5. ... Magnolia?

Astrid's POV

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It was a rude awakening, shocking as it was sudden. The splash of ice-cold water on my face made me shudder and my eyes flattered open immediately as I jumped up. The adrenaline rush I felt was overwhelming, it made me light-headed.

"Move it". The guard yelled tossing the wooden bucket he had used to pour the water on me away and then he walked out.

With my now drenched dress, I dragged my weak legs behind him as we walked a while before finally stopping in front of a cottage. He stared at it then back at me.

"Go in".

He commanded demonstrating with his head. And with that, he turned to walk away but I immediately stopped him.

"W-wait!".

He stared at me in disgust and that made me withdraw my hand. I cleared my throat and wiped my hands on my dirty and wet dress.

"Go in". He repeated and gave me a sweepy look. "Clean up, get changed and get to work".

"B-but…". I hadn't even asked anything and he was already strutting away. I sighed and turned back to look at the cottage. I reached to knock at the door when it swung open.

"What are you waiting for? Yeah come in". A young girl said giving me a sweepy look. She looked my age. I thought.

I walked in slowly looking around the cottage. Wooden tables, chairs, linens…

"Here". She dumped a clean dress onto my hands and slightly pushed me.

"Yeah, go get freshened up". She pointed to the opposite direction.

I dragged my feet towards the direction as I surveyed the entire space. There were lots of neatly folded fabrics and materials on one side. And on the other side, were baskets, some empty, some filled with clothes.

I was so immersed in taking in the room that I almost collided with someone.

"S-sorry". I apologized and quickly walked away. I already looked tattered. I couldn't appear this way in front of anyone else…not again. I even felt embarrassed.

As I was walking away, I could feel that person's eyes boring into the back of my head. That made me feel unsettled.

Moments later, I came out fresh and clean, I had even changed into the dress I was given. The dress was plain and had an apron attached to it.

And my hair was held in a ponytail by a ribbon that was as plain as the apron.

The bruises I had on my elbows were hurting a little less and I was thankful for that. I suddenly remembered the napkin mother gave me and I reached into the pocket of the apron to retrieve it.

I stared at the napkin and smiled. I wanted to stuff it in the apron but stopped midway when I caught sight of something…an embroidery.

"My lovely…". 

"Yeah, you know you're a slave now right?". The girl I had met first approached me saying.

I quickly stuffed the napkin mother had given me into the pocket of the apron and made a mental note to wash it later on.

"Here". She picked up a basket and pressed it to my chest. I reluctantly collected it.

"And yeah, here's a list of what you can do in fulfilment of your slavery duties".

"B-but…" She dumped something into the basket and walked away not even letting me finish what I was about to say.

I dropped the basket onto the wooden table and picked the list up. I slightly opened it.

"L-laundry". I read out what was first on the list.

I brought it out from the basket and my mouth fell open as the length of the list fell to my feet.

My eyes bulged as I stared at it.

Wait! I had to do everything here in one day?

I started rolling up the list and midway through, it mistakenly fell from my hands rolling under the table. I went down under the table to reach for it.

"Yeah, did you hear?".

I heard the girl who I had met first say walking into the room. I recognized her voice instantly. She came in with two others I presumed.

"No, Audrey sure hasn't, so spill it Gina. Let's tag along". The second girl, Audrey said.

So the name of the first girl was Gina, I noted.

I didn't mean to eavesdrop so I continued searching for the list. My hand finally touched it at the far end of the table and I smiled, struggling to grab onto it.

"You know the Alpha has been searching for a particular someone". Gina paused and lowered her voice." I think he just might've found whoever that is". She informed and the other two gasped.

"OMG, are you sure?". The third girl asked.

"Of course I am Talia". Gina said. "The Enigmatic Anonymist sent another note the other night".

"Wait! Let me tag along. TEA, you mean the crazy Anonymist?". Audrey asked and Gina nodded. "

Speaking of tea, I suddenly craved my mother's camomile tea. I remembered she loved Tea and I loved her homemade pie. It was…

"Ouch!". I yelped rubbing the middle of my head where I had hit while withdrawing myself from under the wooden table. I think I might've forgotten I was under a table and was staying low so Gina and her girls wouldn't see me.

The trio spun around to look at me.

"OMG, who are you?". Talia shrieked and I stood upright, I dropped the list onto the table and used my hands to smoothen the dress I was wearing.

"Yeah, that's the new pack maiden. Ah-ah-ah, I said it in a mild way pleasing to the ear. She's the new pack slave". Gina smirked.

"Now you can be promoted to Alpha Logan's quarters and Talia, to the kitchen. Purrr". Audrey squealed and they all giggled.

"Yeah, shush girls". Gina said and both Talia and Audrey went quiet.

"Hey, you".

She called and I looked around and finally pointed at myself.

"Yeah, you better hop along and go do all the laundry behind the cottage".

I quickly picked up the basket and hurried out of the cottage. I went behind the cottage and dropped the basket staring at the clothesline.

Water was already in a few large bowls so I sat and started washing. In the next hour, my hands became sour and washing made my hands hurt. I suddenly thought back to my home and tears dropped from my eyes.

"I-i miss you, Mother".

I mumbled in between sobs and used the hem of my dress to wipe my tears.

By the time I was done, it was almost night and I was happy to finally be done. I took the empty basket back into the cottage.

"Ah-ah-ah!".

Gina said behind me. I turned to her.

"I-i just finished with the laundry".

I felt pleased with myself and thought I could finally rest, but maybe eat first?

"Oh sweetie, there's more". She smiled although it didn't seem genuine. Gina then pushed another basket of clothes on the table towards me.

I opened my mouth to protest but she interrupted.

"You just need to iron these. You can iron right?". She didn't even wait for me to reply. "Oh, I'm sure you can".

And with that, she slipped off leaving me alone in the cottage. I couldn't contain myself and I slowly went down.

I collapsed to the floor and tears came out slowly even though I tried to suppress them.

I looked out through the cottage window only to see that the moonlight was already drawn by the clouds. I hadn't even eaten the whole day.

I remembered Mother again and I broke into tears. I couldn't hold myself and I didn't.

The next few days were the same. I kept getting long lists of chores to do. I also washed almost every day. My hands were already swollen and I was hurting everywhere.

I finished washing on a faithful day and wiped the beads of sweat on my forehead. I went to the line to pack the already dry linens.

Suddenly, some guards walked up to me.

"Hey".

One of them called.

What was wrong with all of them? My name wasn't 'Hey' but they kept calling me that. I got the last linen and approached them when immediately, the guards seized me. The linens fell from my hands onto the ground.

"Wh-what's going on?". I asked as they dragged me away. "Wh-what have I done?". I tried to struggle.

"You've been charged with an offence". One of them answered.

"Wh-what offence?".

I asked but didn't get a reply.

I was dragged into the large hall with several other female pack members inside. They all had the look of disgust on their face as they stared at me. I sighted Talia, Audrey and Gina among them. They looked amused.

I was suddenly thrown to the floor with a painful thud, I landed on my elbow bruising the already healed area again.

The Alpha took slow and steady steps towards me.

"You dare come into this territory". He said to me and I would've sworn I heard a low growl from his throat. I honestly didn't know what he was talking about.

"You dare show your face, Magnolia".