Chapter 7 Near Miss

• POV: Echo
• The jolt of being tossed onto the soft mattress brought me back to my senses, just in time for him to move to the edge of the bed in front of me. Before I can react, he grabs me by my ankles and drags me until my legs hang off the bed and I’m lying on my back in front of him.
• Trying to control my emotions, I attempt to force my fear back, and replace it with calm. Repeating in a loop in my head, I tell myself that someone is going to interrupt him. Either his Luna coming home or a mind-linking pack member needing his help. Someone is going to stop this.
• Despite my best efforts, even I could smell the waves of complete panic rolling off me the moment he dragged a fingertip down my thigh. He sucks in a deep breath, smirking, and I can smell his arousal instantly.
• My wholebody trembles as he takes my hands and gently pulls me into a sitting position. Running his hands over my hair, smoothing it down, he slowly shifts it to the side so he can access my neck better. Aware that it would anger him, I couldn’t help but cringe away from his touch when he began to kiss and lick his way up my jaw and toward my ear.
• He stills, and I can almost taste his anger rippling through the air. Grabbing me by the nape of my neck, squeezing painfully, he moves me back into position, angling my head back to give him even better access.
• Sitting rigidly, I press my knees together as tightly as I can. Brady’s rough hands make me flinch as he wedges them between my knees, slowly prying them apart just enough to slip one of his legs between mine. It took little effort for him to push them open entirely and position himself between them. I know he is enjoying every moment of my despair as he grinds his knee against my groin, making me feel absolutely disgusted.
• When he nips my marking spot with his teeth, I whimper and jerk myself backward quickly, breaking his grip on my neck. I launched myself to the centre of the massive bed, scrambling to my feet and dashing to the other side of the bed. Before I make it two steps, he grabs hold of the bed and shoves it forcefully up against the wall, knocking me off my feet.
• “Nice try,” he growls lowly, watching me from the side of the bed, “But that was very naughty, Little Doll.”. Trapped, I hyperventilated as he stared at me from across the bed. He has been after me for years, but never like this. This makes the rest of it seem like child’s play.
• Brady’s eyes flash dark with his wolf, and I know I’ve made things so much worse by trying to run. Drawing my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them, I buried my face in them as though it would make it all disappear.
• Shivering, I felt the mattress dip as he made his way across the mattress to me. A low whine slips past my defenses, making him chuckle sadistically. The only warning before my head is jerked sharply back by my hair is his growl of anticipation directly in front of me.
• The force of the movement pulls a whimper from me before he lowers his lips to mine. I press my lips together tightly, and he nips at them warningly, demanding entrance. When I don’t comply, he bites down hard, instantly breaking the skin.
• My yelp of pain is lost in his mouth as he jams his tongue into my mouth as soon as it opens. My lips were bleeding profusely, and I could taste my blood in my mouth as his unyielding tongue explored every inch of my mouth.
• Momentarily losing control, I panicked and bit down hard on his tongue, hard enough to taste his blood. He immediately jerks away from me, spitting a mouthful of blood on the sheets. The second his hand loosens in my hair, I yank myself free, scrambling away from him. Going toward the edge of the bed, I felt his hand wrap around my arm.
• Brady jerks me back towards him on the bed, and his fist meets my face halfway. My head snaps to the side, my face instantly swelling. When he can see that I am still fighting, not giving in to his desires in bed, I feel his aura expand with pure rage.
• Seizing me by the throat, he drags me from the bed, smashing his fist into my face once more, before tossing me to the floor. As I lay crumpled on the floor, he squats beside me, snarling.
• “Remember, Little Doll, that your life is at my mercy!” Standing, he kicks me in the stomach and prowls around me. “I can make your life enjoyable, or I can make you wish you were dead!” he hisses, as he kicks me in the back.
• I swallow my screams as his kick rips open the wounds on my back. The wounds that labelled me as his property. Unfortunately, nothing could keep the whimpers from escaping, though, as he delivered another swift kick to my stomach. Each breath burned; his kicks had broken multiple ribs.
• “Get up!” He suddenly shouts, ripping me to my feet by my hair. He drags me to the bathroom and throws me to the ground. “Slaves don’t get to rest until their work is done!” He growls before he storms off, slamming the bedroom door in his wake.
• Shaking, I watched the chunk of hair he’d ripped out drift toward the floor in a daze. Even knowing how much danger I am in currently, it takes a moment before I can crawl up to the massive tub and use it to pull myself up. If the Luna sees me lying here, she won’t hesitate to beat me further. If the Alpha returns, he would do even worse.
• Swaying more than a little, I slowly collected all the hand towels and clothes from around the bathroom and bedroom. Tears snake their way down my cheeks at the mountain of towels taller than me in the corner.
• Seven trips to the chute later, I am finally done stripping their room. I had even stripped the bed of its improper sheets before I left, and each trip full of laundry was agony. While my lips have healed from being bitten, my ribs, face, and back are a different matter altogether.
• Focusing on not tumbling down the stairs, I gingerly made my way down to the kitchen. A large, stern-looking woman is standing in front of the stove, stirring a pot simmering at low. She stiffens as I enter the room and turns towards me with her eyes narrowed. I cleared my throat and tried to introduce myself.
• “Hi, my name is Ech…” The words died in my throat as she stalked toward me from across the room, causing me to whine in fear as I backed away from her.
• “No one cares about the name of a slave. I’m in charge of the kitchen now, and you are no longer welcome in here!” She growls, grabbing hold of my upper arm and dragging me to the basement stairs.
• She shoved me ahead of her, and I stumbled, losing my balance, and tumbling down the stairs. The woman doesn’t even spare me a second glance as she follows me down, opening the lower door and dumping me unceremoniously onto the cement floor.
• The door slams shut, and I hear the deadbolt hit home. Normally, I am free to work around the house as needed, and the door is locked only once I’ve finished dinner cleanup. But normally I’d be working on dinner right now, so obviously, things have changed.
• Coughing, I turned my head to the side and spit out a mouthful of blood. I realize, not for the first time, that I hate my life. Hate myself. I have no desire to live, and I lay there wishing I would die from my injuries this time.
• I silently curse the Moon Goddess. We wolves believe she decided the fate of each wolf, right down to choosing their fated mates. My entire existence hurts at this point, and I am exhausted from the day of work and abuse.
• I contemplate the Mood Goddess as the darkness creeps in.
• ‘If she exists, and she has allowed anyone to live this life, then she is evil. If nothing else, why won’t she just let me die?! I don’t want to live lik…’
• The darkness pulls me under before I can finish my thoughts.