Erebus

Process

The woman walked out of the kitchen at that moment with two plates in her hands before returning back to the kitchen with two glasses and setting them neatly on the table beside the fragile plates.

"What would you both like to drink?" She asked, looking at the both of us,

"Just water for me please" I replied quietly, deciding better of it to not look up in case Erebus got a glimpse of the few tears the were about to spill over in my eyes,

"Water as well," Erebus said before walking to the table and sitting down without looking to see if I'd come along. I followed anyway after him and sat across from his intimidating figure as the woman came back and poured our drinks.

"Thank you," I said,

I saw her give me a small smile out of the corner of my eye before walking away, leaving us both in the dining room alone, I silently prayed she'd come back. Erebus picked up his silverware and began eating his food, I picked up mine as well and ate my food slowly, partially because my lips were trembling and it'd had been so long since I'd gotten a full meal like this so I wanted to spare it even if I was about to break down in tears. If he hadn't been so nice at the start I would've had no problem with him being so closed off now but all because of the stupid, sweet... absolutely breathtaking car ride I could barely stand one slightly mean word.

Out of the corner of my eye, Erebus was looking at me questioningly but I tried my best to ignore it, not wanting to start an awkward conversation, or give him a reason to say, "look at me"

"Why are you eating like that?" He finally asked,

I lowered my head a bit more if that was even possible at this point,

"Am I doing something wrong?" I asked nervously,

"You're eating as if you need to spare it, like you may not know when you'll eat again" his voice was so deep and husky,

"Well I don't know when I'll eat again, so it makes sense," I replied, confused as to why he thought it was weird for me to eat like this.

Past my layer of hair, I saw his expression turn even colder and felt the pit in my stomach grow larger,

"Tell me then, how did Alpha Michael treat you?" his tone turned to stone while speaking Alpha Michael's name, he also put his elbow on the table as he spoke and placed his chin on his palm,

"Oh just fine, he let me live in the packed house which is a great opportunity and I was his personal servant..."

Suddenly, Erebus growled out harshly, lifting himself up from his seemingly comfortable and relaxed position,

"You shouldn't be a servant at all!"

I jerked back a bit before deciding to just sit there for a few awkward seconds then continuing on with what I had been saying,

"Well he gave me food, and a bedroom of my own, it was very generous of him" I tried to keep a steady voice while speaking to him.

"And how often did he actually feed you?" His tone was icy and blew into my face,

"Um I'd say around once a day, two if he wasn't in a bad mood," I said nonchalantly,

Erebus stood immediately and the chair he was in slammed against the wall from his sudden movement which made me push back against my seat in surprise. He walked over to me as my eyes grew wide in fear, I began to lift my hands over my face but nothing came, I could feel his gaze on me and eventually, I dared to look at him. He was staring at me with an unfamiliar look before leaning down to come face to face with me, "Did you think I was going to hit you?" he asked with a voice that would have made anyone tremble. I couldn't respond, my voice was caught in my throat but I made an effort to shake my head to say "no" but he didn't seem to entirely believe me before grabbing my small frame and lifting me off the chair and onto the ground. His hand grabbed my ragged shirt and I nearly gasped out in shock at the sparks that went over my stomach from his fingertips skimming over the area, he exposed the flat surface of my stomach. I'd never looked at myself in a mirror so it never occurred to me how ugly my body was since it was always covered up in some sort of clothing. You could see my ribs slightly and my skin hugged my frame much too tightly, not to mention a purple bruise that stretched across my stomach, with the start of a scar that went across my rib cage.