Wolf (UNDER SOME SERIOUS REVISION)

Chapter One: The Beginning

Chapter One:

     I was shoved roughly down the cement staircase leading to the unfinished cellar that comprised my room. My head bounced off of the floor, adding a bruise to the large gash I received this morning for not cleaning the counter properly.

     The metal door slammed shut, the sound echoing off the walls, ringing in my ears and leaving me in darkness. I sighed when I felt that the leaky pipes had dripped foul-smelling, filthy water into the box, making the bottom sopping wet and moldy. Nevertheless, I climbed into the only item I had ever been given as a gift, curling into a ball to bring some semblance of warmth into my frail bones.

     In times like these in the dark, moldy cellar, I wondered where my life had gone wrong; and what I ever did to deserve this kind of treatment. I told myself that Alpha was doing what he felt was best for me, to teach me to be a good, obedient girl.

     I knew the way I was treated was different than the other pack members. Alpha said that I was lucky to receive anything, even just a box. I knew cardboard was not a bed, yet it was a gift in itself since it was the only other item in the dark room besides myself - it was the only gift I had ever been deemed worthy of having other than the bucket I used as a toilet.

     The lightbulb hanging from the ceiling had burnt out a few years back, ending the peaceful nights in the warm light. I yearned for another light bulb, but I never found the courage to ask for one for fear of being beaten asking such a question. I was undeserving of things I wanted.

     I only had the things I needed. I had clothes on my back, which had sat there for four years, a bucket used as a toilet, a room to rest in, and a weekly ration of a cup of uncooked lentils, just enough to keep me alive for all of my chores and beatings.

     My eyes fluttered shut, the day taking its toll on me. I had expected the morning beating after my mishap in the kitchen. I had expected the ridicule from pack members as I completed my chores. I had expected the slaps, the rough tugs, the hair-pulling, and the shoving. But it still hurt me. The physical things I could handle. At the end of the day, however, the mental battle began.

     I trained myself to be a light sleeper. I learned from an early age that if I slept hard I wouldn't be able to hear anyone come in, which made me vulnerable. During those times my eyes would snap awake just in time to see a boot come down on my face. 

     When the cellar door squealed open after only a few hours of sleep, I sat straight up in my box, trying to ignore the ache that sleep had not had the chance to heal yet. Heavy steps thundered down the stairs and I quickly climbed to my feet, my bones cracking stiffly. The beta appeared in the shadow of the light streaming from the top of the stairs. I lowered my head.

     He was winded, his tone urgent and frantic, "We're having guests. Right now."

     I nodded, "Yes, sir. I will complete my chores for the morning, Sir."

     "No," He muttered as he latched onto my arm, dragging me up the stairs.  "You need to go to the showers and clean yourself up, then dress in the clothes I will put out. You will stand in the line of unmated females just like everyone else and you won't say a word, you hear?"

     "Yes, sir," I said in a small voice. I had never done such a thing. I was typically hidden away when visitors came.

     I followed him through the twists and turns of the pack house, making sure to say at least five feet behind him. I had been trained to trail behind people. Alpha had told me that I made people uncomfortable walking or standing too close to them because I was of such a low rank.