Alora.
I sat in the bathtub, unable to move. Tiredness hit me like a ton of bricks, it was like a heavy weight had been placed on my shoulders, thighs and everywhere.
The pain from running and straining my muscles for the first time in years finally hit me, my whole body ached and I didn’t want to even move from the position I was.
I sat with my knees drawn to my chest as hot steamy water rained down my body from the showers. The steam made the bathroom look almost magical with the light piercing through the steam and making it appear like bright golden clouds.
The water ran down the drain, black with dirt, leaves and sticks. I stared at my left foot, the bruise was almost black in color and I knew it was going to be a hassle when I went to work.
I dragged my fingers up my legs, despite being dirty, they were smooth and long, giving me a 5’6 height. Jax had always loved my legs, in fact he had a dark desire and fetish about them, especially my toes.
He booked a pedicure session for me every month and told me to shave my legs everyday.
An image is Jax running his hands down my legs and sucking my toes flashed across my head and I shut my eyes close fearfully and snatched my hands away from my legs.
I started to shiver uncontrollably as his smile filled my head, that lustful red eyes on me, drawing out whatever fear I had buried inside.
Placing my hand on my head, I tried to shut out his voice, his eyes, his face and everything about him.
A knock sounded on the door and I gasped, glancing at it fearfully.
“Dear, can I come in?” A voice asked and I recognized it as the woman that had come into Ares’ room earlier.
What was her name again? Lina? Lona?
“It’s Lana dear, I came to give you some clothes. I’ll drop them on the bed. When you’re done just come downstairs to the kitchen. I and the girls are waiting for you.” She said and I nodded. I realized she couldn’t see me.
“Ok.” I said softly, and I wondered if she had heard me. She chuckled and my cheeks flamed red.
“It’s alright. They are all gone. It’s just the girls and me that’s home. Hurry and come down.” She said again, before I heard her dainty feets walk away and the sound of the door closing carefully.
I sighed. They were gone.
It was as if she could read my mind. I had wanted to know if Ares or Seth was home, because I wasn’t sure I could do anything if any of them were hovering over my shoulders waiting for me to make a mistake.
But I knew, by the moon goddess I was bound to make many. Jax never allowed me in the kitchen, in fact he never allowed me anywhere beyond the four corners of his room.
Five years of my life had been spent in his room, his bathroom and the balcony.
Jax only allowed me on his balcony just outside the room once, and that was on my birthday. Once every year, I get to feel the outside world. And it was the only privilege he had given me.
He was so scared that I would run away or jump off so he handcuffed me to the railings. But despite that, it was the best day of my life and every year, I looked forward to it.
I looked around the bathroom and reached for Ares shampoo on one of the stands. The hot water wasn’t enough to wash off my greasy hair. So I picked his shampoo and bath gel.
It smelled of mist and earth but I could hardly read so I barely understood letters and alphabets. I had been diagnosed with dyslexia just a few years after I was born and my parents didn’t waste any time or money in sending me to school.
According to them, slaves didn’t need to learn how to read or write.
And with my dyslexia, learning it myself had been difficult so I just abandoned it after a few tries.
I squeezed the shampoo on my hair and started to scrub it. Thankfully, I had extremely short nails that looked ugly while dirty so I was able to wash my hair properly.
I scrubbed my scalp, removing every dirt, leaves and branches. After about three times, my hair was neat and I rose to my feet to wash my body. I looked around the room to see a bowl of unused sponges so I reached for one almost tripping in the process.
I opened one and squeezed the bath gel on it before scrubbing off my skin. The hot water helped and I scrubbed until it was red.
Sadly, I couldn’t scrub off the scars that marred my body.
I didn’t want to see them anymore so I quickly rinsed off and stepped out of the bathtub. Staring at myself in the mirror, I finally looked clean and refreshed.
I almost smiled until I glanced at my stomach and the smile froze on my lips.
Jax’s Property.
I had totally forgotten about the branding Jax had given me to identify my body as his. It was written there, on bold black letters at the left side of my stomach and no matter how much I scrubbed it off, it never came off.
A thought suddenly flashed across my mind and I gasped. I couldn’t let Ares see this!
It was no news that Jax and Ares hated each other, and now that I already lied that I was a slave to a human, this mark, this branding told me who I truly was.
A property to Jax Pentagon, A slave to him.
I couldn’t let Ares or anyone else see it. I had to keep it covered at all times.
