so, rockabye baby, rockabye
i'm gonna rock you
rockabye baby, don't you cry
somebody's got you
As soon as the door closed behind me, I was hit with the exhaustion from the night. My limbs were tired, my back ached, my stomach growled and my heart hurt.
"Well?" he yelled in despair. "Where in the goddess' name were you?"
I moved forward, but I stumbled as I did.
"Uncle ... Eddie," I whispered in a strained voice. My knees buckled as I fell to the ground.
Uncle Eddie gasped, dropping the spoon and rushing towards me. "Reya, are you alright?"
Pain was spreading across every inch of my body. It was like my body was hell and I was living in it. My wolf had retreated to the deepest corner of my mind in attempt to rest and heal us. I was so tired.
"I- It hurts," I breathed out, clutching my stomach.
"What are you tal-" his voice cutoff as he sharply inhaled. "No, no, no," he muttered.
My jacket had ridden up in the back and I knew my cuts were on full display.
After the first few times I got whipped, I stopped telling Eddie. He had wanted to punish Alpha James in every way possible, but I knew that it would just give our identities away. So he settled for casting spells on the Alpha.
The first time I got whipped, Uncle Eddie made Alpha James smell like farts and sound like a kitten everytime he tried howling in wolf form for two months. His ego had taken a big hit during that time.
Bloody diarrhea was the next punishment, after Alpha James put me down there for the first time.
But after a while, I couldn't bear telling Uncle Eddie anymore. I knew it hurt him to see me hurt. And the more often it happened, the more he was ready to drop everything and release his wrath on everyone.
The first two years after turning 16 had been torture. But something inside me snapped after some time. I was tired of being weak. Being preyed on.
So I began sneaking out to watch the training sessions my pack had stopped me from attending. At night, I would practice everything I had learned during the day. Eventually, Uncle Eddie caught on and started training me himself. While he didn't have much experience in wolf combat, I had learned a lot from fighting his wicked spells during our sessions.
But I didn't let anyone from the pack know.
While I grew stronger physically and mentally, I grew weaker in their minds.
I'd like to attribute that to my amazing acting skills.
At the same time, Uncle Eddie began thinking my punishments had stopped, when in reality, I just got better at hiding it.
Until now.
The pain was too much to bear this time and I couldn't hold back.
It wasn't just the whipping. My beast was crumbling because of our mate. The one chance I had at finding someone was gone. While I had never paid much thought to a mate, I knew my wolf had yearned for one long and hard. She had been strong throughout everything that had happened to us, giving me courage and strength when I couldn't find any myself. I didn't know how she remained so strong.
But our mate was her tipping point. Tonight had broken her.
I could feel her emotions leaking through our bond even though she had desperately tried to cut them off from me. Were we not enough?
"I thought this stopped, Skittle," Uncle Eddie's voice cracked at the end as he brushed my hair out of my face.
That simple action unlocked a part of me that I had kept buried for so long.
For the first time in years, I cried.
He knelt beside me and carefully brought my head onto his lap. I buried my face into his shirt and wept, the sobs racking my body.
I wept for the pain I had suffered tonight. I wept for the punishments I had endured for so long. I wept for the loneliness I had felt for many years. I wept for Uncle Eddie and how much I had burdened him. I wept for the family I no longer had.
I wept for the mate I had lost.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wand and began muttering words I couldn't comprehend. The pain in my back reduced to a dull throb as his healing spell washed over me, soothing my physical wounds. If only there was a spell for the mental scars.
I could feel droplets on my forehead, my heart squeezing as I realized Uncle Eddie was crying with me. He didn't know what I had gone through, but he was there, bearing my heartache with me nonetheless.
"Don't you worry, Skittle. I'll fix this." he whispered.
My sobs transformed into hiccups as I calmed down, and I felt myself grow tired. Closing my eyes, I slipped away into darkness, vaguely listening to Uncle Eddie blow his nose in his handkerchief.
~*~
I woke up the next morning with eyes crustier than the Krusty Krab.
I am not cut out for this crying business.
Rubbing my eyes, I realized I had been placed back in my bed. Groaning, I rolled over onto my stomach, tensing my body as I anticipated to be hit with the painful repercussions of last night.
But they never came.
What on earth?
Cautiously, I lifted up my arms. Again, no pain. My muscles were sore, but the stabbing sensations I normally felt on mornings like this weren't there. Twisting my neck, I pulled down my shirt and saw the wounds on my back had started to close and some were beginning to scab. Uncle Eddie must have kickstarted the healing process once I fell asleep. Giggling, I wiggled my toes in happiness.
Suck it, Alpha James! You don't have a wizard on your side.
I rolled off my bed, despite the ache in my limbs, and trudged to the bathroom to freshen up. After a long - and mildly painful - shower, I quickly brushed my teeth and threw on some clothes, spritzing them with the scent masking perfume. As I walked out of my room, I noticed a pack of skittles on my bedside table. Grinning, I grabbed them and began munching on the sweets as I made my way downstairs, thinking of the million different things I wanted for breakfast.
Pancakes and waffles and eggs and sausage, lots of sausage, and hashbrowns and berries and -
Well it all would've been heavenly if it weren't for the fact that I couldn't cook.
But a girl could dream.
