Chapter 7 - Less than an omega!

IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING, before the sun was even up, Alaric sent out instructions that Lena was to help the omegas with their daily chores. He made it clear that nobody should remove her chains under any circumstances, and as he ran into Rebecca at breakfast, he tried his best to explain to his little sister that she shouldn’t remove the chains either.

For once, it actually felt as if she would listen, but to make sure his sister actually followed his instructions, he also gave them to her guardian with a promise to skin the guardian alive if Rebecca did in fact find a way to release the witch. The last thing he needed was for Lena to escape! The entire supernatural world would turn against them if that happened, and he gave himself a second to rethink the idea of killing the witch. His wolf howled so loudly in his mind that he tried to shut his ears from the sound but he couldn’t.

With the strict instructions handed out, he made his way to his office. He hadn’t tackled a normal day's work in forever and it felt overwhelming to be sitting in front of paperwork after he spent the past couple of years living as a wolf in the forest.

LENA DIDN’T LOOK UP as the wolf came into her room. She didn’t look up when he unlocked the cage or even when he roughly pulled her out, knocking her forehead on the side and laughing. He gripped her chains with such force that they cut deeper into her soft flesh and she fought the urge to break down and cry. She was dragged down a long passage and nearly fell down the stairs.

Finding her balance quickly before she hit the ground nose first, she followed him into what looked like a basement. There were wolves of all ages on both sides of the walls and she was surprised to find that they were all doing laundry. Some were washing clothes while others ironed. At the back of the room, the guard pushed her through a door where a white-haired woman was studying some papers. The woman didn’t look up for a moment, but when she did, Lena almost cringed at the look of disgust. The old woman didn’t say anything and just nodded before the guard left.

“So,” The old woman sighed, resting her forearms on her desk. “The king had an attack of conscience and I get stuck with you! Well,” She pressed down on the desk and stood up. “I’m not going to do you any favours, witch!” She almost spat the last word as she walked around the table and gripped Lena’s chains, dragging her out of the office. “We work hard around here and we don’t have time to look after the likes of you!” They stopped in front of a huge basin filled with soapy water. Lena noticed the huge steel hoop the moment the old woman locked the chain in it and as she pulled to make sure it was secure, she smiled at her.

“That should keep you in your place.” She sighed as if she was happy with herself and then she called one of the other young girls over to show Lena what to do. “We don’t have time to hand was stains, so I can’t see why you can’t do it.” The old woman smiled at Lena, studying her for a moment with her hands on her hips before disappearing back into her office.

The young girl looked scared as she stepped closer and, without a word, showed Lena what to do. The moment the girl stepped out of the way, Lena copied what she had been doing and the girl seemed satisfied. The soapy water smelled incredible. Especially after everything Lena had been through the past couple of days. She didn’t even mind that it was burning her wounds so badly she had trouble using her hands. At least her wounds were getting clean, since nobody in this place seemed to be worried about them.

She hadn’t seen the little girl in a couple of hours and was making headway with the clothes when the old woman appeared behind her. She huffed and disappeared as if she was not at all happy that Lena knew how and was now getting the stains out of the clothing. After working for what felt like hours, the omegas disappeared, but Lena kept working. They returned and Lena could smell the food on their breaths as they continued with their chores.

Lena wondered if this was what these girls did every day, but she knew it wouldn’t help to ask. Nobody would speak to her. They talked about her as if she wasn’t there, but none of them would speak directly to her. Only the old woman who kept coming around to check what Lena was doing. Just when she thought she had worked her way through the mound of clothes she was given in the morning, a second load was plonked down on the table beside her.

She worked her fingers to the bone and the soap that had smelled so nice earlier was now burning right through the skin of her fingers. Catching a glimpse of her fingers under the water, she realized that they were bright red, and she sighed as she carried on washing. Eventually, the day seemed to come to an end when the warrior appeared beside her. She had completely lost track of time and before she could tell him she was still busy, he had unhooked the chain and was pulling her back up the stairs.

Without a word, he dragged her into her room and shoved her into her cage. She could smell the stale bread but she was grateful to have something to eat and she gulped down the mug of water so fast that it nearly made it’s way back up her throat. Her hands were in immense pain and she tried to say the spell that would heal them, but she was still unable to do any kind of magic. Since the festival, she had figured out that the chains were enchanted by some strong magic, and after seeing all the creatures that were there, she knew that it could be any kind of magic. She had just fallen asleep when she heard small footsteps sneaking closer to her cage.

“Rebecca, what are you doing here?” She couldn’t help herself. She had grown fond of the little wolf girl who seemed to be the only person alive to care about her wellbeing.

“I saw your wrists.” Rebecca looked shocked at the sight of my hands and she pulled a small box closer, holding out her hands. “I’m sorry. If I had known they were this bad I would have brought you this sooner.” I fought the urge to wince as she softly tried to clean my raw wrists. She explained that she had been trying to get her hands on a first aid kit, but she was being watched so closely that each time she took it, someone wanted to know why she needed it. Lena sighed with relief as Rebecca softly rubbed ointment over the wounds and softly stuck huge plasters over her wrists to protect them from further scuffing.

“You shouldn’t have done this.” Lena sighed as Rebecca handed her a couple of tablets to ease the pain, but the little girl frowned. “Your brother doesn’t want you helping me. I don’t want you to get into trouble.” Lena was worried that he might get angry with Rebecca. She didn’t want to be the reason the young girl was punished, but Rebecca burst out laughing and waved her hand through the air as if it was nothing. The next moment, a guard burst through the door and Rebecca winked at Lena as she was being escorted out. Darkness fell as they switched off the light and closed the door and Lena felt the medication doing its job as the throbbing pain slowly subsided and she could finally fall asleep.

Lena’s dreams were filled with the horrors of the past couple of years and when the door burst open again, she could feel the dried tears on her cheeks. She quickly wiped her face in the hopes that nobody would see them, but she knew she was so dirty it would be clear that she had been crying. She felt even angrier when the first face she saw was Alaric’s! He looked furious and she knew it was because Rebecca helped her.

He nodded at the guard to open the cage and when the guard pulled on the chains, she winched in pain and cried out! It seemed Rebecca’s help had made her injuries worse! Alaric gripped the chain and dragged Lena out of the room. They walked down a long passage as he mumbled something and finally he shoved her through a door where an old man in a white coat wasn’t looking happy.

“I don’t know what Rebecca put on her wrists, but whatever it was, it seemed to have worsened the wounds.” Alaric pulled his fingers through his hair as he explained to the man who was clearly a doctor. He tried to look at the wounds with the large iron cuffs covering them, but it was impossible. Alaric disappeared for a little while and when he returned, he had Lena’s grimoire in one hand and a lighter in the other.

“We are going to remove your cuffs, but if you try anything … Anything at all!” His eyes flashed with anger. “I will burn this!” Lena had no other choice. She nodded in agreement, swallowing hard to get rid of her tears.