- Unfairly Punished

Elizabeth POV

Trying to forget the event a week and half ago was difficult. It was on my mind constantly. How could the Alpha promise me to someone else? What about my own mate? I would be happy with an Omega of my own. Someone stronger than me but my rank. I would not survive being Beta Carl’s mate. Or perhaps that is what they are all hoping for.

With all the excitement of the upcoming Gala I had been able to stay under the radar of everyone. With all the dress fittings and dieting going on I rarely saw my main tormentor. Until I did. I was walking through gathering dirty laundry when I stumbled into Sydney’s room. She was supposed to be at school but instead she was at home and had the Beta in her room.

Her voice was shrill, “What the hell are you doing in here?” she demands. Muttering, I look down to the ground, “Laundry,” I reply. Stomping off to the bathroom she comes back tossing all her dirty clothes on me. Her dirty, stinky underwear land on my head while the rest fall on my shoulders and tumble around my feet.

“Perfect. Dirty. Just like you,” she screams. As she is screaming her mother runs to her room, “Sydney dear, what is wrong?” she says in concern until she sees me standing there. “Of course, it had to be you,” she says grabbing my arm and dragging me down the stairs to the Alpha’s office.

“What my Luna? I am busy getting ready for the Gala and all the Alphas who will be in attendance,” Alpha Matt says without looking up. The Luna tosses me towards the desk the Alpha is sitting at, and I bang my hip screaming out in pain. “She is the problem,” the Luna yells before carrying on, “She upset poor Sydney as she was getting dressed of all things,” the Luna says. Not questioning why, the Beta was in there with her daughter half dressed.

As if on cue, Sydney comes running in, “Oh daddy, she scared me when she burst into my room,” she says. Cursing out loud, the Alpha stands coming around the table and grabbing my arm. He does not head towards the field as he usually does. Instead, he heads somewhere worse. The dungeons.

“Maybe a night in the dungeons will make you remember your place,” he growls at me. “Please, whip me but do not make me stay in the dungeons,” I beg of the Alpha. I had been sent to the dungeons one other time. There had been rogues everywhere. Being beaten. Tortured. Rats roamed the cells looking for their next meal.

“Shut up slave; you will remember your place one way or another,” he yells at me as he drags me to the door of the dungeons. “I do not have time to punish you any other way,” he adds as he pulls the door open. He shoves me inside. The putrid smell of the uncleaned dungeons overwhelms me.

I stagger inside as the Alpha yells for a guard to come at once. As the guard moves forward, he has an uncomfortable look seeing me standing in front of him. “Find her a cell and make sure she is punished,” he mutters before turning away. I scream once more, “Please Alpha, you need me to help get everything ready for the Alpha visit,” I beg. Moving forward to stand in my face, “Well then you will be busy when you get out tomorrow morning,” he yells spitting on my face with his words.

My wolf Ashley wants to scrape her claws down his nasty face, but I hold her back. We would need our strength to survive the night. Alpha Matt shoves me to the floor turning his back and walking out the door slamming it behind him. The guard looks at me sadly before he moves forward to help me back to my feet.

“What did you do this time?” he asks as he literally must drag me to an empty cell. I look around in disgust at the visions around me. Rogues hanging from the walls, having been beaten with silver whips. Silver will leave scars on a wolf’s body. Our wolves are unable to protect us from that abuse.

I hoped they would not use silver on me. I did not want more scars to tell the story of my life before I meet my mate. I wanted to share my story in my own way. Not for my body to tell the story. Regardless of what I went through I survived. I could be a strong wolf; I just need to find my mate so I can be released from this hell. My wolf is eager to find her mate. She has been a little more perky than usual. As if she knows something I do not.

The slamming of the cell door pulled me out of my thoughts. I look around realizing I am in a cage with no privacy. The last time I had privacy from those beside me. “Sorry, this is all we have available,” the guard says as he starts to walk. “Do you have a closet? I can stay in a closet for twenty-four hours,” I beg of him. I look around at the rogues on either side of me. They are disturbed individuals staring at me like I am their next meal.

Ashley, my wolf, growls at them and they simply chuckle at the sound. “Sorry, this is it,” he says as he walks away. I sit down and tears roll down my cheeks. I was on pins and needles waiting for my punishment to start. I do not know how long I had waited. I heard some movement coming down the hall and felt myself start to shake in anticipation.

I kept my head down hoping they might pass me by, but I knew as the footsteps stopped, they were inevitably in front of my door.

- Unexpected Help

Elizabeth POV

“Why do you always seem to piss them off?” I hear the Beta demand of me. I do not look up for fear of what I would see. The desire in his eyes for something I hope he cannot have. He opens the cell doors slowly. The creak of the doors screaming in my ears.

