so I bear my skin

and I count my sins

and I close my eyes

and I take it in

and I'm bleeding out

I trailed after Alpha James with burning contempt.

Judging by his stiff posture, he was not happy about being woken up in the middle of the night to deal with the likes of me. I had a feeling that was only going to make the entire ordeal even worse for me.

We walked down the dimly lit hall, the floorboards creaking in protest as we came at a stop in front of the door I had unfortunately become well acquainted with over the past few years. Alpha James opened the door to the basement and turned to face me, motioning with his thumb for me to go down first. I walked forward, shooting him a cold glare as I made my way past him.

I looked down at the staircase that wound its way down into my own personal hell. Against my will, my heartbeat began to pick up. Despite my best efforts to control my emotions, my body always seemed to fight against my thoughts whenever I came here.

Settle down you stupid body pump, I mentally growled. You can handle pain.

Unconsciously, my hand reached up to tug at my ear as I descended down the steep steps into the darkness that lay beneath the pack house. The foul stench of mold and blood invaded my nostrils while the damp air washed over me. Silence filled the atmosphere, save for the light drip of water leaking from an old pipe somewhere.

I came to a stop at the bottom of the steps and waited for Alpha James, who was taking his annoying time.

The light flickered on from somewhere behind me and I blinked, adjusting to the brightness. The area we were standing in had many shelves lining the wall, filled with boxes of old files and useless items. To my right was a hallway that led to the cells where prisoners were sometimes kept, and to my left was another corridor with a very special place located at the end.

"I must say Reya, I really thought you'd have learned by now," spoke Alpha James, shaking his head. "My pack and I try our best to teach you the rules and yet you keep disobeying."

I eyed him carefully as he paced about, my shoulders tense. He always did this, trying to make it seem like he was simply a good man forced to do something terrible for the good of the pack. For the good of me. It was all a bunch of lies. But something about his behaviour today was weirder than usual.

"I really hate doing this you know," he paused, looking at me, "but it's for your own good."

My jaw clenched as I ground my teeth together at his statement.

My own good?

There was so much bullshit coming from his mouth that I was sure his anus was jealous.

Perhaps he digests in reverse, I mused to myself. The Austraila of the human digestive system!

"If you were just more considerate with your actions, none of this would have to happen," he clicked his tongue.

I bit back a laugh as I imagined him eating food with his butt.

He was talking more than normal; most times he just went straight to the punishment.

"Do you have anything you want to say for yourself?" he pressed, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I continued standing there in silent defiance. Once upon a time I had begged and pleaded for him to show me mercy, but I stopped when I realized it only gave him more satisfaction.

My wolf and I had more dignity than that - we also had no respect for him.

He sighed, "I am extremely disappointed in you Ms. Willows, you leave me no choice."

Turning on his heel, he went to the hallway on the right, and immediately half my tension resolved. Right was good. Left was bad.

He opened the creaky metal door to one of the cells - my cell - and locked it once we were both inside.

Picking up the whip that lay in the corner of the cell, he faced me with a predatory glint in his eyes.

"Fifty lashes."

Fifty?

That was unusually high. He normally went for about thirty hits, fourty being the highest ever. And that time it had been for something much worse than simply dumping food on Valerie.

"Or maybe I'll have mercy and let you do something else instead," he smirked.

What the hell was he thinking? Something was off about tonight and my wolf could feel it too.

I knew I could handle fifty, but it wouldn't be pleasant.

Exhaling, I took my jacket and shirt off, leaving my sports bra as the only piece of clothing separating my chest from his eyes.

He cleared his throat and I knew what it meant. I felt a surge of anger run through me as peeled off my sports bra and tossed it on the filthy ground. Nudity was something all werewolves were accustomed to for the most part, but it was different in this case. It wasn't simply the aftermath of shifting back, it served as humiliation.

And I hated when he looked at me there.

I felt disgusting.

Alpha James walked towards me and I turned my back to him as I wrapped my arms around the metal post that stood in the middle of the cell. The one he had made specifically for me. I took comfort in the fact that it shielded my chest, the one advantage the post conferred. He tied rope around my hands, securing my body to the post, before stepping back.

I heard the whiz of the whip before I felt the pain.

CRACK

My breath caught as I felt the sickening slap of the whip on my back, cutting through the skin of my back. The burn was intense and I knew it was going to get even worse. My beast was livid, thrashing under my skin in attempt to

CRACK

Another lash came down and I gritted my teeth, refusing to make a sound.

CRACK

The third one hit down on one of the first lashes, causing a searing pain to erupt in my whole body. Sweat began trickling its way down my forehead and I could smell the metallic tinge of blood as my back began to weep the tears that I refused to let out.

CRACK

By the tenth hit, my body was shaking from pain but I kept my mouth shut, pressing my forehead into the post as if hoping it would somehow swallow me up.

CRACK

I hissed out in pain on the twentieth lash, before quickly adjusting my laboured breathing back to normal.

