The Scarred Wolf

Chapter 4 Brothel

-Rose-

The chirp of birds wakes me from a deep sleep. I find myself lying on a bed.

I stare at the ceiling, and then look at the white bed curtain dancing with the wind.

Shouldn’t I be dead already? Does this how heaven look like?

As I sigh and attempt to sit up, a wave of dizziness washes over me. I recline to quell the nausea, finding relief as my head meets the pillow.

I close my eyes, yet the horrible scenes appear in my mind one by one. They flow like a reel, forcing me to recall the lies, the betrayal, the death…The death.

Father was dead.

Bella was dead.

I am presumed dead.

Thanks to Hans Snow.

I need to go back to my pack, telling my pack members what Hans had done. The pack doctor will speak for me. At the thought of this, I struggle to sit up. I am trying to get up when I hear chatter outside. They giggle and tease each other as they approach the door. I quickly lie down, pretending I am asleep.

It turns out to be a wise decision. Rightly after I shut my eyes, they push the door open and come in and the scent of mingled perfume hit my nose.

“This is the girl you found near the river?”a high-pitched voice asks.

“Yes.”a sweet voice answers.

“And she is still unconscious?”the high-pitched voice asks again.

“I am afraid so, Madam Pink. She was seriously injured when we found her on the bank of the river. There were many cuts on her arms and legs…”

“And there was a horrible scar on her left cheek! A huge one.”another voice cuts in with excitement.

My heart sinks at her mention of my scar. I want to bury my face into the pillow but I know I can’t. Otherwise they would realize that my sleep is feigned. I tighten the grip of the quilt, and continue to listen to them.

“I wonder what happened to her.” a calm voice mutters.

“Isn’t it obvious, Emerald? There must be a fire, so her face got burnt.”

“You’re jumping to conclusions, Ruby. There was no fire breaking out in recent days, or we would have heard about it.”The woman called Emerald adds mockingly, “From your client No.3, Mr.Fireman.”

“f**k you, Emerald.”

“Sure. What position do you want?”

All the women including Ruby burst into laughter.

“Silence!”The leading woman orders and the laughter dies. Madam Pink clears her throat and says, “I know you’re excited to find a new toy. So am I. But you shall not forget your place. What’s your priority?”

“Tips.”Ruby exclaims.

‘’You idiot.”Emerald laughs at her reply and says, “It is clients.”

“Well said, Emerald.”Madam Pink praises amusingly. She is quite satisfied with the answer.

Tortured by my crazily growing curiosity, I can’t help but peek at them from the corner of my eyes. It doesn’t surprise me when I find them wearing colorful dresses and the colors match their names correspondingly.

“To make sure our clients are not to be disturbed, you must keep our head down and voice down, unless the clients want you to be a screamer.”

At her words, Ruby suddenly moans aloud, causing them to giggle.

“You naughty b***h,”Madam Pink says as she smiles. Suddenly she turns her head to my direction and commands, “Let me know once she is awake.”

“Ma’am, what would you assign her to do?”Pearl asks curiously. She happens to ask the question I want to ask.

“I haven’t decided yet.”Madam Pink hesitantly says, “What do you think, girls? Shall we make her a silkworm or a butterfly?”

“She can only be a silkworm.”Ruby says disdainfully, “She has a scar on her face, which might displease our clients.”

“Yeah, and it will ruin the reputation of the house, causing clients to leave us for other brothels!”Pearl grimaces.

Ruby sneers, “We shouldn’t have brought her back. I’ve told you so. I propose we throw her out when she is still unconscious.”

“No we shouldn’t do this. Look at her injuries. She won’t make it.”A girl in yellow says as she frowns.

“For moon goddess’ sake, when can you stop being soft to everyone, Amber?”Ruby rolls her eyes as she put her arms across her chest. “Why should we care if she can survive or not? She is a stranger.”

Amber’s face reddens. She opens her mouth trying to defend herself but finally shuts up.

“She is a badly injured stranger. Don’t you have any conscience?”Emerald spats.

“Wow, you’re kind and merciful.”Ruby darts her gaze to Emerald and spats back, “Savior in the brothel.”She whistles mockingly, “Like the nickname I made for you?”

