5

“What the fuck did he do to you?”

A voice calls, making me jump as I look around to see who found me.

“It’s me lilly, your wolf, are you ok?”

I smile, closing my eyes as I try to see her.

“You won’t be able to see me until we shift, but seriously are you ok?”

I cough, spluttering as I roll to the side, wiping my blood from my mouth

“No, I’m really not”

I answer coughing again, I feel her worry for me, a warm feeling washing through us as I try to breathe through the pain.

“What’s your name!”

I say trying to distract myself

“Layla, my names Layla. I think we need to shift before you get any worse”

I nod my head

“Ok, I have no idea what to do”

“Don’t worry love, iv got this”

I feel this invisible force pushing through a barrier in my head, suddenly something pops, our mind becoming one as my entire body lurches forward.

I thought I would scream and cry as every bone in my body breaks and rearranges but I could hardly even feel it.

She moves my body forward as her own, stretching and breathing through each break, everything already hurt but this pain was different.

I feel as every broken bone in my body heals, setting back into its rightful place. My skin stretching to accommodate my new form, scratching at my insides as hair sprouts all over my body. My hands deforming and rearranging as paws, my nose stretching to become a muzzle.

Suddenly the pain was almost completely gone as Layla takes over, pulling us off the forest floor and shaking out our fur.

I look to my feet, my fur was a beautiful dirty blonde colour under the moonlight, the dirt under my feet makes me feel alive as she takes off through the trees, howling into the air. My body coming alive as I feel the wind flowing through my hair.

We run in silence for a long time, only stopping to drink some water from the stream.

“Your very quiet”

She whispers to me, I nod my head

“Yeah I think I’m still in shock. It’s like he tried to kill me this time”

I answer, my father was a monster. Iv always been his punching bag and it’s only got worse over the years but something he has never done is hit me in the face.

“I suspect that’s what he was trying to do too”

She answer, heading back towards the house

“No please, I don’t want to go home yet”

“I know, but we are meeting our mate in a few days and you need rest”

I blink at her in shock

“So It’s true then?”

“Yep, it’s true. The trauma opened a link to him. He doesn’t even know it’s happening. It’s his subconscious trying to keep us safe”

That makes sense, I wish he knew about me too but at least it’s true.

“Yep it’s true so we need to be ready for him and you need some sleep”

I snort rolling my eyes

“Yeah as if I will ever get a good nights sleep under that roof”

She growls as she runs, going back the way we came

“You will sleep because now you have me!”

I grin at her, I’d never had anyone have my back before and it felt good. We run home with steady conversation, making it to the house in good time. My clothes were shredded so we walked straight in, opening the door with our paws.

Layla’s nose shoots up as she sniffs the area, going to take away on the countertop. It was definitely fresh as she stuffs her nose into it, chewing the paper and ripping into it.

I giggle as she pulls it to the floor and she starts to eat it, my stomach already feeling better as she swallows it down. When she’s done she lifts the packaging and carefully Carry’s it into the living room where dad was passed out sleeping.

“What are you doing?”

I giggle

“I’m covering our tracks, he will think he ate it when he was drunk”

She chuckles amused as she pulls some fries and drops them all over his lap and chest, the sauce going everywhere as I giggle

“If he wakes up we are dead”

She shrugs, busy making it look like it fell of his lap and onto the ground

“I would love to have him try hit us now. Now we have each other he won’t touch us again”

She says confidently as she stands back and admires her handy work.

When she’s done we quietly make it upstairs, as we reach my door we shift so I can open the door and step inside locking it behind me.

“Wow my body feels so much better”

I tell her, stretching each limb to make sure I was put back together in the right way. She chuckles shaking her head, a person that looked like me appears in my head waving.

“Nice to finally see you”

I grin

“You need to go check out the bruising, I can heal some but not all”

I groan going to the bathroom, I had 2 large black eyes, my nose was bruised but thankfully it was back to the way it was before he broke it.

I was black and blue, it looked worse than yesterday morning but it felt better than I've ever felt before. Rolling my shoulders I grin, jumping into the shower and washing my body quickly.

