Retribution and realizations

      I slept that night reliving how I and Leoric met and it was the sweetest dreams I'd ever had. The garden,his eyes,his smiles his whispers, his warm hands, his musky scent...everything! It It brought a smile to my face as I recalled the sweet feeling I had when Kaylee called him my mate; it was pleasurable having such a feeling when all I'd ever felt was pain. I continued to revel in this fantasy of mine until a liquid substance suddenly splattered all over my body, jolting me awake. I sat up instantly with water drenching me and my mattress: when I got over the shock, I look up and found Harol standing and staring down at me with a cold gaze, holding a now empty bucket of water in her hand. 

  My shoulders slumped in sadness as my mind registered what she'd done 'she poured me water to wake me from my sleep!' She'd usually whipped me awake but this was much worse,my bed was now wet,my hair, bedspread and everything. Tears welled up in my eyes. 

"Why were you at the party last night" she asked gritting her teeth in anger 

"What party, I wasn't at last night's party, you told me never to attend your parties, so I wasn't there"

"Liar" she shouted "disgusting liar, "if you weren't at the party, where did Alpha Leoric find you"

My heart skipped a beat instantly and my mind in the bid to calculate travelled to the back door and the garden "I was inside, I didn't go to the party"

"That's a dumb lie, a very dumb lie, Leoric kept asking of you,he described you perfectly and called you my sister! How dare you call yourself my sister!"

My tongue became tied in my mouth and I brought my gaze down, I should have known this would happen. There was no lie to tell, nowhere to hide

"I tried to explain to him that I am not your sister but he just kept on talking and talking"

She stopped in her tracks and froze up with shock and surprise 

   "You mean Leoric talked with you? My Leoric talked with you, How dare you make him talk with you" she shouted "where did you find him?"

"I ran into him on my way to the garden last night. He said he came outside to catch his breath. I didn't go to the party, I simply went to my usual spot at the garden, I didn't go to the party and I tried to avoid him but he begged me to keep his company. I didn't know who he is I'm sorry"

   Harol stood there, fuming and panting with her face scrunched up in anger 

"I'm sorry Harol, I didn't mean to"

"Just shut up will you, don't you know who Alpha Leoric is, I've been trying to get him to like me since grade six. He's been my crush for years now I would do anything for him, because of him. I've been inviting him to our parties for years now I was happy when he showed up last night thinking I would get a chance to have some private time with him, but you had just to ruin everything for me. He left the party angrily when I wouldn't tell him where to find you"

Her countenance fell and she lowered her gaze as sadness became written on her face. She stayed that way for some seconds,then her face contorted into the scariest scowl I'd ever seen. She was so livid with anger that I feared death or even worse. I cowered on my bed and covered myself with my bedsheets as she pulled out a long whip from nowhere and began to advance slowly towards me 

"I don't care about you Silene" she said as she stood at the edge of my bed "but I can't deal with you infringing on my love life. I don't know what you did to My Alpha Leoric, mere thinking about it makes me want to kill you but it's going to happen again,you will not take what's mine because you seem better than me or more beautiful than me"

"I'm sorry Harol, it'll will never happen again I promise" but she threw the sheet off my body "I'm going to kill you Silene,my hatred for you can't be contained anymore, you've crossed the limits" and the first lash landed on my body. The pain destabilized my system and I cried out "you will not steal Alpha Leoric from me,no, not you, you won't ruin my love life, you won't take what's mine, this isn't some dumb fairy tale. I could strangle you right now and I might eventually have to do so if you to trespass again "

Then the second lash,the third,the fourth... Until I lost count, the pain clouded my head making me feel like I would explode

"Don't ever again leave your room whenever we throw parties"

"Yes" I cried as she whipped me harder "Alpha Leoric is mine"

"He is yours" I cried louder, I felt like I was going to snap in two  

"Avoid Alpha Leoric as much as you can,he must never set eyes on you again"

"He won't" I shrieked "He won't I promise, I swear"

  Then she stopped—I tried to catch my breath as she tossed she whip away but then she caught a fistful of my hair and pulled me up with it. I thought it was another type of punishment but then my eyes caught a glint of the sharp knife she was holding my heart almost jumped out of my chest, she was going to cut my hair! I immediately tried to wriggle out of her grip but she sensed my move and placed her legs on my back to keep me in position, pressing me deeper into the bed. I almost suffocated—the pain I felt in my back as a result of her weight weakened me 

"Alpha Leoric seems to be obsessed with your long and shiny hair" Harol said gripping my hair tighter "he couldn't stop talking about it,he kept mentioning it, describing you with it" she gripped it tighter "I've always hated your hair and now you've given me the reason to get rid of it" and with one swift swish of the knife my hair was gone! At that moment, I broke into pieces, by breath got caught up in my chest muffling my voice as I tried to cry, my head felt like it would blow off, the pain in my heart threatened to tear it apart. I touched my hair and found only a stump;a stump left of my lovely hair,my identity!

