003

Chapter 3 – Hunger

The good thing about being locked in the basement is that the bullies in this pack don’t usually come down here looking to torture me.

I was in the back of the basement, in the laundry room. It was a big room, with four industrial sized wash machines and four industrial dryers. There are two huge laundry shoots at each end of the room that drop the laundry down to me in the basement. This room had everything you need for laundry; a stack of laundry baskets, a large clothes rack and hangers, ironing board, folding table, and a big laundry sink. It even had a dog bed.

In the corner of the laundry room, on the cement floor, was a large green dog bed and tattered old blanket. This was my bed. I slept in the laundry room and on cold freezing nights, I would dry clothes to try and stay warm.

Next to my bed was a plastic tub that had all my belongings in it. My old clothes, a stuffed beige colored wolf my father had given me when I was little, a couple of books, a broken clock radio that I kept because the radio still worked and an old tote bag.

I kept the tote bag buried at the bottom of the tub; it contained my mother’s necklace, a bottle of pain medication that Dr. Baker gave me two months ago, my dad’s old hat and two photographs. One photograph was of my parents at their mating ceremony and the other of my mom holding me hours after my birth.

I have nothing else in this world. No money, no friends and no family. Hopefully I will have my mate soon, but it could take years if your mate isn’t in the same pack. If my mate isn’t in this pack, I don’t know how I’ll ever find him. If he is from this pack, he might not want me.

I’ve considered running away many times, but I don’t know where I would go. Being a rogue is dangerous and living amongst humans would

require money. Deep down inside, I know I can’t be a laundry maid for the rest of my life. Speaking of laundry, I should get busy with it.

The carts under the laundry shoots were piled high with dirty laundry. I typically wash twelve to fifteen loads of laundry a day, and now I was looking at double. I wheeled one of the big carts to the washers and started loading the machines full, separating clothes, linens and towels.

Once all four machines started washing, I decided to take a shower and wash the chlorinated smell out of my hair. Just outside the laundry room in the basement, was a small closet sized room with a toilet and a hand sink. There was a tiny corner shower that was hardly big enough for me. In fact, it may have been a large floor sink, intended for washing mops, but was used as my shower.

I turned on the water and stripped my wet clothes off. I held the spray nozzle in my hand and stood in the shower with my eyes closed. I thought about Beta Max, and how he saved me twice now. Thinking back, I can’t remember a time that Max was ever mean to me. He had the same sandy blonde hair and green eyes as Miranda, and he was built like a tank. Max was handsome and had a warm softness in his smile.

I washed my face first, then my hair and finally my body. I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around myself. I brushed my teeth and got dressed. Ursa wouldn’t allow me to have a blow dryer, so I must towel dry my hair and pull it back in a ponytail.

My stomach growled at me again. I went to the laundry sink and cupped my hand to sip cold water. It’s been five days since I’ve eaten anything, and the hunger pains have me hunched over. I plopped down in my dog bed, my hunger wouldn’t let me get comfortable or nap.

An hour later, I was moving the clothes from the washers to the dryers. I sorted and started the next four loads to wash. I was lightheaded from the lack of nourishment and tried to steady myself.

I could hear laughter coming from the back of the house. I walked over to the other side of the basement, to the tiny window looking out at the back

yard. It was dark out, but I could see people gathering around a large bonfire as the pool party died down.

I stood at the window and watched Blake and Cole feed the fire with logs. A few pups were left, and they had long sticks with marshmallows on the end they were roasting. I saw couples cuddling by the fire and wondered if I could be so lucky one day. I remember toasting marshmallows with my dad, everything was so different when he was alive.

I stared out the window for a few more minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to sneak out the tiny window in the laundry room to look for food. I stood up on the dryer and quietly slid the window open. Any normal person would never fit through it, but I was small and underfed.

I slipped my head out first and quickly scrambled out the window. My ribs were burning in pain. I ducked behind a bush by the window to make sure no one was coming. Once I was sure the coast was clear, I ran towards the family homes and cabins closest to the pack house. The exercise left me feeling faint. I stayed in the shadows and watched.

I was standing behind a tree when I heard the back door open up at the house, I was near. I crouched down low and waited. A young boy came outside with a bag of garbage and put it in the trash a few feet away from me.

Please Goddess, do not let him catch me here. I stood frozen, not daring to breath. He looked like a nice kid, about eleven years old, I wondered if he would give me food if I begged. No, no, I couldn’t risk asking and having the Alpha find out.

He went back inside, and I waited a few minutes before I ran towards the trash. I lifted the lid off and ripped the bag open. I removed the empty milk carton from the top, an empty bakery box, before I saw leftover dinner scraps. I dug into the spaghetti and meatballs that had been scraped off dinner plates, with bits of leftover salad.

I felt like a disgusting dog eating trash but the hunger pains in my stomach were driving me to do it. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to dig

through trash to eat, but hopefully, it will be the last time. I turn eighteen in two weeks and when I get my wolf, I should be able to hunt for food.

I spotted a piece of garlic bread that didn’t seem touched, I lifted it to my mouth and devoured it practically moaning as I chewed. I was starting to feel full when I felt someone watching me. I looked around but didn’t see anyone. I placed the lid back on the trash and ran back to the pack house.

I ducked behind the bush closest to the laundry room window again and waited. When I was sure no one was coming, I wiggled back down through the window on top of the dryer. I closed and locked the window before I jumped down off the dryer.

I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth again and washed my face. I finally felt better as my stomach was full. I walked back to the window on the other side of the basement and stood on my tippy toes to look out at the back yard again.

The fire was dying down and Miranda stood close to the fire. I watched as Ranger walked over to her with a beer in his hand and started kissing her. His free hand squeezed her ass and she immediately jumped up to wrap her long legs around his waist.

She started running her fingers through Rangers thick beautiful hair. I wish I could run my fingers through his hair.

Ughh! What is wrong with me? It must be an Alpha thing; every unmated female would have to be blind not to want him.

“MIRANDA IS SUCH A SLUT.” I mentally screamed in my head.

She wasn’t even his mate.

And that’s when I saw the flames from the fire pit rise ten feet high for a moment and drop back down. Miranda was screaming about her hair getting singed and the next moment Blake and Cole were holding the garden hose and dousing Miranda and the bonfire down with water.