Chapter Thirteen

Lillian

It takes about an hour for Corbin to return and find an old basket in their cabinets. The poor thing is riddled with dust, but he cleans it off and packs some things from their refrigerator.

He grabs my hand and finds a blanket on the way out the door.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I ask as he pulls me out the kitchen door and into a private yard.

He rolls out the red and white checkered blanket without saying a word. It takes him a few minutes before he looks at me as he smooths it out completely.

Corbin motions for me to come join him on the blanket. I do so, but slowly, before dropping down to open the lid of the basket. There is a various assortment of meats and cheeses and off to the side is dessert.

“You brought cheesecake?”

He plops down on the blanket and stretches out his legs before glancing up at me. “Yes. I heard it is something you enjoy.”

Just as I’m about to ask a question, I notice the intensity of his gaze, which causes me to close my mouth.

“Nothing to say to me, little alpha?” His gaze moves down from my face and lingers on my body for a moment before he jerks it back to meet my gaze. “You could simply say thank you.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

They tumble out of my lips before I can stop myself. I’m in a state of disbelief, and just not myself.

He has caused me so much torment over the years, but here he is now, being nice to me.

Most days, I’d rather cut off a certain body part of his than look at him.

My wolf surges to the surface, surprising me. She is extremely displeased with me being here.

I allow my gaze to drift to the side as I distract myself before she intrudes further. “It looks like you have thought of everything, including napkins.”

“I can do some things, you know? You may think differently because of what my father has put you through, but it’s not like that at all.”

I simply nod as I glance into the basket and grab some plates. Once they are on the blanket, it seems like he busies himself straightening a corner out.

After I dig everything out of the basket, I sit back on my heels and wait. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do, and it’s not like I have ever eaten first around anyone except my grandmother. Normally, I am one of the last ones who gets a plate, if I even get one.

But then it was strongly suggested that I shouldn’t attend pack events, so I stopped going entirely.

As I wait for Corbin to fix his plate, he does the unexpected. He grabs my plate and shoves it into my hands. “Here, fill your plate. You don’t have to wait on me.”

“Oh? Wait, that isn’t right.”

When he nods for me to go on, my hand trembles as I hold the plate out and start to fill it with my other hand. Of course, his eyes never leave my hands as he watches me.

“I hope you realize that you will never be treated like that again as my mate. I know what most did to you before, but that I will ensure it ends. This much I can promise you.”

I settle on my heels as I sit on my knees with my plate on my lap. “Well, I never planned to take a mate.”

It’s a lie that I tell myself. Deep down, I’ve always wanted to belong and have someone, but I gave up years ago after I turned eighteen and came back here. Now I’m twenty-four years old and never had a prospect.

Getting a mate in another pack is impossible when we can’t leave through the woods to see any of them. We just have to make do with who is here, which is hard since it has been two hundred years since the beast first appeared.

A sigh escapes me as I glance over at Corbin. His eyes glow, jarring another thought to the forefront of my mind.

His family hasn’t always been here. They had to get in somehow, so surely there is a way, right?

His gaze warms and turns curious. “Why wouldn’t a woman such as yourself crave a mate?”

I fall to the side, still keeping my legs tucked close to me. Once the plate is on the blanket, I shake my head. “Are you sure you want to ask me that right now? Who would I have mated with, Corbin? Who would your father allow to get near me? I’ve been nothing but your family’s slave for years. You have tormented me and now you expect me to just fawn all over you after what you have done. Do you even have a brain?”

“That is no way to speak to me,” he says firmly.

“I think this date is done. Honestly, I don’t know why I even tried to pretend. I’m still the same person, alpha gene or not.”

I quickly stand, but not before snatching the cheesecake from the blanket. “And I’m taking this with me for putting up with you as long as I have.”

I take the side gate and leave the small attached yard, but not before looking back over my shoulder at him. He’s in complete shock and actually looks sad, but I don’t care.

This farce is ridiculous, and I shouldn’t have to mate with him.

I get to my house and slip inside a few seconds later, still clutching the cheesecake in my hands. Everything hits me hard.

Sure, I got a cheesecake and temporary satisfaction, but what will the consequences be later?

Instead of dwelling on it, I sit at the old wooden table with the cheesecake, then dig into it with my hands. I really don’t care if I make a mess because it’s my house and I clean it, anyway.

