There's been many times in which I have seen and experienced Edith's anger. It is terrifying and heinous, and being in her presence whilst she's enraged, always fills me with dread.
When I arrived at the backyard of her large, sprawling home, knowing that she was waiting for me, I had expected anger from her. She was always this way, not only to me, but to her other slaves.
Why I had been ordered to the backyard of her home, I was not sure. However, I soon discovered that it was not only me who had been told to come.
Instead, easily twenty slaves were there, speaking softly to each other, their nervousness evident in their postures and faces.
Quickly, I slipped into the crowd, knowing Edith was nearby, and as I tried to remain hidden, I ignored the hard elbows digging into my sides and exhalations of annoyance falling from mouths as I passed them by.
A bitter smile formed on my lips when I briefly met the gaze of one of the slaves; the lycans had trained them well in showing their distaste towards me.
I knew this displeasure of me, for some of them, not all, also came from a place of fear; I was almost certain that lycans had threatened harm to the slaves if they dared speak or showed anything other than displeasure towards me.
The clearing of a throat ripped loudly throughout the air, halting the once scattered low murmuring. It did not take me long to see who it was that had called for attention; it was Edith.
And almost immediately, I knew she was looking for me.
I could see it in the way her eyes narrowed as her gaze roamed the slaves who stood before her, and I could feel a sting on the back of my neck as I recalled the feeling of a barbed wire lashing it.
Heat tickled my palms, and I could feel them becoming sweaty as my body went rigid behind a person who, for the most part, was unknowingly blocking me from her view.
But then the man before me shifted just as Edith's gaze swept my way, and I was left entirely in her line of vision. Her eyes locked on me, and I awaited the anger that would suffuse her features. But that anger didn't come.
No, instead, a fury so biting and strong, slithered through her face, and her eyes darkened with that fury.
A dark flush made its way up her neck and spread through her thin cheeks, and when she spoke, even from a distance, I could see the growth of her fangs in her mouth.
"Step forward, Leora." Her voice was husky, and laced with hot wrath. The heat from my palms travelled up my arms and then down into my legs, and for several seconds, I remained rigid, unmoving as fear captured me.
However, I did not remain that way for long. Hands grasped at my arms, and nails bit into my skin as I was forcibly moved by those around me, so roughly that I tripped, and the straps in my sandals popped and became loose.
Edith had walked forward by the time I reached the front of the crowd, and I was so focused on not falling that I didn't realize what she held until she was right before me.
A glass, filled with light blue swirling liquid, was clutched so tightly in her hands, that her fingers were rapidly becoming white.
At the sight of that potent, familiar, liquid, I began shaking my head desperately, looking between her and that glass.
"No...Luna...ma'am-"
Edith wordlessly lifted the glass, her eyes still so dark and still filled with her silent rage. I did not understand the immense fury she showed towards me, and even though I was accustomed to her anger, this was entirely different.
The smell of that poison was absolutely hideous, and I barely resisted edging backwards. It would have been useless anyway; the slaves behind me would easily maneuver me back to Edith.
"What did I do?" I whispered the words, unable to speak normally. My throat was so tight and it hurt to speak. Edith's eyes gleamed, and she said nothing and did nothing, except hold that glass inches away from my face.
When she broke the silence, because I refused to take the glass, because I knew what would follow, and what I would be forced to do, her snarl burned my ears.
"I'll tell you after you drink it."
I could not refuse. Discipline would be harsh, perhaps more so than what I would have to drink. My eyes lowered to the glass and stayed.
Edith concocted these poisons herself, and it was used on slaves who were being punished for what was deemed highly disrespectful acts. Usually, other slaves would be commanded to watch their fellow humans endure the pain that came with drinking such a thing.
This form of discipline did well in frightening many into submission and was a reminder to never question the demands of lycans.
"Whore." The word seemed to blurt from Edith's lips. My eyes jerked to Edith's surprise, and I tilted my head, holding her gaze for a moment, waiting for her to say anything else, confused by her.
