**TRIGGER WARNING This chapter contains sexual assault and/or violence, and suicidal thoughts that may be triggering to survivors.**
Dream
Adea
A key jingles and I can taste the stomach acid on my tongue. My gaze darted to the window, the sun hasn’t set yet. Why is she already opening the door for me? Had I already been found out? Did he know what I had planned?
My heart was racing a mile a minute as the door creaked open. My sister stood in a beautiful opal-colored dress, her hair falling down her back in one large braid. Brown eyes that matched mine stared down at me, they lacked warmth.
Her lips form a bitter thin line as she threw a cloak on the ground. It was a deep violet and had gold running along the seams. The contents of my stomach threatened to come up. I slid my gaze back up to meet hers as I waited for her to tell me what it was for.
“Daddy wants you to wear this.”
I mentally cringed at the nickname. I hated the nickname she had for him. He was no father figure to us, he wasn’t even old enough to be our dad, yet she insisted on calling him that.
She crossed her arms as she impatiently waited for me to get up and retrieve the clothing. Rising to my feet, I held my head high as I walked to the material on the floor. Leaning down, I picked it up and held it in front of me.
“He doesn’t want you to wear anything underneath it tonight. You know what will happen if you disobey him, don’t you? I shouldn’t have to explain it to you but if you need me to, I can.” Ava spat.
This wasn’t the first time he had demands or orders for me but I’ve never had to go in naked. Usually, that happened when I walked in the door. I assumed the submissive position or set myself where he wanted.
Looking down t the only clothing I would be wearing tonight, I grimaced. I suppose it could be a lot worse. He could have me walk there completely in the nude. The front didn’t have any buttons or a tie to cover my body. I would be exposed.
I nodded my understanding. I stopped looking to my sister for help after the first month in this hellhole. Not only did she consider helping me escape, the first time I asked her for help, but she also ratted me out.
At first, I thought her betrayal was because she was afraid for her life. I tried to be understanding but after I tried countless times to get her to understand that I would help her too nothing changed.
I soon realized she was sleeping with Alpha too. Everything had felt hopeless and I felt lost. I cried myself to sleep when the reality of the situation hit me. I considered ending it all so many times but I couldn’t, not when I knew that he was out there waiting for me.
For him, I never followed through. I made sure not to show signs of thinking about it, if Alpha knew I wanted to kill myself, he would lock me up and throw away the key. Right now I was trapped during the day but at night, I was allowed out when others couldn’t see me.
I valued the little time I had out, even though most of it was spent with him. He didn’t like anyone looking in my direction and made it this way. No one was supposed to see me but him.
Friends? Staff? Family? Other than Ava, everyone was forbidden from laying eyes on me. She was the only one who had his permission. Staff had been dismissed from the inside of the house.
He said it was because I belonged to him and my beauty was meant for him and him alone. We both knew the truth, the three of us did. He didn’t want my mate to sneak in and for us to see each other. He didn’t want me to mark or to be marked.
“I’ll get ready,” I whispered.
“Don’t take your time either, I don’t have all night. I’ll be waiting for you in the hall. He had a bad day and has been on me to come to get you. As soon as you have a child, we won’t need you anymore,” Ava spat as she threw a key down on the vanity.
Even as she said the words, I wondered if she believed them herself. We both knew this wasn’t true. Alpha didn’t only want me for children. He wanted me. We both knew he would never let me go but somehow she had convinced herself of this.
If she thought I’d be thrown away after giving birth, she wasn’t just lying to herself, she was delusional. There was nothing I wanted more than for Alpha to lose interest in me. That would be the day, I was set free.
I watched as she turned away from me, I stared at the intricate way her hair weaved over and under into a loose braid as she walked out the door. When it slammed closed, I dropped the cloak onto the black tufted chair.
I avoided looking into the mirror as I readied myself. I grabbed the key off of the vanity and bent in half as I unlocked the chains around my ankles. With a slight tremor in my fingers, I pulled the royal blue ribbon at the top of my corset until the knot untied and I felt the first buckle loosen.
I began to loosen the rest of them and my breasts popped free as the corset fell to my sides. Reaching up, I pulled the ribbon that held the corset to my body. My breasts pebbled from the cool air.
I took a deep steady breath as it fell to my hips, the only thing left to do was pull my arms out of the off-shoulder sleeves. The light blue corset fell to the ground and I stared at the intricate blue and light pink flowers that stared back up at me.