Cassie -
"Where did you just go? I was speaking to you!" Ace's harsh voice breaks through my thoughts as he takes hold of my wrist.
"I’m sorry, Ace," I whimper trying to pull my arm away as his grip tightens.
"Beta!"He snaps harshly, "I have decided you will only address me as Beta from this moment onwards, you do not deserve to call me by my given name." He punctuated his declaration with a sharp, jerking twist of my wrist.
"Yes, Beta," I say quickly, silently praying he releases his grip on me soon, he is likely to snap my wrist if he grips much harder, "h… how can I help, what can I do?" I pause, then continue, "Breakfast is almost ready I promise, I just need to stir the eggs one last time, and then I can begin serving."
"Hurry then, Cas, I'm hungry after training, and you have chores to complete. The warriors have just dropped off their workout gear for washing," His hisses, his hold on my wrist tightening beyond the point of pain, I can no longer feel my fingers.
"Yes Ac…Beta, 2 minutes," I stumble over his name before using his title.
"1 minute," he states harshly, then throwing my arm away from himself, he turns and stomps from the kitchen.
I release a breath of gratitude as I feel the blood return, in a rush, to my fingers. Then I turn around, shaking my hand slightly, testing for any fractures and start stirring the eggs again. I begin piling the bacon and sausages in the warmers onto the serving trolley, then the eggs go on last, and I roll the trolley into the dining room. Once all the food is served, I grab a plate and begin adding small portions of everything to it when suddenly, she strikes again.
"Ace, look, that fat thief is trying to eat a week's worth of food in one sitting," she shrieks.
Ace glances at my plate, then with a smirk says, "No time for that Cas, you have laundry to do, bring that plate here, Madeline can have it."
Madeline grins like the cat that got the cream as I deliver my plate in silence and scurry from the hall.
I start with the washing machines and then head into the kitchen to clean. Once the kitchen is restored, I return to the laundry room and transfer the clothes to the dryers before heading for the communal bathrooms. Our pack house has 5 floors, floors 1-3 have a communal bathroom each and floors 4 and 5 have 8 ensuites, one for each room. 2 for the Alpha suite, 2 for the Beta, the Gamma, and the Delta suites. Once the communal bathrooms are done, I quickly head to school, which as always passes smoothly and quietly. I love school, nobody is cruel to me at school, Ace isn't in school anymore and nor is Madeline, so I get a reprieve for those few short hours.
Back at the pack house after school, I unload the dryers, fold all the clothes and put another load on, then head to floors 4 and 5 to tackle the ensuites, while cleaning the Beta suites, my biggest worry is realised, Ace saunters in with Madeline on his arm, again. Ace shakes her off when he sees me, then walks into the master bath, leaving Madeline in his room, which I was so very close to finishing, I was gathering my cleaning supplies and preparing to leave when they entered. She sidesteps into my path with her finger pressed to her pouty lips, silently telling me to keep quiet, then proceeds to take slow measured steps in my direction forcing me to back up until my shoulders touch the wall furthest from the door, and my only hope of escape.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here” she breathes, pausing for dramatic effect, “The skank trying to seduce the Beta into kinder treatment?” she croons. “What other reason could you have for hanging around in a Beta's bedroom, waiting for a chance to pounce on him and snatch him away from me, are you, wh0re?”
“No, no, not at all, he is all yours, I don’t want him, please just let me leave, I have more cleaning to do and the washing to fold for all the warriors.” I plead in a whisper, hoping not to draw Ace's attention to myself. “I don’t want to come between you two.” I assure her. The last thing I need is for Ace to think I want him.
I rush towards Madeline, hoping to slide past her and out the door, but she grabs my hair stopping me in my tracks, as she says “Ace, babe, did you hear that, she doesn’t want you, she is desperate to get away from here.”
The blood drains from my face at the fear, coursing through my veins and my blood begins beating like drums in my ears so that I almost miss his reply.
