Chapter 2 Punishment

I wake up when a bucket of cold water is thrown on my body. I start coughing violently, my lungs burn with the water I just inhaled.

"Wake up!" I see it was Mara who had thrown the water on me. "It's not time to sleep, you have work to do."

I get up with difficulty, the pain in my legs was unbearable. I go to my room and change clothes, now the only one I had since Paola had ruined the other. I put on the old dress and clean my wounds with a piece of an old rag. I tie a cloth around them to stop the bleeding. I climb the stairs with difficulty, but I knew that if I showed weakness, Mara would accuse me of slacking, and that always ended in more punishment for me.

I don't remember a single day when things were different. James had always been cruel, and that was no surprise. He liked to see me suffer, as if my suffering gave him pleasure, and in fact, it did. He smiled when he beat me, and the few times I didn't scream or beg for my life, he would hit me until I passed out.

He was my father, but he didn't act like it. To him, I was just responsible for the death of his beloved wife, as if I could have done anything about it. And the fact that I looked almost identical to my mother didn't help much.

I finish cleaning his room quickly. James didn't like arriving and finding me there cleaning. He had a drawer with some photos of my mother. Once, I caught him looking at them, and to this day, I have marks on my body from that encounter. But soon all this would end; as soon as I got my wolf, I would simply run away without looking back. It was better to be a deserter than to continue being his slave.

I hear a whistle and go to the window. When I look down, I see Diana's brown eyes. She shows me a piece of cake and asks me to come down. I smile, grab the cleaning materials, and go downstairs. I hadn't eaten anything the night before, and it seemed like Diana knew that.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" says Mara grumpily, stepping in front of me.

"I need to wash the cleaning rags, Mara," I say, showing her the rags in the bucket.

"Go on, and I expect those rags to be sparkling white," she says, stepping aside. When she's not looking, I stick out my tongue and walk away. It was one of the few acts of rebellion I allowed myself.

I go to the back where the cleaning tanks are, open the door, and find Diana hiding in a corner. She comes over to me and hands me the piece of cake.

"Eat it all, it was hard to get," she says, watching me devour the piece of cake. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I put the cake in my mouth.

"Thank you, Diana," I say, giving her a hug. Diana had saved my skin several times. Despite being mistreated like me, she wasn't usually beaten like I was, something that intrigued me.

"If I manage to get anything else, I'll leave it in our hiding spot," she says, smiling. We had a hiding spot for food; it was outside the house, in a hole in a tree. We didn't always get food, so when there was extra, we saved it.

"I'll do the same."

"Has the alpha left?" she asks.

"Yes, apparently Paola's car is old," I say, making air quotes with my hands. Diana laughs.

"I bet she's excited to meet Alpha Fenrir."

"Yes, she believes he is her mate," I say, shaking my head.

"I bet he's not, but I'll love to see her face when she realizes it," Diana says, laughing.

"I just hope she doesn't take it out on me," I say, sighing.

"It's close, soon you won't have to endure this anymore," Diana says, placing a hand on my arm.

"Come with me, Diana. There's nothing here for us," I say, grabbing her hand.

"I'm not as brave as you, Zara. I wouldn't survive out there."

"We'll have wolves, of course we'll survive, and it'll be much better than here." I had no doubt that my life would change the moment my wolf awakened. I would leave this pack without looking back, and if other packs didn't accept me, I could still go to the human world.

"It's better if we go back before Mara shows up," Diana says, giving me a hug and leaving. I turn, grab the rags in the bucket, and start washing them in the tank.

My hopes were few. I just wanted the pain to stop, the insults to stop. I didn't want to sleep in fear and wake up in fear anymore. Up until that moment, I had only received bad things. I wanted to be strong; the Goddess knows how much I've tried to be strong, but the exhaustion was starting to take over, and I knew I couldn't take another year living under the same roof as James and Paola.

I finish washing the rags, fill the bucket with water, and return inside. The day would be long, and I'd have to be grateful if James didn't visit me at night, something I doubted wouldn't happen.

I finish cleaning the upper floor and go downstairs to set the table for lunch. Even if James and Paola didn't come for lunch, the table had to be ready. The sound of the door opening catches my attention, and when I turn around, I see Paola's cynical smile.

"Come see my new car, little sister." It wasn't an invitation; she grabs Zara's arm and drags her outside the pack house. A beautiful red convertible gleamed in the sunlight. Zara could see that the car was immaculate and must have cost a fortune.

"It's beautiful, Miss," Zara says, her head down. Paola didn't like being called sister, and she only did it to mock Zara.

"Take a good look, because you'll never have anything like this in your life," Paola says, pushing her towards the car. Zara hits her head on the side of the car and falls to the ground, already feeling the warm blood running down her forehead.

"Oh! You filthy thing, you got my car dirty," she says, running inside. Seconds later, she comes out accompanied by James, who looks at Zara with clenched lips.

"Look, Daddy, I wanted to show her the car, and look what she did," Paola says with tears running down her face. James approaches me, and I already knew what was coming, so I just brace myself as his heavy hand descends on my face.