I climb out and pull on fuzzy pyjamas, checking my phone after Having left in the room this morning.

‘Hey happy birthday queen! Love you and I hope you have an amazing day!’

I scroll to the next one

‘Hey you up yet? Are you ok?’

Then the next one

‘Seriously lilly are you ok? What did he do to you?’

Then I have a fresh message from only 10 minutes ago

‘Ok me and Matt are coming to your house if you don’t answer’

I quickly type out a reply not wanting to worry her.

‘I’m so sorry, I got up this morning and went straight to the forest. I spent all day running with Layla, she’s amazing and I just got home there now, he’s sleeping so I missed his wrath’

I add a winky face then I send her another

‘And thank you for wishing me happy birthday! I love you. Hope your having a blast’

I finish, she immediately starts to reply

“Oh thank the heavens I was so worried! Please text me before you go out running again so I know your not dead’

My stomach sinks as I shake my head

“It’s sad that, that’s where her mind went first”

Layla whispers gently, I nod my head

“Yep, but we only have a few days left then we can ditch this place”

She smiles at me

“Your right, now come, get some sleep I’ll watch over you”

I grin, curling into my blanket, yawning. Sleep came remarkably easy that night, feeling safe for the first time ever.

As I open my eyes and stretch I felt incredible, I had barely any pain for the first time in my life. Layla groans in my head

“Why are we awake, go back to sleep”

I chuckle shaking my head

“Nope, we need to get out of here before he wakes up”

She huffs, yawning as I pull out some concealer and start covering my bruises. It takes a while but soon I look half normal.

“The bruising should be gone by tomorrow”

She says peeking out of my eyes, I shrug not really caring. At least I had no pain, that was the main thing.

I quickly get dressed, making his breakfast and leaving it on the table, covered in foil. He was still sleeping on the same spot, still covered in food and sauce. I cover my mouth to stop the giggle as I run out the door.

I head straight to my favourite thrift shop, I would be helping the Luna at a huge summet tomorrow and I needed to look at least half decent.

I find a beautiful blue dress that would go well with half leggings and converse, then I go to Sephora to find better concealer to cover my bruises and scars. On the way home I picked up kfc, filling my stomach before returning home.

On the way I stop at the grocery store, grabbing dinner supplies for dad and extra apples, carrots and bananas for myself. I add a few extra snacks that I can nibble on while I read and I go straight back home.

As I arrive I couldn’t see anyone or hear anything coming from the house so I casually walk around the side and throw my bags onto my small balcony and then I go back to the front door, taking a breath before I open it.

The house was definitely empty, helping us relax as we immediately start the dinner so I can disappear before he even arrives home.

As I finish wrapping the food up on the table I make a run for it, reaching my room just as his car pulls up. My heart races in fear as I lock the door and crawl to the balcony, hiding my stuff under my makeshift bed.

My hands sweat as my anxiety rises. My heart pounds as tears burn my eyes. I felt sick waiting for him to call me, but praying that he won’t.

“Where the fuck are you you tramp!”

“Crap”

Layla mumbles as My body trembles, I try to shake my hands to free me from the fear that was all consuming.

“I’m coming down now”

I shout, taking a breath as I try to calm myself. I slowly make my way downstairs and into the kitchen, looking at my feet as I walk.

“Sit down and watch me eat”

I complied, sitting across from him, laying my hands on my lap as I look at his plate.

“This is stupid, we need to just kill him, look at him eat, seriously it’s worse than a baby it’s gross”

Layla complains

“Nobody would believe us if we told them the truth, if we kill him they definitely won’t, he’s the best liar iv ever came across”

She huffs, crossing her arms as she glares at him on the inside, my face was like porcelain. I wouldn’t react in front of him, I won’t give him that satisfaction.

He was so different out in the world, even when he ate he did it politely, the perfect beta who everyone loved and adored, the people came to him for everything and anything and he was there for them. The perfect disguise for an Abusive piece of shit.

The summet was a few hours away, I was actually excited to go and meet new people. It’s where all the unmated wolfs went every year as their alphas worked on strengthening the relationships between packs.