“Madeline, are you trying to get the help into trouble? I love how bad you are, bring her here to me” he smirks, and she obliges, dragging me behind her as I clutch at my hair, hoping to ease the immense pressure.
She stops directly in front of him, next to the huge bed covered in the navy blue silk sheets I washed yesterday and gives a yank on her arm which brings me to my knees with watery eyes, she then drags my head backwards so that I can see the evil glint in Ace’s eye as he places himself directly in front of me.
“Leave” he commands her, and she lets go of my hair and takes a step back.
“What do you mean leave, what are you going to do? I was going to help you punish the fat b!tch” she asks with what could be hesitation in her tone.
“I wish to be alone to issue punishment to her for disrespecting me, now LEAVE.” he thunders at her, I have never heard him take that tone with anyone other than me, it is reassuring to know it isn’t just me but terrifying to know he wants to be alone with me. I can't even begin to imagine the horror he has planned if he doesn't want any witnesses.
Madeline pouts and storms from the room, slamming the door hard enough to cr@ck the plaster around the light switch and silence descends on the room. When Madeline released my hair I let my head hang down and my hair created a curtain blocking my face from view and I couldn't find the courage to move a muscle, I was frozen in fear as my mind raced trying to guess what was coming. But I was determined, I would survive this as I have survived everything else, I would survive and I would leave this place forever as soon as I could.
Ace -
Perfection, that is all I can think as I look down upon her kneeling before me, the very sight of her may anger me most of the time, but seeing her here, her head lowered in submission to me, oh the things I'm going to do to her. It isn't often I see her in my room. I know she is here everyday, but no matter how hard I try, I never manage to catch her in here. So seeing her here, presented on her knees, before me is like a wet dream, one I intend to make the most of.
She doesn't waste any time in here, I know that, but I don't let many people in here, only Maddie, and she is never here often or even for very long, just enough for me to find my release but even that happens in my small office more than it does here, or in her room so I can leave quickly after. So the only scents to permeate my room are hers and my own. So her intoxicating scent always lingers, it is in the very air I have to breathe, I smell it everywhere I go, but here, in my room, it is the most concentrated. It drives me crazy with a mixture of lust and rage, how dare she entice me so.
Now, here she is, let's see if she can be a good girl for me.
Cassie - Kneeling there on the soft area rug beside his bed, my heart is pounding, I have to force myself to remain still yet remain breathing. I may not be submitting to him, but I can make it appear that way for as long as I can, to appease him, hopefully he will fall for it and go easier on me, until I can think of a way out of this. Ace's feet appear in my line of sight, and I know by the flexing of them that he is squatting down in front of me, but still I don't move, not even a flinch. He places 2 fingers under my chin and forces my head up, so I am looking into his dark brown eyes as he gazes back at me. I thought I glimpsed a flicker of what could have been wonder in their depths, but it was gone before I could truly know. He spoke in a whisper, as though not wanting anyone to overhear, "Cassie, Cassie, Cassie, I'm hurt you say you don't wish to be alone with me, you see, I happen to know you want me, that is why you are submitting to me so prettily. So submissive and open
Cassie -I slowly make my way back downstairs and get myself to my room. I close the door as quickly as I can and lock it, closing myself in, away from the world. I pick up my school bag and, through my pain, I settle into my bed gingerly and attempt to complete all my assignments before I am too tired to focus. I still need to keep my grades up if I am to have any hope of leaving here.When I finally look up, having finally finished my last assignment of the day, I rub my tired eyes, relieving the dull ache that is forming behind them slightly and I glance at the old child-like clock I have on my dresser, the clock I have owned since I was around 5 years old, it is a little beaten and there is a crack in the glass front, but otherwise it has always worked well so there had been no need to buy a new one.With a sudden jolt of surprise, I see it is a little after 2am. Happy birthday to me, I think to myself, caught somewhere between excitement and dread. I wonder what fresh new hell co
