Absolute Obedience

Chapter Fifteen

The days went by slower than what I had hoped. Pierce was true to his word and every morning and evening he worked with me on my speech. The first few days were harder than I had anticipated. I didn't like this new change. My tongue was too fat in my mouth to pronounce words properly, and every time I messed up Pierce's left eye would twitch. By the third day he had walked out in the middle of the lesson and didn't return until late into the evening. I could tell I was getting under his skin with my lack of progress, or really inability to pick up on things quickly. In my defense though, it had only been a few hours spread out over three days, but Pierce lacked patience and I lacked skill. Combined the two were like a freight train that derailed. 

This continued for 2 weeks, and my progress was barely noticeable. I still refused to speak, but when he forced me, his face would go red, and he would start breathing heavily in an act to calm himself. I was becoming scared of his reactions to my lack of skill. I knew it was only a matter of time before I received a punishment for not doing it properly. 

"There has to be an easier way to do this." Pierce mumbled to himself. I looked at him with sad eyes. I really was trying my hardest. I was seated at the kitchen island, and Pierce was pacing opposite of me. We had just worked on me saying 'Hello' and it had come out sounding like 'Ha-Ro'. I was embarrassed, and he was angry. 

"Maybe we should call a doctor?" He had a thoughtful look on his face before shaking his head. "No, humans ask too many question, and a shifter doctor wont see a branded wolf." Pierce started growling in frustration, scratching the nap of his neck roughly. He continued his pacing looking over at me every so often. 

"Should I call my sister?" He stopped pacing and looked long and hard at me before shaking his head. "Fuck, she'd kill you if she knew you were here. Ugh!" I just watched him, he hadn't given me many details about himself or how his kind lived, but what I did know was that he was voluntarily living apart from his kin. There was a deep seeded hatred for Were Wolves, especially for my old pack, and I knew there was a reason why he kept me here.

A hand slammed down onto the table causing me to jump. "That's it!" Without another word Pierce grabbed himself a jacket and left, leaving me alone. I didn't move, it was an unspoken rule between us, but whenever he left I didn't leave the spot he left me in. When he would return home I was always patted on the head, and then he would allow me to follow him around the house. I wasn't allowed outside, but l truly had no desire to go out. My wolf felt the itch to venture out, but he too wasn't so sure about the outdoors. In our limited experience with going outside, we knew that beyond the walls that kept us safe was a punishment awaiting us, and it wasn't something either my wolf or I looked forward to. 

I was content here. I felt safe, and I wasn't restless, I was happy staying within the walls of the small house. However, I knew this was temporary. Something happened between Pierce and my-- I mean Clyde's pack. That was something I was trying to correct myself on daily. Clyde wasn't my Alpha. I was never apart of his pack, I was merely a pawn in a plan he had devised. Apart of me wanted and tried to stay in denial, but my wolf would play the conversation between Pierce and I back into my head. His words about me being forced into a role in which my wolf would have been the one to decide on, was something I couldn't argue about. Had my start in life been different, I could possibly be happily mated within a pack that loved and cherished me. 

There was too much evidence to back up what Pierce had told me. The things Kain had said, Levi, Ben, they all had dropped hints that something was amiss within my old pack. I was just to naive and ignorant to know or understand. The truth still hurt, and it was hard to get rid of the times I felt happy being next to Clyde. The pats on my head used to bring me such joy, it was hard to think that he did that as a way to groom me for a purpose I didn't want to think about. Then there was him.