The pack members were giving me a strange look. Not that I was bothered but today's stared was different. Two teenage girls from the pack walked past me and shouted slut to my face. I didn't say anything, that's how the Pack addresses anyways, so it wasn't a new name to me, slut, trash, ugly, those names has become a part of my daily routine. stares. By afternoon, the gossip turned into something else Everyone in the pack house was talking.
About me. They were talking about happened last night. How the six Alpha heirs sneaking into the basement and not coming out until morning. They didn't know what happened behind that locked door. They just knew that I had seduced their Alphas And in a place like this, truth didn't matter. Only gossip did. Especially when it concerns me. I walked pass them without stopping to listen to their gossips. I entered the dinning hall to start cleaning before lunch. I was on my knees outside the dining hall, scrubbing the tiled floor like I always did before lunch was served. My fingers were raw. My knees were aching. I kept my head down, trying to disappear into the rhythm of my work. But then I heard the click of heels.
Several pairs. Kaela was at the front, her mouth curled into a twisted smile. Vivian stood beside her, arms folded, eyes burning holes into my back. Behind them were three other girls, Isla, Myra, and Rhea. All of them were the lovers of the six Alpha heirs. All of them were beautiful. Powerful. Deadly in their envy. I didn't look up I continued with my cleaning trying my best to avoid them.
Kaela's boot stopped inches from my fingers. "Look at her," she said loudly, for everyone nearby to hear. "Still scrubbing the floor like a good little rat." The others giggled. I said nothing.
"She didn't even try to deny it," Vivian said. "That's how you know it's true. The Alphas spent the night in her room."
"In her closet," Kaela corrected, laughing. "You know, the one that smells like mold and mice."
"She probably begged them to stay," Isla sneered. "Maybe offered herself."
"I bet she did more than offer," Myra said, her lip curling. "No wonder they came out looking so satisfied."
I felt every word like a slap.
And then came the real ones.
Kaela grabbed me by the hair and yanked me to my feet. I didn't fight, I never fought.
She dragged me toward the back courtyard, where the clothesline and laundry basin were kept. No one was around. Everyone was too busy preparing for the second night of the Alpha Gathering. And they made sure no one would hear. Kaela shoved me to the ground, and I landed hard on the gravel.
"Take off her dress," Vivian said coldly. My heart stopped.
Kaela smirked. "With pleasure." I tried to crawl back, but Isla stepped on my ankle. Hard.
"You like attention, don't you?" Myra hissed. "Then let's give you some."
They tore the dress at the seams. The fabric ripped so easily it was old, fragile, already worn out, In seconds, it was nothing but scraps hanging off my shivering body. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hide the burns, the bruises, the humiliation.
"Hold her," Kaela ordered.
Rhea and Myra grabbed my wrists, pinning me against the cold stone wall. Vivian stepped forward with a small silver tin.
"I brought something special," she said sweetly, opening the lid. "Pig's fat, ash, and spoiled berry juice. Let's see how the Alphas like her now." She dipped her fingers into the mixture and smeared it across my face. The pain was unbearable, It burned my face. As if that was not enough. They covered my face in the sticky black mess. Smeared it across my arms, neck, chest. They laughed as they painted me like a monster. Like something disgusting.
"I want her to remember this," Kaela said, pulling out a long metal stick with a sharp charcoal tip. She dug it into my skin slowly, cruelly writing the word "SLUTTY THIEF" across my collarbone.
"You think we don't know what you're doing?" she spat. "You think we don't see the way they look at you now?"
"They'll never choose you," Isla hissed in my ear. "No one ever will."
They left me there. Shivering. Half-naked. Stained with filth and blood. I waited until their footsteps disappeared before I finally moved. I crawled back to the laundry room and collapsed in the shadows, my body trembling too hard to stand. After a while I managed to get myself to the bathroom. I scrubbed my skin until it bled. But the word wouldn't come off. The bruises on my wrists were already turning purple. My chest burned where the ink had been dug in. My throat ached from the silent screams and tears I held back while they laughed. I stared at my reflection in a bucket of water. I didn't recognize myself anymore, my eyes were hollow and my lips was split. A black smear running down one cheek like a tear made of ash. I didn't cry. Tears were a luxury I no longer had. I just stared at the girl in the water. Wondering if I'd ever be clean again.
I returned to the basement.
I wasn't supposed to, but I had nowhere else to go. No bath. No food. No friends.
Only darkness and silence.
And the memory of their hands. The six Alphas didn't come that night. But I dreamt of them anyway. Their voices, their eyes. The way they looked at me not like a mistake… but like a puzzle they couldn't stop touching.
I hated them. I hated the way my heart still reacted when I remembered the warmth of one of their hands brushing my cheek. I curled up on the cold floor, my arms wrapped around my stained skin, and whispered to the cracks in the wall:
"Please don't let them come back."
But I wasn't sure if I meant it.