Sometime later, I crash from all the sugar and lay there, hoping it’ll pass soon. It’s not like my metabolism works like the others, so I am indeed suffering from my decision.

When I finally wake, the sun’s morning rays are streaming through the window, casting an eerie glow as dust floats through the air. I rise from the couch and hobble toward my bedroom before I realize that I didn’t dream last night.

It’s rather odd, but I dismiss it quickly.

After getting dressed, I move to the bathroom and splash water on my face to finish waking myself up.

Then it hits me. I don’t have the alpha’s house to clean today, or any house, for that matter. “What am I supposed to do now?”

My thoughts are interrupted as someone knocks on the door. I slowly make my way back to the living room before I catch the scent of the alpha as the breeze blows it through a small crack at the bottom of the door.

"How can I be of service, Alpha?"

The doorknob makes a horrible sound as he squeezes it from the other side and breaks it. It swings open, and he takes one large imposing step inside.

I lower my gaze immediately. This is about what I did to Corbin yesterday, and my consequences have finally caught up with me.

"I hear you made a fool of my son on that date. How stupid are you, girl?"

I take in a shaky breath and force myself to calmly look up. “His behavior was a little overwhelming, but I assure you that it won’t happen again. It was in the backyard, so it isn’t like anyone saw it.”

"Oh, it definitely won't happen again. Come with me, now." His words are laced with the alpha command, and though they don’t affect me, I follow along anyway out of fear of what he might do to my grandmother should he learn that they don’t work on me.

When we finally reach his house, Corbin is already there, waiting for us on the porch. He is dressed simply in a white shirt and dark-colored pants tucked into his boots as if he is about to work. I watch as he leans against the side of the porch with a cocky grin on his face.

As I head up the steps behind his father, he reaches out and pulls me toward him.

"That's a good little girl following orders. If you won’t do it for me, then my father is going to make you obey.”

I don’t say anything. I only stare up at him and understand just how far he is willing to go to make me submit to him.

"Let her go. She is going to learn once and for all. It’s this or things could always force her into submission.”

I gulp as I realize what he means by those words. He’ll take my only family left and leave me with nowhere to turn, but here.

Nigel pushes the front door open and leads me inside after Corbin lets go of my arm. I look to the left, where buckets of cleaning supplies usually wait for me.

Today, there are three large buckets with plenty of things to clean with, along with scrub brushes, which I hate most of all.

“Do you want me to clean the entire house?” I ask innocently.

"Silence!" He snaps, causing me to turn away and drop my gaze to the floor.

"You will clean the house from top to bottom and leave no spot untouched. Then, once you're done, you will spend the night in one of the cells.”

My eyes widen as I realize that I won’t be going to grandmother’s cottage tonight. I never miss more than one day or she worries. “But I need to go to my grandmother’s house. She will be waiting for me to come.”

He shakes his head. "You will learn your lesson well. Never disrespect me or my family or there is worse to come. What is sad about all this is you never had to clean again. But here you are, making stupid decisions, so you will pay the price. As for your grandmother, she will know that you are fine and staying in the village. I will make sure one of the pack members takes her a meal.”

"Yes, alpha,” I say as I bow my head.

There is no point in arguing or disputing the rest of what he said. To them, I messed up and now I have to pay for it.

"Good, now get to work."

Without wasting a single second, I reach for the closest bucket and quickly make my way down the hallway to the first floor bathroom.

"How bad can they be?" I ask myself in a whisper.

The moment I swing the door open, I realize that they are just as bad as yesterday. So my words have come back to bite me. My shoulders slump in defeat as I set the bucket down just inside the door.

I take out the first bottle of cleaner and spray it across the sink as I walk inside. Once again, my gloves are nowhere to be found, so I have to clean everything without them.

After tirelessly scrubbing the bathroom with all my might for what feels like eternity, my fingers turn red, but I’m finally able to restore it to its former decent state. Then I move on to the dreaded toilet.

A sigh escapes my lips as I look at the crusty residue that has accumulated on the top of the seat. I have found it to be helpful by spraying the cleaner and waiting for about a minute before wiping it clean. It gives the solution enough time to penetrate and loosen up any dirt, making it much easier to clean the surfaces. I’m not exactly sure how it gets in such a state, but I don’t want to know what is on it.