As I entered the living room, the first thing I noticed was that the fridge was missing.
In fact, everything was missing.
The couch, chairs, dining table - it was all gone. Instead, boxes were littered all around the empty space, filled with everything from clothes to books to dishes.
I frantically scrambled into the kitchen, opening every cupboard I could in search of nutrition, but it had all disappeared.
And low and behold, the culprit behind the madness came waltzing into the room, flicking his wooden spoon around, causing boxes to close and tape themselves up.
"What in the goddess' name are you doing?" I skrieked. "Where is the food?!"
"Ah, Freya!" exclaimed Uncle Eddie. "This is our lucky day! We are leaving this ogre bum of a pack!"
I gaped at him. "Wha - Ho - Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'?" he whirled around to face me. "I. Will. Not. Have. My. Daughter. Hurt. Any. Longer!" he gritted out, poking me with the spoon every time he spoke.
My heart warmed at the word daughter. Although we had never really spoken about it, he and I truly had become like father and daughter over the years. Moreover, I was moved once again by his efforts to protect me.
"Twix, " I spoke softly, "I appreciate what you're doing, but it's okay. Moving would just be too hard and I'm managing just fine here despit -"
"Nonsense!" he screamed. "If my suspicions are correct, then you've been hiding this from me for some time now young lady and I will not stand for it," he puffed out his chest, shaking the wooden spoon. "I will not!"
"But where will we go?"
"Well, I -" he scratched his head with the stick. "I haven't quite figured that part out yet actually."
I chuckled. "And the refrigerator? You packed that too?"
Uncle Eddie clasped his hands together. "Yes! Food is a necessity, and unlike some people," he drawled out, "I simply cannot fashion myself into a wolf to munch on some bacterial-infested, unseasoned meat!"
"You can literally Abracadabra yourself a buffet!"
"Yes, but I need to store the leftovers somewhere," he said matter-of-factly. "I don't want my things going rotten in the forest."
"And where are you planning on keeping a fridge in the forest? It doesn't exactly fit in a box," I pointed out.
"No, a box would be silly and highly inaccessible," Uncle Eddie shook his head. "It will simply follow us!"
"Follow us?" I inquired.
He waved the spoon and the air beside him started shimmering. After a few seconds, the ripples faded away to reveal our gloriously ugly refrigerator. It proudly hovered about two feet above the ground, moving after Uncle Eddie as he bounced around the room as if it was tethered to him.
"That is so cool," I gasped. "Now open it and give me some food!"
"Manners!" he scolded, slapping my hand with his wand.
I was about to retort, when there was a knock on our door. My eyes met those of Eddie's as we stared at each other in confusion. No one had come to our house in years.
Pushing aside some boxes, I made my way to the door and peered through the peephole. A man from my pack was standing on our porch, looking very uncomfortable. Noticing the tattoo on his shoulder, I realized he was a pack warrior. He raised his hand to knock again, but I cut him off by opening the door.
"Hello?" I asked, unsure of whether to greet him or question, resulting in some awkward combination of both.
The warrior paused, his hand freezing midair. "Uh," he cleared his throat. "The Alpha has called a pack meeting."
A pack meeting? We hadn't had one in over seven years. What could have been so important for him to call one now?
Before I could even open my mouth to respond, Uncle Eddie beat me to it.
"I'm sorry, did you say Alpha?" he screeched, stomping to the door.
The man shifted his weight to his other foot. "Uhm, well yes -"
"Shame!" Uncle Eddie yelled, cutting him off. "Shame on you," he shoved me aside, shaking his spoon in the warrior's face. "Shame on all of you!"
"Pardon m-"
"How do you sleep at night?" he screamed.
"On a bed, sir, but -"
"How do you live with yourself?" Uncle Eddie continued. "How do you a respect a man like him? I ought to burn this place to the ground! Nay, I'll set your tails on fire, all of you!"
I grabbed the sleeve of his robe and dragged him away, as he continued shouting threats and profanities at the confused warrior. After plopping him by the stairs, I told him to go pack up his room and lair, bribing him with the promise of candy.
"Sorry about that," I breathed as I stood in front of the man again. I should've felt embarrassed by Uncle Eddie's outburst, but I didn't. He had proved his loyalty and love for me over and over again, and I took pride in it, no matter how he displayed it.
"It's quite alright," the warrior said. He seemed to have composed himself again.
"There's a meeting?" I asked. "What for?"
"I'm not sure, uh, ma'am." I am not old enough to be called ma'am! "Alpha didn't say. I'm just on orders to round up the pack."
"I see. When is it?"
"In an hour, miss." Oh, I'm a 'miss' now?
"Okay," I nodded. "Thank you for letting us know. I'll be there." I was damn curious to know what had provoked this meeting.
"Sounds good, miss, er, ma'am," he grunted uncomfortably. "Well, I'll be on my way then."
Waving my hand, I closed the door.
Inhaling, I lifted my head and shouted, "Uncle Eddie, we have a meeting to attend!"
A string of curses was all I heard in response.
------------------------
A/N
What do you guys think so far? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and please give it a vote if you liked it!
Uncle Eddie is literally my favourite person ever ugh *hypes up own character*
What do you think is going to happen at this meeting?
until next time xo