webnovel

Stray Echo

Trigger Warning: abuse, violence, torture, sexual violence. Echo has known only pain for the last ten years. Being treated as a pack slave, she has cooked, cleaned, and worked harder than anyone she knows. Her reward for her efforts? Days without food and non-stop abuse from everyone in the pack. To make matters worse, one of her biggest tormentors is also completely obsessed with her. She has never known anyone in the pack to show her an ounce of kindness. When a visiting alpha from a neighboring pack turns out to be her fated mate, her life may hang in the balance. Will he be her saving grace, or will he reject her for her weakness? Will she ever escape the abuse? If so, can she escape the clutches of the powerful man who believes she belongs to him?

DaoistlwaxZP · Fantasi
Peringkat tidak cukup
7 Chs

His Little Doll

POV: Echo

"Eat!" He demanded, placing the fork in my hand. I shake harder, wondering just what kind of torture he's come up with now. Looking at my plate, I slowly scoop some eggs onto my fork and bring them to my mouth.

I hesitate for a moment before placing them in my mouth and chewing. I wait again after I swallow, expecting it to be laced with silver or wolfsbane. When no pain comes, I dig into the meal.

I am only a quarter of the way through when I have to stop. I slowly sip on the glass of orange juice, savoring its sweet flavor. Having had nothing but water for so long, I'd forgotten how deliciously sweet juice was.

My stomach feels full and slightly painful as I have eaten as much food this morning as I typically see over a period of days, maybe even upwards of a week. I feel absolutely stuffed.

The Alpha has been watching me this whole time, and I have avoided looking at him. Even if it was some kind of trick, I had been well past starving and I am more than willing to pay whatever the price was for food at this point.

His gaze hardens as he realizes I am not eating anymore. "You haven't eaten nearly enough; you need to eat!" He growls, pushing my plate towards me slightly.

"I've had to treat your back; it wasn't healing after the wolfsbane." That explains why it suddenly feels better, and the constriction must be from the bandages.

I slowly raise my eyes, setting the cup of juice on the tray and looking just to the left of his face, "I'm full," I whisper, terrified at his sudden insistence that I eat. He has always been the one denying me food. Why would he suddenly be demanding that I eat such a meal?

Brady sighs as he removes the tray from my lap and stands up, "You need to freshen up and get dressed,". He offers me a hand to help me stand, and I frown. He has never once cared about my hygiene before either.

Slowly standing up, I ignored his outstretched hand. Once I am standing, I bow my head and clasp my hands behind my back. Ignoring the stinging sensation of my wounds being stretched on my back.

The position is painful but familiar. This is the stance of a servant, waiting for their orders. Confused by his odd behavior since I woke up, I needed something normal to help calm my nerves.

"If this is how you want to be, fine." The alpha snaps, going from foreign to familiar in seconds. "We have a neighboring alpha coming tomorrow! The pack house is in complete and utter disorder, as you haven't done any of your work in 3 days."

Forgetting myself for a second, I jerked my eyes to his, mouth wide in shock. "I've been down here for 3 days?!" I gasped. I'd figured maybe a day, a day and a half tops. But to have been down here passed out for three days… and three nights.

I suppress the shiver that runs down my spine at the thought of that. He may beat me publicly during the day, but the night is when he comes to me when no one else is around.

Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I ask in a hoarse whisper, "Did you change my clothes?" He grins a little too widely for my taste, and I know he made sure to enjoy every moment of it. The thought makes me sick to my stomach.

Having asked one question, a dam breaks open and they flood forth before I can stop myself.

"Why?! Why are you doing this? The abuse and late-night visits? M-my back, the wolfsbane, then bandaging me, and feeding me breakfast?! What have I ever done to deserve any of this? Why can't you just leave me alone...?"

The last part came out as a whisper, as I dropped my eyes back to the floor. I have never dared to question him before, too scared of the consequences.

"Oh, my Little Doll, you just don't get it, do you?" He asks, stepping forward and raising my chin with his finger, before he cups my face with his palm, tilting my face up towards his, staring deep into my eyes.

"You are mine, to do with as I please. Especially now that you are branded as my own! If I wish to smell your delicious fear, I will entice it from you. If I want to cause you pain, I will hurt you." He extends a claw and runs it down my cheek, drawing a whimper from within me.

"If I want to ease it, I will treat your injuries." He runs his tongue along the fresh cut, tasting my blood. "When I want to touch you, I will.". His other hand begins to roam my body, fondling my breasts before moving to grope my ass, causing me to shiver in disgust.

"If I want to reward your good behavior with a good meal, you shall eat well. If I want to see you waste away in starvation, you won't eat at all. You are my Little Doll, and the quality of your life depends on how generous I am feeling on any given day."

He steps closer and begins kissing my neck and jaw, while his other hand joins in the random groping of my body. I'm frozen in fear, processing the extent of his obsession with me.

I always knew that he was deranged, but even all the years of abuse hadn't prepared me for this. He was truly sadistic. He was beyond obsessed with me, and I was completely at his mercy.

Blinking away my tears, I stood completely ridged, waiting for him to tire of his random touching. I had expected panic to take over after I processed his words, but I was now completely calm.

On some level, he had always been at the forefront of my torture and abuse, and I always expected it would get worse. I just have one question left now.

"Why me?" I whispered, trying to remember what I'd done to earn this kind of attention. I can't remember anything from before I came here. I'd randomly show up on the pack's border one day, alone, covered in blood, and unable to remember anything other than my name. They remembered me though.

"Who better than the daughter of the people who killed my mother?" His hands stilled, resting on my hips. He pulls his head back, glaring at me. "From the day you came wandering back into this pack, I promised I'd make you suffer a thousand times what she did at the hands of those monsters." He growls.

His grip tightens painfully as he backs up, pulling me with him. "What about Luna Embry?" I ask, thinking of the wolfsbane-laced water she'd thrown on me.

He stops for a moment, a grin splitting his face before he replies, "We have come to an understanding. She will let me have my fun, so long as she gets to have her own fun!"

I shudder as he turns and moves forward, stopping beside my shelf. "Now, you have 3 days of work to catch up in less than one day. Are you going to change your clothes, or shall I do it for you?"

His eyes darken with his wolf at the last part, as he rakes his eyes over my body and I shake my head quickly, "I can do it," I reply quietly, and he releases his grip on me. I grab my clothes from the shelf and dash into the bathroom to change.

The curtain that had served as my bathroom door had been torn down long ago. Having no choice, I turned my back to him and changed as quickly as I could, feeling his gaze on me the entire time.