6
1704 Words
MEGHAN
I slowly woke up to the faint sound of the machines registering my vitals around me. I hadn’t realized I’d fallen back asleep after my brief but intense encounter with Jackson… but my shoulder surely did, considering how it ached.
Groaning, I sat on the bed and leaned over towards the bedside table to pour myself a glass of water. The fresh liquid went down my throat sweetly as honey.
I needed that.
After the water, I munched on the snacks that had also been left there. It had been months since I last ate potato chips, and as soon as I tasted their familiar salty flavor, all that nostalgia hit right back.
Finally, some good f*****g food, and not the stale, hard-as-a-rock bread I usually got at the pack house.
Maybe I should fall down the stairs more often, I thought as I devoured the chips. So I get to go to the hospital and be treated like a human being. A hospital vacay.
Sighing, I fell back on the soft pillows, contemplating the absolute misery my life had become. I’d become a slave, my evil sister’s maid, the whole pack’s punching bag, I’d gotten raped… and now I was to the point where being in a f*****g hospital after an almost-fatal injury felt like paradise.
“…exams.”
Suddenly, I heard Doctor Haley’s voice just outside my door.
I mustn’t have slept much, then, I thought. She’s already back with my blood results.
“She’s sleeping. Whatever you have to say to her, you can say to me.”
My blood turned to ice as I heard that voice. It was cold, and controlled, and imperative.
It was my father’s voice.
What is he doing here? Why is he here?
He’d made sure everyone knew he no longer considered me a daughter of his – that he and I were not family.
Why was he there, then? In the hospital where I was being treated, and asking about my blood work?
Tell him nothing, I silently pleaded Doctor Haley. You shouldn’t say anything to him, it’s illegal!
But I knew the men like my father: I knew the Alphas like him.
No one wanted to anger them, to refuse them something – bad things happened to those who did.
I quickly kicked the blankets off of me and walked towards the door, to hear better.
“Forgive me, sir, but I don’t think I should.” Doctor Haley insisted. “Meghan is eighteen, she’s a legal adult, and she’s the one I must refer to.”
“The poor girl just went through something traumatic.” my father went on, suddenly acting like a sad and loving daddy. “Don’t you think we should let her rest? Besides, she never really liked doctors and hospitals. I’ll make sure to tell her everything, I promise.”
Doctor Haley stayed silent for a few seconds, clearly hesitating. But then she sighed – and I knew she’d given up.
Fuck.
“Well, when we first ran the blood work, three days ago, everything seemed fine.” she said. “But these new exams… well, to say they’re different would be an understatement. Her HCG levels are rising, which could mean just…”
My heart began to pound into my chest.
It couldn’t be.
No, no, no…
“HCG?” my father interrupted her. “Are you sure?”
“The exams don’t lie, sir.” doctor Haley said. “She’s pregnant. Super early, of course – but since she’s a werewolf, we were able to see the hormones rising much earlier than if she were a human.”
My mouth opened in a mute wail as I felt pain split my chest in half.
No… I begged, but I already knew it was to no avail. Goddess, please… please don’t put this on me, I beg of you…
It was already awful enough that I had to endure Jackson’s rape: but to bear his child? The fruit of that assault, of that violence?
Having to see my body change and grow because of that? Having to birth and raise the very product of his evil-doing?
Tears began to stream down my cheeks as sobs shook my chest. Unable to stand anymore, I let myself slide against the door and, once I was doing, hid my face in my knees, sobbing.
What had I done, to be deserving of such a fate? What sin had I committed to be punished like that?
Why?
“Pregnant?!”
Two voices screamed the same word at the same time – Mylah’s and Jackson’s.
They were there too?
That was worse than a worst-case scenario: Mylah didn’t worry me much, she’d just throw some more insults and slurs at me, but Jackson…
He was dangerous, he was a liability.
And he proved that right away.
“It’s mine, then?” he whispered.
I closed my eyes, silently begging for mercy.
It was over, my life as I knew it was over.
