Chapter 15

“What just like that?” Alistair asked in confusion while looking concerned. “Surely if there was a Rogue attack at the packhouse, we would have known about it. There’s been no Rogue attacks on any pack in the last three years!”
“Hmm. You have a point,” Jonas replied looking thoughtful. “Even if the Eclipse Pack didn’t need our help, we would have heard about the attack through the mind-link. News of Rogue attacks spread like wildfire!”
“Or unless the pack quickly contained the attack and didn't request for help through the mind-link,” Marii shrugged. “If it was over in a matter of minutes, then there would have been no time for the news to spread. It would have been over and dealt with.”
“Or maybe there wasn’t an attack in the first place!” one of the warriors interrupted. “What if it was just another lie of this Julianne’s and she killed him? Libby’s Dad that is!”
“No, there was definitely a Rogue attack,” I replied sadly. “Alpha Alec confirmed it to me when I went and asked what happened to my father. But the attack wasn’t contained. A great deal of Rogues died and so did our warriors. On the defeat, the remaining rogues stole a number of our warrior's bodies apparently. We later found out that the bodies may have been sold to the black witches for their magic or spells.”
“And there you have it!” laughed Jonas loudly while clapping ecstatically. “It was a shame thing. Alpha Alec was always a shameful man. If nothing went his way or didn’t work out for him, he would hide away in shame.”
“So, because he lost the Rogue attack and lost his fallen warrior's bodies in the process, he kept the attack quiet?” the red-headed daughter, who I found out was called Annie, asked slowly. “Don’t talk about it and no one will know sort of thing?”
“That’s right,” I nodded in agreement. “We were all told to keep our mouths shut about the attack and move on from it, which is what we did. Not like we had much choice to do otherwise!”
“Hmmm. Well, your old Alpha doesn’t seem too fussed that you’re no longer part of his pack,” replied Charlie. “No one has come looking for you. I wonder why that is?”
“Probably because of Julianne,” I shrugged casually. “She was always particularly good at making up lies and stories about me. She has probably made up some story about why she had to chase me out of the territory.”
“Well anyway,” butted in Marii loudly. “Let’s carry on, shall we? What happened after your dad died?”
“Umm, well Julianne never seemed bothered about my dad’s death to be quite honest,” I continued. “It wasn’t long after his death that she met James. And boy, was she infatuated with him. Everything was about James, and it wasn’t long before she had him moved in.”
“What did Louisa think of all this?” asked Jonas quickly. “I mean, you said she wasn’t happy about your dad being there, so she must have had some sort of problem with James.”
“Nah, not really,” I admitted. “She had gone past the point of caring what her mum did, I think. She spent most of her days out with her friends or her boyfriend. Or bossing me about and making me do stuff around the house.”
“Which brings me to my next question,” Marii chimed loudly. “When was it that Julianne made you into a personal slave and what jobs did you have to do?”
“It was shortly after my dad died and I had left school,” I sighed. “I wanted to go to college, but she refused to sign the necessary paperwork and as a result, I missed the deadline and lost my place. She said I had a job back at the house caring for her every need. And I had to do everything from cooking, and cleaning to gardening, doing the shopping and paying the bills.”
“You said they punished you?” Blake finally asked gently, making me jump.

I’d forgotten he was beside me as I was telling my story for what seemed the umpteenth time. Turning my head slowly, I rested my gaze on his face, to see him staring back at me sadly. Gently he took my hands in his and rubbed his thumbs over my skin lovingly.

“You’re doing really well,” he whispered. “But we need to know what they did to you. Do you understand?”
Nodding, I turned back around and continued with my story. “So yeah, if I made a mistake or didn’t do the jobs properly then Julianne would punish me,” I began. “Sometimes it would be a beating, or kicking and punching, or a slap. A few times I’ve had my hair pulled and had my head slammed up against walls, doors, and floors. And sometimes, she went to the extremes of actually chaining me up with silver chains.”
“Didn’t you ever think to use your wolf?” Charlie's wife, Jenoa, asked gently. “That’s what she is there for?”
“Yes, I did. Many a time actually!” I fired back quickly. “She threatened to beat me and chain me up if I ever transformed into my wolf. I did it once and she stuck by her word. She told me that even though I was a werewolf, I wasn’t going to be one while living under her roof!”
“Poor you!” soothed Marii sadly. “Sounds like you’ve had a rough time of it with her. Now though, we need to know about James. Take your time okay!”
“James was the worst actually,” I laughed sadly. “I could take Julianne’s beatings and punishments and her chains but what he did to me, I’ll never forget. Sometimes, Julianne would get him to punish me for being rude to her or cheeky and I would find myself being beaten and slapped by James. It depended on James’s mood or how much he had drunk on how many times he hit me and with what. Sometimes it would be his hand, sometimes a belt or even a whip. He had this thin little stick that he would also use sometimes. And no matter how many times he would hit or smack me, he would always finish the punishment by using his fingers to grope me, before shoving me to the floor!”
A small gasp echoed in the room as everyone held their hands to their mouths in shock at what I had just revealed, but I was in my stride now. They wanted to hear the truth, so the truth was what they were getting. Without batting an eyelid, I continued with my story, knowing the best bit was now coming.
“He wanted me to be his special girl and he would call himself daddy!” I continued in disgust. “He told me he would save me and take me away from Julianne’s abuse, but he was only abusing me more. The day I was chased out of my territory was the worst!”
“What happened?” a voice called out loudly, only I couldn’t see who it had come from due to the tears welling up in my eyes.
“I was in the garden shed, trying to get the lawnmower out,” I sniffed loudly, beginning to feel myself tear apart. “James came in and raped me! So, there you have it. That’s my story and that’s how I ended up here!"