CRACK

I dug my nails deep into my palms, drawing blood by the thirty-fifth slap. My back was dripping in blood and sweat, and from the constant stinging I knew it was a mangled mess of open cuts. Focusing on the pain in my hands, I tensed my body in anticipation of the next whip. A few seconds went by and nothing happened.

"You know," began Alpha James, tossing the whip to the ground. "There's something else you could do for me instead of the last fifteen lashes."

Tilting my head up, I looked back at him in confusion.

"Some much easier," he rasped, raking his eyes up and down my body.

As he began unbuckling his pants, I finally understood the meaning beneath his words.

"No," I gasped, my voice weak from the beating. "NO!" I screamed louder.

I yanked against the ropes, trying to break free, but my body was aching from exhaustion.

"No?" he narrowed his eyes. His belt was open, but fortunately his pants remained close.

"No!" I growled out at him. "I'd rather take a hundred more lashes!"

I didn't care what I was saying at that point. Anything would be better than that.

I was utterly disgusted. Alpha James was a decent alpha in pack affairs, but his morals had always been somewhat wrongly skewed. But I never realized they were this wrong.

My beast was seeing red and it took everything inside me to stop her from ripping his throat out.

"Is that so?" he met my eyes, and I could see his irises flashing black. His wolf was surfacing from the 'disrespect' I was showing. I didn't care that I had drawn out his beast; the anger would hopefully drive him away from his vile fantasies.

I met his gaze with my own, challenging him further.

I could tolerate being taunted.

Being locked up.

Being whipped.

I would not tolerate this.

"Then a hundred lashes you shall receive."

He picked up the whip and came at me with a force so brutal that I had never experienced it before.

CRACK

With a cry of pain, I fell to my knees as the rod made contact with my tangled flesh.

Tears streamed down my face as he ruthlessly beat my back. Black spots dotted my vision as I faded in and out of consciousness. My wolf was shaking in agony, but I could feel her joining forces with me, offering me strength.

Something loud was ringing in my ears and it took me a moment to realize it was me screaming. From somewhere behind me, I heard a sinister chuckle.

Succumbing to the tortue, I let myself drift along the wave of my unstable consciousness. I slumped against the pole, my screams having subsided as the whip was mercilessly brought down on me again. I couldn't even differentiate the pain between my back injuries and the hits anymore.

Had it been minutes? Hours? I couldn't tell.

Finally, I felt the rope being removed from my hands.

My back was crying as the blood dripped down my legs, pooling around my feet. Had the whippings stopped?

A hand gripped my chin, forcing my head up. Breath fanned across my face as Alpha James leaned closer to my ear.

"Next time, I'd think twice before making your choice," he whispered icily.

Mustering up all the strength I could, I locked eyes with him as I stumbled to my feet. I could feel his satisfaction projecting all around me and I hated it. Unable to find my voice, I did the next best thing to show him how I felt.

I spat at his feet.

That action alone conveyed all my emotions. I had lost all respect for him as an Alpha and as a person, and he goddamn knew it. He was no longer an Alpha to me. He wasn't even worthy of omega status.

Anger flashed across his face, his jaw clenching. His expression was furious and I loved it.

"Tomorrow, you're going to regret that," he snarled, before turning on his heel and exiting the cell.

I knew what he meant by that.

But I also knew I wouldn't regret this one bit.

Standing there for a few more minutes, I wondered why I even bothered to stick around in the Lunar pack. There was literally nothing here for me. No friends, no family. Only Uncle Eddie.

I sighed. Deep down I knew Uncle Eddie was the reason. While he never admitted it, I had come to understand how difficult the transition from the palace to our current life had been after the Royal Pack was attacked. Coming up with new identities and a convincing story to settle down in a new pack wasn't easy, and I appreciated how much he had done - and given up - to raise and protect me.

Moving would mean stress, new faces, and attention. We would have to guard ourselves even more.

Wincing, I grabbed my jacket and pulled it on. My back was aching, and everytime the cotton material rubbed against my cuts I had to bite back a scream.

I trudged out of the basement, walking back through the hall that led to the kitchen. Eyes of wolves from paintings on the wall followed my every movement.

Piss off, I glared at one, sticking up my middle finger. Unfortunately, the wolf in the picture stayed as he was.

I grabbed my backpack from the kitchen and finally left the confinements of the pack house to go home.

Opening the door to our cottage, I was expecting to be greeted with cold silence.

What I was not expecting was Uncle Eddie standing there in a fluffy purple robe, nightcap and bunny slippers, gripping a wooden spoon like his life depended on it.

"Well, young lady?" he cried out. "I sincerely hope the reason you're so late was because you were getting me a Twix bar or we're going to have a problem!" 

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A/N

Hello lovelies! Here is the latest chapter and I hope you like it!

What do you think of Freya so far? I'd love your input on her character

And in case you're wondering, she will be meeting her mate again soon :)

Until next time xo