Ayn's Healing

Chapter 44 - Ayn

One day, after the Beta leaves, I hear the door of my cell opening again and I shudder at the thought that he might have exceptionally come back for more. It's him all right but, to my surprise, he mutters:

"Get up useless witch, the Alpha wants to see you"

My eyes hurt as I step into the hallway light. I squint at the Beta and he looks exactly as I had imagined him: lank, sweaty, and grinning evil. His head is shaved and very artfully tattooed, with a large wolf head whose fangs reach down to his eyebrows. I note he wears heavy steel bracelets on both wrists. The one standing besides him must be the Gamma. He is also sporting wolf-themed drawings on his hairless skull, so I assume this must be their equivalent of the Land Core braids. The Gamma frowns in disgust when he sees me.

"Beta, you truly are a degenerate. What the fuck have you done to her? How am I supposed to take her like this to the Alpha?"

I look down and see the fresh scars on my arms, as well as the fact that my clothes are torn to the point where I am almost naked. Also, I own now the smell of piss and blood - with a whiff of sour milk. It all comes from me.

The Beta raises his shoulders to show that he does not give a rat's ass about how will the Gamma take me to their leader, and walks away. The Gamma sighs and pushes me down a long corridor and up the stairs to what must be the omega quarters. He instructs a large girl to clean me up and dress me.

She leads me into a small room which probably belongs to her. The room is very small, a few meager personal possessions scattered around. The Gamma sits on the bed watching the floor, as the girl removes from my body the disgusting rags which used to be my clothes. She opens the door to the bathroom and I catch a glimpse of my face in the mirror that is hanging right in front of me. I am very very dirty and my lip is still bruised. My hair is tangled and full of sand.

My mark is there, dark lightning starting at the top of my shoulder, but when I touch it it is heartbreakingly numb.

The omega girl hands me a towel and tells me shyly to shower. I see from how she's holding herself that she is afraid of me - I am a witch after all and probably everything she knows about witches comes from their Beta. Who knows what terrible things I am capable of.

She hands me one of her long-sleeved dresses, with a button-down front. Since she is much larger than me, the dress covers me like a tent, but it's clean and has no tears, and I have never been more grateful for a piece of clothing in my life. The girl announces the Gamma that she is done. He raises his eyes from the floor and nods satisfied when he sees me.

We then walk up the stairs one more floor and I look around to see windows but they are all covered with heavy curtains. The people of this pack really like it dark. As we walk on the second floor I hear behind one of the doors the unmistakable high pitched cry of my son and my fresh dress is instantly soaked with milk.

I plead to the Gamma to let me see him, I swear to him on all the Gods and Goddesses that I will not run away if he just lets me take a peek at him, but the Gamma is deaf to my begging and drags me behind him further down the hall.

We enter a large high room that smells like disease. A beautiful but sick- and exhausted-looking woman is arching in pain on the bed and whimpers loudly. Next to her stands a large bald male and further, closer to the door another one, much taller and broader than the first one. This second one reminds me of Xander - if Xander had his head shaved and tattooed.  He would actually be handsome if his lips wouldn't be twisted down in a permanently frustrated expression.

"I brought the witch, Alpha." The Gamma pushes me abruptly in front of him and bows towards of the large male by the door.

"What's with the scars?" the Alpha asks, pulling my collar down with one finger and uncovering Beta's signatures across my chest.