ELEANOR
“You are on kitchen duties, meaning you have to wash the dishes, clean the floors, and make sure it’s sparkling clean, then, you join the other slaves in cleaning the alpha’s section, after which you will hand wash the alpha’s clothes, then join them in the kitchen to prepare the dishes or assist the others if need be. Also, remember to always be on standby just in case the Alpha has a need for you. Is that clear?” The head of slaves asks, waiting for an answer, having finished listing all the chores that were assigned to me as my mouth drops open in awe.
Hell, he wasn’t kidding yesterday when he told me he was going to get me punished for ‘neglecting my duties’. I wouldn’t say I didn’t expect more chores as punishment, but this was way too much. And, how was I supposed to do all of this while being on standby for his calls, too? Just the thought of that was unsettling enough, the fact that he was around and could, at any time, choose to oversee his punishment.
“Are you done spacing out?” the head of the slaves asked, bringing me out of my reverie, and I nodded hastily, mumbling, sorry when she fixed me with a glare, “good then you shouldn’t be standing in your current position, your feet are meant to be moving!!” she barks, causing me to flinch.
“Ma’am. I’m sorry, but don’t you think this is a bit…. too much for me to carry out all while remaining by the alpha’s side carrying out his duties? I’m not some superhuman machine to be able to split myself into different forms to finish all these, especially in a day” I answered, hoping it would make her see reason and maybe even empathize with me, but she only smirked, still looking as unimpressed as ever.
“You should be grateful that I interceded on your behalf. If I hadn’t pleaded for you, you would be on farm duties too. Next time, be sure not to do something that will get you punished this way,” Mrs. Linn, head of the slaves, answers with a bite in her tone.
“But I did nothing wrong to de-”
“Shush little one,” she cuts in, shutting me down. “I do not have the time to stand here and argue with you about chore allocation, and you, out of everyone, should know how precious time is to you right now. You have about an hour until the alpha awakes, and that should be enough to do the dishes, clean the kitchen floors, and wash his clothes. ”
“W-”
“Can I assist her, Ma’am?” Jasmine intercepts before I could lament and my head whips in her direction, “I promise I won’t allow it to clash with my duties and I will be done before the general meeting today” she pleads, eyes fixed on Mrs. Linn who looked like she was thinking for a second.
“As long as you don’t get caught by the guards or alpha Zane, that’s okay, and make sure you don’t slack on your own duties, as well. Because I won’t think twice before punishing you if that happens” she cautions, and Jasmine nods in understanding before her gaze shifts to mine and she shakes her head slowly, “I wonder why you would choose to go through the stress for someone who just wouldn’t learn,” she mumbles as she walked away leaving my features twisted in confusion at her words.
Her words, untrue as they were, were hurtful, but I wasn’t guilty this time, and I didn’t even deserve the punishments I was getting. I wondered what was going on in the crazy alpha’s head. He seemed to have an obsession with punishments. They all did. Because, how on earth was I at fault for finishing my chores and taking a stroll?
“Are you okay?” Jasmine’s hand on my shoulder startled me back to reality and I turned to look at her, nodding slowly, “I told you, what Alpha Zane had done back then was going to come at a huge price. You should be careful from now, and you should be grateful he gave you less work,” Jasmine said in a mutter, and I scoffed. Did she just call what I was going to do today and the unknown punishment Zane was going to give me to a lesser work? How bad was the main work if she called this lesser work?
“Trust me, you don’t want to know the kind of work slaves who are found guilty of slacking off are punished with, that is, if they want to punish them and not just kill them to get it over with,” Jasmine said, her words catching me off guard like she’d been aware of exactly what I was thinking.
“We don’t have much time to stand around. Eleanor, start with the dishes and I’ll get to cleaning the floors. That way, it would be faster,” she informed me, not even giving me a second to express my gratitude before she got to work.
I finally was able to say thank you when we were done with the work, and she brushed it off. We joked for a bit before I was set to leave for the alpha’s quarter, and she grabbed my wrist, causing me to turn around.
“Like I said earlier, be careful, Eleanor. Please, do not talk back to him at all because you could be setting yourself up for something a lot worse than this. Remember you need to live so you can find your sister, right? I will save you some lunch. See you at the main hall later?” she finishes, a small smile on her face, and I mirrored her expression until I grew confused at why we were meeting at the hall instead of back here in the kitchen.
“The main hall?”
“Yeah. There’s going to be a briefing later about our roles for the alpha summit. It’s the turn of the Blood Moon Pack to host all the other alphas from other packs. This is a tradition, to strengthen the bond between packs, and you didn’t hear it from me, but it is also an opportunity for alpha Zane to assess the packs and decide on the weakest one so he can plan his next attack. But, you will be seeing your sister soon, and that’s great, right? So promise me you’ll be on your best behaviour from now onwards!” She scolds slightly, showing her pinky finger with a small pout, and I couldn’t help a small breathy smile as I linked our pinkies together.
