Chapter 33

Chapter 33
For the remainder of the night, I was huddled into the corner of the room, leaning against the walls for more than physical support as I wept to the point of exhaustion. By the time the sun started to rise, I was a weak and feeble mess on the floor. Sleep had eluded me all night, my emotions were running amok, and I am sure that my lack of strength and face showed it. Even after Reid and his bird had gotten out of bed and started their day just like yesterday, I stayed where I was on the floor, perpetually staring blankly at whatever was in front of me, unable to concentrate on one thing with my mind racing a million miles an hour. 

Firm rapping on the door brought me out of my daze abruptly. I rose from the floor and right away gravity was against me and I felt dizzy; my head was spinning fast than a toddler on a sugar rush. I staggered into the wall and stayed there for a few seconds whilst I waited for my head to slow down, and the daytime stars disappeared. The solid structure held me up like a friend would do out on the piss, reminding me of Poppy once again and causing the salty liquid to pool in my eyes, regardless of my dehydration or how much I had already cried for her since last night. 

I did not realise that Reid had returned from the bathroom until I heard him tutting from somewhere in the room, obviously displeased at my dilemma and lack of a timeless manner in answering the door. He grew over-frustrated waiting for me and ended up answering it himself, nearly ripping the door right off the hinges with his aggression. He pulled the usual trolley filled with his breakfast into the room, giving it a sharp push towards the empty coffee table and approached me, his feet heavy and loud as they hit the floor in his black dress shoes, ready for his public appearance in a short while.  

Reid gripped his hand tightly around my throat and slammed me into the wall, making my head bang against it and splitting it open. Little lights danced in my eyes, stopping me from being able to see anything else for few seconds. 

“You are to answer the door, not me!” He bellowed at me, standing as close to me as physically possible so that his spit was dotting around my face and I got to look into the eyes of the infuriated beast.  

“I couldn’t move; I was about to faint.” I wheezed the barely legible words out as I was struggling to breathe, and my head was starting to scream at me in pain. I scrambled at his hands, clawing at any part of him that I could get to with my human ones, desperate to get him to release me. 

“I don’t give a rats fucking arse! You do your shit regardless of how you feel. Even on the very brink of death, I will still expect you to do your Goddess damn job.” He hissed his malicious and hurtful words at me, still squeezing my neck and making panic. 

He spat in my face then let me go; I crumpled to the floor in a gasping and coughing mess, breathing in the soothing air as deep and as fast as I could, relieved that he had decided to let me live, this time.  

I wiped at my face with the hem of my grubby t-shirt, then looked up at the wall where my head had hit it; there was a smear of blood from where it had been cracked open and Reid had held me there. As I stared at the spot, massaging my sensitive neck I thought about all that Reid had done to me so far, and wondered how far he would be willing to go.  

Normally, when wolves are fully mated, they can feel when the other is in extreme pain, and it made me ponder the idea of how much Reid could feel considering we had not fully established our bond. 

The abusive prick started slamming dishes down on the coffee table, once more unsatisfied with me not doing my so-called ‘jobs’ that he had delegated me. I stayed exactly where I was out of his reach whilst he ate his food, being as quiet as I could so that he had one less reason to be irritated with me, even if he would just find something else to overreact over instead. 

As soon as he finished, I stood up from the ground sharply, waiting for him to move away so that I could clear up after him before he told me to.  

Once everything was done and I had relieved myself in the bathroom, he strode over to me and released me from my restraints, and we left the confines of the bedroom, heading downstairs and outside where there was a sleek, new black SUV waiting with the engine running. Because of the tinted windows, I could not see anyone in the pristine vehicle, but the driver had to at least be somewhere nearby.  

Out of nowhere, Dane popped up and opened the back door for Reid to climb in. I stopped moving and glared, unable to figure out if I was meant to be climbing in the back with Reid or not, but also not wanting to be enclosed in such a small space so close to him, not even for a second. Both men glared at me, waiting for me to do something. 

“Will you just get in the pissing car.” Dane was the one to order me in his firm, irked and authoritatively Beta voice. 

I basically threw myself into our waiting chariot, not curious in the slightest to find out if either of the roid-rage addled men would physically make me in some way if I had not. 

Most of the journey was spent with me looking out of the windows as we sped along, or staring at my hands clasped nervously together in my lap, but all of us were in complete silence, and not a single word was said. After ten minutes or so of Dane driving down the streets past dilapidated buildings and large clusters of beat-up houses, we arrived at a clearing in the centre of outdated shops and other businesses. 

I opened the door and exited the SUV before Dane had the chance to round it and open it for us. I took a few steps away as I observed and took in the miserable sights all around. My sweat stained t-shirt flapped around my knees in the gusts of wind as I turned and found the thing that I had been dreading the most; there in front of me was a block and concrete platform, high enough so that crowds of people would still be able to see with rickety, old wooden stairs for access.  

On the platform was a line of over a dozen terrified people with their heads bowed, whilst guards stood and watched over them. The scent of fear blanketed the air here, stinging my sensitive nose, and the underlying wafts of blood put me on the verge of being sick. My senses were in overdrive here; it was definitely a really bad place to be, and it was making my skin feel like it was crawling with my own worries. 

Completely distracted by the horror that I imagined had happened here in the past, I did not notice that Reid had already climbed the stairs and was waiting for me until Dane had shoved me forward. I scrambled to catch up; weak from not eating properly for days I struggled to get up the stairs fast enough for Dane and I felt his large hand on my back, pushing me to move quicker. I was out of breath long before I reached the very top of the elevated stage of doom. 

I was doubled over panting, trying to catch my breath when the voice of someone that I least wanted to hear was right in my ear. “Nice to see you again, my dear. I hope that my son is treating you as he should?”