"Take it." She hissed. My eyes lowered and closed, squeezing tight as I recalled the writhing body of a slave after he drank it and the way he had been left to stay on the ground, begging for help as Edith had walked away from him.
I could practically feel Edith's rage at my silent refusal, and gasped when I felt hands suddenly take my jaw, and the feeling of a wide chest against my back.
It was a warrior, and immediately he halted my struggles as he pressed me deeper into his body, ignoring the bucking of my own.
My lips pressed tight when I felt his fingers against them, and when he bit my ear, hard, I let out a cry, only to feel his fingers slip in my mouth and shove between my lower and upper teeth, applying pressure, forcing my mouth to open.
The heat of that light blue liquid as it washed into my mouth was startling, but not painful. Edith held the glass up as she ensured I drank all of the poison, and when the glass was drained, she stepped back and signaled for the warrior behind me to do so also.
Silence filled my ears and I blinked, dazed. A thick, pungent taste lingered in my mouth, and my throat was constricting. I pressed a hand against my stomach as I felt it churn.
And then, for a moment, all I heard was the soft whispers and muttered words of slaves and lycans.
When the pain came, it was so vicious that I immediately fainted.
But I did not remain unconscious.
When I came to, I was laying face-first on the earth, unable to move as pain captured the entirety of my body.
Ripples and ripples of sharp heat and pain moved down my back and cut through my stomach, travelling into my arms and legs, rendering me utterly speechless and in agony.
And when I did finally move, it was to claw at the grass and the dirt below it, crazed, desperate to crawl out of my skin.
My body felt like it was lit on fire, and nothing I did would make it stop.
Amongst my screams and the writhing of my body, I was barely aware of the slaves nearby, and Edith, watching me. I could not make out their faces, as everything rapidly began to blur, but the heat from their gazes added to the searing pain I was already experiencing.
My fingers went to the skin of my arms when I eventually flipped myself to my back, an unbearable, and unbelievable hot itch spreading throughout them.
My fingernails raked against my skin rapidly and desperately, and I could feel my tears dripping down my face and into my opened mouth as I clawed at myself.
I thumped the back of my head against the ground in severe frustration, and could feel blood in my mouth when my teeth accidentally bit my tongue.
"Please." I rasped, not entirely sure who I was pleading for help to, but trying anyway. No one came. My back jerked and pain whipped down my spine, adding to the excruciating feelings throughout me.
When black and white flashes began to cover my vision as the pain appeared to reach its peak, I became unconscious once more.
And when I awoke, I was tied to a tree, exhausted, skin and mind feeling it was completely fried, and with the deep scratches from my nails marring my skin.
Rain fell gently from the sky above, soothing the aching sores on my body, and I warily tilted my head upwards, until cold rain drops hit my face and washed away the dried marks left behind from my tears.
**********
I was unable to leave my cell the next morning. Boris stood behind the bars of my cell as I laid on the thin mat on the ground, my bed, staring at nothing, but listening to the rasping of my breaths, my body completely weak.
"She said you tried to seduce The Alpha." Boris' voice was loud enough to be heard over my loud raspings of breath, which stopped when I managed to comprehend his words.
My head turned slowly and I looked at Boris as he continued speaking.
"She said that she saw The Alpha and yourself leaving house 305, and when she confronted him, he said that you tried to seduce him."
I immediately hissed, "He's lying."
Boris growled, grasping the bars of the cell, "You dare call my Alpha a liar?"
I did not say anything. Instead, I licked my dry lips, and rolled my eyes away, looking towards the blank wall near me. Boris grunted out a sound when I said nothing, and I sensed him lingering by the bars.
His boots thumped loudly against the floor when he finally walked away, and I curled further into myself.
My eyes caught the spine of a book, a dictionary, and my fingers itched to lift and read through it, like I had done hundreds of times before, but I didn't bother to move.
Light shone faintly through a barred window, hitting my face, but I remained where I laid, listening to Boris' footsteps as he paced back and forth, until I allowed sleep to wash over me.
I was forced to leave my cell the next day, and was given instructions by Boris as to what my duties were.