He takes a step inside the cell, and I can scent his lust. I feel physically ill at the thought of what is to come. “I see the guards did not do their duty. It does not look like there is even a mark on you,” he says as he kneels in front of me. He reaches out to gently touch my face. I flinch at the feeling wanting to pull back, but I was already tucked in as close to the cement wall as I could be.

He shocks me when he slaps my face and my head crashes back against the cement barrier. I let out a startled scream as he backhands me making my head bounce off the cement wall once again. He stands and kicks me to my midriff, as I feel another rib break at the brutality. I am gasping for breath as the shock takes over my body.

He grabs my arm forcing me to stand. I double over in pain as he unlocks the silver cuffs. “There, now you look a little more like someone who has been punished,” he says as he curls his hand tightly around my fragile arm. He drags me behind him as I remained bent over trying to catch my breath and breathe through the pain raging through my body.

I see the guards look at me with sympathy. I knew they had spared me last night and I could only hope they would not suffer for it. I stumbled as we walked out of the dungeons; my eyes were blinded by the sun beaming down on us. The Beta growls and tugs me up closer to him. “I swear if you do not hurry up, I will give you something to really be bent over for,” he snarls at me crudely.

I cringe in fear and can only do my best to stand and hurry behind him. He takes me to the kitchens and pushes me inside. I stumble and fall to the floor with a pitiful whimper. It is all I can do to contain the fear rolling off me. Nobody is present and I see a huge mess waiting for me.

“Get this kitchen cleaned and start getting everything ready for tonight. It had better be perfect or you will find the cells were a walk in the park compared to what you will suffer tonight,” he promises as he walks out of the kitchen.

I lay on the floor for a moment, begging the Moon Goddess for the strength to get through today. Why she had forsaken me I have no idea, but it was clear I had done something in my life to deserve what I received. I had no idea what it was, but I knew if I did not meet their expectations, tonight I would kill myself.

I could not be left with the Beta. He would kill me, but I would do it first before he got the pleasure of abusing me. I heard my wolf whimper, but I could not focus on that right now. In the end, taking our lives would give her a chance to be with someone else. I could no longer make her suffer for my sins.

“You have not done anything wrong, Elizabeth; the Moon Goddess has a plan for us,” Ashley whispers in my mind. I know she is trying to heal my ribs and I can feel some relief. But I also know it is taking everything from her to do so.

“Well, she has a funny way of showing it,” I reply hurt to know the Moon Goddess was behind all of this. Ashley is exhausted and cannot reply. I slowly stand up and start to move around the kitchen cleaning it as I go. I know I need to move faster. I have too much to do to be this slow.

I hear the door to the kitchen open and I cringe thinking the Beta has returned. I turn around, preparing for whatever would come next. I could not contain my surprise as I see three Omegas standing in the entryway. “What?” I whisper wondering what was going to come next.

Looking around the kitchen angrily, the head Omega moves forward, “We know you will not get it all done. We are here to help,” she scowls at me. The other two look around and nod their heads. “Do not think we will always help you, but we know how important tonight is,” the second Omega says as she ducks her head from looking at me and starts to get to work.

I look at them with gratitude. “Thank you, but I do not want you to get into trouble,” I say to them quietly. They look at me, knowing full well it will not be them punished for giving me help. “Let us clean the kitchen, and then we will leave you to the cooking,” the third Omega says as she pushes a seat closer to me encouraging me to sit down.

This is the first time anyone has shown me any consideration in this Pack. Certainly, even the Omegas stayed clear of me. I did not know why they would want to help me, and I could not help but ask, “Why?”.

They looked at me and shook their heads. “It is not right,” muttered the head Omega. “Everyone knows it is wrong how they treat you, but everyone is too afraid to speak up,” she says. She looks at me with sadness in her eyes, “I am sorry, but I cannot risk my family,” she adds before moving quickly around the kitchen.

I sit I shock. I had never heard anyone acknowledge my existence much less that my treatment was wrong. I sat there in silence trying to absorb what I was hearing. Before long the kitchen was immaculate, and the Omegas looked at me wanting to help further.

I shook my head, thanking them for the help they had offered me. “I hear someone coming,” I say, and they quickly exited the back door as the kitchen door opened from the dining hall. The Luna walked in hurriedly and looked around, “Well I see you have managed to clean the kitchen. You better have the meal ready for when the guests arrive this evening,” she mutters angrily.

“I will, Luna Nancy, I will.”.

