Reclaiming Herself—Completed

Chapter Nine

Danielle.

***Mature content throughout the chapter. Read with caution. s****l trauma and abuse.***

She had never seen d**k giddy. It was terrifying watching the alpha cackle with glee. After his beta had informed him of the traitorous Timothy, Danielle had been forced to watch him be tortured to death. Richard had threatened her that any time she looked away, a slave girl would meet the same fate.

No one else was harmed that night.

Richard had ushered everyone into their underground bunker. The alpha had built it in case of raids and had paid a witch a lot of money to ensure that scents remained undetected within the space.

Danielle had overheard Richard gloating about how Alpha Patrick hadn’t even investigated for a hidden door where he’d hung Timothy’s body. In that moment, she realized just how close she’d been to a possible freedom. She silently cursed herself for not trying to make noise or alerting the other alpha in some way. While the pack was fed lies about why they had had to hide, she knew the truth. But, she was again powerless to do anything.

She now sat on that cursed bed, once again chained to the frame. Thankfully, Richard had changed out her silver collar for a leather, which meant her raw neck was getting some sort of relief. However, her thoughts were far from the room she was in. After Richard had ordered everyone out of the bunker, it hit her. The smell. She had stiffened at first, unsure of how to even perceive such a delicious odor. At Richard’s bark, though, she immediately pretended like it wasn’t there. She knew what that smell meant, and she did not want Richard to know that her mate had been there.

Danielle didn’t even know how to feel about the knowledge herself. She had sworn off her mate. He was a forbidden idea that had long since died off in her mind. He wasn’t an option because she didn’t think he actually existed. Yet, there was the smell.

She stilled as the next realization hit her. If she had smelled him, there in the dungeon hallway, then that had meant that he had smelled her. Her cell door had been left open, which again pointed to him having seen where she had been living. In fact, his scent had been everywhere in the pack house that she had been–on her way back to d**k’s room.

Without even letting her hopes rise, they were dashed a moment later. He had left. He had left her there. Obviously, he had smelled her there, but he hadn’t tried very hard to find her.

“f**k mates,” she muttered, knowing her brain was going down all sorts of rabbit holes.

There were probably a million reasons why he left her there. Maybe some of them weren’t even his fault. Maybe he didn’t want to leave. Maybe he was scared off by what he saw. Maybe he assumed she was a criminal.

“Ugh. f**k mates!” she said a little louder.

This was why.

Her brain was exploring every option, making every excuse, giving her hope. And she couldn’t have any hope in that bastard. He left. He left her here. That was all that mattered.

Richard slammed into the door hard, slamming it into the door. He was very drunk.

He had thrown a party for the pack after everyone had filed out of the bunker. Supposedly, it was in her honor as the new luna. She had spent the whole time stuck in his room, though, not that she minded. In fact, Danielle preferred to be out of sight because that meant that she could be out of mind as well. Richard was a very jealous man and had sent her away in case any of the men tried to do anything to her.

“Heeeeeeeey maaaate. M-my mate. Lunnnaaaa,” he laughed. “So much pweetier than my laaast one. Did you,” he hiccuped. “Know that?”

Danielle shuddered as he came closer. He was eying her in a way that disgusted her, but that was also too familiar. He practically collapsed on the bed, falling face first into the plush mattress.

“Those eyes,” he muttered.

She watched in horror as he clumsily began fiddling with his belt.

“Stupid f*****g pants. Get off!” he yelled, staring at his belt.

In his drunken haze, he was making it tighter instead of letting it loose. It was a funny sight, but Danielle dared not laugh. Richard was a mean drunk.

“Help,” he barked at her.

Sighing, Danielle obliged, standing from the bed and walking over to him. As she approached, Richard raised his hand to her. She instinctively stiffened and waited for his open palm to hit her face. Instead, he softly began stroking her cheek.

“So soft,” he murmured, not even paying attention to her.

She felt his hand slide to her throat and start pulling at the buttons. She tried to push his hand away, but he frowned and grunted, grabbing a fistful of her dress. He pulled hard on it and managed to rip open the front. She sighed, unable to even mourn the loss of the only piece of clothing that made her feel like a person again in over a year.

Richard continued to rip the garment to shreds, making her stand naked before him.

“Bedder. So much bedder,” he slurred with a goofy smile.

He openly gawked at her body, tracing the now faint bite marks on her stomach. He felt her breasts and attempted to tease her n*****s, slobbering them with his mouth. He pulled her closer into him and began kissing her body. Danielle stared at the ceiling, praying to the Moon Goddess that he’d just fall asleep or drop dead, whichever was faster.

“Belllllllllt,” he said, pulling on her arm.

Danielle knelt and finally loosened the belt. Richard chuckled and pulled his pants down as quickly as he could. He then pushed her hard onto the bed, making her land on her back. Half tripping over the pants around his ankles, Richard landed on top of her and resumed kissing her. She felt his p***s begin to harden and pressed her eyes shut.

She then felt his hands move to open her legs. His not-quite-hard-enough p***s poked at her, missing the opening, which infuriated the alpha.

“f*****g peese of s**t. Why?” he shouted at her.

Her cheek stung a moment later.

“f**k meee!”

Her other cheek pricked with enough pain to force her eyes open and let the tears escape. She saw Richard panting above her, now resting on his knees. His completely flaccid p***s dangling in her face.

“Why?” he roared.

Danielle was at a loss for words. His hands were on her throat in another second. She began gasping for air. He was strangling her! Danielle’s mind raced for an escape route. There had to be something. He wouldn’t actually kill her, would he?

Bringing her arms up, she struggled against him. She then brought up one of her legs, and was able to nudge his knee just enough for him to lose balance, and he tumbled backwards onto the floor.

Danielle quickly filled her lungs with as much air as she could while scrambling across the bed. She was still chained, but tried to get as much distance in between them. After a few agonizing minutes, she realized that Richard wasn’t getting up. A fleeting moment of hope shot through her head as she remembered her desperate prayer earlier.

Quietly climbing back onto the bed, she crept to look over at the alpha. To her dismay, she saw his chest rise and fall, which meant he hadn’t died. However, he had fallen asleep, and that meant that she had a moment of peace where he wasn’t tormenting her. A moment of peace where she could think.

“Maybe you are real, Goddess,” she whispered. “If you are, thank you.”

Danielle was quick to get to work. She began studying her chains and testing it for weak spots. She knew that she couldn’t escape that night, but if she began forming a plan, now that she was out of the cell, perhaps there was a chance. Perhaps Caleb would smuggle her a tool or two that she could hide in the room. She devised several plans, trying to put together the most likely escape route. The balcony doors didn’t have locks, so if she could get out of her chains, then maybe she could use the sheets to get down to the ground. Then, if she rid her body of the wolfsbane, she could shift and just run. Living as a rogue would be better than this fate. It wasn’t a complicated plan, and there were a few barriers to achieving it, but it was an actual plan. It was the first plan she’d created in a year that had actual promise. Danielle was practically smiling from the thought of freedom. For the first time in quite some time, she felt hope blossom in her chest. The curse of Richard’s bedroom could turn into her savior for freedom.