Vows of Silence

17

Alpha Devon was staring at me. His eyes shifted between me and Alpha Damian.

''Are you okay?'' He looked directly at me as he spoke. Again, with the questions. By this point, I was exhausted and just wanted to move on from my face injuries. My head still hurts. I nodded as I opened my mouth, Alpha Damian leaned in closer by just the tiniest amount,''I'm okay. I just tripped carrying the basket down the steps to the laundry room.'' I did it. I lied. I've never had to do that before. Why didn't I just say that it was Beta Micheal? Does this count as protecting him? Protecting him from what? It's not something he would be punished for. Why was lying so complicated?

''You fell and what — you landed on a shoe.'' Alpha Damian was looking at me now. His hand reached out and grabbed my chin. He tilted it to whatever they were looking at and all I could feel were those stupid sparks. It's probably just because my face hurts, so any movement makes it all tingly. That's it. He probably didn't feel anything. Alpha Damian's eyes darted to his hand on my face for just a second before he looked away again. Maybe that's where the bruise is.

I pulled myself back gently and looked over at the mirror. I wasn't going to be stupid enough to disrespect two people in one day. I brought my face close to the mirror and turned my head. I finally saw what they were talking about. I saw the underside of Beta Micheal's boot on my face in deep purple sploshes. Purple squares covered my left cheek and I could even see the exact curve of the boot's heel. My hand reached up to touch my cheek. I thought maybe I would feel the raised bumps of the squares like when I cleaned his boots after he joined the hunting party, but I didn't feel anything. My skin was turning into some type of balloon as the purple grew. How had I missed it the first time? I think I hit my head too hard. Alpha Damian walked over to the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen vegetables, ''Here, hold it against your face.'' He wrapped it in a kitchen towel and handed it over to me. I can't use frozen food on my face. What if Rebecca finds out? I shook my head. One beating was enough, I didn't want another one.

''You never lie,'' said Alpha Damian as he pressed the cold towel against my face. I just washed this two days ago. The cold felt nice against my skin. Does he know whose shoe print is on my face?

''I'm okay.'' I felt the need to say that as my hand took over holding the ice.

''Is everything okay in here?'' A voice echoed in from the hallway. Beta Micheal was on his way back. What would he do if he saw me like this? I didn't have time to think about his reaction because he turned right into the kitchen.

''What the hell?'' He looked between all of us. Beta Micheal's eyes stopped right on the kitchen towel against my face. I watched his face twist as he looked in between both Alphas.

Alpha Devon gently put his hand over mine and pulled the kitchen towel back. His eyes spared a quick but knowing look to Beta Micheal's shoes. " Do you anything about this?'' He gestured to the marks on my face.

Beta Micheal frantically shook his head.

''N..No..No..I don't know anything!'' A small crowd had begun to gather in the hall just outside the kitchen. The first people to push through the crowd were the other men that arrived with Alpha Devon. They looked at each other and their eyes did that thing when they looked cloudy, so I knew he was speaking to them in their minds. Soon after they pushed through, three of our guards pushed through the crowd and two stayed behind to block anyone else from coming in through the door frame. The two guards were so big they filled the giant gap. I could feel my cheeks warming up. This was too much. Maybe, had I told the truth the first time, there wouldn't be this much stuff going on. People were trying to stick their heads and phones through the small cracks in between the guards at the door.

''Why is your boot print on the side of her face?'' Alpha Devon spoke up. Beta Micheal was white. He stuttered a bit before he tried speaking. ''I...she... it...she must have fallen, and I gave them to her to clean and I guess she smacked her face into them. Yeah. That's right. She's doing this on purpose to get me in trouble! She told you it was me!'' Alpha Devon's face was red. His chest was puffing up and down as his shoulders scrunched from how hard he was breathing.

''She never said your name. As a matter of fact, she said she fell down the stairs of the laundry room.'' Alpha Damian was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. His blue shirt was so tight that it made it seem like his muscles were bulging out of them.

''When I shared my dream of a new pack under my rule, I had hoped that it was understood that unnecessary abuse would not be tolerated.'' He spoke loud enough that the gathering crowd had been reduced to a small whisper that would echo through the group. ''I had hoped that when I stated that consequences would be administered I had hoped to entrust that to my beta.'' Beta Micheal swallowed the lump in his throat as he took a step back. Alpha Damian looked towards the guards and signaled them over with a wave of his hand.

''Please take Beta Micheal to the prison to await sentencing.'' Gasps echoed from behind the two guards. No one ever thought that Alpha Damian would arrest his cousin. They had been ruling alongside the Alpha of this pack for generations. It was all anybody talked about when Alpah Damian came to power, and now that legacy is at stake. I watched the guards drag him by his arms as his feet fought to take the path that was assigned to them.

''You can't do this to me over that trash! She's a nobody! I'm your family!'' He called out as the guards dragged him outside. I had never been to the prison, but I had heard that it was an outside, underground building.

''Are you sure that's fair?'' I found myself asking before I could stop. Alpha Devon looked at me and then switched his gaze back to Alpha Damian.

''He left a boot print on someone's face, regardless of status, for no reason other than to inflict harm. Under the new pack laws, that is a punishable offense. He should know, he helped me write the law. Some people had slowly left. Others had followed Beta Micheal to the door and hadn't come back. Maybe things really would be different under Alpha Damian's pack. His father would never had done anything like this. He would have hit me more for showing off the bruise. In fact, he's done just that, multiple times. Some of my scars have scars from how often he beat me.

''Try and get some sleep.'' Alpha Damian said to me. I nodded my head and put the frozen vegetables back in the freezer. They were still frozen so they were okay. I waited for everyone to leave the kitchen and I headed back down into the basement. My heart felt like it was beating in my throat. My stomach felt like one giant knot sitting inside me. It's like my body went numb while I was waiting for everyone to leave. I closed the basement door behind me and sank to the floor. I sat on my blanket and pushed my palms against the cold floor as I tried to snap myself out of it. I don't know what to feel. What if he gets out? He'll do worse things to me, that's for sure. Beta Micheal will never forgive me. I took a deep breath and watched the air come out of my mouth in a cloud.