The Forbidden Mates

Chapter 2: The Meeting

As I made my way around the packhouse, I avoided everyone, ducking into empty rooms when pack members would walk down the halls. Trying my hardest to stay out of sight. I knew that if I ran into anyone, I would get beaten and berated again. I was nothing in this pack, just a punching bag that anyone could use to let their anger out on. I was just finishing tidying the Alpha's office when I checked the time.

"s**t!" I cursed under my breath as I realised it was already 11:30am. The Alpha expected lunch to be served at noon sharp. There was no room for error. I rushed out of the office and down the stairs to the kitchen, where I started preparing sandwiches and salads.

"What is wrong with you today, Kestrel?!" I berated myself as I realised that this is the third time today I've messed up. First, I overslept. Then I burnt my hands and nearly got caught at breakfast, and now I'm running late again. Thankfully the omegas had already prepared most of the ingredients. All I had to do was assemble the sandwiches and plate up the salads. I put everything out on the prep bench and started and assembly line. I left the kitchen with sweat pouring down my body after making over 100 sandwiches. There won't be as many eating at lunch, but grown wolves could easily put away 3 or more sandwiches at a time, and that's on a rest day.

I knew the other Alpha's would start arriving soon for the meeting, so I made my way to the meeting room and started making it presentable. I put fresh flowers in the vase and opened the curtains and windows to let in fresh air and light. I ensured that every spec of dust was gone and polished all the glassware as I placed them on the meeting table. I made sure the drink station was packed and that the room looked spotless.

I heard voices coming up the stairs and knew that some of the guests had started arriving early. Thankfully I was almost done. I quickly double-checked everything was spotless and removed the covers from the assortment of snacks that the omega's had delivered. I quietly moved to the furthest corner of the room and looked down, clasping my hands in front of me. I waited silently in the room as it began to fill. More Alpha's than expected came to the meeting, but this is not unusual. I had fully expected this and ensured that there were enough refreshments and food to sustain a minimum of 20 Participants. Not one of the Alpha's or their Beta's seemed to notice my presence. I had to wait for my Alpha to release me before I could move from this corner, but he wasn't here yet. It is so rare that he is not the first in a meeting, yet here we are.

I waited for an additional 30 minutes shrinking in on myself as the other Alpha's started to argue amongst themselves. All using their alpha voices in a bid to prove their status as higher than the rest. The sheer force of the Alpha's aura's had my skin littered with goosebumps. Something wasn't right though, any normal average wolf would be cowering away and whimpering at this overload of power present in the room. I didn't overthink this, though, as I noticed the door handle move. Alpha Jez was here; I quickly made myself look like I was in pain; I couldn't afford to have him think I was disrespectful.

Alpha Jez entered with an omega. He pointed towards me and ordered the omega. "Take her out of here. We won't be needing anything more from you all tonight". He spoke with fake gratitude, making the other Alpha's believe he truly cared for all of his pack members. We both left the room. I continued to whimper and forced myself to move as slow as possible. I know what the omega's usually looked like after standing in the presence of such powerful wolves for such a long time.

The omega escorted me to my room and locked the door as she left. I knew I would be safe for the rest of the afternoon and quickly made myself comfortable and tried to sleep. Whenever the Alpha has guests, I'm expected to do all of my work overnight and stay entirely out of sight. If I do well, the Alpha will have an omega leave food for me. If I mess up, I don't get fed. Today was another day of nothing to eat. My stomach growled as I let myself drift into a fitful sleep.