Chapter 7 Nasty welcome

Veil.

The splash of cold, stinky water hit my face, and with a gasp, I rise up from the bed.

Bed?

Realizing it's true that I'm actually on a bed, I dart a frantic look around me.

How in the heavens did I end up here, or is the previous day a dream?

I mean, I clearly remember being in a cellar with Quin.

I remember his rough thrusts into me; the throbbing of my pussy is clear proof.

He didn't kill me. My worst enemy didn't feast on my flesh.

I bite my lip, unsure whether to feel relief or dread.

As if that's not enough magic in one day, I'm suddenly back in my old bedroom in the pack house. The smell of dust wafts into my nostrils.

Was it Quin who brought me here, or did I sleepwalk?

This doesn't make sense.

The barrage of thoughts spinning through my head hinders me from taking in the people in my room until another splash of cold, dirty water plummets on me again.

I perceive the acrid scent of...urine.

Disgust crawls up my throat, and I look up with anger and disbelief in my eyes, only to see them: Ava, Caroline, and Emma, my best friends.

My lips widen in a smile upon realizing it's them, but contempt twists their faces as they look at me, their hands crossed over their chests.

I look down at my drenched clothes as the thick scent of urine burns through my nostrils.

"Wow...what a nasty welcome," I say with a slight humor lacing my voice, wiping my face with the quilt before peering back at them. "Ava? Caroline? Emma?" I call, uncomfortable by their silent treatment and judgmental stare.

It's been years since I last set my eyes on them, but truly, they've not changed a bit. Caroline is still just as slim as she was before, and Ava is still radiant despite being plus-size. The spaghetti dress she's putting on reveals the freckles on her body that earned her the nickname 'frecky' from me.

Well, Emma is the only one looking different, with bright skin and a few pounds of flesh. Her dark hair looks silky.

My eyes catch the wedding band on her finger, which surprises me.

Is Emma married?

Caroline's scoff breaks the silence that envelopes us. She tilts her head, a sneer on her lips as she addresses me.

"Do you want to know what's nasty? It's you showing your goddamn face back in our pack, bitch!"

Her words sting, so icy that they freeze my blood.

Of all people, my best friends are the only ones I was hoping would believe that I'm innocent.

Certainly, they are aware that the night I eloped with Ryder, I left with nothing.

Weren't they the ones who led me to the border where Ryder and I met?

I force myself to breathe past the heavy stench, rising up to my feet.

"Wait, you also believe I stole the moonstone?" I ask in disbelief. "Is that why you poured..." I trail off, looking from my soaked clothes to the bed and back at them. "You just poured urine on me?"

They burst into laughter, their eyes shimmering with mirth.

Emma speaks this time, sounding accusing. "You know...I've always known you to be a pretender, Veil, and goodness, that bored the shit out of me." The blood drained from my face. "But guess what? We both know the truth, Veil, you're a thief..."

"But, you were there the night I left...You helped sneak away from the pack." I softly remind them only to be silenced by Ava's next words.

"It doesn't excuse the fact that you stole from us..." She walks forward, tsking and shaking her head. "You know, it'd have been better for you if you had died last night, because trust me, every minute you spend in this pack will be nothing but hell, Veil. Life wouldn't be as it was years ago, when you were feeling like the queen of the world, using us as your puppets. Now..."

"We'll make you suffer, Veil. You don't know how long we've prayed for things to turn like this, so we'll make you feel what it's like being like us, poor church rats." The threat she spills makes me grit my teeth.

Poor church rats, that's how they always refer to themselves whenever they see me in luxury clothes back in Halesbridge Academy. We'd laugh it off as nothing, and I always made sure they had access to any of my belongings they wanted.

Despite all that, this was what they thought about me all the years we've been friends.

The betrayal stings so hard, I try to fight it. Unfortunately, they don't give me the opportunity.

"Bring her along," Emma says with authority, snapping her fingers at Caroline and Ava, who quickly do her bidding.

They arrest my arms, and they drag me away from the bedroom with force.

Oh, not again! I whimper inside me, the ache I feel resurfacing.

"What are you doing?" I bite out, snapping my gaze at them as they drag me outside, several pairs of eyes watching me, the pack maids, obviously, until we arrive at the pack's public lavatory.

The buzzing of flies grates on my nerves just as the pungent odor wafting from the lavatory twists my intestines.

"What's this? Why did you bring me here?" I bark as they push me to my knees, my bruised hands meeting with the hot sand.

"What else?" Emma sneers. "The lavatory needs to be sparkling, and who better to do that than the..." she air quotes her red-painted fingers "slave?"

The color drains from my face.

I'm not surprised they've reduced me to that.

I flinch as another fly buzzes close to my ear as I watch Ava stab a mop on the ground before me, silently ordering me to take it and get to work.

My hands visibly shake, vomit building in my gut as I reach for the mop, the cool steel barely dousing the fire burning inside me.

Their laughter tears through me, filling me with bitterness.

"Come on, be quick about it. I'll be right back to check how it is once you finish." Emma announces, amusement dancing in her almond eyes.

I watch them whirl on their heels, walking away while I process how my life ended up being worse in my pack.

"Oh, and Veil..." I peer up, locking eyes with Emma when she calls, her wedding band glinting under the sunlight as she waves her hand. "That won't be all. You have hectares of land waiting for you to cultivate them, so chop-chop, there's too much work to do."

I nod slowly, bringing my eyes down at the mop as their footsteps fade away.

Now alone, the buzzing of flies fills the silence, weakness creeping into bones the moment I realize I've about twenty toilets to clean, all brimming with shits.

"Goddess, how did I end up in this mess?" I mutter to myself, tears rimming my eyes as I pick up the bucket and start cleaning.

My body aches all over, the bruises on my fingers hindering me from squeezing out the mop appropriately.

The silence causes thoughts about last night with Quin to flash through my mind again.

Why didn't he kill me? Truthfully, it'd have been the easy way out, even though I abhor the thought.

I don't understand his reason for stopping his brutal assault, only to carry me to what I assume is his bed chamber.

I formulate several theories in my head, trying to solve the puzzle, but I come up blank.

Was it really him who brought me to my old bedroom?

"Oh, shit!!" I hiss, slapping away the fly perched on the tip of my nose.

Goddess, this is so disgusting!

Having my best friends turn on me makes this new life insufferable.

Is this how my life will be now?

Why hasn't my mother come to see me, at least?

I remember our days together in Halesbridge Academy. We were inseparable, united, or so I thought.

Now, I'm nothing more than a slave to them.

Thinking about them reminds me of the ring I saw on Emma's finger.

Is she truly married? To whom?

Finishing with the first three toilets, I move onto the next, but just as I open it, a

My head swims so hard my vision gives way. I try to hold myself up, but I land face-first on the floor, the pain worsening.

Whimpers rip from my mouth as I hear it, a distinct voice calling my name; however, my mind is too frazzled, stuck in a dark web to make sense of the voice.

Tbc.