Harol watched my display of sadness with amusement and complacency,then there was a satisfactory smirk on her face. She tossed my hair away, picked up her whip and walked out the door, slamming it behind her. 

I cried, remembering the hardship I'd been going through eversince I'd been a child. I cursed the day I was born and the day my mother borrowed from Alpha Feston. I cried until I couldn't breathe anymore,I just laid there,then there was a knock on the door, my heart jumped again. What if it were the master or Harol again, I hadn't done any of my chores but it was only Haleth. A fellow servant, a middle aged woman who treated me like her daughter. 

"Dear me" she exclaimed as she saw me sprawled out the floor, clutching my hair with what is left of my strength "what" she froze in shock as she saw my hair and rushed to me, falling to her knees as she held onto to me

"Ohh child, I'm sorry, I'm very sorry" she stroked my back "I understand how you feel but you gon be alright, it's all just gon be one nightmare" these words only rubbed salt on my sores and tears gushed out of my eyes. I opened my mouth to talk but she placed a finger on my lips "don't bother, I heard it all. I know what happened between you two, you'll get you hair back and don't cry please, you'll only get weaker and you need your strength, you know you need to save your strength" the last statement brought me to realization, I still needed my strength,I hadn't done any of my chores and I've gotten so weak already,

"You should take a hot bath because of these sores and I would help you fix your hair, you'll look beautiful again. It's still the wee hours of the morning,we still have some time, come, let's go to my room" then she led me to her room and offered me a cup of coffee which I sipped slowly while she gathered combs, scissors and everything

"You'll be back in shape and good as new" she said and she began to trim the rough edges of my hair "Harol is just spiteful and pained. As for the Alpha guy, she ain't getting him none, it's just a wild fantasy, but too bad her fantasy had to cost you your hair"

"Why do you say so" I asked "what do you mean"

"It's something I've discovered and confirmed" She lowered her voice "Alpha Feston has gone bankrupt, he's in debt, he's broke" 

"I understand Hally,I get your point" but I didn't tell her that I'd also overheard the conversation, I wanted to be confirm my assumptions "so what happened"

"The Alpha has decided to marry Harol off to Alpha Lustrows of Silver pack. Silver Pack is one of the richest Packs in the land. Alpha Lustrows is the son of Alpha Ailwyn and he is a very cold and arrogant man. Alpha Ailwyn happened to be a business associate of Alpha Feston and he has made him an offer a huge amount of money and properties for his daughter. Not because she's the right choice though, but because Alpha Lustrows'marital status is starting to bring disgrace on the Pack's reputation. Lustrow's attitude turns women away from him and so the only way to get him married is to force someone to marry him. Silver Pack saw that Arrowhead Pack is in the best position for a wager but Harol isn't having him, even if her family becomes homeless, cos I suspect that this mansion has been used as a collateral for a loan" I gasped at that, the Arrowhead Pack were really in trouble

"Harol doesn't want to have anything to do with The Silver Pack, she would rather drool over Leoric,I don't know anything about him, other than he is also from a rich pack but unluckily for Harol, she disgusts him and he wouldn't even look at her. That's why she did what she did to you, she's scared you'll steal him away from her, like you'll steal any man"

"Thanks Haleth"

"No thanking me kid, it's the truth but I heard the Alpha and Lunar discussing last night. They're plotting to force Harol to marry Alpha Lustrows. They have no choice, it's the only solution" 

Some part of me felt bad for Harol, I felt sorry for her, sorry for the life she would live with the man she doesn't love 

"I don't wish for the pack to be taken over" Haleth continued "but I want them to know what it means to be poor, to know what it means to live from hand to mouth" I merely nodded in response "here I'm all done with your hair, look in the mirror"

I rose gingerly from the floor and dragged my legs to the mirror, my hair wasn't all that bad. Haleth had done a good job styling it short pixie and it looked better than I expected. "Thanks Haleth, you'll make a really good barber"

She laughed

"You're really kind, thanks. You've had your long hair for a long time now. Harol only gave you the chance to change your look"

I nodded in agreement again but I knew something bad was going to happen, it was in the air and I felt it.