Chapter 4 Not Submitting

Cassie -

Kneeling there on the soft area rug beside his bed, my heart is pounding, I have to force myself to remain still yet remain breathing. I may not be submitting to him, but I can make it appear that way for as long as I can, to appease him, hopefully he will fall for it and go easier on me, until I can think of a way out of this. Ace's feet appear in my line of sight, and I know by the flexing of them that he is squatting down in front of me, but still I don't move, not even a flinch. He places 2 fingers under my chin and forces my head up, so I am looking into his dark brown eyes as he gazes back at me. I thought I glimpsed a flicker of what could have been wonder in their depths, but it was gone before I could truly know.

He spoke in a whisper, as though not wanting anyone to overhear, "Cassie, Cassie, Cassie, I'm hurt you say you don't wish to be alone with me, you see, I happen to know you want me, that is why you are submitting to me so prettily. So submissive and open to dominance."

Submissive? Open to dominance? I think not. I roll my eyes in my head, and suddenly, an involuntarily scoff escapes me at his comment, and I receive a stinging slap for my indiscretion, d@mn my attitude, I was doing so well, I brace myself.

"You b!tch, how dare you scoff at the thought of submitting to me, I will show you, you are made to submit to me!" He yells pulling my hair, forcing me to look him in the eye. Then he pushes on the back of my head and I sprawl on the floor at his feet, he delivers several hard kicks to my abdomen and steps on my hand as he proceeds to leave the room, turning at the door he says "I expect this whole room to be spotless, then you can continue with your regular chores" and with a sanctimonious nod he leaves me laying on his bedroom floor.

After laying there for a few minutes trying to catch my breath and thinking about what he said, I pull myself up by the bed clothes and stagger to the bathroom. I splash some wash onto my face and notice in the mirror that my lip is swollen and there is a trickle of blood running from a small split in the corner of my mouth. Once I see the blood, I can taste it, so I cup my hand and drink some water from the tap to flush the coppery flavour of blood from my tongue.

His words still ringing in my ears, I proceed to tidy and clean his room before recommending my bathroom duties, all the while wholly aware of the time lost and what trouble I will be in if I don't finish soon and start dinner. Leaving Ace's room I go down a floor to the Delta and Gamma suites and upon entering Madeline's bathroom, I freeze. She has smeared makeup on the mirrors, smashed perfume bottles on the floor, poured shower gel on the toilet and placed all her towels inside the shower and switched it on. This is going to take ages to clean. Why would she do this? Because she was sent away by Ace?

Glancing at the clock I realise I am screwed, there is no way I am going to be able to complete everything before dinner, which means I will have to skip dinner to finish cleaning and the washing if I don't want to be punished. I turn off the shower and hang the towels on the handrail to drip dry while I clean everything else. Once that is done, I check the time again, an hour! A whole hour in 1 bathroom, I'm dead! I grab the towels and sprint to the laundry room, where I load them into the washing machine and pull everything out of the dryer, then I dash to the kitchen to begin dinner.

I'm left alone in the kitchen which is good, no interruptions means less time wasted and my lip and cheek have stopped throbbing, my stomach still aches and my hand feels stiff, like my fingers are repairing themselves. Once dinner is served, chicken soup, cottage pie, stew, and pastries for dessert, I stash a little bowl of food in the oven, hoping it will go unnoticed and head back to the laundry room, I fold the dry clothes, move Madeline's towels to the dryer and on my way upstairs to finish the bathrooms, I drop off the clean washing outside the doors of the bedrooms throughout the pack house.

Once I'm done I pop back to the laundry room, fold the towels and rush them back upstairs to Madeline's bathroom, then I sneak back to the kitchen to grab my bowl of hidden food so I can eat and head upstairs to do my schoolwork. I push open the kitchen door an inch and freeze, voices, voices that strike fear in my soul.

"Baby, that tramp has taken ALL my towels, I can't shower, and I want a shower," Madeline whines, making it seem as though I did it to spite her.

"Maddie, why would she take your towels?" Comes Ace's tired voice "and what...Cas? Why are you listening at doorways? Get in here and explain yourself!" He started off sounding tired, but once he noticed me, his tone changed. It was his no-nonsense tone, and I scurried in to defend myself.

"Ac...Beta '' I corrected as his eyebrow arched, "all her towels were on the shower floor and were soaked, so I washed and dried them all and have just returned them to Madeline's room" I explain. This is followed by a shriek from Madeline, and she races towards me, fists raised.

"You fụcking liar, you skanky @ss wh0re, how dare you lie about me and try to make me look bad!" She screams, pummelling my face and arms with her fists. I try to block her attack but Ace comes up beside me and hold my arms at my sides, seemingly enjoying watching the drama unfold.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it won't happen again," I plead, crouching into a ball to defend my already tender stomach from more abuse.

"What are you doing in here at this hour anyway?" Asks Ace.

"Probably trying to steal food again," sneers Madeline.

"I saved a small portion for myself as I haven't eaten since yesterday morning," I say quietly, but they hear me.

"Liar, fụcking, fat, lying, fụcking b!tch" screams Madeline, almost incoherent with rage, "creeping around stuffing your face at all hours, get to bed, wh0re!"

I chance a glance at Ace, and seeing no emotion on his face, decided it was a lost cause and headed back out of the kitchen and made my way to my room.

Ace -

I couldn't let her eat, I know she didn't eat earlier but after the way she was with Maddie I need her to learn her place, or Maddie will never accept my plan and though I could force the plan it would be easier if Maddie approved. It can't be long until her birthday, and I need her to understand where she belongs, behind us, following our lead, accepting our authority. So tonight she starves, again.

Maddie and I have spoken, she understands the situation and accepts we need a child, she has agreed to Cassie being my mistress until we have a son, she knows I don't want Cassie. She will be the mother, she will raise our child, and nobody will know any differently. We have a plan in place to get us the top position in the pack, Alpha and Luna are due to return day after tomorrow and then we will begin executing the plan. Maddie's father is aiding us and before the end of the month, I will be Alpha. Maddie will be named my Luna immediately. Maddie turned 17 2 weeks ago and her mate is not in our pack, so long as she stays here she wont find him. She doesn't want to anyway, she wants me. We already act as though we are mates so that people are not suspicious, and Cassie will be arrested and accused of harming Luna Lily which keeps her away from everyone. Nobody will see her again, she will be my plaything, to do with as I see fit, and once I have a son, I will dispose of her as I did my first mate.