I’m hoping it’s just mud.

As I focus on finishing the last part of the bathroom up, I hear footsteps coming down the hallway.

I turn around to see who it is, only to find Corbin leaning against the doorframe, staring directly at me.

“This will teach you to embarrass me, little alpha. If you know what is good for you and your dear grandmother, you won’t ever make this mistake again.”

“We were alone, Corbin. No one saw it,” I say between clenched teeth.

“It doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t have done it,” he says as a smirk pulls at the corner of his lips. “Look at you, little alpha. You’re on your knees, having to clean up our messes. Isn’t it wonderful?”

I don’t bother justifying that question with an answer. Not fully, anyway. “Your point has been made. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to finish my chores.”

Once I ignore him for a few seconds, he stomps off and probably leaves me a trail of mud to clean when I get to the hardwood floors.

Hours pass, and it is now close to dusk when I sit down the last bucket. My legs wobble from cleaning the house in its entirety. It’s spotless and beautiful.

Hopefully, Nigel won’t come out of one of the rooms and inspect too closely, like he has been doing off and on. Sometimes he asked me to redo it and I have without saying a word.

But even with all I have had to do, I don’t regret what I did to Corbin. Not in the slightest.

The alpha’s footsteps approach, so I turn around and hide the smirk that had been blooming across my face.

He looks around the room, but then he smiles. “Well, I guess you are done. Now you can go to your cell for the night.”

Part of me hoped that he wasn’t serious about it. I’ve heard terrible rumors about the cells under the house, but never thought for an instant that I’d stay in one.

He stands there for a moment, perhaps expecting that I will plead with him, but I remain standing there with a solemn expression on my face. As soon as he realizes he will not receive the response he wants, he rolls his eyes. "Follow me this way."

I follow him down the hallway, past the bathroom to a door he’s told me to never open. Of course, it would be behind the door I was told to never open.

He swings it open, and a narrow staircase is revealed. As he starts down the steps, he stops to look at me. "Come, or do I need to make you?"

Without saying a word, I walk toward the doorway and quietly follow him down into the basement. The dim light makes it hard to see, but it seems like the walls are covered in shackles. Well, except where the staircase is and the wall it is against.

As my eyes adjust to my surroundings, he reaches out, grabs my arm, and jerks me towards the nearest one. "This should do."

He slaps the cuff around my wrist, and I gasp as it scalds my skin.

"Silver!" I scream as he grabs my other arm and puts the other cuff on. I let out another moan as it burns deeper into my skin.

"Did you think the cells would contain luxurious items? Enjoy your night."

I watch him as he walks toward the stairs and disappears upstairs. Tears roll down my cheeks as the cuffs burn into my skin. I try to move, but it's pointless because each time I shift positions in an attempt to make myself more comfortable, the shackles come into contact with more skin. Then I just burn all over again.

I look up, only to find a red ring around each wrist. “This sucks.”

I sit there as still as possible, hoping that the night will pass quickly and not be painful. It seems like hours tick by before I hear a distant howl.

Lily .

His voice brings me comfort, even though I can’t see him.

Hi, beasty.

Why have you not gone to your grandmother’s house? You never miss more than one night.

His tone is a curious one, which surprises me. I lean my head to the side against the concrete wall and let out a deep sigh.

A memory of his teeth scraping down the back of my neck causes me to shudder. I gasp as the shackles find new skin to burn.

Slowly, I place them on my skirt and hope that I won’t move them further.

You're in pain. Who did this to you?

I chuckle out loud before I think about it. It’s probably best to keep quiet for now and keep our conversation in my mind.

It's nothing, beasty. I just embarrassed the alpha's son and now I'm paying for it.

A low growl echoes through my mind. I asked you a question, Lily. Who did this to you?

Our alpha.

Part of me didn’t want to answer him, but he’ll just ask until I do.

Once again, the sound of a distant howl reaches my ears, and I can't help but yearn to be outside, breathing in the fresh, open air.

After waiting for what feels like an eternity, a deep sigh escapes me as I realize he isn’t going to respond.

"I guess you found out what you wanted to know and now I’m utterly alone again.” Resting my head against the cold stone wall, I gaze up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

This is going to be a long night. One I will never want to return to.