Secrets and Punishment
1648 Words
Chastity
The weekend was a time of relaxation for most of the pack. The wolves in my age group would spend it partying in the woods, the adults puttering around town. With it being December, that meant that the omegas in charge of public works would be decorating the streets and setting up the tree in the center of town. On the other hand, I would be working to scrub the packhouse top to bottom.
My work began immediately after school on Friday. I had dragged all of the Yule decorations down from the attic before being instructed to start my scrubbing there. I had managed to complete the attic and give the rest of the packhouse a cursory pass just after midnight. Bone exhausted, I was tempted to collapse onto my mattress and give in to sleep. The stack of textbooks on the floor beside it taunted me, though. The teachers had given a mountain of homework, and if I didn't do it now, I wouldn't have a chance before Monday.
Stinging pain tore through my scalp, causing my eyes to shoot open. Daylight streamed through the small window. I had fallen asleep, and based on the fact that the head omega was attempting to scalp me, I had overslept.
"Get your worthless ass up!" She barked. "The Alpha wants to see you. Has a few questions about why you aren't about your duties!"
Bile rose in my throat as I scrambled to my feet. Without giving me time to dress, she squeezed my arm painfully and dragged me up the stairs. My mind raced, looking for an excuse that would prevent the Alpha from silvering me again. I knew that it wouldn't matter what I said, though. The Alpha had made it clear long ago that there would be no room for error on my part. Oversleeping was definitely an error I wasn't allowed to make. I was trembling in fear by the time I was thrust inside the Alpha's office.
"Ah. I see you've located our wayward omega." He spoke, raising his eyebrows at me. "Where was the little s**t, Amber?"
"Asleep still, like the lazy little thing she is."
The Alpha placed his elbows on his desk, folding his hands under his chin as he studied me. I could feel Amber beside me vibrating with anticipation. She hated me as much as anyone else in the pack. The fact that my duties lightened her workload only increased her anger toward my sleeping in.
"So, what have you got to say for yourself, Chastity?" The Alpha spoke.
I bowed my head, keeping my eyes on the floor. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I was working until after midnight and had homework to do after. I didn't mean to oversleep."
"Such paltry excuses, child." He replied sternly. "Have I not taken you in? After what your parents did, colluding with that vampire, I should have killed you with them. You repay my kindness by falling behind in your duties."
I felt my stomach drop. It was the first information the Alpha had ever given me about what my parents had done to warrant execution. Working with vampires for any reason was forbidden in the kingdom. I had learned about the treaties between the different supernaturals in school, including the one that created a tenuous peace between werewolves and vampires. Even so, werewolf law forbade dealings with them. Vampires were known to be fickle; the mere perception of a slight toward them would bring the treaty with their kind crumbling down. If I had learned that through school, there wouldn't be any way my parents hadn't known of the law.
"I felt pity for you when I let you live." He continued. "You were such a small thing. I couldn't understand why your parents would risk bringing the crown down on the pack to consort with those leeches, let alone endanger you. If only I had known at the time what I learned later." He sighed.
I wanted to question him and ask what he could have uncovered that would require me to be treated so poorly. Instead, I kept my mouth shut. I knew better than to ask questions. Silent compliance was all I was allowed. Anything else would result in a silver collar, but since that was already on the day's agenda, pressing for answers would lead to something worse.
"If I recall correctly, this is not the first instance of such misbehavior for you, Chastity. I would have thought you had learned your lesson by now." The Alpha shook his head, standing from his seat.
I watched, trembling, while he donned a leather pair of gloves. As weak as I was, the silver would do more damage to my body than his, but it was still dangerous to even an Alpha. With his gloves in place, he pulled open the bottom drawer in his desk and retrieved the silver collar. Amber didn't attempt to hide her glee over my coming torment, letting loose a soft giggle as the Alpha strode toward me.
Gritting my teeth, I forced my eyes to the floor and waited. My hair was brushed away from my neck to allow the silver collar to settle on my skin. I whimpered as the collar sizzled against my skin but bit back the scream of agony building in my throat. I felt the weight of the lock securing it in place and risked letting the tears stream down my cheeks. I was already weak from being malnourished; the silver sapped nearly all of the remaining strength I had, causing my knees to buckle. Amber jerked me back to my feet with a low growl.
"Now, I expect you will complete your tasks for the day no matter how late you have to work. I also expect that two weeks in the collar will ensure that you are not late to your duties again." The Alpha said, clearly dismissing me.
Amber gripped my arm tighter, digging her nails into my skin, and dragged me from the Alpha's office with a curt 'thank you'. Since I had overslept, she decided to alter my cleaning instructions. Since I had managed to deep clean the attic after bringing down all of the Yule decorations, I was now to start on the bottom floor.
"You'll scrub everything, floor to ceiling." She barked. "And make sure you prepare all of the guest rooms on this floor. This morning, the Alpha received word that Silver Crescent was selected to host the ball this year."
I pursed my lips, fighting the urge to ask why I was preparing rooms weeks before the ball would even take place.
"I want fresh linens all around. You'll find some new items outside of the rooms." She continued. "Everything has to be perfect when the other packs begin arriving in a couple of weeks. The Alpha has insisted that we show only our best, so the other packs understand that we are to be respected."
"Yes, ma'am." I murmured.
She had answered my question without my asking. Our pack was one of the smaller ones; it made sense that our Alpha wanted to show off to the others. It wouldn't do for them to think we were unworthy of hosting the Yule ball. The fact that the King and Queen always attended only added to the need to impress everyone.
Armed with my instructions, I set about my work. It was easier to keep the lower levels clean on a Saturday when only a handful of omegas were in the packhouse to be on hand for cooking and decorating. Everyone else was out, enjoying the day. Even so, the work was slow going. Between not having eaten since the day before and the silver collar sapping my energy, I took breaks as frequently as I could without notice.
I worked well into the night, making sure everything was sparkling clean and perfect. Satisfied with my efforts, Amber directed me to clean and reorganize the last three rooms on the floor, saying that would be the last of my work for the day. The morning would bring the second floor and the day after the third. With my energy and strength waning, it took me well into the night to finish the last few rooms. A typical wolf would have been able to complete them in an hour or less, maybe a bit longer if they were under the effects of silver, but it would have still been faster than I had been able to work.
I wanted to scream and cry at the cruelty of the situation. Instead, I dragged my tired body down the basement steps and collapsed onto my mattress. I sent a silent prayer to the Goddess to protect Mister Whiskers outside in the cold that was starting to settle in. Since I had inadvertent slept in, I hadn't been able to let him in the window that morning. With exhaustion setting in, I didn't have it in me to sneak out of the house to search for him. Bone tired, I let sleep take me.
At first, I thought I was dreaming. The warm hands creeping under my shirt couldn't be real. Nobody cared enough for me to come to the basement aside from Rob, and he would be home in his bed. Opening my eyes, I saw the Alpha's son, Billy, sitting beside me on my mattress. I shoved him away weakly and scrambled to my feet.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"Oh, don't be like that." He grinned, his eyes fixated on me as I tried to put as much distance between us as I could. "You know you want it."
"Please," I begged. "Just go back upstairs and leave me alone."
Billy's tongue darted between his lips, his eyes raking over me. Smiling darkly, he advanced toward me.
- Writer