I was glad she was looking out for me. She always has been, and I promised myself on the spot right there that when this is all over, she would be coming with me.
I hurried to the alpha’s quarters afterwards. Arriving fifteen minutes earlier than the stipulated time for Zane to be awake. I didn’t have the time to catch my breath before going about the duties of washing the clothes and then making sure the ones to cook his meal were ready.
When I arrived, Jasmine was nowhere to be found, but lucky for me, his meal was prepared and dished, and I quickly picked it up. When I arrived back at his room, he was awake. His eyes quickly found mine and remained glued to me as I walked in, feeling my heart rate pick up at the way he followed my every move with lazy eyes.
“Good morning, alpha Zane” I greeted, and he nodded, his eyes still fixed on me. I felt myself grow nervous with each passing second, “I-i-I have your breakfast here and-”
“My bath,” he suddenly grumbled. The husky morning voice sounded a lot more different than his usual one. It still had that air of arrogance and dominance, but for some reason, it sounded softer, like less of an order but more of a request.
It still had me springing into action, though. Quickly nodding as I shuffled on my feet and dropped the tray on the small table.
“I will get it ready for you, just a second,” I said, turning on my heels, ready to dash into the bathroom, but a squeal was forced out of my lips when I was suddenly grabbed by my wrist and pulled back to him.
“Strip,” he ordered as our eyes met, and I gasped in shock.
“What?!” I said almost in a scream.
He shut his eyes in annoyance, sucking in a breath “Do not make me repeat myself, Eleanor, or it will end badly this morning.” His eyes held every promise of danger in them when he opened them to meet mine once again, and I felt myself shiver in his hold. It was also the first time he’d called me by my name, instead of just ‘slave’, and that definitely didn’t make his words sound any lighter.
“B-but Alpha Zane… it’s so early in the morning and… I have… I’m sorry, I have so many other chores to get to from here, so can I just ask that you maybe wait unt-”
“I don’t want to have fcking sex, I need my hair washed and my back sponged, so fvcking do as I aay so you can get to getting my bath ready” he barked and I swallowed hard, the wheels in my head turning before I said a little high pitched.
“I-I-I can do that with my dress on!”
“Eleanor,” he growls, deep and heavy from his chest, and all the alarm bells in my head went off, my hands flying to undo the buttons on my blouse before doing the same with the ugly green skirt and allowing them both drop to the floor.
I cursed at myself for opting not to wear any underwear today, but I couldn’t be held at fault for growing tired of the same four pairs of bras and panties all the slaves were given.
“Was it your intention to seduce me today?” He asked, eyes raking all over my body, and I shook my head, mumbling a small ‘No’. He smiled before sucking in a breath, “you are pardoned today. I had a shitty enough night and my day is packed with work, but next time, I promise to have you on all fours before you can even say No” he drawls, taking slow steps closer as I backed away slowly until my back hit the wall. Typical.
“Don’t look so scared, kitten. I won’t bite. At least not right now, ” he chuckles at his own words before finally taking a step back. “Now go get my bath ready before I change my mind” he ordered, and I didn’t need to be told twice as I hurried into the bathroom.
I gasped when he was suddenly standing naked before me, not aware of his presence until he was standing right in front of me. Of course, it wasn’t the first time I was seeing him naked, but it was something I wasn’t going to get used to and I hated how he flaunted it in front of me, a smug look on his face like I should be proud of how useless he is making my life.
“Are you going to keep staring or make yourself useful?” he finally speaks, and what the hell? Now he was in the bathtub. I swallowed heavily, immediately getting to work, wondering if this was what the rest of the slaves had to go through when they took care of him.
I was done with my duties and, thankfully, only needed to get my clothes on before I could leave when a lady walked in. A glare was immediately thrown at me as she scoffed, condescending.
“So. This is the slut I should be wary of,” she says, more of a statement than a question, not caring about my presence as she walks closer.
“You may leave,” Zane directed at me and I bowed, turning around.
“She is going nowhere, Zane. And I asked you a question. I want to know if this is the slut that got you into the mess you were in and what exactly is she to you?” The lady snarks and I dug my head deeper down “I can’t believe you would stoop as low as to that for some worthless slave. Is it her you’d also spent that huge amount of money on?!” The lady continues to scream and this time Zane growls before getting on his feet.
“Know your place, Fiona! Do not belittle yourself before a slave and you…” he said, turning to me again “get lost.”
I bowed quickly to both of them and ran out of the room, hurriedly pulling my clothes on. For a brief moment, I was happy that I didn’t have to wait hand and foot on him all day, but on the other hand, I was curious about what he had just said.
I wanted to know what was going on, what she meant by me being the one, then it dawned on me when I remembered what Sarah had said about the slave being special.
What was going on in Zane’s head and what was he planning on doing with me? Why was the lady angry and why was I sent out?
What is going on? A lot of things were mysterious to me and I wanted to find out, or at least get some answers. I hoped that whatever it was, wouldn’t hurt me more than I already was and hopefully, not affect my revenge against him.