Chapter Four

Kayla's POV

My mind raced. My hands shook and my arms ached under the weight of the heavy brass drinks tray. Scanning the crowd for people without a drink was impossible with my eyes glued to the floor. I tilted my head slightly, not so much that I would make eye contact with anyone but enough so I could see their hands.

Immediately I was drawn to tattooed forearms. They belonged to a well-developed torso barely contained in a black cotton shirt. My gaze drifted downwards to a pair of bulging thighs and muscular calves and a large pair of feet encased in soft leather biker boots. Alpha Maddox. The Alpha Regal. Basically, royalty, as Alpha of the largest pack in our region he was in control of all the smaller packs and outranked all other Alphas including Alpha Patrick.

My stomach flipped. A soft purr echoed in my mind. My wolf. She either wasn't strong enough to speak to me yet or I was too weak for her to want to speak to me. Probably the latter. My palms started to sweat and electricity tingled through my body. An overwhelming urge to look up took over me. My head started to lift and I was powerless to stop it like my body was in control, not me. I held my breath.

His neck was tattooed, he had a strong square jaw covered in dark stubble and his lips were thick and lush. A heat built in my core. My foot tapped erratically on the floor. Goose pimples rose on the back of my arms.

His nose was straight and cheekbones high and prominent. With my eyes constantly glued to the floor, the only men's faces I saw were Alpha Patrick and his son in the picture frames I dusted. They did not look like Alpha Maddox. My gaze rose further. I'd given up trying to force my head back down when I reached broad chest. His eyes were brightest, bluest blue I'd seen. Bluer than the sky on a clear summer afternoon. Bluer than the lake in the clearing. My feet started to inch forward. Oh God, I needed to hold this man. I yearned for him to meet my gaze.

"Eyes down, Runt!" Alpha Patrick screamed in my ear. His words were lost in the din of the room. Alpha Maddox didn't turn around and no matter how much I strained my gaze fixed on him. "Eyes down." His command came as a low, steady snarl. 

My throat vibrated. A rumble echoed in my chest. Panic rose in my throat. I clenched my lips as hard as I could, biting down on my tongue. It didn't help. A low, rumbling growl erupted from my chest.

Alpha Patrick's fist tangled into my hair. He forced my head down, calling for his beta and gamma males. They rushed to his side, each grabbing my arms so hard I was certain my bones would shatter.

"The runt just challenged me."

Shit! Fuck! Help, oh Dear Moon Goddess, help!

I tried to speak, to beg and plead but nothing came out. Tears stung my cheeks. My heart pounded so loud I could feel it beating in my throat. 

Alpha Patrick, the gamma and the beta dragged from the dining hall. My left shoe came off, my heel scraped the floor. I wasn't allowed in the packhouse much. I'd never been outside of the kitchen and dining hall. I had no idea where they were taking me but it was nowhere I wanted to be. 

The Beta kicked open a heavy metal security door. Pain radiated through my body from Alpha Patrick's grip on my hair to the Gamma and the Beta grasping my arms so hard their hands ground against my bones. We reached a dark stairwell to narrow for us all to fit down. The Gamma went first as Patrick ushered him forward. The Beta followed up. Alpha Patrick yanked hard on my hair, dragging me down, step by step.

"Please," I finally choked out. "I beg you, please." Alpha Patrick tightened his painful grip on my hair. My scalp was about to come off, I was sure of it. The agony was blinding. 

We reached the end of a long, damp corridor. Gamma Graham opened a heavy padlock attached to a thick, heavy door. Alpha Patrick finally released his cruel grip on my hair. The blood rushing back to it sent a shudder down my spine. The pain was almost worse now than when he had my tresses wrapped in his sweaty fist. The sobs came hard and fast, so fast I couldn't breathe. 

I kept my head down, silently begging for mercy. 

Don't speak unless spoken to. Don't speak unless spoken to. 

Don't look anyone in the face.

Don't even breathe without Alpha Patrick's permission.

The damp seeped from the grey stone floor through my jeans.

"Strip her!" Alpha Patrick demanded.

Please, no, please I wanted to plead for forgiveness but knew better than to open my mouth. I forced my quivering body to remain still as the Gamma and Beta tore my hand me down clothes from my body, knocking me off my knees and onto my back to yank my jeans off. 

The damp bit into my skin. Someone gasped at the sight of my prone and naked form curled on the stone floor. I swallowed hard, hugging my bony knees to my chest trying to hide as much of my body as I could.

"Chain her," Alpha Patrick commanded. Strong, calloused hands gripped my wrists, pulling me from the floor. Heavy chains were clasped around my tiny wrists. Someone yanked the chains tight pulling me up off the floor. My entire weight hung from my arms. My elbows strained and ached. 

"Look at me, Runt." Alpha Patrick growled. 

"A-a-a lesser n-never l-looks a s-s-uperior in the f-face, M-m-master," I managed to choke out between gulping sobs. My cheeks burned so hard they throbbed. I felt their eyes crawling over my naked body.

"And a runt never challenges her Alpha, do you wish to challenge me, Runt?"

"N-n-n-no." I shook my head until my neck ached. Tears flew from cheeks landing in soft splats on the floor. Strands of hair stuck to my soggy cheeks.

"Then you will be punished. Pass me the whip."

I froze. My breath stuck in my throat. I pulled violently at the chains. Leather hissed through the air. I sank in my chains.

SMACK!

The leather tore into my skin. Searing pain ripped through me. A sound only an animal could make vibrated through the room. My throat was dry and horse. 

Hiss! SMACK!

The leather tore against my buttocks, wrapping around my hip and kissing my stomach. Blood trickled from a thick red welt beneath my navel and dripped onto the floor at my feet. My vision blurred.

Hiss. Smack. Hiss. Smack. He whipped every part of my body, my back, my buttocks, my thighs and every time the whip curled around my front stinging into my breasts and stomach. Over and over until the floor was crimson with my blood.

"She's had enough," Gamma Graham said. 

My vision blurred. Darkness crept in. Every inch of my body burned with the fire of a thousand suns. 

"I'll say when it's had enough," Alpha Patrick snapped. 

Hiss. Smack. My chin sunk to my bloodied chest. Blissful nothingness took over.