The girl coward in the corner of the cold dark room listening for any other sound besides that of her own heartbeat. The scent of blood and urine were overpowering her heightened sense of smell.
Suddenly, she heard distant laughter coming from somewhere outside the room.
She instantly tensed at the sound as tears filled her eyes and threatened to escape. Him… he’d returned.
The three days she’d had to herself, free of him and all the pain and suffering that came with him was over.
The echoing laughter became louder as she began to hear footsteps approaching the door of her little cell and the door forcefully swung open. Icy blue piercing eyes peered at her from the doorway, and she trembled as his lips formed into an evil grin.
He took a step and the little girl started to rock as sobs wracked her body as he approached her slowly.
“Please...” She cried.
The man stopped just in front of her and reached down for the chain that anchored her foot to the wall.
“Please” she whispered again as tears stained her dirty cheeks.
He paused for a moment then slowly began to draw in the chain one hand at a time. The girl didn’t have to see his face to know the sadistic smile hadn’t wavered. The aching wound around her ankle began to protest at the sudden movement, and she let out a small cry.'
“Beep" “Beep” “Beep”
Paige suddenly awakened in a cold sweat to the steady sound of her alarm clock on the nightstand. She sat up quickly and ran for the bathroom, dry heaving a few times before leaning back against the cold ceramic wall.
Taking a few deep breaths, she slowly stood and glanced at her disheveled reflection in the bathroom mirror, tucking a loose strand of hair that was moist with sweat behind her ear.
The childhood monster that plagued her nightmares was still fresh in her memory. It was always the same. She could clearly see the man's face in her dreams but at the same time she just couldn’t remember it. No matter what she did to suppress the memories, they always seemed to find their way back into her dreams.
She sighed and reached for her toothbrush. At this point in her life, she’d just learned to live with them.
After showering, Paige stepped back into her room, opening her closet door, assessing her options for the day while running the comb through her long brown hair.
Today was supposed to be a special day. She thought sadly. “Happy birthday to me” she whispered sardonically.
Taking a deep breath, she quickly pushed aside any feelings of self-pity which she knew she didn’t have time for. Not now, when she was one step closer to her goal. With this last paycheck she would finally have her set amount and be able to leave this dump.
At the thought, she smiled to herself as she scanned the outdated thrift store items neatly arranged in her closet. Most of which were worn down, over-sized and reminded her of something a little brother might wear. Not that she had one. Paige had no siblings. Unfortunately for Paige, her father’s endeavors had left her all alone in her childhood home struggling to keep the lights on. There had been no extra money these past two years to spend on luxuries like new clothes or frivolous accessories in her wardrobe. Not that she could wear them anyway, even if she did own them.
Her extended family pack members (the previous Betas' family to be exact) were her great aunt's family on her father's side. The woman had, of course, so charitably provided Paige with a decent place to work, but they did not allow any kind of beautiful, fitted or flashy clothing. More accurately, the previous Beta's wife did not allow it.
Nothing that would possibly over-shine the Beta's beautiful daughter, who, as luck would have it, was also Paige's cousin, Lilly, Aka: the future Luna of this pack.
Paige sighed inwardly as she reached into her closet, retrieving a plain off-white tee shirt about three times too large and a pair of faded blue jeans casually tossing them on the bed. She quickly changed before adding her mother’s gold locket as a final touch, grabbing her backpack and taking one final look in the mirror.
It would have to do for the occasion, she thought, giving herself a confident smirk.
Exiting her room and headed down the stairs towards the kitchen to raid her fridge, she opened the door to reveal a mostly empty refrigerator and reached for a carton of orange juice, which was about the only thing on the shelf besides an expired jar of pickles, and an old pizza box that probably should have tossed by now.
Pouring herself a glass, she popped down a bagel, then quickly reached for the jar of peanut butter while glancing up at the clock hanging on the wall. 5:45 am.
It wasn’t all bad living here by herself. This was the only place other Pack members left her alone. Of course, this was only due to the fact that her father was a notorious killer among their pack.
Most of the pack members feared possible retribution when he returned. If he ever returned. She thought, sighing as she took a bite of her bagel. Pulling out a bar-stool, Paige sat down, reluctantly glancing around the empty kitchen.
Fear. Fear of her father was the only thing that kept her home, at least, untouched by the greed of her pack. It was also the only reason most of them left her alone as well. Mostly. She was grateful for that at least.
Arriving at her aunt’s house, Paige took the service entrance into the kitchen and joined the two other women in preparing breakfast.
The other women were dressed in similar over-sized clothing, if not a bit newer than hers and Paige knew why.
Her uncle Henry was known for keeping a particular type of staff to run his household. Young, female and attractive. The man had no shame and was well known for groping the young members of their pack, especially the prettier ones that he employed in his home.
One of the many reasons to appreciate the over-sized clothing, however since this past year, she’d quickly started filling out in more noticeable areas, some people had already begun to notice her new attributes including the young alpha Damian. This was not good news for her.
She quickly realized what most people would have taken as a gift from the goddess, might possibly come to be her curse.
It was getting harder to intimidate people with the threat of her father in his absence, which had been his longest one yet. Two years had passed since he’d left, this time.
Paige finished her duties in the breakfast hall then exited the kitchen with a stack of linens, winding down the empty corridor. When passing the open lounge, she paused for a moment, her attention now drawn to the sight in front of her.
Standing on a footstool in front of a burgundy chaise was a very red-faced cousin Lilly in a gaudy bright orange ball gown covered in sequins and a ridiculous amount of ruffles.
She appeared to be being assessed by a man who she could only assume was the tailor. Paige's aunt, who currently looked flabbergasted, was now beating the poor man with a rolled-up newspaper. "I told you to bring something fit for a queen!"
“Whack"
“I did not, however, tell you to make her look like a bloody pumpkin!” She screeched.
"Whack."
“Of course, of course... he bowed a few times, wincing at the blows, putting a hand to his chest in an attempt to quickly amend the situation.
Just then, Paige’s attention was drawn to their pack alpha, Damien (who was also Lilly’s fiancé), currently leaned against the wall in the corner, lazily staring out the window, seemingly bored of the whole situation.
Abruptly, he straightened and sniffed the air, then turned towards the doorway. His eyes flashed black briefly for a moment before they then brightened like he’d suddenly found something more interesting to entertain himself.
Paige’s smile vanished and she instantly sobered.
“I will, of course, come back with no less than something fit for the goddess herself...” the tailor was now cooing to her aunt.
Right about the time Paige was turning to escape the whole unpleasant situation, Lilly had just taken notice of Alpha Damien's attention being drawn elsewhere. She followed his gaze to the doorway where Paige was still standing, her eyes instantly turning cold. Lily clumsily stepped down from her footstool, jerking in Paige's direction.
“What are you looking at, maid!? What do you think you're doing interrupting our private visit!? I don’t recall summoning help.” Lilly spat as she picked up an armload of ruffles and marched towards the doorway to confront Paige.