A Slave Among Wolves (2)

 I opened my mouth to plead, but he backhanded me, his strength sending me crashing to the floor once more. Pain exploded in my head, and I tasted blood again.

 Lila’s laughter rang out, sweet and mocking. “Take her to the dungeons. Let her rot there until she learns respect.”

 The guards seized me, dragging me away as the crowd jeered and laughed. My vision blurred, pain radiating through my body, but I refused to cry. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

 As the darkness closed in around me, one thought echoed through my mind.

 One day, they would pay for this.

 I would survive. And I would make them all pay. Would they really pay for my suffering? It a question I begin to ask myself as the humiliation and bully increased....

 ---

 Life as a slave in the pack house was hell. It wasn’t just the cruelty of Lila and Kaden’s cold indifference that tormented me. It was the constant abuse from everyone around me.

 The other servants despised me. They saw me as a traitor, a cursed wolf who had tried to trick the Alpha with dark magic. Lila had spread her lies well, poisoning their minds against me.

 Mira, the head maid, was the worst. She took pleasure in making my life miserable. She was tall and strong, her wolf fierce and dominant. I was nothing compared to her—a weak wolf, a slave with no power or protection.

 Every morning, she would burst into my room, kicking the door open and yanking me out of bed. “Get up, lazy rat! You think you get special treatment just because you used to be part of the pack?” She would slap me across the face, her nails digging into my skin. “You’re nothing now. Less than nothing.”

 I learned to wake up before dawn, washing quickly and hurrying to the kitchen before she could find another excuse to punish me. But no matter how hard I worked, it was never enough.

 “You missed a spot,” Mira would sneer, deliberately stepping into the bucket of soapy water and kicking it over. “Clean it up. And when you’re done, scrub the entire hallway again. On your hands and knees.”

 The other maids would laugh, whispering cruel things as they passed by. “Look at her, the great Ella, reduced to a dog scrubbing floors.”

 “She deserves it,” another would say. “My cousin told me she tried to curse the Alpha. She’s lucky they didn’t kill her.”

 I kept my head down, scrubbing until my fingers bled, refusing to react to their taunts. I couldn’t defend myself. If I did, they would report me to Lila, and she would have me thrown back into the dungeons—or worse.

 But the work wasn’t the worst part. It was the little cruelties they inflicted when no one else was watching.

 One day, I was washing dishes in the kitchen when Mira sauntered over, a wicked smile on her lips. “You missed a spot,” she said, pointing to a clean plate. “Are you blind, or just useless?”

 Before I could respond, she grabbed my head and shoved my face into the soapy water, holding me down. My lungs burned, water filling my nose and mouth as I struggled to breathe.

 Finally, she released me, and I gasped for air, choking and sputtering as she laughed. “Pathetic. You can’t even clean properly. Maybe I should tell the Luna to throw you out with the trash.”

 I coughed, my body trembling with fear and humiliation, but I forced myself to nod. “Yes, Mira. I’m sorry.”

 She smirked, tossing a wet rag at me. “Clean up this mess. And if I find even a single spot, you’ll be sleeping outside with the dogs tonight.”

 I scrubbed the kitchen floors until my hands bled, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. But I wouldn’t cry. I wouldn’t give them that satisfaction.

 After that, the bullying grew worse. The other servants followed Mira’s lead, shoving me in the hallways, spilling food on me, and laughing as I cleaned up their messes.

 Once, they locked me in the pantry overnight, laughing as I banged on the door, begging to be let out. “Let me out, please!” I cried, my voice breaking. But they only laughed, their voices echoing through the darkness.

 When they finally opened the door the next morning, Mira was waiting, her arms crossed. “Lazy, useless slave,” she spat, slapping me hard across the face. “You think you can just hide and avoid your chores?”

 I opened my mouth to explain, but she grabbed my hair, yanking me to my knees. “No excuses. Clean the entire kitchen. And you

better be done before breakfast, or you’ll be cleaning the outhouses next.”