9
TALIS
I've spent the last two hours on my hands and knees scrubbing the staircase from the top to the bottom.
With my nausea returning, lack of sleep, and having to do it missing the tip of one finger, it hasn't been easy, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Which is when I hear footsteps approaching from the den behind me.
"Alpha says you need to do a better job than that."
I take a second to prepare myself for the looming confrontation.
It comes as no surprise who it is, since it was only a matter of time before the rest of the pack came looking for their whipping girl.
"Which part?" I ask since I've been careful to scrub every step, and the wood is gleaming from how clean it is.
Loren, a particularly spiteful pack member has always hated me because she has a thing for Abel, but he's never paid her the least bit of attention.
Once, I had made the mistake of telling her I wasn't interested in Abel, and she could have him.
She, of course, took it completely the wrong way and accused me of rubbing it in her face.
"All of it."
I know she's lying since Uncle Glynn left with Abel hours ago, before I'd even started on the stairs.
It would have been the perfect opportunity for an escape attempt, only the pack has been periodically appearing to point and snigger at me as I scrub the stairs.
There was a mop I used before, but when I went to get it, Loren snatched it out of my hand and told me Uncle Glynn wanted me to do it on my hands and knees.
Again, I suspected her of lying.
But with no way to prove it, and knowing the more fuss I made, the more trouble I would be in, I picked up the handheld brush, a bucket of hot soapy water, and a cloth to polish once I'd finished scrubbing.
"But I-"
With no warning, Loren kicks the bucket and sends soapy water all over the entryway floor, and I'm ready to cry when I see how much work she's just made for me.
"Submissives don't argue back," she snaps.
"But I'm not-" I stop talking before I can finish my sentence because I nearly made another big mistake.
Not arguing is one thing, but denying I'm a submissive? I can't imagine how much punishment I'd get for that, and that's just from the pack alone. I dread to think what Uncle would do.
"What was that?" Loren steps closer, narrowing her eyes as I shift back, my hand instinctively going to cover my belly.
While Loren doesn't carry the same amount of muscle as Uncle Glynn or Abel, still she's dominant. And although she's slender with a dark brown bob, pale skin, and hazel eyes, she's mean-looking rather than pretty.
Considering her personality, she and Abel are practically made for each other, so I never understood why he wanted nothing to do with her.
Maybe you can only have one bully in a relationship.
I've already had Uncle threaten to stomp on me, the thought of Loren kicking me fills me with horror.
"Nothing," I mutter, forcing myself to lower my head.
"No. I distinctly heard you say something."
Shit. She's not going to drop this.
I don't respond, because if I deny it, she'll accuse me of lying and if I tell her what I was going to say, she'll beat me so badly I doubt my baby would survive it. Or I could lie but being back in this house has always left me tongue-tied.
So, I struggle to figure a way out that'll leave me with the fewest bruises.
"Loren, Abel was looking for you."
My eyes dart over to Maria, the older submissive shifter.
Loren turns to her with a frown. "He's in town with the alpha."
Maria keeps her head lowered since Loren is higher in the pack hierarchy than she is. While I'm convinced she's no alpha regardless of what she says, she's dominant enough to be a beta or close to it.
"He called. Said he needed you."
Despite the softness of her voice and passive demeanor, I find myself staring at her because even though she's convincing, I know she's lying. I don't know how I know, I just do.
I wait for Loren to realize it too, but I guess her desperation to have Abel pay her the smallest crumb of attention makes her blind to the lie.
Loren turns back to me with a pleased smile on her face before she makes her way to the front door, not even trying to avoid all the water.
If anything, she goes out of her way to spread the spillage as much as she possibly can. "If I were you, Talis, I'd get a move on that floor. I doubt the alpha will be happy to come back and see what a mess you've made."
She slams the door shut behind her, and I hear her jogging down the front porch steps.
I take in the mess and feel a rising panic.
With the way my stomach is churning, I know there's no way I'm going to be able to get it done in time. Uncle Glynn and Abel left hours ago, which means they must be due back any minute now.
If I wasn't feeling so sick, I could've done it, but if I try to move any faster, I'm going to throw up. Already, I feel lightheaded.
So, I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, hoping it's enough to settle my stomach.
"Can I help?"
When I peel my eyes open, to find Maria is still there. The lines around her eyes are even more creased than usual. With concern, I guess.
She's one of the oldest among the pack. I still don't know if Uncle Glynn forced the other older pack members out after my parents died, or if they left because they didn't like the idea of him being alpha.
Maria, however, stayed.
Whether it was fear of being on her own or if she had nowhere else to go that stopped her, she's never admitted it. At least not to me.
But as much as I'm desperate for help, I shake my head. "This is my job, and if alpha found you helping, we'd both get into trouble."
I'm not just saying that either.
When I was younger, some of the pack would try to help, but it never ended well. Those that stayed fell in line, but there were a few, a handful only that packed up and walked away. Mostly the older ones.
"So, I'll help until he gets back."
I open my mouth to argue, more than a little surprised by Maria's determination to help.
"And we'll hear his car when he gets back, so I'll have plenty of time to stop before he sees," she says.
It sounds so reasonable, and I consider it since I'm so desperate.
But then another thought strikes. "But the others?" I ask, glancing in the direction of the den where I can hear them watching a football game on TV.
Maria shrugs. "They don't care."
"And Loren, when she comes back after Abel tells her he didn't need her?"
Again, Maria still looks unconcerned. "I'll just say I heard the message wrong. Let me grab the mop and I'll be right back."
Even though I know I should stop her, I don't, because the sheer relief running through me makes it impossible for me to turn down the help. So, I say nothing.
And when Maria returns with a mop and bucket and gets to work mopping the worst of the spillage, I follow up by polishing the floor with a cloth.
As I pass her, I touch her shoulder and mouth a quiet, "thank you."