Chapter 2 - Yesterday

Flash back to yesterday

Cassie - 

Yesterday started the same as any other for me, but thankfully, the weather was nice, the breakfast was done on time and the pile of washing was not the mountain it usually was, which made me consider hanging the washing outside to dry as I had some extra time today, what with it being a Sunday.

But then, something went wrong, I felt the shift in the atmosphere as soon as I left the kitchen to begin the washing. The dining room fell silent as I entered. You could have heard a pin drop. There was a loud bang, which made me look up to see the pack were all sitting there, heads bowed in submission, hands flat on the table tops, nobody touching their food. At the end of the large room, right next to the warming trolley, at the head table, was Ace, standing upright and glowering in my direction with his fists planted on the table. Like a deer in headlights, I froze wondering what could have happened to entice such a drastic reaction from everybody, especially Ace, who was exuding so much power that he was forcing the whole pack to submit.

The only person not submitting to Ace other than myself was Madeline, who sat there with her arms folded across her chest and a smirk across her lips. Madeline, being the Delta’s daughter, was affected less than the regular pack members by the power that flows from the ranking pack members. However, judging by the look on Ace’s face, I should be flat on the floor as the waves of power wash over me, but I’m not, I can feel the urge, but it is not difficult to suppress the need to submit. So I remain standing there, drawing side glances from the pack members that are being forced to remain in their seats by Ace.

MOVE I internally screamed to myself, DO SOMETHING! But apparently, I was done listening to myself as much as I was done surrendering to the impulses forced upon me. And Ace was not happy with that at all. He slowly lifted his fists up from the table, where there were now 2 fist sized dents, and placed them on his hips, "Cas," he started in a calm voice, "Care to explain yourself?"

I had no idea what he was referring to and tried to recall anything I could have done to provoke him. "I'm sorry, Ace, I don't know what you are talking about." I say quietly, but in the silence, it carried easily to the head table.

"Come. Here." He says through gritted teeth, and I see the smirk on Madelines face transform into glee. I take a tentative step forward, then another and another until suddenly I am standing just below the table that Ace has not moved from.

"Closer," he croons, still not moving any muscle that is not needed to speak, and still sending pulses of energy throughout the room, keeping everyone in their place. I step around the table, keeping out of reach of Madeline and await my doom, for I can tell by everything that has happened in the last 2 minutes that it WILL be my doom.

Smack! I fall to my knees confused, and then the ringing starts, and I realise I was struck on the side of my head. I turn my head in the direction the attack came from and see Madeline holding her plate above her head, ready to bring it down with force onto my back. Ace holds up a hand, and she stills, gazing at him as though awaiting his next order. Ace stands over me and speaks in a commanding voice, and I can feel the pulses of energy being directed towards me more forcefully than before, before he was not focusing them on anything in particular, now he is, but although I can feel they are more intense, I am still able to fight them, I'm not sure how or why but where the last time it compelled me to submit, now it is more like a suggestion that I can ignore.

"The omelettes are burnt," he says, "what did I tell you about serving me sh!t like this? How dare you insult me by providing food unfit for someone of my position, I wouldn't feed this muck to pigs!" Then while I am on my knees gazing into his furious face, he punches me and I feel my eye socket break, then as the shock subsides and the pain builds in my cheek and eye, he kicks me in the stomach. I roll to my side, holding my head in one arm and my midsection with the other, and before I know it, he stamps on my leg hard.

I hear Madeline giggling, like a schoolgirl watching her crush play football, and I wonder how anyone can stand to witness these acts. Then I remember the whole pack is present to witness my humiliation.

Ace next steps onto my hand and grinds his heel pressing my fingers into the ground and kicks my undefended stomach again before he says clearly so all can hear, "this is what happens to those who do not listen to my instructions, heed this warning, I will not tolerate laziness or insolence, I am in charge and I will have order!"

After his rant he steps on me again and leaves the room, Madeline digs the heel of her shoe into my foot and struts from the room as if she were walking a catwalk, "burn them again b!tch and I will hold your hands over the open flame" she hisses.

As soon as Ace leaves the room, everyone is free to move again, and they all hurriedly shuffle away heads down, ignoring me lying in a pile on the floor.

I lay there for half an hour, unable to properly catch my breath or move without spasms of pain radiating from every limb. This gives my wolf time to heal the minor aches, but my stomach, head and eye socket will take at least half a day to heal.

Later in the day, I am retrieving the washing from the dryers and preparing to fold it all and deliver it when the laundry room door creaks open slowly. Turning, I see Madeline grinning like a cheshire cat. "How's your head slut?" She asks in a fake concerned voice and before I can answer she sweeps across the room and slams the dryer door shut on my arm. I cry out in pain having twisted and caused a shooting pain to travel through my abdomen at the same moment the door closed on my arm. Yanking my arm towards my body I glance down and see the redness turning almost immediately blue. Before I can react further, she's gone, as if she were never there, and if it was for the new pain emanating from my forearm I would almost believe I imagined it all.

At the end of the day, I am limping to my room having had a hot bath in the hopes of soothing my aches away I see Ace on the stairs, I try to stay as far to the side as I can so as not to anger him, but he doesn't look happy and when he spots me, he breaks into an evil grin, then purposefully side steps towards me and shoves my shoulder sending me flying back down the stairs I so laboriously climbed. I hit every step on the way down, there were 30, I know, I felt every single one of them, and then he continued on to wherever he was heading to begin with. I manage to crawl up the stairs to my room, with all the aches, bruises and broken bones, walking is not an option right now, crawling is all I am capable of, and by the time I reach the top I am sweating profusely and breathing hard from the effort which rendered my bath a total waste of time too. I collapse onto my bed and finally am able to let the tears fall, they slide down my cheeks steadily, wetting my pillow. I struggle to fall asleep as every little movement causes more pain to envelop me and finally I drift off around 1am from sheer exhaustion, praying that 4 hours is enough time for my wolf to work her magic.