The Mute Maid
1486 Words
Ariella’s POV
“Hey, Mute!”
I rolled my eyes the second I heard that voice. Of course. What now? Another circus act just for me?
Maybe today they’d make me dance, or clean up the training yard like some kind of cleaning robot.
Good thing they’d stopped throwing dirty water and eggs. That was progress, I guess.
I didn’t turn right away. I knew the voice…it belonged to one of Sophia’s favorite idiots, Tara.
Sophia. The Beta’s daughter. The self-proclaimed princess of this pack. My so-called mistress.
They stopped dumping dirt on me because of Sophia. Not because she’s kind or generous. No. She just says my “bad smell affects her poor heart.” More like her rotten heart.
“Are you deaf too?” another one called out, louder, full of mockery.
I kept walking, pretending not to hear. That lasted all of three seconds before someone grabbed me roughly by the arm. Their claws dug in, slicing through skin.
I clenched my jaw, bit back the hiss of pain, and took a slow breath.
Unlike them, I don’t heal on my own.
That’s one of my secrets. Of course, I’m a werewolf. I have a wolf. But my identity…what I really am…is a healer wolf.
Not that anyone knows. Or cares.
A long time ago, the Moon Goddess decided my clan had too much power…to heal, to curse, to torment.
So she stripped away our ability to heal like the rest. She left us weaker, kind of like humans in a world of beasts. Our wolves don’t help us heal. We heal ourselves. Slowly. Painfully.
Good thing I’ve mastered how to do that faster over the years.
“Hey, mute,” another voice called again, this time in a sing-song tone, like I was some kind of plaything. “I need you to go pick up deathroot from the edge of the forest. Now.”
I froze. Deathroot. A poisonous plant that could kill in seconds if you touched it wrong. Of course they’d send me. The useless, voiceless omega.
I scoffed and looked up at the darkening sky. The moon was hiding behind thick clouds. ‘Perfect time to go die,’ I thought.
‘Can’t we just curse them all and run?’ Raven hissed inside me, her voice slick with rage, like poison simmering just beneath my skin. ‘Let their bones rot and their blood boil.’
‘No,’ I snapped back, tightening the mental leash on her before she lunged free. ‘We don’t get to be reckless. We finish the mission. Then we destroy whoever’s left.’
Raven’s growl curled through my mind, feral and furious. ‘You’re too soft. I say we start with the one breathing closest to us.’
Before I could answer her, a finger jabbed sharply against the side of my head. “What’s the matter?” a voice taunted, dripping mockery.
“Did the little mute suddenly go deaf too?”
That did it. I turned slowly, locked eyes with him, then reached for the small notepad I carried tied around my waist. The thing had become part of me…a pathetic accessory for the “mute girl.”
I grabbed the pen, scribbled fast, and held it up for him to read.
“And are you suddenly blind? Can’t you see it’s dark?”
The reaction was instant. Gasps filled the air. Like I’d just committed treason.
“What did you say?” one of them hissed.
Before I could turn over to the next page, a hand slapped across my face. Hard. My head snapped sideways.
Another slap came from the other side.
Then a shove. I stumbled back, caught myself, but another blow sent me to the ground.
“Watch your tone, freak,” someone barked, kicking me in the stomach.
Tone? I didn’t even speak. How dumb can they get?!
Laughter. Rough, mean laughter surrounded me. Boots slammed into my sides, my back, my ribs. Each hit thudded through my body until I lost count.
I curled slightly, protecting my stomach and face, tasting blood on my tongue. My wolf growled low inside me, restless, furious, begging to break free. But I couldn’t shift. Not here. Not in front of them. I shouldn’t let them see.
So I stayed still. I took it.
One boot pressed down on my hand, hard enough to make me groan. I looked up, meeting Tara’s eyes. She stood there, arms folded, watching with that smug little smile.
“Enough guys,” she finally said, waving lazily. “We wouldn’t want her to bleed all over the place. She’ll stain the ground.”
They laughed harder.
My lip was split. My nose bled. My arm burned where the claws had torn skin. Blood trickled down to the dirt, dark and sticky.
I spat the blood out and lifted my head. Even beaten, I smiled.
Tara frowned. “What the hell are you smiling at?”
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t, obviously. But I made sure my eyes told her everything… 'you don’t scare me, asshole.'
That tiny spark of defiance enraged her. She stepped forward and kicked me across the face. Pain flared white-hot.
The others started again, kicks flying from every direction. I lost track of who was hitting me. The world spun, sound muffled by ringing in my ears.
Still, I didn’t scream, couldn’t even if I wanted to. It would give them the satisfaction they crave.
I swallowed down the pain. If I had a voice, I’d have laughed so hard in their faces.
I stayed on the ground, knees in the dirt, blood dripping from my lip. My writing pad was lying uselessly beside me, crumpled and covered with dirt.
One of my bullies, Rina, called the attention of the others excitedly.
“I’ve got a good idea,” she said. “We need to remind her where she belongs.”
She snapped her fingers. Two boys ran off. The rest closed in, boots scuffing. I knew that look. They wanted a show.
I hugged what was left of my skirt to my chest. My hands shook as I shook my head at her.
Don’t.
Rina laughed. “Look, the mute’s shy.”
“Bet those rags hide nothing worth seeing anyway!” another boy shouted.
The boys came back dragging a metal cooler. Frost leaked from the lid. Inside were chunks of ice the size of my fist, sharp and cloudy.
“Strip,” Rina said.
I didn’t move. My heart pounded so hard my teeth rattled.
Hands grabbed me. Fingers ripped my skirt and blouse. Buttons popped and rolled away. My skirt tore with a loud rip. I twisted, bit a wrist.
Someone slapped me hard. My ears rang.
They didn’t stop until I was in nothing but my old underwear. The night air felt like needles. I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head again.
Please. No.
“Hold her down.”
Four pairs of hands pinned my shoulders and wrists to the dirt. I couldn’t shift. Couldn’t scream.
Rina lifted the cooler.
“Smile, mute.”
She turned it upside down and ice poured over me like a bucket of knives. It hit my head, my neck, slid under my bra and down my back.
The cold burned. My skin went red, then numb. My whole body shook. My teeth chattered so hard I bit my tongue.
They poked me with sticks like I had a disease they would rather not come in contact with.
“Dance moron!”
“Cleaner than she’s ever been!”
A boot shoved a chunk of ice between my legs. I jerked. My wolf growled inside me, claws scratching to get out.
I bit down hard to keep her back. We can’t expose our identity.
Rina knelt, grabbed my chin, forced my face up.
“Still no tears? Let’s try harder.”
She scooped a handful of ice and smashed it into my mouth. She blocked my nostrils with her hands, my head swarmed so hard that I couldn’t breathe.
Just then, something in me snapped.
I shoved her. Hard.
She fell on her butt, mouth open in shock.
The circle went quiet.
I stood up slowly. Ice stuck to my skin. Blood and water ran down my legd as my hands shook. Inside,
Raven was beyond furious.
She wanted to lunge at them. Heavens know we can take them all in no time. To hell with hiding my identity.
But before I could take a step, a sound sliced through the night.
Low. Fierce. A growl.
It rolled across the air, deep and commanding, and every single one of them froze.
The air thickened. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as everyone turned towards the source.
And me? Despite the blood dripping down my chin, a slow grin crept across my face.
‘Took him so damn long.’
- Writer
