Leonidas ✔️

Chapter 1 - Eleanor

"Eyes down, stand up straight, and no talking."

It was a usual routine for the women in the Dark Wolves pack.

"Eleanor, eyes down! You must submit." I felt my mother's hands on me, making sure my makeup was perfect, and there were no wrinkles in my dress. This was the third day this week that all the girls got to be out of the house because another pack was visiting, looking for their mates.

We were all lined up, put in rows according to height and beauty.

"Yes mother." I could practically see her smile, even though I was not looking at her. "They are here! Places, everyone and remember what I told you." My mother, the Beta's wife, hurried out of the pack house to greet the pack. The scent of the pack drifted into the room like silk, but my shoulders drooped even more. I didn't smell my mate.

A girl a few rows behind me squealed having smelt her mate. One of the gaurds grabbed her, ingoring her as she shrieked for her mate. The guard gripped her hair with his fist and yanked her from her row, dragging her to another room. Every girl in the room cringed as we heard her shrieking from being punished. I took a deep breath as the men from the other pack entered the room.

I could hear them sniffing, smiling half-heartedly as some men grabbed their mates from the rows, kissing them with passion and love. That was my dream. Everything was quiet, the couples had left the room. There was only one man left, and he had been walking in between the rows for a few minutes now. I did not understand what he was doing until I realised that the girl hadn't come back from the other room, and had quieted down.

As he passed my row, I made sure nobody was looking before I gestured to him. "Hey, hold on." He stopped at my row, glancing at me. My eyes stayed on the floor. "A girl was taken into the back room earlier for punishment." I could feel the rage rolling off of him in waves.

"Thank you." The other girls and I listened, hearing a large crash. He brought the girl out, and she was hardly recognizable. The blood covered her like a blanket during winter, seeping over every inch of her body because of the large amout of cuts. He nodded to me as he walked by, and my father spotted it.

After the pack had gone, the girls were dragged back to their houses. I didn't dare move. I know my father had seen my interaction with the male, and he would be upset. Once everyone was gone, he walked over to me, my mother in tow with her eyes on the ground. "How dare you." I felt a sting on my cheek as my head snapped to the side, he had back-handed me.

"Trying to push yourself on every man you see, you should be ashamed of yourself." I ket my gaze on the floor. "Yes father." He left the room, and my mother nudged me with her arm. "Go start cleaning sweetie, I don't want you to get punished. I have to make your father dinner." I nodded, and got to cleaning.

Everyday we got up, put on our dresses and makeup, and cleaned. Then the men came home and ate dinner, going to bed right after. It was an easy schedule, but it was also easy to mess up. I got punished often, my dad punishing me wherever and whenever he saw fit. Females submitted to the males, I had no choice. I quickly went back to my room, making sure everything was clean there before working on the rest of the house.

 "Eleanor, please come downstairs. I need your help to finish dinner before your father gets home." I glanced around; I wasn't done cleaning. He was going to be angry, but I would rather him punish me than my mother. "Coming mother."

My heels clicked down the stairs, walking to the kitchen to see my mother over a large oven-roasted turkey. "Hurry, I need you to finish the gravy for the mashed potatoes." I nodded, going to the pot on the stove and finishing it off.

Polishing all of the silverware, we set the china on the table and stood to the side of the dining room as my father entered. He looked at the dinner and grunted, sitting down and eating. My mother and I stood there with our eyes down, waiting until he was finished. He stood up, threw his napkin on the table, and went to bed.

"Why don't you go lie down, mother. You look worn out, I will clean and make us something to eat." She nodded, kissing my forehead before lying on the couch. I cleaned up quietly, making sure not to wake my angry father. Once I was done clearing the table, I washed the dishes and put them back, and began making some chicken noodle soup for my mother. I was not that hungry.

"Here you go mother, I am going to go to bed." She glanced up at me and nodded. She was getting older, so she had a harder time cleaning all day than I did. I handed her the soup before putting on my nightgown and getting into bed.

My alarm clock beeped at five o'clock the next morning, making me rush out of bed. I quickly showered, putting on the required clothes and makeup for the day. Heading downstairs, I started making my father breakfast before he had to go to work. My mother did not wake up until later, as I had told her that I could handle breakfast. About a half hour later my father came down the stairs.

He looked at the breakfast then glared at me; not a good sign. "Did your mother not tell you I changed my order?!" His slap left me on the ground, but I scrambled to get up. I stood before my father who towered over me with my eyes down in submission. "Make me a new breakfast, then bring it to the pack house." I frantically nodded. "Yes father."

"I forgot something, you better be cooking by the time I get back down." I nodded.

"Why is everything a mess!" My eyes widened. I had totally forgotten about the mess I had left to hel my mother. "It is my fault, father. I am so sorry." He came stomping down the stairs, heading towards me with an angry look on his face.

"You better be, we have another pack coming tonight and they will be using our house instead of the pack because of some renovations." I nodded and he shoved me up the stairs before leaving for the day. I sighed, standing up and brushing myself off. Stepping up the last few steps, I pushed open my mother's door.

"Mother, you need to get up we have another pack coming tonight." She didn't respond. I sat on the bed next to her. I shook her shoulder softly. "C'mon mother, it's time to get up." I looked at her. She did seem quite pale. "Mother? No, mother please get up please I need you." I shook her with all the power I had: she didn't respond. I sobbed, leaning over her body. I stayed like that for a while before standing and walking over to the phone.

I knew I was going to be beaten later, but no matter how bad my father is I would want him to know about his wife. "I told you not to call me ever, you will be punished later when I get home don't think-" "Father." He stopped at my tone. I hadn't called him father in years after he told me I couldn't. "It's mother. She's dead."

I don't remember much about what happened the next few hours. My father came home with other pack members, and I was forced to clean and serve them as my father mourned in his bedroom.

The funeral was a few days later and I, as a woman, was not allowed to attend. I stayed at home and instead of cleaning, I looked through old photos of my family. The pack was happy when I was little, but it all changed when the Luna went missing. I was about eight years old, and I remember I was playing outside when sirens went off.

My parents hurried me inside before my dad rushed off to his beta duties, leaving my mother and I confused as to what is happening. Ever since that day, the alpha created new roles for women to 'protect them'. My father has taken it to a new level. "Eleanor!" I straightened and headed towards my father's voice. "Let me show you to your new home." I gasped as he gripped my arm and led me into the basement.

He hurried up the stairs and slammed the door behind him. I didn't flinch when he grabbed me, and I didn't flinch when I was brought downstairs. I did flinch when I heard the lock click, and I knew I wasn't getting out of here anytime soon.

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