Chapter Eight
The servant let the strangers in and scurried off to inform Ryan. Ember took this time to get a good look at the guests. One of the ladies was wearing a dark blue dress with lace sleeves and a white collar. Her hair was a deep brown and flowing down past her shoulders. And she wore a pair of diamond earrings which hung from each ear.
The other lady who clung to the males arm, wore a green dress with a golden belt. Her long, black hair was tied into a high ponytail. Her skin had a pale color to it and her eyes were a vibrant blue. Her eyes held a darkness to them which caused Ember to shudder.
The man was wearing a very expensive looking suit, complete with a red tie. His hair was styled back with the sides shaved off and the top half combed. He also had an extremely large mole on the right side of his chin. His dark brown eyes were scanning the room. They stopped on Ember and he stared at her for a couple of seconds before Ryan walked into the room.
"Welcome." Ryan said as the black haired girl threw herself on him. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. Ryan didn't seem so happy about the sudden affection but he smiled nonetheless. "I'm so glad you accepted my invitation." She said in a sickly sweet tone. "Yeah yeah." Ryan grumbled while pushing her off of him and leading them to the living room with Ember following behind. Ember stayed quiet, watching the interaction between the stranger's and Ryan. "Who's that?" The black haired woman suddenly asked, pointing at Ember.
"She's my new pet. Her name is Ember." Ryan said, staring at Ember. The lady gave her a look over and scrunched up her nose in disgust. "She's kinda scrawny looking, her pelt looks dirty too. When's the last time she's had a bath? She smells terrible!" The lady said while letting out a laugh. Ember's ears flattened as she glared at the women.
"I don't know Shiloh, she's kinda cute." The brown haired lady said as she walked up to her, crouching down to her level and running her hands through her fur. "Her fur is soft and she's got really pretty markings." Ember's hackles raised slightly at the woman's touch and she instinctively moved away from her. "Forgive my 𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘴 rudeness Lyra, she's not used to human interaction yet." Ryan said through clenched teeth while glaring at Ember.
Lyra then pulled her hand away from Ember and stood up again. "No worries, I'm sure she'll warm up soon enough." "Be careful Lyra, you might get some disease from that, mongrel." Shiloh laughed as she sat down next to Ryan. Ember let out a small growl, making the lady jump slightly. Ryan bawled up his fists and turned to face her.
"Look here bitch, you are nothing more than a common dog and if you think you can stand there and disrespect my guests, you're sadly mistaken. Tracy, take Ember to her room and lock her in the cage. I'll deal with her later." Ryan commanded, turning back to Shiloh. Ember's ears flicked back as she heard his order.
Tracy grabbed hold of Ember's collar and dragged her away from the living room. She yanked her down the hallway, pushed her into the room and shoved her into the cage. "I hope he kills you, mutt." Tracy said before spitting on her through the cage bars. "You're better off dead." She said before leaving the room.
Ember let out a frustrated snarl as she rested her head on her paws. She looked out the window to watch the birds fly by and the trees rattle in the wind. As she watched her reflection in the glass, her eyes caught sight of a familiar figure walking away from the garden and towards the woods. '𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?'
Ember stood up and watched as the same strange man from the pet shop ran into the forest and away from Ryan's house. '𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰?' She wondered as she watched him disappear into the woods. Ember sighed and laid back down, resting her muzzle on her paws. '𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦?'Ember thought to herself, closing her eyes for a moment as sleep finally began to take hold.
After about an hour of sleep, Ember jolted awake to her bedroom door being flung open. Ryan strolled in and she could tell he was still fuming with anger from earlier. Her ears dropped in fear as she watched him come closer. She cowered in fear, trying to hide away from him. "You disobeyed me." He started while staring down at her. "I… I'm sorry…" She whimpered.
"Sorry doesn't cut it." He continued as he opened her cage and grabbed her by the collar. He yanked her out of the cage and threw her to the ground. "Get up." He commanded, grabbing onto her by the collar. Ember quickly picked herself up and kept her head hung low, staring at the ground.
"Follow." Was all he said before walking off. Ember reluctantly trailed after him. He led her to the backyard where the same three people from earlier were standing next to a metal rod sticking out of the ground. Shiloh was giving her a smirk while twirling around a muzzle attached to a chain. "Don't just stand there, get over here." Ryan spat at her.
Ember slowly padded over to him, keeping her head down the entire time. When she reached him, she sat down and kept her eyes on her paws. She knew what was going to happen and didn't have the energy to fight against it. The sound of chains clanking made Ember look up to see Shiloh handing the muzzle off to Ryan.
He then turned to Ember and grabbed hold of her neck, forcing her head up to look at him. Slipping the muzzle on her, he clipped it in place and yanked her towards the pole in the ground. Once there, he pulled a padlock out of his pocket and clipped it to the chain and metal rod. "Now, as punishment you will be out here for the remaining two days you have without food and water." Ryan went on.
"You will not be allowed off the chain until then and when your punishment is over, I expect you to be better behaved. No growling and no more disobeying orders. And if you do not shape up by then, the punishments will be far more severe. Do I make myself clear?" Ryan asked with his voice laced with anger. "Y..yes Sir." Ember answered softly.
After he finished talking, Ryan walked away from her and went inside. Shiloh then walked over to Ember and gave her a nasty smile. "Stupid whore." Was all she said before shoving her to the ground and stomping on her with the heel part of her high heels. Ember let out a yelp as she felt the pain radiate through her body. Out of instinct, she turned her head and attempted to snap at her legs but was unsuccessful due to the muzzle.
Shiloh then kneed her in the head before laughing. "You stupid mutt. Just give up already. You will never be nothing more than a useless dog. Your pathetic life means nothing. You should be grateful he took pity on you." She continued. "I told him to kill you but he refused. You don't deserve to live anyway. You're worthless. Nothing but a fucking waste of space."
Shiloh kicked her hard in the stomach causing her to let out a cry of pain. She tried to bite at the girl but Shiloh managed to dodge it and kick her again. This time she landed a solid hit on her ribs and she let out a gasp. Her vision started to swim and her chest felt like it was burning. "Shut up." Ember muttered through clenched teeth. A few seconds later, everything started to go black and she fell unconscious.
When she woke up, it was dark outside. Her body ached and she was cold. She slowly opened her eyes to find that she was still in the backyard. Looking over to the house, she noticed that the only light was coming from one of the rooms on the top floor. She's never been on the top floor but she assumed Ryan's room was up there.
The sound of a twig snapping drew her attention and she whipped her head around, eyes scanning the surrounding area for any sign of movement. There emerging from the woods was a large brown wolf. She couldn't make out any features except for his bright green eyes. Ember quickly scrambled to her feet and took on a defensive stance, growling at the slowly approaching wolf. The wolf stopped a couple of steps away from her.
It tilted its head slightly, studying her with curious green eyes. His mouth formed a thin line as he gazed at her curiously. Ember stared right back at him, watching carefully and ready to move at any minute. After a few moments passed in silence, the wolf took another step forward. "𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳!" Ember yelled, making the wolf stop and look at her in amusement.
She stepped backwards cautiously, keeping her eyes locked onto the intruder. The wolf stayed silent, seemingly unfazed by her threat and simply observed her. Finally deeming that she had calmed down enough, the wolf took another step towards her. She let out a low growl, warning him to back off.
At the sound of a door opening, the wolf turned around and bolted back into the woods. Ember furrowed her brows as she watched the mysterious wolf disappear into the darkness.