My shoulders had slumped with relief when I was told that I would not be going to Edith's and Rothman's home, and instead would be heading to the farm.
Packaged and folded for me were empty net sacks, and then beside them, was a single basket. I dropped the empty sacks into the basket, hoisted it upon my arms and began walking.
The farm was a pleasant place, and although the heat whilst working was a lot, and what I would need to dig and pick on my own was many, it was better than being scrutinized by Edith.
I kept my head down throughout my walk to the farm, avoiding eye contact with many, even though I heard the whispers about what had happened to me several days before.
Just thinking about it made me tremble, and so I pushed it into the back of my mind. Or rather, tried to.
It was only when I was able to start harvesting on the farm that I was able to relax. The heat was certainly there, but it was not unbearably so. Here was also quiet, except for the occasional sounds of birds singing, and the gentle brushing of leaves as the wind grazed them.
I got to work. My fingers swiftly but effectively plucked and picked peas, and I dropped them into one of the sacks I'd brought with me.
The smell of manure, something that I believe slaves or lycans must have added to the soil to help with the fertilization, was faint in the air.
When I was finished with the peas, I moved on to the rows of okra, picking those as well, and dropping off the ones which were dead.
I knew that all of the sacks I had brought with me were to be full by the time afternoon came, and so I walked and looked carefully at all the okra plants I passed by.
By the time I moved on to the cassavas, I knew I was not alone as I had been earlier. Awareness moved down my spine and I twisted where I knelt, sweeping my gaze around me.
My eyes narrowed when I saw several slaves under a nearby tree, appearing to be taking lunch or on break. In their hands were bottles which more than likely held water, as well as small paper brown bags.
Some saw that I watched them, and grim expressions moved over their faces before I turned away and continued with my harvesting. The basket was heavy with them when I was finished, and I clenched my teeth.
This was the least enjoyable part when I finished harvesting; carrying all of what I had back to the shed, where they would be temporarily held, would be a difficult task, unless I made several trips back and forth.
And that I did, under the eyes of the slaves.
And throughout my last trip back to the farm, to take the basket of cassavas, I discovered that it had been turned over.
My head lifted and my eyes went to the slaves who were seated on grass, some smiling secretly whilst others avoided eye-contact.
There was one slave in particular who I had my suspicion had done the act; it was a man who was quick to speak to either the Luna or the Alpha about any acts that his fellow slaves might have done that he thought went against what the lycans believed.
He was eager to please the Alpha and Luna, even at the expense of others.
"Childish." I spat the word out, letting the wind carry it to him, and I gathered back the cassavas, put them in the basket, and left the farm.
Throughout my journey to the shed, I once again kept my head down, so much so that when I finally entered it, I didn't realize that it was occupied until I was several feet inside.
It was the sound of shifting feet that made me aware.
Rothman was standing inside of it, arms folded, eyebrow cocked and his lips pressed in what looked to be a suppressed smile. "Hungry?" He asked, his head tilting with his question.
I did not look at where I knew a plate of food rested on the table near him.
Instead, I fought to control the rising panic sweeping through me, and I jerked the basket heavily upon the ground.
Memories of pain filled my mind, and my fingers drifted across my skin, which still held some of the marks I had given myself. The last thing I wanted was to be caught in this room with The Alpha.
"No, I am not." I said those words quickly, letting the lie fall easily from my lips. My bare feet moved quickly across the floor, heading to the door, but I didn't make it far.
Rothman's hand reached forward, grabbing my elbow and twisting me around so I faced him. "Not so fast," He sneered. "I have an order for you."
God, not again.
Rothman chuckled at the distraught expression that must have come across my face, and he said, "Not this time, Leora,"
His fingers squeezed my skin tightly and that sneer on his mouth grew wider before he spoke, "You'll be needed at my home later this evening. I will be having guests, and you will be amongst several to serve them."
********
Hi everyone. I forgot to say this in the previous chapter, but point of views will change occasionally between Leora and Vakkar. For example, that's why next to this chapter number, I have 'Leora' next to it, so you can see whose point of view is being shown for the chapter.
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please vote if you did.💕