Or else, Ares would definitely kill me if he found out.
My eyes watered and I blinked back the tears, I didn’t want to cry anymore. I was so tired of crying and it exhausted me emotionally. I rinsed my face once more, noticing the bruise on my wrist from where Seth had grabbed me when I didn’t respond to Ares.
Seth was scary and I knew I had to avoid him also. He made it obvious he wanted me dead, and I had to be extremely careful of him so he didn’t kill me when no one else was watching.
Because after all, my life didn’t matter in the Delgado home and in the Blood Moon Pack. I was just another run away slave.
I glanced at my face once more in the mirror, my violent eyes were still and sad, nothing new. I sighed before heading to the bathroom door. I picked my dress and held it in my hand not knowing where to keep it.
I was careful, leaping gently so as not to put much weight on my bruised ankle. I pulled open the door and pushed my head out, checking to see if anyone was in the room.
Finding no one, I rubbed my wet feet against the doormat and headed to the bed. I found a pale blue towel on the bed, close to a bright orange dress.
I picked the towel and dried my body before putting on the underwear that was an exact size. I blushed, thankful that Lana had been the one to bring it in and Ares wasn’t in the room.
Next, I took the orange dress and shivered nervously when I realized it was sleeveless. Meaning the scars on my arm would be visible to everyone, to people I didn’t know.
I didn’t want anyone to see my scars. Ares and Seth had already seen it because of the transparent nightdress I had worn earlier. I looked at the nightdress and placed it on the floor as I got dressed.
The dress fell to my knees, it was simple and I loved it. I left my hair as I picked my nightdress and headed outside the room, rubbing my arm nervously.
I opened the door, looking around the hallway to find no one so I stepped out, closing the door behind me.
I crept carefully down the hallway, noticing how high the ceilings were. The walls were sparkling white with bright chandeliers. The opposite side of the hallway. The left was weird. The lights weren’t on, leaving the hallway dark except from the lights from the sun through the window at the end of the hallway.
I figured, no one stayed there.
After all, Ares had said even his maids didn’t live in the mansion. Did that mean only him stayed in this big house?
I looked away as I headed down the stairs, admiring his very beautiful home once more like I had done yesterday. I could hear the sound of some Korean drama playing over the speakers
I carefully came down the stairs before peeking into the sitting room and the TV. Someone was in the sitting room standing directly in front of the TV. She had long brown hair but because she was facing the TV I couldn’t see her.
I noticed she was holding a tray with flour in it as she stared at the TV, her legs shaking as if expecting an intense scene.
“Carmen!” A loud voice I recognized as Lana’s sounded over the house, and the girl gasped before sprinting across the sitting room, taking the left hallway and disappearing from sight.
I almost smiled as Lana appeared from the right, drying her wet hands on her apron, her eyes searching the sitting room for the girl.
“Where’s that little brat?” She asked before her eyes caught mine and my smile fell as I looked at my feet.
“There you are.” She said and I peeked at her through my eyelashes. Her angry eyes melted to the usual kind ones and I came up the stairs to meet me.
“Ugh, these stinks. I need to throw them away.” She said, taking the nightdress from my hand before I could object. I noticed her eyes run down my face and then at my arm.
She reached to touch one of my scars and I stepped backwards slightly. I didn’t want anyone touching it or even looking at it.
It was like she understood and she smiled at me. “Do you want a jacket?” She asked and I almost sighed in relief as I nodded quickly.
“Ok, come on.” She said, leading me down the stairs before motioning for me to wait.
I stood eagerly, silently praying that the girl from earlier didn’t see me. And in a few seconds, Lana came back with a pale green jacket.
“Here, it belongs to my daughter. Camila.” She said before placing it on my shoulder.
“Here.” She said, touching my hand, and I flinched, snatching my hand before putting it in the sleeve.
Lana didn’t feel offended, she only smiled at me as I put my hand through the other sleeve and pulled the jacket closer. It covered my arms and my eyes lit with gratitude as I looked at Lana and bowed my head at her.
She smiled at me. “Ok, come on. We have a lot of work to do in the kitchen today. And with the pack ceremony coming up in two weeks there’s a lot of work to be done.” She said as we headed to the kitchen together.
A part of me was screaming with nervousness but another part of me was a little excited to work.
“Don’t worry you’ll love the girls. The other maids are really nice. They’ll love you.” Lana said and I nodded as she pulled the door to the kitchen.