“Please, sire…” Chad begged. “I swear that I had no knowledge of what they were planning, believe me, I…”
“Shut up.” Walden didn’t need to shout, he didn’t need to raise his voice before her boss quivered in fear, keeping shut where he remained on his knees. The restaurant had now been cleared up with only two customers remaining, her boss, with Walden and his guards.
Maggie saw him as he signaled to one of the men that followed him here. The guard then went over to the chair where the two men that had harassed her earlier were now tied up, their faces badly bruised from punches. Another round of beating started for them, this time, their faces were being heavily banged on the strong metal table, causing them terrible pains. Maggie could hear the sounds from where she stood and never believed that she would ever feel sorry for these men.
She saw Walden’s face; having never seen this side of him before. She’d never seen so much anger in his eyes, this time she saw the anger of a man that had not slept in months, and she wondered what caused him to come here to do all this.
The beating sounds didn’t stop. Walden was going to kill those men! Maggie couldn’t bear to watch; she had to do something to stop this.
She then burst out through the door. “Please, stop this!” She yelled, a small tear escaping her eye.
“There you are,” Walden smirked as he gave the signal for the guard beating up the men to stop.
“Why? Why are you doing all this, Walden? Why are you beating them up like that???”
“If you had an idea on what these three men were planning for you, you would even be begging me not to stop.”
Her expression turned to surprise, “planning for me? I just came here yesterday. I hardly even know them, what could they possibly have been planning?”
“My men discovered you here yesterday when you came, but I didn’t want to go after you just yet. So, I sent a spy to be watching over you while you worked. I received a report from him today when I came and he just told me some interesting things about what these men where planning to do to you.”
“But… I’m only a waitress here. I only signed an agreement with Chad…”
“Yes… Chad, so that’s his name. This man here is the one who owns this restaurant, right?”
Maggie nodded, “yes, he is. He was so kind as to give me a job here.” Maggie looked in Chad’s direction as she explained things to Walden, wondering what he could have done wrong to deserve this punishment. Her boss didn’t look up at anyone, only placed his head down in remorse which surprised her even more.
“He’s so kind indeed, that he was willing to collect money from these men for the spare key to your room, so they could come in at night and do whatever they wished to you and Emily.”
Maggie gasped in shock, unable to believe the words that came from Walden’s mouth. She looked at Chad again, waiting for him to say something, to object against it and give his own side of the story, but he didn’t say anything. It turned out to be true after all.
“If there is one thing that sickens me in this life…” Walden continued, “…It’s rapists and pedophiles. Just what were you thinking coming to stay in this shithole, Maggie? Especially with a young child???”
“I’m sorry, I… I…” Maggie didn’t know what to say, she’d been foolish indeed, and if it wasn’t for Walden keeping a close eye on her, she would have had herself to blame for whatever would have happened to her and Emily tonight.
“Enough. We’ll talk about this later. You and Emily will return to the packhouse with two of my guards while I deal with these scumbags. I’ll be shutting this place down and sending them to prison.”
“Please, sire… Have mercy,” Maggie could still hear the sound of her boss begging, but it seemed alpha Walden’s mind was already made up. It took a while for her mind to be able to come back to normal, as she stood there for a while, unable to believe what she’d just escaped.
“Where is Emily?” Walden asked her.
She’s… she’s upstairs. I just checked up on her.
“You left her there all alone?” He slapped his hand on his head. “I expected better than this from you, Maggie.”
Of course, she knows, she’s made terrible decisions lately, and she’s ready to take the blame for all that.
“I’ll go get her now,” she said as she hurried off upstairs. At least her daughter would be happy to see her back again, and this time as they returned to the packhouse, Maggie would make sure never to put Emily and herself in such a difficult position again.
**********
***THE NEXT DAY***
“You sent for me, sire?”
“Yes.” Walden answered Maggie as she stepped into the alpha’s chambers. “Please, sit down.”
He noticed her trembling slightly at first, but then she took a deep breath and calmed herself as she sat on the sofa facing him. It seemed like she already knew what she was called here for, but some part of her was not ready to reveal the answer yet. He’ll keep trying anyways.
“How is Emily doing?”
“She’s fine sire, happy to be back here.”
The next question that came from him was totally unrelated. “I know that there’s something you’re hiding from me, Maggie. Something that made you run away. Mind telling me what it is?”
“Um… No, sire. I only ran away because I thought that I had received too much from you. There was no need for me to keep staying here since my treatment had already finished and my daughter brought here to me safely.”
He chuckled sarcastically, “stop playing games with me. You and I both know that’s a lie.”
“It’s… The truth, sire. That’s the only reason I left.”
“Without even saying goodbye?”
She bent her head, “a big mistake on my part which I sincerely apologize for, sire. It won’t happen again.”
“Of course, it won’t. Now, back to the reason I called you here. I know that the reason you ran away had something to do with the vision you saw the other day.”
“Sire, I…”
“Don’t lie to me, Maggie.”
She sighed, “yes it did.”
His voice became stronger this time, laced with desperation and need, “tell me what it is, Maggie. Please.”