Forced to Become

Ch 9 enduring

"Which one?" the man asked.

I cringed, the fear in me escalating, as I thought of my promised punishment. The man stood in the center of the room, waiting for our boy lord to answer.

"That one."

I couldn't see who he was pointing to.

"He disobeyed," the boy said sternly. "I want to be the one to discipline him, Alpha. You told me I should learn to do so if I want to lead."

"Not too long ago you were whimpering yourself when I disciplined them," the man scoffed. "What changed?"

"I understand now. Disciplining them when they need it helps protect the pack."

I could see the boy's feet as he moved to stand in front of the man. He stood firm, with no squirming. I could picture them staring into each other's eyes in a contest of wills.

"If I feel you don't do it right, I'll do it myself, twice as much as I would have, understood?"

"Yes, Alpha," the boy answered, sounding happy.

"Your new one isn't eating," the man said. "Perhaps he doesn't want his dinner."

The boy came over, squatting down next to me again. His hand stroked my shoulder and back repetitively. I was literally quaking with fear, my body shaking in agonizing anticipation of whatever punishment he decided on.

"Shhh, it's ok, new one. You must eat. If you do well, you will be rewarded with different kinds of food. Alpha insists everyone starts with the nuggets though."

He picked up a piece, coaxing it in my mouth. My anxiety caused my stomach to heave at the thought of food.

"Just do my punishment first," I practically begged in a whisper, unable to handle the suspense of waiting for the inevitable to happen.

"Your punishment? Oh, I almost forgot, I did promise you one, didn't I, because you looked up. Easily done, hang on."

The boy hurried from the room, returning shortly with a bit of a laugh. He had a small chain in his hand, and clipped one end in the hoop my hands were attached to.

"Bring your head down more," he told me, his voice that gentle coaxing again.

I did as he said, and he clipped the other end of the short chain to my leather collar. My head was now merely a foot above the floor, and it was an uncomfortable position to be stuck in.

"That is your punishment. Now you will be able to remember to keep your head down. Feel better now?" he asked with amusement.

"Yes lord," I whispered, feeling like a fool, yet the fear in me was still overwhelming. The boy, my young lord, I thought with just a twinge of resentment, kept stroking me, petting me.

"Now you must eat, new one. You will need your strength. Come on," he coaxed, holding up a piece of dog food in front of my nose.

I sighed, my nerves not as on edge as they were, though I still felt sick. I opened my mouth, and he slid the chunk of dog food in between my lips. I couldn't stop my tears from falling as I crunched the stupid dog food.

"I know," the boy said, "it isn't my favorite food either. Alpha says eating it drives home a point. Come on, you get another on your own this time."

I dipped my head into the bowl, feeling ridiculous. It was demeaning, having to eat like a dog, and not easy either. I heard the munching all around me, even from the bad one behind me, along with his sobbing. I knew how he felt. I slid my face into the bowl again and again, trying not to choke on the stuff I was being forced to eat.

Once he saw I was eating well, he went back to the bad one, praising him for eating so well. Both him and the man stayed in the room while we ate. The man stayed in the middle of the room, just observing. The boy made rounds, praising me and four of the other five captives, ignoring the smirker for now.

I didn't want to be in the smirker's shoes. I couldn't help thinking how inappropriate that phrase was, considering everyone except the boy and the man were naked. Still, my own punishment was bad enough, my head jerking again and again at the end of the short chain as I lifted it up to chew the stupid dog food.

Better than a beating, I kept telling myself in rhythm with my chewing, better than a beating, better than the bruises like the boy behind me had.

Drinking the water was no better. I tried drinking from the edge, tilting the bowl slightly so I could sip from it. The boy noticed and hurried over to me.

"You're doing it wrong," he told me. "If you're not careful, you'll spill it, then you'll be thirsty. I'll help this time, but you have to learn to do it on your own."

Doing it mostly on my own meant holding my head barely above the water level and slurping as best I could while the boy held the bowl steady. After he was sure I could drink the water, he went back to the bad one, helping him figure out how to drink from a bowl while having your hands chained down.

I hated it. I hated it because if I needed to learn how to do it, it meant I'd be doing it again and again. Two months, if I figured right . They somehow nabbed two boys each month, one set from my home town, the other set from somewhere else we didn't hear about. That meant at least two of the other captives had been here two months, and they were still eating dog food and drinking out of bowls of water, except for the one in front of me.

What did he do different, that he got real food and was allowed to drink from a glass? And get a blanket, and not be chained? I wanted to do whatever he did, so I got the better food like the boy promised. The boy cared about us. The man didn't.

The screams from earlier came back to mind. What if whatever he had done had caused him to scream like that? I didn't want to do anything that would end up causing me to scream. The boy, our boy lord, had said the one with real food had done well. Maybe there were more people being held captive here and someone else screamed?

I didn't know, and wasn't going to ask. Not knowing only added to my fear and anxiety.