CHAPTER 7
1380 Words
Elara
“Well, look who we have here.”
I didn’t expect to hear her voice or see her. She was the last person I had expected to meet here. I felt a heat of shame and embarrassment crawl down my spine.
That voice that haunted me every single day in high school. That sharp, smug little voice I hoped I’d never hear again since school. I had prayed that it wasn’t her and I had hoped I was developing schizophrenia, suddenly hearing voices in my head.
"I knew you would definitely be where you belong; As a w***e in his bed."
I turned my head slowly and there she was.
Laurie.
Ace’s sister.
Her eyes gleamed, not with concern or pity, but with victory. I was bare, for the moon goddess's sake. A look of amusement flickered in her expression.
“I knew it,” she sneered, clapping her hands with a scowl. Then, she stepped into the room, looking around warily then crossing her arms folded tightly across her chest. “I always knew you were nothing more than a pathetic little attention seeking w***e, b***h!”
I tried to lift my head, but it flopped back against the pillow. My mouth was too dry to speak, even if I could speak. Even if the gag wasn’t there, I wasn’t sure I would have been able to speak. But it was for the better.
She came closer, her heels clicking against the floor. It felt so loud. She walked slowly towards me, and knowing Laurie, this was an attempt to be dramatic.
“I mean, seriously, Elara?” she tilted her head. “You used to walk around school like you were better than us. You were all brains and beauty," she stopped to give me a condescending look from head to toe, "even though I'm finding it difficult to see it," she spat in a tiny little mutter, but enough for me to hear before speaking further. "Teachers loved you, boys worshipped you. Even Devon wanted you.” Her voice cracked a little at that last part. “You thought we were jealous, didn’t you? You thought being on scholarship made you special?”
She let out a harsh laugh, her eyes sweeping over my exposed skin and bruised limbs.
“Look at you now.”
Her words cut through the air like daggers, piercing my own heart. I flinched, not from pain, but from shame. A kind of shame that sank deeper than anything Ace had done to my body. I shut my eyes as I reminisced on my life back then. I had been a bright kid.
“You look like trash, no—" she laughed, "You are trash.” she shrugged, kneeling by the bed and leaning close enough for her breath to brush my cheek. “Exactly where you belong.”
I closed my eyes. I wanted to disappear. Shrink into nothing. If the bed swallowed me whole, I wouldn’t fight it.
“I can’t wait to tell the others,” she hissed. “Their precious Elara… nothing but my brother’s plaything," she giggled, bringing out her phone to take a picture of me.
My heart skipped. No! she couldn't do that. She couldn't take a picture of me and show it to the world. She hated my guts that much. Somehow, I felt more ashamed and bothered that Laurie had seen me naked, than when Ace looked at me when I was naked.
"Smile for the camera!" She squealed as if my misery was her joy.
I wanted to beg. I wanted to plead with her that she shouldn't do this. But nothing came out. Maybe it was the gag.
But then—
“Laurie…”
His voice came from the hallway, cold enough to freeze the air.
She jumped to her feet.
“Alpha Ace! I—I didn’t know you were…”
He stepped in slowly, eyes locked on her like a predator who had just spotted its prey.
He inched closer with an icy gaze. “What are you doing in my room?” His tone didn’t rise. It didn’t need to. The calmness made it worse.
“I just— I was passing and thought I heard—” she fumbled, backing away, “I thought maybe you were in trouble.”
He raised a brow. “You thought I was in trouble?”
She swallowed hard, clutching tight to her phone, “I didn’t mean to intrude, I swear. I was just passing by and—”
“I don’t ever remember giving you permission to step foot in here. In my room, Laurie," He said, walking past her like she wasn’t even there and grabbing a thick blanket from the side. Then, he gently draped it over me without a word, covering what little dignity I had left.
Laurie looked like she had been slapped from how befuddled and frightened she was. “Brother, I didn’t know—”
He turned to her with a bloodshot gaze. “Get out.”
She blinked. “But—”
“I said get out.”
Laurie’s mouth fell open, but no more words came out. She glared at me once with pure venom and hatred in her eyes before grabbing the door handle as she scurried out.
The door slammed shut behind her and then for a split second, there was silence till I shifted barely. My wrists ached and my legs throbbed. The blanket helped in getting rid of the cold but a knot tightened in my abdomen and I kept feeling a sharp pain.
I tried to reach out for my stomach but my hands were still tied to the headboard and I feared for the safety of my child. He turned towards me, a slow smile creeping up his lips.
“A little uncomfortable, are we?” he asked, voice light like we were chatting over tea. He moved closer, crouching beside the bed. “What? Tired already?” He dragged a finger down the inside of my thigh, watching me squirm. “But the night’s only getting started, little mouse.”
I whimpered softly, the gag catching the sound. His fingers hovered just above the spot that made me tense.
“I have to say,” he murmured, tracing lazy patterns on my skin, “you look so pretty like this. All tied up. Quiet for once.”
He leaned in close, his breath grazing my ear.
“You know what I was going to do next?” he whispered, fingers slipping under the blanket. “I was going to make you beg. Gag or not. You’d be surprised what I can make you feel, Elara.”
I jerked against the ropes, trying to shake him off, but it only made him chuckle.
“I love when you fight. It’s cute. Like a kitten scratching a big bad wolf”
His fingers stopped near the cut he made earlier. He pressed gently on it and I flinched. The pain sent a jolt up my leg, and I gasped through the gag.
“You’re learning,” he said softly. “Pain means obedience.”
He reached up and brushed hair from my face. “But don’t worry. You’re still mine.”
His head tilted, like he was admiring his own work. “I don’t think you understand what that means yet. But you will.”
A knock echoed through the room. It was sharp and it sounded like whoever was at the door wanted to deliver an urgent message because no one had the guts to knock on his door like that.
His whole body stilled. He turned his head toward the door, irritated. “What?”
“Alpha,” came a voice from the other side, nervous and breathless. “It’s urgent. You need to come now.”
Ace didn’t move at first. Then, slowly, he stood, casting one more look down at me. His eyes were darker now.
He moved to the door, twisted the knob and cracked it open.
“What is it?”
The voice murmured something low in a tone too husky for me to hear. Then I heard him growl. It was deep and dangerous.
“What?!”
- Writer
