Forced to Become

Ch 24 protect

"Alpha," I said as I lowered myself to one knee before him, "I wish to protect the pack." With my head lowered, the blood smeared on my thighs filled my vision.

I heard a growl and tried not to flinch as his hand brushed against the side of my tear-streaked face. He took a moment before grasping my jaw and wrenching my head up.

For a moment, I tried to hide my grief. Steeling my resolve, I lifted my eyes to look directly at him. Tears managed to slide out, despite my attempt to stop them. Alpha didn't tolerate weakness.

"You should be guarding the bad one. You can't even perform that task? Why did you leave the room? Why are you before me?" he demanded. He had this puzzled expression on his face, mixed in with the sneer that became more prevalent as his hand rolled around my jaw.

"To ask you not to kick us," I said, staring right back at him. The image of Andre's swollen eye flashed before me for a second. I did not look down. "Your kicks, your powerful, adult kicks, on our young, child-bodies, is what damaged our last pack-member so he died. I came out because he no longer needs guarding."

Some of the boys cried out at my news, and I saw them grab the first boy that had been bitten, Andre's friend Shawn.

Alpha growled, and knocked me to the floor with a blow. "How dare you be so disrespectful," he snarled.

"I protect my pack," I said, struggling to my feet.

Alpha knocked me down again, sending a kick into my midriff. "Will you tell me what to do, boy?" he raged as he kicked me again and again.

"I am not boy," I cried out between blows. "I am the Good One. I am Guard. I didn't tell you what to do, I asked," I shouted out. "And if you're going to keep kicking me until you break my ribs and I die, you might as well just rip my throat out. Why did you bring us here in the first place, if all you're going to do is beat us until we die? Is this how you protect us?" I cried out.

The blows stopped and I struggled to my knees, keeping my head down submissively. I couldn't afford to provide him any legitimate excuse to hit me. My barely healed side ached so bad it burned.

I could hear Alpha huffing, and Shawn sniffling back his sobs. Very carefully, I pushed my chin into my chest, slowly turning my head to expose my neck to the murderer before me.

"We're guards," I bit out. "You said so yourself. We're part of the pack. The rules, the rules you make us repeat... You're supposed to protect us, not beat us until we die. Kill me if you're going to, otherwise, I demand to be treated with the respect a pack-member and a guard should have."

I stopped, wondering if I had gone too far. My heart beat a wild rhythm in my chest. I didn't mean to say 'demand'. I held myself still, keeping my chin tight to my chest, moving to expose even more of my neck to him. It was hard not to lean backward when his warm breath huffed against my neck. I couldn't stop the shivering ripple that went through me, knowing his body was changing, fangs growing.

"So our bad one has died?" Our young lord's voice came out of nowhere. I had an idea where he had come from, that he showed up again with such wonderful timing.

"Yes, my lord Beta," I said clearly, even if my voice shook a bit. I couldn't stop the shivers that kept my body trembling before Alpha.

"And did he agree to be part of the pack before he died? Did he accept his status as an omega?"

You were listening, I thought bitterly, you know he didn't. Screw it, I decided. Andre was one of us, if not one of them. My anger, fueled by my grief, made me rash.