"Sweetheart, come here please."
I glanced around at the room he had shoved me in just minutes before, took a deep breath, and stepped into the hallway. There were no family pictures hanging up, there were no baby pictures of me. Blank, beige walls surrounded me as I walked towards my father. I could hear more than one voice, and my breathing started to quicken.
Who else was here? My father did not like to have anyone over because he was afraid they would begin to get suspicious, but I should have known something was up when my father grabbed me out of the basement and shoved me into this room, acting like I still lived here.
I carefully stepped into the living room where my father sat, my eyes on the ground in submission. "Would you mind getting us some drinks sweetheart? I'm parched and these gentlemen have had a long journey. They'll be staying here for the evening, make sure there are rooms available."
I nodded before glancing up, counting the people in the room. Including my father, there were three other men in the room. As I left, I breathed in their scent; they weren't from this pack. They must be here to check for their mates tomorrow. I sighed as I smelt them, none of them were my mate.
Every night I prayed to the moon goddess that my mate would come and take me away from my father, but it seemed like she was ignoring me, as she had been doing my entire life. I wished that my mate would come to my rescue, like the fairy tales I had heard rumors about.
Any girl that left here with their mate was never heard from again, so naturally I also became scared to find my mate. Would my mate kill me? Would he treat me like my father treats me?
I quickly strode over to the fridge and grabbed four beers, two in each hand. I hoped all of them liked the beer, if not I would be punished later. Walking back into the living room, the males turned their heads toward me when they heard my heels clacking against the hard floor.
Each of them nodded in thank when I handed them their beers, and I tried to not let my surprise show. I had never received any sort of thank you, was I supposed to do something in return?
I nodded back at them, closing my eyes when I heard my father's intake of breath. Slowly, I stepped away, then walked out of the room leaving the men to return to their discussion.
I sat in a chair near the kitchen table, my posture perfect and my legs crossed, waiting for another command. Relatively, that was how the rest of the night went. My father would call me in when he needed me, then I would leave and wait until he needed something else.
I was asked to escort them to their rooms while my father went to the basement; he said he needed to grab something from down there, but I know he was just making me paranoid about the punishment I would receive as soon as the men went to bed. As I walked the gentlemen to their rooms, one started talking.
"Would you mind waking us up around 7:30? Our Alpha will be here at 8:00 to join us for breakfast and look for his mate." I nodded my head. "Of course. Your rooms are the three doors to the left, if you need anything, don't be afraid to yell."
They gave me a soft smile before each of them slipped into their rooms. I closed my eyes tightly before heading downstairs, flinching at the sight of my father standing next to my bed. "It's a good thing the basement is soundproof, isn't it sweetheart? We wouldn't want them to interfere with your punishment would we?"
I shook my head, wringing my hands together in front of me. "Strip." I quickly took of my clothes and shoes, only leaving on my undergarments.
"Kneel." I knew the drill, so I quickly dropped to my knees and sat there, waiting for another command. "You know what to do from here." I put my hands on the ground so I was on all fours, and waiting for the lashes to start. Crack! "One."
My alarm buzzed loudly, rousing me from my sleep. I sat up and sighed when I felt the pain in my back. My father had given me thirty lashings, ten more than usual because not only was it contact without permission, but contact with a male.
Luckily, because the basement is soundproof, he didn't hear the males asking me to wake them up this morning. A quick glance at the clock led me to believe it was 5:30, and I went about starting my day.
By 6:00 I had my daily makeup and dress on, with the one and only pair of shoes I own: heels. I carefully walked up the steps to the house, and began cleaning what they left out last night. I collected several beer bottles and deposited them into the garbage, being extra careful not to break them.
By seven o'clock I was finished cleaning, so I started on the breakfast. I should have started earlier than normal, cursing myself because I forgot I would have to cook for extra people.
While I was mixing the batter for French toast, my entire body froze at the sound of footsteps. My father was never up this early, so it had to be one of the males from the night before. I slowly turned around, nodded at him in greeting, then continued on with my cooking. I heard him take another step and softly sit on one of the stools.
"I apologize if I scared you, I'm always up early. I cook my mate breakfast in bed every morning, so I get up pretty early." I nodded my head, not turning to look at him as I did. Silence encompassed us as I cooked with him just sitting there watching.
A few minutes later, after I had put what I needed in the oven and put the batter in the fridge for now, I sighed softly. Now, I just had to wait until the timer beeped.
"Would you mind stepping outside with me? I think I need some fresh air." I didn't know what to do so I nodded, following him outside to the patio. He sat on one of the patio chairs as I stood next to it, not feeling totally comfortable sitting where I wasn't allowed. "Your pack lands are beautiful; you can see the stars so clearly." I glanced up, emitting a soft gasp as I saw the twinkling lights.
"What are those?" He gave me a questioning glance when he heard my whisper, but looked up with me. "Those are stars. Aren't they beautiful?" I nodded, allowing a small smile to grace my face.
"They're amazing. Does it happen every night?" Again he gave me a questioning glance but nodded. "Unless it's extremely cloudy, but even when it's cloudy they're up there; you just can't see them." I let a huge grin take over my face. This was amazing! Why had my father not allowed me outside before?
We stayed outside for a while longer, until an extremely unpleasant smell drifted through our nostrils. "Oh no!" I took off running inside, gasping when I saw the smoke coming out of the oven. I opened the oven and took the biscuits out; you couldn't even recognize them. "I'm so sorry, I did not mean to distract you. Is there anything I can do to help?" Facing away from him I shook my head.
My father's thundering footsteps almost shook the house, and his eyes widened in anger as he saw the burnt biscuits in my hand. I could feel his anger rolling off of him in waves and gasped. "I expect you to start over, and when you're done you'll meet me in my office." I nodded. "Beta Jackson, if you would like we could step outside while she fixes the breakfast."
The man, now known as Beta Jackson, stepped out with my father, looking back at me with a worried glance. I cursed myself in my head. I should have never gone outside; I should have never taken my eyes off of the breakfast. I remade the biscuits as quick as I could, putting another batch in the oven.
This time, my eyes did not stray from the oven, even when the other men woke up and came downstairs, asking where their Beta was. Not even glancing over, I pointed to the patio doors and they left without another word.
Minutes later, I took the biscuits out of the oven and set them on the table, along with the recently finished French toast. I peeked out the patio doors and softly interrupted their conversation. "Breakfast is ready." My father shooed me away with one hand, finishing his conversation before they all came inside.
I waited in my father's office, listening to them talk over breakfast. Quite some time later, the three males packed up their things and left the house, my father promising to tell me thank you for the delicious meal. As soon as the front door shut my eyes closed, preparing for what was about to happen.
My father slammed open the door, and was now standing in the doorway staring at me. "Go down to your room and strip. Now." I hurried to my room and stripped my clothing, just like the night before. He came downstairs a few minutes later, and I was already on all fours. "That last punishment didn't seem to work. I'll make sure you don't forget this one." I closed my eyes, mentally preparing myself for the pain. Crack! "One."