Jackson had claimed the pregnancy.
The hallway fell into a shocked silence, and for a good minute, no one spoke.
“Are you f*****g serious?!” Mylah then shrieked, and the sound of a slap echoed through the walls. “Are you f*****g serious, Jackson?”
He didn’t reply.
“So that’s what all it was about that morning!” she laughed hysterically. “When she f*****g came into my room and then she ran away and you followed her? You f****d that b***h, huh? You f****d a slave and then me?!”
“Can you give us a moment, doctor?” my father asked her. She didn’t reply, but I heard the sound of her footsteps slowly fading away.
“I was drunk…” Jackson began to say.
“I don’t give a f**k!” Mylah went on. “Are you seriously telling me you put that d**k inside of me after you put it in that slave’s cunt? You f*****g pumped me full of STDs, you scumbag!”
“I was drunk!” Jackson screamed. “I know it’s not an excuse. What I did was terrible, to both of you, and I… it was deplorable. But I was drunk. Sir.” he then addressed my father. “I’m sorry for what happened. I disrespected both you, your daughters and your hospitality. What I did cannot be forgiven, but I do intend to make things right.”
Shut the f**k up! I wanted to scream. You already did enough damage!
But he did not shut up, because as my father stayed silent, he went on talking.
“I cannot marry Mylah, not after what happened, not while Meghan carries my child. I’ll marry her. I’ll make an honest woman out of her, and this child will be born into a family.”
My stomach closed up and filled with acid as I heard that.
No. No, Goddess, please.
Every single interaction I’d had with Jackson, every single thing he’d done lately, had done nothing but push me further and further down into a hellhole. He’d raped me – he’d put a baby inside of me… and now he wanted to marry me.
And if my father agreed, I would not be able to say no. I was a slave – I had no rights concerning my own person. He owned me – he could do with me as he pleased.
“The treaty would still be on, like this.” Jackson insisted. “Our family would still be joined…”
“Stop it, boy.” my father finally said. I could almost picture him raising his hand, a stern and paternalistic look on his face. “We’re all running a little fast here. Mylah, darling, you’re reasonably upset, but this might be a blessing in disguise.”
Nausea gripped my stomach.
I don’t like where this is going…
“What do you mean?” Jackson asked. I could hear the worry in his voice.
“You cannot marry Meghan, Jackson.” my father replied. “I have only one proper daughter – and it is Mylah. Meghan is not a wolf, therefore she’s of no use to me. Surely, she has no political or marital value. But she’s good for one thing, one Mylah is not.”
A short moment of silence followed.
“Producing offspring.” my father finally said, after his moment of suspense. “Unfortunately, Mylah is infertile – and clearly, Meghan is not. You will marry Mylah, who’s a proper wolf and a valid match for you, and our packs will be joined, and you will use Meghan as your breeder. She’ll take care of giving you and Mylah heirs.”
No.
The word rang in my mind, clear and definitive.
No.
For the past ten months, I’d been a slave. I’d been beaten, humiliated, spat and kicked at.
But of two things I was sure: I would not let them use my body to generate babies that would be ripped from my arms the moment they were born and placed in that harpy’s care, and I would not let any child of mine live and suffer the toxic environment of that pack, of that family.
I’d die before I let that happen.
“I won’t raise the kids of that w***e, daddy!” Mylah screeched. “Why do you want me to hold and raise their bastards, huh? That’s f*****g gross! Her kids would be f*****g gross!”
“Because they’d look like they’re yours, that’s why.” he snapped. “You’re my daughter, you’ll do as I say!”
I have to be quick.
Soon, they’d barge into my room to wake me up and inform me of their decision. I would never be able to escape their clutches if they found me.
The first thing I did was take off everything that attached me to the machines: the electrodes, the needles, everything. Once I was free, I ran towards the window and opened it: luckily, I was on one of the first floors – and there was a beautiful tree right in front of me.
A smile crept up on my lips.
Goodbye, motherfuckers, I thought.
And I jumped.
- Writer