“You call me that again, I will have your tongue cut and feed the dog,”Emerald scoffs.

Ruby pales and starts to whine,“Madam Pink! Emerald is threatening me.”

“Enough!”Madam Pink snarls to end their argument. She rubs her forehead and groans, “You’re causing me a headache.”

“It is Emerald…”Ruby attempts to defend herself. Madam Pink scoffs and emphasizes coldly, “Both of you.”

“My apology, ma’am.”Emerald immediately apologizes.

Ruby pouts and sends Emerald a glare. She then utters reluctantly, “Sorry, ma’am.”

“You’re my good girls. I hope you can get along well with each other.”Madam Pink sends them a blaming look and sighs, making her decision.“If the new girl knows how to embroider, she can stay as a silkworm, making clothes for you. If she doesn’t know, you can teach her. Before she fully masters the skill she can do the chores.”

“What if she wanders around and scares our clients?” Pearl asks quietly.

“We can warn her in advance, making sure she won’t do so.”Amber says as she glances in my direction.

“Still, she may cause a lot of trouble.”Ruby scoffs, “She is a rogue.”

“How do you know?”Pearl asks curiously.

“Ruby is right about this. The girl doesn’t have a pack bracelet.”Emerald states as she subconsciously touches her wrist.

Not until then do I realize the pack bracelet on my wrist was gone.

I shiver at the new discovery.

Shit.

The pack bracelet is a kind of ID card showing our pack, without which a wolf will be seen as a rogue. With more than three pack members’ verification, the wolf who unfortunately lost the bracelet can apply for a new one, but the procedure requires around a month. Most packs allow the wolf who lost the bracelet to stay during the time, but my pack happens to be the one with strict rules. It won’t allow a wolf without a bracelet to enter the territory despite of the wolf’s rank.

The fact that I cannot go back to my pack immediately frustrates me. I will have to apply for a bracelet before I go back. Just then Ruby speaks again, which makes me snap out of my thought.

“Perhaps she is a dangerous creature,”Ruby summarizes, “We’d better not let her stay.”

“Don’t you forget most of us were rogues before Madame Pink offered us this shelter.”Emerald argues, “Perhaps she can be as profitable as us.”

“With that scar on her face? ”Ruby laughs.

“Nothing is impossible, her body is curvy and the texture of her hair is good. Besides, some clients have kinky interests. Maybe their curiosity will be ignited when they see the girl’s scar.”Amber shrugs.

“You bet. I also want to know what happened to her.”Madame Pink nods in agreement.

“But…”Ruby wants to say something but Emerald speaks first.“And we should not forget Rule No.1 in this house. We don’t judge a girl by her face, but by the money she could make.”Emerald’s argument causes a gleam in Madame Pink’s eyes.

I have an intuition that Madame Pink has been convinced to let me stay, and my instinct later turns out to be right.

“I don’t know why you’re so desperate to let her stay.” Ruby squints her eyes suspiciously, “You might have some evil plans.”

“Evil?”Emerald chuckles, “I am just actively proposing a win-win solution. You’re the one desperate to kick her out. Why? Scare that the new girl will steal clients’ attention from you and cause you earn less?”

“You are talking nonsense!”Ruby gets outraged and yells.

“Quiet Ruby,”Madame Pink hisses at her, “Do not disturb the clients in the next room.”

“Sorry ma'am,”Ruby lowers her voice and glares at Emerald.

“We keep her,”Madame Pink announces and raises her hand to stop Ruby’s protest, “I’ve made up my mind. We offer her an opportunity. If she behaves improperly, we then kick her out. Did I make myself clear?”

“Understood, ma’am.”The girls bow their heads and reply simultaneously.

“Good. Dismissed.”Madame Pink nods in satisfaction and claps her hand. She casts a glance in my direction before leaving. The prostitutes follow her, heading outside one by one.

Except for Emerald.

She leans against the door, letting others go first. I have thought she did this out of politeness, not expecting she will close the door behind her after everyone goes out.

“I know you have awakened and eavesdropped on us for a while.”Emerald says as she tilts her head to my direction. “You can stop pretending, little wolf.”