1. Finding Her: Charlotte's Pov (Sh-ar-let) pic above^^^
"YOU CALL THIS CLEAN?" one of the men shouts. I don't even have to think or look up to know that he's talking to me. My hand is holding onto the small rag that I was given to clean with, my body crouched down to avoid looking in the eyes of my tormentors. Only a few more hours until I have to go back into the basement.
I keep my mouth shut like it always is when I'm cleaning, speaking will only make my punishment worse. "SCRUB UNTIL I CAN SEE MY REFLECTION, BITCH!" the same man orders, using his foot to slam my head against the floor. "Then we'll have some fun."
I close my eyes and lay there as the dizziness increases. My break only lasts a couple seconds, if any of the pack members saw me resting, Alpha Jones would get angry. Maybe my head wouldn't hurt so much if I actually had food in my system; the last time I ate it was summer, it's almost winter time right now. 'We can't live like this.' my wolf whimpers.
'I'll end it tonight if you want. I'm just waiting for your consent.' I tell her. I lost my will to live years ago, the only reason I'm still here today is because my wolf doesn't want to die yet. I've tried to take my own life a couple times before, but I never succeeded. If I try again, I won't do it without my wolf being okay with it; it's her life too.
'Not yet.' she says. 'We didn't find mate yet.'
'We don't have a mate.'
'Yes we do!' I hate to argue with the one being who doesn't hurt me, but what I'm telling her is true. Alpha Jones and everybody else constantly tell me why no knight in shining armor came for me. It's because I don't have a mate. 'He just hasn't found us yet.'
'He will reject us.' I tear up a little as I think about what would happen if I actually had a mate, he will reject me the moment he realizes how much of a mess I am. No one wants a mate as weak as me; it's just a fact.
"NO SLEEPING ON THE JOB!!!" an all too familiar voice hollers right into to my ear. I immediately recognize the man as Alpha Dylan Jones. He slams me against the marble counter and starts to unbuckle his belt. My wolf begs to take over and let me rest but I won't allow it. I need her to be as strong as possible so that we'll have a better chance of escape when the time comes.
"Please don't, Alpha." I plead, trying to scooting away, knowing what's about to come.
"You get what you deserve." he sneers.
***
I wake with a scream. Not from my usual nightmares, but because of a sharp pain in my lower back. My hands fly up to cover my mouth in attempt to silence the sound. I was taught long ago that if I wake up anyone in the house, I'll get in trouble for it. I already get punishments for opening my mouth to speak, anything louder than a groan will earn me a camping trip in the rain later on.
"Who wants to go first?" Gamma Dolan's voice asks from outside the attic entrance. My eyes widen in fear, knowing what's about to come. He and the other high ranked wolves make sure that I know my place in this world. They constantly remind me of why no one would ever love or care for me.
'I can't let you take the pain anymore.' my wolf whispers when the door starts to creak open. I try to stop her from taking over, but she's too strong for me to hold back. She pushes forward in my mind and takes control of my body. I've never let her take pain for me, I always told her to save her strength. Today might just be the time that she uses it.
"You've done this for too long." our mixed voices speak in harmony. Before Gamma Dolan knows what's coming, my wolf lunges at him and takes him to the ground. We aren't strong enough to knock him out, but our unexpected attack is enough to keep him down long enough for us to leave the rundown building.
My wolf bolts out the wooden shed and into the woods. The men were smart to take me somewhere secluded since it's against the rules to use me without the Alpha's permission, but I'm also certain that they took me closer to the pack's border. 'Rest, I'll keep us safe.' my wolf tells me before shifting.
Our furry paws pound into the ground, desperate to get away before the other men realize that we're escaping. I've tried to escape from the Red Stone pack numerous times before, but I was always caught. The punishments that I received ensured that I wouldn't try again any time soon. I'm not sure where we're going, but I know that my wolf is going to take us to a better place. Whether it be death or to a different pack, it'll still be better than where we are now.
I always wished that my wolf was paired with a better human soul; one who doesn't have to keep her held in all the time. This is only the second time I've shifted in my entire life. The first time was when I turned either fifteen or sixteen, somewhere around that age. After so many years of being with the Red Stone pack, I don't know my real age, my birthday, or how I got here in the first place. All I know for sure is that I wasn't born here, I had a family.
I would give anything to know about my life before I was brought to this horrible place. My real name might not even be Charlotte Beck, that's just what I assume since one of the pack members once told me my name is. Not everyone was cruel towards me, that just wouldn't make sense; I never did anything to the wolves of Red Stone and I know that some of the wolves feel wrong about the way they're required to treat me. Alpha Jones tries his best to make sure that no shows any kindness to me, but that doesn't stop everyone. There have been times when some of the women snuck me some clothes while "ordering me to take out the trash" and some wolves even dropped off meals in the attic for me.
