Leonidas ✔️

Chapter 3 - Eleanor

"Sweetheart, come here please."

I glanced around at the room he had shoved me in just minutes before, took a deep breath, and stepped into the hallway. There were no family pictures hanging up, there were no baby pictures of me. Blank, beige walls surrounded me as I walked towards my father. I could hear more than one voice, and my breathing started to quicken. 

Who else was here? My father did not like to have anyone over because he was afraid they would begin to get suspicious, but I should have known something was up when my father grabbed me out of the basement and shoved me into this room, acting like I still lived here.

I carefully stepped into the living room where my father sat, my eyes on the ground in submission. "Would you mind getting us some drinks sweetheart? I'm parched and these gentlemen have had a long journey. They'll be staying here for the evening, make sure there are rooms available." 

I nodded before glancing up, counting the people in the room. Including my father, there were three other men in the room. As I left, I breathed in their scent; they weren't from this pack. They must be here to check for their mates tomorrow. I sighed as I smelt them, none of them were my mate.

Every night I prayed to the moon goddess that my mate would come and take me away from my father, but it seemed like she was ignoring me, as she had been doing my entire life. I wished that my mate would come to my rescue, like the fairy tales I had heard rumors about. 

Any girl that left here with their mate was never heard from again, so naturally I also became scared to find my mate. Would my mate kill me? Would he treat me like my father treats me?

I quickly strode over to the fridge and grabbed four beers, two in each hand. I hoped all of them liked the beer, if not I would be punished later. Walking back into the living room, the males turned their heads toward me when they heard my heels clacking against the hard floor.

 Each of them nodded in thank when I handed them their beers, and I tried to not let my surprise show. I had never received any sort of thank you, was I supposed to do something in return?

I nodded back at them, closing my eyes when I heard my father's intake of breath. Slowly, I stepped away, then walked out of the room leaving the men to return to their discussion. 

I sat in a chair near the kitchen table, my posture perfect and my legs crossed, waiting for another command. Relatively, that was how the rest of the night went. My father would call me in when he needed me, then I would leave and wait until he needed something else.

I was asked to escort them to their rooms while my father went to the basement; he said he needed to grab something from down there, but I know he was just making me paranoid about the punishment I would receive as soon as the men went to bed. As I walked the gentlemen to their rooms, one started talking. 

"Would you mind waking us up around 7:30? Our Alpha will be here at 8:00 to join us for breakfast and look for his mate." I nodded my head. "Of course. Your rooms are the three doors to the left, if you need anything, don't be afraid to yell." 

They gave me a soft smile before each of them slipped into their rooms. I closed my eyes tightly before heading downstairs, flinching at the sight of my father standing next to my bed. "It's a good thing the basement is soundproof, isn't it sweetheart? We wouldn't want them to interfere with your punishment would we?"

I shook my head, wringing my hands together in front of me. "Strip." I quickly took of my clothes and shoes, only leaving on my undergarments. 

"Kneel." I knew the drill, so I quickly dropped to my knees and sat there, waiting for another command. "You know what to do from here." I put my hands on the ground so I was on all fours, and waiting for the lashes to start. Crack! "One."