Our pack was small and we weren’t very close compared to others, our kids didn’t play with each other or train together. We just coexisted really. It was a dull place to live and I’m glad I’ll have a chance to get out of here when I meet my mate.

His grunt grabs my attention, my eyes meeting his as he glares at me.

“I think you can starve again tonight. Go to bed and be ready to leave at 5am”

I nod, not wanting to aggravate him anymore than he already is. I get up but as I go to pass him he kicks me on the hip hard.

I scream as I’m sent flying into the kitchen island, landing hard as my body screams in pain, my eyes instantly watering as my body goes numb in shock.

He gages my reaction and smiles when he realises the hip was the best place to hit me. Layla whimpers in pain as we lay there crying.

He gets up with a roar, lifting his foot up and he slams it down on my hip again, I scream as the bone breaks, my leg feels like it was torn out of the socket as I cry.

Next he goes for the ribs, he works fast, using all his strength to slam his foot down on my ribs, grabbing me by the scruff of my shirt, and landing 3 hard blows to the face.

My head spins as it hits the hard tiled floor, my body going limp as fight or flight takes over, pushing me to the side. Layla was in shock at how fast it happened, she hadn’t even had a chance to recover when he grabbed my legs, yanking me across the floor.

The pain from my hip, forcing us back into the moment as the pain spreads throughout our body, every inch of me trembles as our body goes into shock. But just as he grabs the waistband of my trousers Layla roars, pushing forward with a fearless feral growl!

“NOOOOO YOU WILL NOT”

She roars as my body starts to shake and tremble, she forces the shift, my body was too weak but she made sure he knew who was in control as she stands on all fours, towering over him. Every hair on our body standing to attention as she snarls in his face.

For the first time in my life I was the one towering over my quivering father, I was the one instilling fear in him. I was the one he was terrified of as he jumps back, falling over a chair and he takes off running up the stairs.

We wait until we hear the door click and then we relax, she whimpers, limping up the stairs, our hip may be healed but it still hurt like a bitch.

“We need a bed”

She says to me, I shrug

“The spare room but it doesn’t have a lock or a bathroom”

She growls, going to our room, once inside we shift back, I fall forward on my face, my body hurt bad, I wanted to curl up and die as I lock the door and fall into the corner.

Our vision was still blurry, our head was pounding but we were safe and that’s all that mattered. It takes only seconds for us to pass out, to sore to care about anything else.

———-

The alarm blair's waking me from our slumber

“Damn everything hurts”

Layla whimpers, she was right, I felt like shit. I push off the floor, wobbling a little on my feet and we make our way to the bathroom. If I thought I was bruised before then I was sadly mistaken.

“Wow we really look like shit”

My hair was dried in chunks of blood, bruising covered my body from head to toe. I turn starting the shower and I step under the stream of cold water, leaning against the wall. Everything hurt so bad I wanted to cry.

I wash the blood from my hair, as I clean each wound I feel the healing powers of Layla work within my skin and bones. By the time I shower I was surprised to see most of my bruising had calmed considerably

“Wow that was fast”

“Mmmhmmm”

Layla answers, looking away awkwardly. I frowned looking at her, she was definitely hiding something. I could feel it but as I go to press her further My alarm starts to go off again distracting me.

I grab my makeup and I cover the bruises on my face the best I could, pulling my hair into a messy bun. I dress in jeans and a black Rolling Stones T-shirt and I leave, grabbing my bag and taking it downstairs.

It was 4:30, we would be leaving at 5 so I immediately start breakfast, making a little extra for myself. I swallow it into me before he arrives but to my surprise he doesn’t arrive so I refill my cup with coffee as my eyes start to close again, we wait and wait and eventually I fall asleep, getting comfortable as I rest my head on my arms.

“you stupid bitch why did u not wake me! Get into the fucking car now!!!!!”

I leap up in shock, Layla growls in at him as he takes a step too close to us, he zeros his eyes in at me as I swallow the lump in my throat. His aura shooting out, raising the hair on the back of my neck. Layla doesn’t feel it though, she walks straight through him, nudging his shoulder as we stomp out the door in anger.

“Damn how did you do that?”