Chapter 9 A Lucky Find

• POV: Echo
• I rarely I allow myself to take a trip down memory lane. It’s even less often that I think back on that day. After passing out, I had woken up in the basement and that’s where I stayed. No one ever explained what happened other than that my parents were killed trying to escape as they were responsible for their Luna’s death, and that I was to be punished in their stead. Apparently, their deaths weren’t punishment enough.
• I wished nothing more than to have ignored my stomach and turned in the other direction. If I had, I may have been fortunate enough to find myself in a neighbouring pack, one who didn’t hate my very existence. Or I may have just died from exposure.
• Anything would have been better than my life right now.
• Sighing, I gave the pants I just picked up an extra vigorous shake. All the hopes in the world wouldn’t take me back to make a different choice. I needed to focus on the giant piles of laundry around me, and on having my wolf. My parents made their choices, and I was still paying the price. Soon, I was going to have to make my own choices and pray I made the right ones.
• The old, dusty clock that sits on top of a washer read 11 pm. I had woken up around 5:30 pm. Once I’d shaken myself out of that horrid memory, I’d thrown myself into working to catch up on the enormous amount of laundry that had backed up the chute.
• The shelves labelled with the names of pack members living in the house were nearly full, and I was debating where I was going to put the freshly folded laundry once they were. I blindly grabbed the next item off the pile of clean laundry while I thought about it, shaking it distractedly.
• A heavy thud on the table alerted me that an item had come flying out of the pocket of the shirt. Setting the shirt aside, I stared down at the item, the dim light glinting off the steel. Someone had left a fair-sized pocketknife in their laundry, a slip-up that hadn’t happened in years. I wasn’t to be given access to anything sharper than the purposefully dull kitchen knives. I reached a shaky hand out and lightly ran my finger over it, glancing towards the door to make sure that I was still alone.
• What if it’s some kind of trick, a trap? I picked up the shirt and gave it a once over. It was a generic pack shirt, the ones that are put out along the treeline for anyone who shifts and needs clothes.
• I cautiously picked up the knife and opened the blade. It’s razor sharp, so I click it shut gently and stare at it in wonder. Before I could give myself a reason not to, I dashed to my shelf of belongings and tucked it between the side of the shelf and the wall. It should hopefully be safe there from prying eyes.
• I dashed back to the laundry table and picked up the shirt as my hands trembled slightly, returning to my folding as though nothing had happened.
• My brain was going a mile a minute as I thought about how things were looking up for the first time in ten years. I have my wolf, exhausted though she may be, and now I have a weapon. The first weapon that I have touched in eight years, which was the last time anyone was stupid enough to forget one in their pocket. Alpha Jarrod punished them severely enough that no one else had dared forget until now.
• Sometime around midnight, I finished folding the last dry load for the night and crawled into my bed. Yawning, I drifted off to sleep of my volition for the first time in days. Hoping that the Alpha was too preoccupied to come down here tonight. Waking only to swap loads of laundry to make sure I could get caught up quickly.
• The sound of someone clicking open the locks woke me, and I glanced at the window. It’s barely light outside, which in the middle of summer means it’s early in the morning. I sit and stretch, a yawn sneaking out as I do.
• The door swung open, and I actively ignored the Alpha as he sauntered into the room. Instead, I stared straight ahead, eyeing the laundry pile that I had made a considerable dent in last night.
• “Oh good, you’re awake!” I heard him say as something soft dropped onto my lap. Puzzled, I pinched it between my fingers and held it up in front of me.
• It’s a simple, but pretty, black dress with long sleeves, a fitted bodice, and a skirt that will reach just above my knees. Chewing my bottom lip, I bowed my head low and stared at my lap. I haven’t been given anything this nice to wear in years. In fact, the previous Beta was the only person who had ever gotten me new clothes since my arrival.
• Alpha Brady had banned Beta Seth from so much as speaking to me when he took over from his father at age twenty. That was five years ago. Now, I was lucky if the Alpha tossed me a grocery bag of rags once a year to pick through for my clothes.
• I rubbed my fingers over the new material of the dress, marvelling at how soft and stretchy it was. I could feel his eyes on me, and I slowly lowered the dress to my lap.
• “Thank you, Alpha….” My voice trails off as I keep myself from asking him why he was giving it to me.
• “The visiting Alpha will arrive by 8 am today, and everything you own is completely see-through. It would be inappropriate for you to be serving such an important guest in rags!” he explained. “Regardless, from now on, I am the only male who is allowed to see your body. It is for my eyes and my eyes only!” His voice deepened as his possessive desire increased, and I shuddered. His statement made me feel used and dirty.
• My face felt warm as blood rushed into my cheeks in embarrassment and shame. Revolted, I turned my head away from him and stared at the wall as a tear snuck down my cheek. I’d known for a while that my clothing was more than a little thin, but with him providing me with only rags to wear, there was nothing I could do.
• “I’m sure you’ve noticed the changes we are making in your responsibilities.” He pauses for a moment, and I can feel his frustration building from here. “Little Doll, it’s quite rude to not look at someone when they are speaking to you. Especially when they have brought you a gift,” he says, his tone light and cheery, but laced with a warning that he has reached the end of his willingness to tolerate my disrespect.
• I forced my disgust down deep within myself, arranging my face into its carefully designed look of bleak obedience. Satisfied I wouldn’t risk angering him with my expression, I turned my body to face him, eyes respectfully on the floor in front of me.
• I could feel his gaze on me as he watched, speaking again only when he felt I had submitted. “As I am certain you’ve noticed, we’ve made some changes to your responsibilities.” He paused, kneeling down directly beside me, leaning in my direction. Inhaling greedily, he scents me before standing up and grinning at me.
• “It seems my memory has served me well; your parents celebrated your 10th birthday with the pack during the period they lived among us before their betrayal.”. I flinch at the reminder of how deeply my parents betrayed the pack. “You have your wolf now, so I can no longer trust you with sharp things, not even dull kitchen knives!” He glares at me, knowing that if I had the chance, I’d gut him.
• Abruptly, Brady grabs me by the back of my neck and drags me sideways, pushing me down onto my stomach on the mattress. He pulls the back of my shirt up and sighs in relief, tracing his finger over the fresh scars. I begin to whimper and whine at the uncomfortable feeling of pressure on the numbed skin, as I thrash in his grip, desperate to be let up.
• “I figured between the silver dagger and the wolfsbane dousing, it wouldn’t be able to heal away entirely!” He exclaims, letting go of me, and I slowly sat back up, trembling in a seething resentment.
• Still kneeling next to me, he hooked a finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Now that you’re 20, you can sense your mate. You’d do well to refuse them, rejecting them if they don’t reject you first. If not, I’ll bring them down to watch me and you have a little fun, and then I’ll kill him in front of you.” He growled at me, enjoying the sight of me trembling as fear overtook my anger at his words.
• “I want that switched over, and the dry stuff folded,” He demands, standing up as he waves his hands towards the laundry station. “You need to be washed, dressed, and presentable by 6!”
• He turns on his heel and walked out, leaving me scrambling to complete an impossible feat.