I make food for everyone living in the packhouse, but that doesn't mean that I'm allowed to eat any of it. Alpha Jone and a few of the higher-power have caught me trying to eat some of my own cooking before and it never ended well for me. I quickly learned that I wasn't to sneak anything out for myself or ask others for food. Luckily for me, not everyone I came across felt that I was a "disgrace".
'I don't think I can go any farther.' my wolf pants after an hour of running. That's not very long compared to the duration that other wolves can run for, but my wolf and I aren't exactly the healthiest of our species.
'It's okay, I can take over from here.' I say. Fatigue, hunger, and loss of blood all took its toll on me, but I've gotten far enough from the Red Stone pack.
Since I was never exposed to maps, I don't know exactly where I am. What worries me the most is that I might not be on neutral grounds, I could be lingering on the border of another pack; or worse, inside a pack territory.
Deciding that going straight is my best chance of survival, I try to ignore the burning pain in my side and leg as I walk. I run into a couple trees because everything looks like it duplicated. Maybe I'm losing too much blood, or maybe- "What are you doing here rogue?" a male voice asks. He doesn't yell, which I'm thankful for, but his tone isn't friendly either.
Just the presence of this man is enough to wake my senses. "ANSWER ME!" he growls kicking me into a tree. I hear some rustling and soon another man is standing next to me.
"Gary stop!" the second man yells.
"Why? We could have some fun with this rogue." Gary smirks. "The Alpha doesn't have to know."
"She needs help."
"I'm gonna take her to the cells." Gary says looking at me lustfully. I let out a whimper and look at the other man with pleading eyes.
"I can't let you do that." he says to Gary. My eyes tear up as the words leave his mouth. No one has ever stood up for me before.
"Watch me." Gary sneers before knocking out the kind person who tried to save me. It's like the universe brings bad luck to everyone who shows me mercy, the world would really be a better place without me on it.
It doesn't take long for Gary to throw me into a stone cellar. 'This is it.' I tell my wolf.
He's going to use us and then get rid of us. He'll actually have the courtesy to put me out of my misery.
For the second time tonight I'm bounded by metal chains. The only difference, these are made of silver. "What's fun without a little pain?" Gary laughs watching as my skin burns from the silver.
I'm still in wolf form, but soon I'll be forced to shift. "Let's get started shall we?"
Gary grabs my face with one hand and squeezes hard enough to form another bruise. When he yanks on my fur it's too much for my body to take and I shift back to a human. "You have a lot of scars, what kind of whore-house did you come from?" he teases.
Tears roll down my cheeks as I realize that my body is fully exposed and at his mercy. Even though this isn't the first time I've been in a situation like this, I'm pretty sure that this is the last thing I will be doing before I die.
"Stop." I whisper helplessly watching as he pulls out a knife.
He drags the sharp blade down my arm and occasionally changes the pressure that he applies to my skin. I try bracing myself but it doesn't stop the pain. You would think that after years of abuse, this wouldn't hurt.
I thought that that was all he was going to do before he takes me, but I was wrong; very wrong. This sadistic man unbuckles his belt, hits me in the head with the metal portion of it, then turns around to retrieve an actual whip.
"Stop. Stop, please." I sob as it comes down on my back once more. I end up begging for him to kill me already.
"Shut up yo-" my tormentor's words are cut off by a ferocious growl. I whimper at the loud sound and shut my eyes. A growl like that can only belong to someone of high power; that can't be good for me.
A second later, the chains are broken and I'm engulfed by strong arms.
"Mate." my rescuer growls.
******
Xander's Pov (Zan-der)
I run beside my Beta on the border of our territory when I'm alerted about a female rogue. 'I'll go down to the cells, you go scout where she was found.' I tell Brody through the mind link.
I'm about a mile away from my destination when I smell something incredible. I don't even think twice about following it and it leads me to the cells.
'Hurry up! Hurry up!' my wolf orders happily. I do as he says, but when I get to the source of the smell I see one of my fighters torturing a girl.
I let out a ferocious growl and snap his neck in rage. The beauty in front of me is lying in a heap on the dirty floor heavily bleeding. Did Gary do all of this?
When I rip the chains off of her, blood gets all over my hands. "Mate." I growl cradling her naked body against my chest.
I don't even pay attention to the scars on her body, all I can concentrate on is keeping her alive.
