What Lurks Beneath

Slave POV      My cold feet hit the ground, desperately trying to escape my predator. It's closing in by the second, and I can feel its teeth gnashing at my ankles. Everything in me wants to look back and confront this predator but I know that if I do, it will catch me and that’s when it will all be over. I can’t let it catch up but my feet are bleeding and my stamina is running out. I won’t be able to keep this up much longer. I need to find a solution, somewhere to escape its relentless pursuit. It's getting harder to see by the second as the moon begins to be hidden by the clouds, any hope of escape beginning to fade and that’s when it catches me. It pins me to the cold wet ground, baring its teeth at me, drool dripping from its mouth onto my face. MINE it growls, red eyes boring into my own.      I jolt up, cold sweat running down my back. Thank Selene it was a nightmare. The sun isn’t even up yet but the first signs of it rising are present. The rays are struggling, fighting the darkness for dominance in the sky, at least that’s how I like to imagine it. I need to quickly get out of bed and start getting everything ready for the pack. I say bed, but really, it’s more like my pile of blankets on the hard, cold basement floor. I’m the pack’s omega, even though I haven’t even manifested my wolf yet. How? You may ask. Well, that’s because I’m convicted with the murder of the Pack’s Beta, and son. Normally a wolf would be sentenced to death for such a crime but I was only 13 at the time. They can’t sentence a minor to death, so instead they declared me Pack Omega, and Slave. Not that I cared much, sure the beatings were rough, and treatment harsh but at least I wasn’t dead, and at least I wasn’t living in that house anymore. I also had finding my mate to look forward too. I hear finding your mate is magical, that the bond is undeniable, and irresistible, I want that. I want to feel loved and wanted for once, not like just some outcast, like some dirty thing that needs thrown out.       I rush upstairs to the kitchen and get started on fixing the pack’s breakfast, I'm the first in. There are other Omegas in the pack, but even they technically rank higher than me. They aren’t slaves, so they normally don’t come in until well after I’ve gotten all the prep done. It hits 6am before the first person shows up. It’s Clara, the head omega. She hates me, which really isn’t saying much as the whole pack hates my guts. She isn’t unusually cruel like the others though, and only throws verbal insults.      “Goddess, Kaida, why am I cursed to see your disgusting face first thing each morning?”  We should tear off her lips, and sow her mouth shut, teach her to call us disgusting. Has she seen her own wrinkle covered face? It's a wonder her mate even gets it up anymore.       “Blame your alpha” I growl “or maybe your mate, shouldn’t his face be the first thing you see?”      She scoffs and just turns to do her own work. Seems like she wasn’t in the mood for a fight today   Or she knows better than to mess with us.      I roll my eyes at Nikita, we both know that wasn’t it. Something was definitely off about her today. If we were actually friends, I'd consider trying to delve into what the problem is, but considering I have no friends in this pack, I really don’t feel the need to. Just need to make it through today unscathed. Tomorrow I turn 18, tomorrow I will be able to shift for the first time, tomorrow they will release me as a rogue, finally ridding themselves of their greatest shame. Tomorrow I have a chance at finding my mate, but for now I just need to make it through today. The rest of the kitchen staff finally strolls in and starts getting to work. They just ignore me for the most part, with the occasional shove here or there, but nothing too serious. The omegas aren’t of any real threat, they just don’t have it in them to be dominant toward anyone. And with the reputation of a murderer, some were honestly too scared to even do anything. If I could kill a beta then what was stopping me from killing them. Can’t really fault them for their reasoning, it’s technically sound.       With the breakfast rush over with, I make my way toward the upper floors, where the ranked wolves lived. I head toward the Alpha and Luna’s room first and knock. Not hearing anyone I enter and begin cleaning. You would think as leaders of a pack they’d be a little cleaner, and organized but that was definitely not the case. Used condoms, all over the floor, clothes scattered everywhere, it wasn’t hard to figure out what they were getting at last night. They were a mated couple though, the Alpha and Luna of the pack, it’s honestly not that surprising. Wolves have a really high s*x drive and when mated that drive only increased, add in being an Alpha and well... it’s a surprise they aren’t jumping each other 24 hours a day. However, they did not need to leave the remains of their love making scattered all over the floor for my poor virgin self to have to clean up. Disgusted and disturbed I begin cleaning up their pig sty when I hear a knock at the door.       