The Humiliation

SIENNA

The soap water had gone cold in the sink. My fingers had gone numb from scrubbing plates for hours and the rough sponge bit hard into my skin. 

I have been washing the dishes for more than an hour now. I was nearly done with my house chores two hours ago but then, Aunt Cassandra, Asher’s mother, did not like me looking free so she ended up giving me extra work. 

My stomach growled again and I was hit with a sharp, empty pain that twisted deeper every time I ignored it. I hadn’t eaten since yesterday’s scraps. Even though I am the one who prepares the three meals of the day and yet, I am the one left starving. 

I sighed and wiped the sweatbeads from my  forehead. My messy bun was coming loose as wet strands of my silver hair stuck to the back of my neck. I was so hot and sweaty.

“Sienna!!”

The shout sliced through the quiet kitchen like a blade. Ella’s voice was sharp and impatient, the same tone she always used on me. My heart dropped into my empty stomach. Ella was Asher’s sister which made me her cousin but she hated me like others.

She was always there with others, taunting me, bullying me with words, abusing me and I had no right to stop her because ‘ I was living on their expenses ‘. 

“Coming,” I quickly answered and rinsed the last fork under the tap. The cold water splashed against my wrists making me shiver slightly before I grabbed the thin towel and dried my hands. They still smelled like lemon dish soap.

Footsteps stomped closer. It was Ella and she clearly did not look pleased because of the way she crossed her arms against her chest and glared at me.  She was perfect as always. Her shiny brown hair, expensive clothes that hugged her like they were made for her and her hazel eyes which narrowed at me coldly.

“Can’t you hear? I’ve been calling you forever, dumb human.”  Well, did I forget to mention, she has no patience and is like a stubborn spoiled child. I swallowed. I did not want to face her wrath.

 “Sorry. I was finishing-”

“Move. Dad wants everyone in the living room. Now.”

I blinked. My eyebrows scrunched up together in confusion. “Me too?” She rolled her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. “Obviously. Hurry up.”

My chest felt tight. I was never called to family gatherings. Never. I was not even considered a family to sit and eat with them. 

I followed her anyway. The living room smelled like polished wood and the faint smoke from the fireplace that was always lit when important people came around. 

Everyone was already there. Alpha Dave [ Asher’s father ]  in his big chair. His wife,  Luna Marie beside him, Grandma and Grandpa on the sofa, Ella flopping down next to her mother like she owned the air itself.

I stopped at the doorway. I didn’t step inside. I knew better. My presence always made the room feel smaller, tighter, like I stole oxygen just by standing there. It always made me think ‘ Was I that bad to be treated like this? ‘

Alpha Dave, my uncle- well he never really gave me the right to call him uncle-, cleared his throat. His voice was deep, official.

“Listen up. Tomorrow a new pack is visiting. Alpha Elliot and his people. They’re coming with Asher and Kael. This alliance could mean stronger borders, more trade, more power for us. We will welcome them properly. Everything needs to be perfect. No mistakes.”

My heart gave a strange little jump at the name. Kael. I pushed the feeling down fast.

Luna Marie’s eyes slid to me. So cold that it made me freeze in place and  my breath hitched as she narrowed her eyes at me. 

“Sienna.” Her voice was threatening. “You will make sure the house is spotless. Food prepared. Rooms ready. If anything is out of place – if anything embarrasses this family, you will be punished. Understood?”

I quickly nodded my head and felt like my throat was closing. “Yes, Luna.” Ella smirked, mean, like she was already picturing me failing.

Of course they would call me for something like this. Why did I even think they'd called me for something …. Familish. I turned to leave, shoulders hunched, when Grandpa’s rough voice stopped me.

“Ella.”

Ella looked up, innocent. “Yes, Grandpa?”

“Give one of your dresses to Sienna for tomorrow. We don’t want her standing in front of important guests looking like… that.”

My breath caught. Heat rushed to my face. I looked down at my clothes, simple loose trousers and some old shirt that belonged to Asher because ella refused to even give me her used worn out clothes. 

Grandma’s voice came next, thin and sharp like broken glass. “She looks like a street rat. Dirty hair, rags. It’s disgusting.”

Ella snorted. “Why, Grandma? All my dresses are branded. Designer. Why waste one on her? We can just say she’s the maid. That’s what she is.”

Tears burned the corners of my eyes. Fast. Hot. I stared at the floorboards, counting the little knots in the wood so I wouldn’t cry in front of them.

Alpha Dave sighed, heavy, like I was a problem he had to solve again.

“When her mother ran off with that filthy human, the news spread like wildfire. Then this… thing was left on our doorstep. Rumors never really died. If they see her tomorrow looking like some beggar child, it’ll raise questions. Questions we can’t afford. This alliance is too important. We can’t let dirty blood ruin it.”

Dirty blood.

The words hit like a slap. My father. They always dragged him into it. Even though I did not know him, hearing something like that  always pierced my heart.  I was their blood too-

Grandma snorted. “Her father was worse. Weak. Disgusting. A traitor who spread his filth to my daughter. That human trash doesn’t belong in this pack.”

More words followed, slicing my heart. “Mistake.” “Burden.” “Shame.” Each one landed heavier than the last.

My eyes stung from holding back my tears, my fists clenched so hard that it hurt. I couldn’t breathe. My chest burned. 

I turned and ran. I needed to get out of there. Everything felt so overwhelming and painful. 

I ran down the hallway and past doors that belonged to the real family members. To the very end, where the hallway narrowed and the light dimmed, was my room.

It was not even a real bedroom but a converted storage closet, barely bigger than two wardrobes pushed together. It had one tiny window high up that never opened all the way. 

A thin mattress on the floor and just a single bulb that flickered and the only source of light. I shoved the door shut and locked it with shaking fingers as soon as I entered. 

Then the tears started to flow down my cheeks. My heart was breaking so painfully, ached brutally. 

I slid down the door until I sat on the cold floor, Knees pulled to my chest. My arms wrapped tight around them like I could hold myself together. Every word replayed in my mind. Dirty. Trash. Maid. Burden.

I’d heard it all before. Hundreds of times. Thousands, maybe. But it never stopped hurting. Every time felt new, fresh cuts over old scars. 

The pain bloomed sharply in my chest, spread to my throat and made it hard to swallow. I covered my mouth with my palm and my sobs were quiet- always quiet- because if they heard me crying, they’d only get angrier.

The room smelled like dust and old wood and the faint lavender soap I used to try to feel clean. My hands still stung from the dishes. My stomach growled again, loud in the tiny space.

I pressed my forehead to my knees and my silver hair fell around my face like a curtain.

Tomorrow I’d have to stand in front of strangers. In someone else’s dress. Pretending I belonged somewhere near them. It already made me feel humiliated. Tomorrow my family was going to act as if I was also one of their lovely daughters. 

Everyone would be there to witness my humiliation and …… Kael would be there.

The thought made my heart tremble with fear and something warmer I didn’t want to name.

I cried harder.

Because even after everything, some stupid, broken part of me still wished someone would look at me and not see trash.

Just once.