Cassie -Hundreds of questions seem to be chasing each other around in circles inside my head, whirling like a tornado until they all seem to blur into one constant stream of thought. There are muffled voices, just out of my hearing range. Who is that? Odd smells surround me. Is that disinfectant? Strange sounds resonate in my ears. What is that beeping? I can't seem to focus on anything, or keep any single thought straight in my mind, and why won't my eyes open? Why can't I move or make a sound? All of this hits me in the span of about two seconds, the questions repeating themselves over and over. I try to concentrate on one specific question and manage to grab ahold of one, whose voices? I vaguely recognise those voices, like a memory of them is just out of reach. The memory of the voices tickle my brain as other details try to push this thought aside, but I cling to
Ace -They went to the fucking hospital, sh!t, now what?? I need to think of something…Almost as soon as our meeting had ended yesterday afternoon they went over to the hospital to pay a visit and spend time with each of the wolves that were injured during training and most specifically, they went to see how Cassie was and what she could tell them about how she ended up there. Luckily for me, she was still out cold when they got there and she didn’t wake up at all while they spoke with the doctor, seeing if he had any insight into how she came to be in this condition, but when Cassie wakes up I have no doubt she will tell them everything.I managed to sneak into her room last night at around 3am, during a shift change, so I went completely unnoticed and I slip
Cassie -After my conversation with Dr Thorne, he went to follow up on my blood test results, and I leaned back against the mountain of pillows behind me and closed my eyes. The words how and why kept flashing behind my closed eyelids. How did someone get ahold of wolfsbane, let alone get it into a hospital and manage to dose someone with it and why would they want to? It doesn’t take a genius to work out it was probably Ace that did it, or maybe Maddie on his orders though.I must have drifted off to sleep again for a while, and when I woke up, I was shocked, utterly speechless.Luna Lily was sitting beside me reading through a binder of some kind. She is stunning, all regal elegance and true grace with her auburn hair tied regally in a chignon and her eyes downcast to a b
Cassie -After spending another 3 long, peaceful hours in the hospital, Dr Thorne finally came around with my discharge papers. He had Thomas come into the room to hear about the aftercare I needed, so I had "no excuse" as he put it, but to follow the regime, which he delightfully told me with an impish grin on his face. I rolled my eyes at this but listened carefully as I wanted to get better quickly, he told me I needed to eat little and often, and nothing heavy to help me gain some weight back. He also gave me a prescription of vitamins to help me and my wolf get stronger again. Once he finished, he brandished the discharge papers under my nose, I signed and was handed a bag of clothes.I glanced in the bag and then sharply up at Dr Thorne who blushed slightly and said he had run out to a nearby shop on his break to buy m
Cassie -I end up falling asleep while Thomas snacks on the popcorn he brought up for us to eat while we watched a movie on the giant TV hung on the wall opposite my new bed. We were up half the night just chatting and I think it is safe to say we are now friends and not just protector and protected. Thomas makes me feel normal, like I can once again be the girl I was before. He makes me forget all the bad stuff, the trauma, the torment, Ace and Maddie’s cruelties, and even Ace being my mate, even though he doesn’t know that yet, I will tell him, I just don’t know when I will be ready to admit that my mate is my tormentor. I feel like a person when I am with him and I already love him like a brother.The next morning when I wake up, I don’t open my eyes right away. I listen to Thomas breathing d
Cassie - Thomas and I walked down the stairs together, Thomas chatting happily beside me, clearly trying to distract me. I guess he could sense the tension in me. "You will be fine Cassie, trust in our Luna, she only wants to help, and so does the Alpha, and you have me now. I'm not just a guard, I'm your friend and I won't let sh!t go bad." He says before we reach the ground floor. He speaks quietly so as not to be overheard and then, without waiting for my reply, he continues on down the stairs. When we get to the door of the office, we pause and Thomas knocks. "Come," calls a soft voice, the door is ajar and Thomas reaches out to push it open further for me. "Thank you", I said ge