Confused I go to answer it, only to find their son on the other end. His face scrunches in disgust upon seeing me and shoves me out of the way.       “Where are my parents slave?” he all but growls. It takes every ounce of restraint I have not to snap back at him. Instead I lower my head and gently reply      “I don’t know, when I got here, they were gone” he stared me down before finally deciding to shove me to the ground.       “you didn’t say alpha” he snarled, pushing my face into the ground. Then he grabbed me by the hair and started dragging me to his room. I dug my feet into the ground trying in vain to stop him from dragging me there. His room was his favorite place to torture me. It was sound proof and wouldn’t disturb the rest of the pack, as he would put it.       “Alpha, I'm sorry, please forgive me” I all but cried, my voice trembling in fear. When he got good and started there was no stopping him. I don’t know what had him in such a bad mood but I have a feeling it probably has something to do with Claudia. That’s the only reason he ever seemed to snap for no good reason. Claudia is a she-wolf whose mate died a year back. Ever since, her and the Alpha to be, Brone, have been sleeping together. They’re not second chance mates. He just likes her body and she likes his status. They’re honestly made for each other and I wonder how they weren’t fated to be together.       “A filthy slave like you doesn’t deserve my forgiveness”   A filthy Alpha like you doesn’t deserve my respect, you mutt. Let me bite his throat out, I'm sure he tastes just as nasty as he acts, but it would be worth it just to feel his life slip in my jaws.      “After what you did, anything I do to you would be too kind. You disgusting murderer”       I keep struggling, despite the futility. Deep down I know there’s no getting out of this, that I'm probably better off just submitting and getting this over with. Nikita won’t let me though, she continuously pushes me to fight, to struggle with everything I have. Of course, nothing comes of it. He’s 20. He’s an of age Alpha, whose had two years worth of training with his wolf. While I'm just an unshifted Omega.       We finally reach the room and he throws me in, slamming me into the corner of his bed post. My forehead splits from the impact and I can feel the blood dripping down into my right eye, forcing me to shut it closed. I pull my hand up to my brow trying to wipe away some of the blood but it just won’t stop. Then I hear a snapping sound from behind me and instantly tear up, I know what’s coming. He's gotten a hold of his favorite toy. Claudia must have really done a number on him. Next thing I know I feel s***h of the whip on my back, ripping my clothes and flaying skin with it.   “WHO AM I?”   “Alpha” I whimper out  Whip  “Say it clearer. WHO am I?”  “Alpha, you’re Alpha sir” I all but yell out, desperate to appease him  Whip  “And what are you?”  “I’m a slave, Alpha”  Whip  “Will you ever forget to call me Alpha again?”  “No, Alpha”  Whip  “I don’t believe you”  Whip  “Convince me, you disgusting slave”  “I swear it on the Goddess, Alpha, I will never forget” the tears are cascading down my face at this point, despite my continuous attempts to hold them back.  Whip  “Not good enough”  Whip  “We both know the goddess means nothing to a filthy murderer like you”  Whip, whip  “ Someone who would murder her own Beta”  Whip  “Someone who would murder her own father”  Whip  “Someone who would murder her own brother”  Whip  “My best friend” he snarls the last part out and I know he’s about to be crueler than normal  Whip, Whip, Whip, Whip      He puts extra force into those last four, and I let out a blood curdling scream. It takes all I have to not pass out right then and there but I know I'm on the brink. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. My vision is beginning to blur and spots are emerging everywhere. With those last four whips he seems satisfied though. He throws me out his room and locks his door.      I can’t pass out yet. Goddess only knows what will happen if any of the pack members find me in this compromising state. Instead, I manage to pull myself up on my feet and, using the walls and railing as support, slowly limp my way downstairs to the main floor and out the pack house. I pull my shirt and bra off, then stagger towards the hose. Even if I weren't a wolf I would feel no shame in my nakedness, this hose is my only option for a shower so I've grown accustomed to being on full display for prying eyes. I use the cold water to rinse the blood and bits of fabric still attached to my skin. Once I'm satisfied I've cleaned the area, I make my way towards my little basement corner. There I find one of my more worn clothes and slowly tear it, turning it into a makeshift bandage and wrap it around my back. It’s not ideal but it will have to do, considering I'm not even allowed to visit the pack doctor. Once I'm satisfied with my handiwork I finally allow myself to pass out.