly shifts it to the side so he can access my neck better. Aware that
POV: Echo The harsh sound of the dryers buzzing, signalling the end of their cycles, startles me awake. My joints scream in protest as I slowly dragged myself to a sitting position. I’d passed out in the same crumpled heap I’d been tossed in, and my whole body was stiff and sore. Sitting for a minute, I waited for the aching to fade away. Attempting to take stock of my injuries, new and old, I frowned, raised my shirt, and gingerly touched my ribs, before cautiously stretching. My ribs don’t even so much as ache, which is odd given how many were broken prior to my tumble down the stairs. Curious, I inspect my other injuries and find they are also absent. Undoing my finger splint and pulling it off, I see my finger has also healed entirely, which surprised me because its healing had been slowed considerably before. Jumping up off the floor, I rush towards the bathroom, pulling off my shirt as I go. Quickly removing the bandages from my back and letting the gauze flutter to the floor
POV: Echo I rarely I allow myself to take a trip down memory lane. It’s even less often that I think back on that day. After passing out, I had woken up in the basement and that’s where I stayed. No one ever explained what happened other than that my parents were killed trying to escape as they were responsible for their Luna’s death, and that I was to be punished in their stead. Apparently, their deaths weren’t punishment enough. I wished nothing more than to have ignored my stomach and turned in the other direction. If I had, I may have been fortunate enough to find myself in a neighbouring pack, one who didn’t hate my very existence. Or I may have just died from exposure. Anything would have been better than my life right now. Sighing, I gave the pants I just picked up an extra vigorous shake. All the hopes in the world wouldn’t take me back to make a different choice. I needed to focus on the giant piles of laundry around me, and on having my wolf. My parents made their choices