She's still conscious, but not very aware of anything that's happening. Her breaths come out in short pants as I break into a sprint, heading towards the pack hospital. "Keep your eyes open, sweetheart." I tell her.
The hospital's within eyesight.
When I barge through the doors, I start ordering everyone to help the poor girl in my arms. No one dares to ask who she is or why I brought her here, they know better than that. "Alpha, you have to stay out here and wait." a nurse tells me when I try to follow them into the operating room.
"I need to be in there."
"Alpha, I'm sorry but you'll slow the doctors down." that's all it takes for me to stay put.
**** (One week later)
Beep. Beep. Beep.
That's the only sound that's letting me know she's alive. With four broken ribs, a broken wrist, fractured leg, and a broken ankle, I'm sure that my mate won't be able to walk on her own. Gauze is wrapped around her shoulders and back where most of the bleeding was.
Ever since I brought her, I haven't left her side. I've been holding her tiny hand and sleeping in uncomfortable hospital chairs, but I don't mind; I just want to be by her side when she wakes up today.
Although I haven't seen her eyes yet, I'm certain that they're innocent like the rest of her. There's something so familiar about this girl, but I can't put my finger on it.
I was told that because of her weight and scars, not all of her injuries were caused by Gary; she's been abused for years.
The doctors said that they don't know how old my mate is and that her weight is definitely unhealthy. Seventy-six pounds, that isn't even half of what I weigh.
A sniffle snaps me out of my thoughts. I look up at my mate's face and watch as she slowly opens her baby blue eyes. "Your awake." I try to say, but it comes out as a grumble.
She doesn't open her mouth to speak, she just stares at me with fear-filled eyes. "I-I'm sorry for g-going i-into your t-territory." she stutters, the heart monitor beeps faster in the background.
"J-just kill me, already." she begs bracing herself for a hit.
"Why would I do that?" I ask half confused and half hurt. I will never hurt my mate, I don't know what makes her think that I ever would.
"Everyone w-wants to. P-please make it quick."
"I brought you here, you're my mate." I lean forward to caress her cheek as a caring gesture, but she flinches away before I can touch her.
The beeps from the heart monitor get faster and faster as my mate starts to panic. Soon a nurse is rushing into the room and is speaking to her. "Take deep breaths, your body won't be able to handle any more injections."
It takes a full ten minutes for her to completely calm down. I thought that holding her hand would help, but it had the opposite effect. "I'm not going to hurt you, sweetheart." I make sure to keep my voice from being too loud like it normally is. It's bad enough that she's afraid of me, I have to make sure not to scare her any more than I already have.
"You're going to reject me, th-they said you would." she whispers.
"I would never reject you, I just found you. Who told you that?" I ask.
My question is one that she won't reply to. "What's your name?" I ask changing the subject.
"Char-Charlotte Beck."
I know this girl.
"I'm Xander Reynolds." I think about reaching out to hold her hand, but I refrain from doing so. Holding out my hand, I wait for her to shake it, but she never does. She just stares at my hand as if it's a trap.
"R-Reynolds? You're an Alpha." Charlotte grips the bedsheets by her sides.
"Of the Lunar Shadow pack." I confirm with a nod.
I stand up next to the hospital bed and look down at her. "Don't be afraid of me, I won't hurt you." I whisper.
After a few seconds of shamelessly checking out her facial features, I realize that I've been straining her neck by making her lay flat on the bed. Pressing a button to allow Charlotte to sit up, I frown when I see her scared expression. "Why am I here?" she asks quietly.
"Because you're hurt."
"But why did you take me here?" she questions peering up at me innocently.
"Why wouldn't I? As your mate, it's my job to protect you."
"No one's ever nice to me."
My frown deepens at her answer.
"What do you mean?"
"My old pack hated me, even the Omegas. They hit and starved me." Charlotte tells me. I let out a growl and instantly regret it when she flinches and shields herself with her arms.
Gently holding her elbows, I move my hands up to her forearms and guide them away from her face. Her eyes stay tightly closed until I place light kisses on each of her knuckles. "Where are the sparks coming from?" she asks with teary eyes.
"You feel sparks because we're mates, that's why it good when I do this," I say leaning in and kissing Charlotte's baby soft lips. She's shocked at my actions but doesn't resist or freak out, instead she kisses back; just the tiniest bit.
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What do you guys think about the first chapter? (On average, chapters will be 4000-7000 words)
Chrissy Costanza (from YouTube/Against the Current) is playing Charlotte
Don't forget to vote, comment, and add to your library!
xoxo Priscilla