The Alpha King's Mute Bride

Elsa Pov~ I scrub a stain off the tile while I hear laughter drift down from the other side of the room. I have been relegated to duties meant for servants while the rest of my family ignores me and lives like queens. A servant approaching, trips on her own foot and sends the bucket of water in her hand all over the floor. I groan in frustration as the water on the floor continues to spread, increasing the chores I have this morning. She doesn’t even mutter an apology as she stands up and retrieves the bucket. How would a servant respect me when my own family doesn’t? The laughter erupts again and my heart clenches, I get off the ground and inch closer to the living room where they are. My three older sisters are seated on the couch around their mother, Flora. Yes, theirs not ours. Unfortunately I was the only one my mother who was a lowly maid and mistress had given birth to for Alpha before she was driven out of the pack. My father, Alpha Edward, speaks up. “When Ryan arrives next tomorrow, I want Mabel to be the best dressed. She is the first child and should be married off first to a family of great influence.” The Carson’s of the silver pack are the family spoken of, they are one of the greatest on earth with a pack that produced seventy percent of what every werewolf used. They were a force to be reckoned with, until recently a scandal about their alpha, and now they’ve moved for a union with my family. My father has been over the moon and pushing for Mabel, my eldest sister who just broke up with her fiancé despite their upcoming wedding next week. The poor boy hasn’t recovered and still sends her flowers in hopes to entice her into marrying him again. Flora on the other hand pushed for Zoey, she was the sweetest of her three daughters and she in turn wanted nothing but the best for her. Molly was the candidate of the great Alpha's mother. She has made it known to everyone that she wants her son married to her. I? I was a nobody. Their laughter echoed in my bones, hollow and cold. I pressed my palm to the floor just to feel something solid beneath me. “Well I want Zoey to be his wife,” Flora argues and father just ignored her. When the proposal was first made, Father was over the moon and sang praises to his grandparents for setting down the foundation of their blissful union. “Well, since neither of my parents are vouching for me, I have to be extremely grateful that Ryan’s mother is on my side,” Molly gushes. They all burst into a round of laughter, all of them except Zoey. Most days I hate my mother for birthing me, I should have been aborted to avoid living a terrible life like this. Tired of spying on their happiness, I returned to the spot I was cleaning and cleaned up the water as well. They eventually move to the dining room to have lunch together as a family. My stomach eventually growls as if to remind me that I haven’t eaten since yesterday and I wouldn’t be eating again today if I don’t finish up my chores. I move quickly to the library and begin to dust the tables and then the shelves. I am halfway through when I hear the library door open and footsteps follow. For a moment, there is silence as I perform my duty and then the footsteps begin to inch closer to where I am. The scent of expensive perfumes, the kind I can only ever dream of fills the air and hits me harder than the voice does. “Still alive, Elsa?” I don’t need to turn to know who owns the voice but I turn around briefly looking at them before I bow my head. “Well barely,” Molly responds to Mabel and they both cackle. Mabel moves towards me and picks up my right hand with her index and thumb like my skin is rag. “She does look like she’s hanging on to the thread of life by a very thin rope.” She lets go of my hand and it drops back to my sides. “I saw you spying on us earlier in the living room. Why?” My heart skipped a beat. If she took this up with her mother, this could mean even worse for me. “Do not ever eavesdrop on family conversations again, if not I’d make sure that mother is the first to call you to order.” Molly snickers. “Besides, father said you’re not to be seen when the Alpha of Silver Pack arrives. We wouldn’t want them thinking we keep dirty slaves around.” “We know that the invite was sent to all father's daughters, bastards or not, but it would be in your best interest to keep your dumb self in your little room.” Mabel hums in agreement. “Imagine her trying to talk to an Alpha in an act to woo him. She can’t even say her own name.” I pretend not to hear their hurtful words. I’ve learned that silence makes their insults fade faster than responsive words ever could. Mabel steps even more closer, brushing an invisible dust from my sleeve. “You know, you should be grateful,” she says softly, “Father feeds you, clothes you, lets you live here. That’s more than you deserve, considering what you did.” My stomach twists at her words. What I did. The words still feel like knives after all these years, for some reason, the only male child that father had even had died on my tenth birthday. It was also the same day I became permanently mute. I never knew the full story of how he died but had been told to believe that I was the witch at fault and that was why I paid for it with my voice. I look at her once and then lower my gaze. She laughs, satisfied with herself. “Thought so.” “You should also be grateful and thankful to us for keeping you here. You can show your gratitude by thanking us now.” I bow my head even lower and murmur, “thank you.” Eventually they both leave me and I rush through the rest of chores. After I’ve had my meal of the day, I decide to go to the garden to spend some time with my furry friend. The beautiful garden welcomed me, and for a moment I forgot I was the bastard daughter of the Watson family. The little mutt which I had mentally named Hope as a symbol to myself immediately found me in the garden barking softly and wagging his tail excitedly. I kneel beside a small patch of soil and flowers and he lies beside me. I close my eyes briefly and imagine another life where I was a normal child, where my voice isn’t trapped inside my body, where my wolf is active and alive, where I might be worth being loved by an Alpha. Hope had been rescued by me and has been secretly catered for by me. Remembering the small piece of bread I had preserved for him, I reach into the pocket of my dress and pull it out wrapped in a small tissue and then give it to him. I watch him wolf down the bread in minutes and then painfully bid him a goodbye before returning into the house. I looked up at the sky and whispered silently to the stars. Maybe, just maybe, tomorrow would be different. I didn't know then that tomorrow would change everything.