- Alpha Carter

Alpha Carter POV

I stand in front of the mirror fixing my tie. Goddess how I hate these events. I am a twenty-six-year-old Alpha and have been coming to these galas since I was eighteen. Eight years of trying to find my mate. Searching the various Packs in our region. Our allies, who are plentiful and still have found nobody.

Either she has died or is not of age yet. I do not want a young she-wolf for a mate. She will not be able to handle my appetites. She will not be confident enough to be a Luna. Regardless of if the Moon Goddess has selected her as my chosen. It cannot go well for either of us. I can only hope that tonight goes as I expect it will … without finding my fated mate. And then I will go about selecting a chosen mate.

My wolf, Max, growls at that thought. He has always held out hope to find our fated mate. He wants his mate. He already loves his mate without knowing who she is. I wish I had his confidence in finding our mate and loving whoever she may be.

My Beta Stan watches me fiddle with my tie. He chuckles as he sees me struggling. “Well, you could help me out, asshole,” I say as he starts to walk towards me. “All you had to do was ask, Alpha,” he smirks as he reaches out and immediately fixes my tie. Stan was all about fashion and looking perfect. He was always making sure our Gamma, me, and him were looking perfect when we went to public meetings or events.

“Are you excited, Alpha?” he taunts knowing full well I was not. I growl at him, and he simply laughs out loud not intimidated by my anger. “Tonight, is the night, I can feel it,” he says as he looks at me. “What do you mean?” I ask him cautiously. “We are both going to find our mates,” he replies confidently.

“You know I have no desire, at this age, to find my mate,” I reply to him. Stan is three years younger than me and still has a strong belief he will find his mate. And he believes in what the mate bond means. Mind you that has not stopped him from fooling around with other she-wolves.

“Once you meet her, you will have no choice but to accept her,” he says to me. I look at him, “I do not have to accept her. I can reject her,” I reply to him. I see a wave of anger cross his face before his manages to get control of his wolf. “Do not even joke about that, Alpha. The Moon Goddess will not look highly on you even joking about rejecting her gift,” he says as if suddenly superstitious.

“I will always do what is best for our Pack,” I remind him as I turn back to the mirror. He sighs and I turn away from the mirror satisfied with what I see. “It is time to go,” he says as he turns away from me. I know he is disappointed in my response, and I feel a little guilty taking away his excitement for the evening.

I frown, before adding, “I will keep an open mind,” I say to his back as he quickly turns to me with a smile. “Promise?” he demands, and I smirk, “Yes, I promise,” I say shaking my head. He really was a romantic at heart.

We walk down the stairs of the Pack house and I feel my wolf, Max, start to yip in my mind. I have no idea what his problem is, but I do not sense any threat. I walk through following my Beta as we walk out into the evening. It is dusk and I can hear the excited chatter from the event hall.

We decide to walk over, making our way through the mass of people who are waiting to enter the building. As with all events, Alphas and Betas are permitted to go to the front of the line. I see Stan sniffing the air excitedly and I cannot help but join him. His excitement is contagious. I hear my wolf growl “We are going the wrong way,” Max says but I continue to ignore him. The party is this way. The wolves are all this way.

We walk through the main doors, and I feel Beta Stan stiffen beside me. “She is here,” he murmurs leaving me at the entrance as he goes off to search for his mate. I cannot help but smile, happy for him to find his mate. I knew she would be the most blessed woman on the planet.

I nod to the Alpha and Luna of the Red Woods Pack. I never cared for them, but they were in the ally of Packs. Their daughter is standing there beside them and her eyes light up at seeing my arrival. Our Pack – Crescent Moon Pack – was the strongest among the Packs in our allyship. It is no secret that to be part of our Pack would be a step up in your ranking. Particularly if you were to be taken as my Luna.

I cannot remember her name, but she holds her hand out expecting me to take it. I shake it briefly and suddenly she is wrapping her arm through mine, “Let me take you around, Alpha Carter,” she says as she tugs me through the throng of people.

I cringe at her scent. Thank the Moon Goddess she is not my mate. The strong perfume she is wearing is mixing poorly with her scent of musk. It smells like a musky mildew to me, and I cannot breathe through my nose as the scent is burning my nostrils. She tugs me around almost as if I am on display with her. I gently remove her hand, “I think I will go get a drink from the bar,” I say to her as I turn away.

She grabs my arm, “I can come with you,” she says breathlessly. “No, that is fine. Do you not have greeting duties with your parents?” I say to her rudely. I cannot keep up pretenses and she does nothing for me. Her smile turns to a frown, “Yes, of course. I will find you later tonight,” she says happily as she turns away from me.

“Not if I see you first,” I mutter under my breath as I turn and head towards the bar.