Chapter 4

Freya gave me a bittersweet smile. She still looked beautiful with it. Everything about her was beautiful. Why won’t the male population be drawn to her? I held back myself from saying what would put me into trouble. I have to continue the pretense that I heard nothing of her conversation with Viktor. She was at an advantage with me because of her height, so I have to step back a little bit from her to look her in the face.

“You knew you never belonged here, Layla. Your respectful place is in the ditch, on the street,” Freya said with a shake of her head. “How can you be so dense as to think otherwise?”

I had to stay focused here. Not shedding tears is a show of me being strong. “I thought you were my friend.”

“Friend?” She laughed as if it was funny, and I must be out of my mind. Well, she is close to the truth with that. I am out of my reasonable mind. How could she be friends with me, a nobody? “Grow up, Layla, and you are interrupting us. Off you go now, for I don’t feel like putting up with you right now.”

I knew a free pass when I saw one. She was letting me go instead of punishing me for the interruption. Before I could say a word, she closed the door in my face. I breathed out and walked away. I have to think of my next action now. What am I going to do with the information I just heard?

I hurried down the hallway, back to my duty. Maybe something will come to me during the time I will spend working.

I finished my work and went ahead to return the laundry. After that, I went back to my room and went to stand by the window. There was nothing to see there, but I was lost in thought. Tomorrow, I have to do something, talk to Jarod. He has to know what Freya and Viktor were planning behind his back. They wanted to overrule him. I had to warn him, but that will be tomorrow. I just can’t stand to look at him today.

The following day, after finishing my morning duties, I made my way to the throne room, knowing that would be the place I’d find Jarod. The guards at the door tried to stop me, but they were too late. I was so determined not to get caught, but it turned out to be a big mistake. I looked around the full throne room, I had no idea Jarod was in a meeting, and here I was disrespecting the sacred meeting. For one thing, the way I threw the door open was rude. I was not presentable enough to appear in front of this gathering. I fell to my knees, face down, and awaited to be spoken to before I spoke. This was a terrible mistake on my part. I was already trembling where I was as I waited for someone to speak.

JAROD'S POV

“Why are you here?” someone finally asked her.

“She should be beheaded,” someone else shouted. “How dare she?”

“Let’s hear why she decided to interrupt this meeting,” the first voice said patiently.

“She has nothing good to say, she knew never to come here,” one of my men who was clearly annoyed said.

“Jarod?” a voice I was familiar with said. Clyde, my second in command, asked me. I closed my eyes briefly.

I stood up and walked to her where she was. I bent down to her level. “Look at me,” I said, my voice controlled, but I knew that past my controlled voice, I was furious. Without being told twice, she raised her face to meet mine.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I… I’m sorry, I had no idea the meeting was on,” she apologized, so weak was she.

“There are two guards out there that could have told you what is going on here,” I said, leaning closer to her.

“I’m sorry,” her voice broke at the last word. I hated such weakness.

“Why are you here?” I asked her again, to get straight to the point.

“I had something to tell you,” she said. Maybe sticking with the truth will help her this time around, since she was already in trouble. Saying the truth shouldn’t hurt that much, but I knew otherwise.

“And what would that be that you couldn’t wait until I summoned you?” I asked, getting to my feet. I turned to face the room. “The bitch has something to say,” I announced to them all. Some snorted, laughed, and got more interested in her. This was going the way I planned.

I looked around the room. Some were glaring at her, some interested in her looks and what lay within her dress. I smirked. I was the only one who knew what she has under that dress, while some looked bored, and I finally met Clyde who looked tense and a worried expression crossed his face. Why would he be worried about the bitch?

“Go ahead then, and let’s hear what you have to say, bitch,” someone said.

I turned to look down at her. I signaled for her to speak, and I was clearly having fun with all this, though my eyes blazed red. “Speak up.”

She swallowed hard. “I… you…” Trailing off, she stopped.

“Having trouble speaking now?” I asked, my lips twitching, which was not a good sign for her, and she knew this.

“I’m sorry, but… Freya and Viktor are planning to overrule you, to kill you,” she rushed out. And I thought what would come next was anger, shouts, and denial, but what met her outburst was silence. Pin-drop silence. I looked around the room, and all eyes were on me. Clyde looked speechless. She looked up at me, waiting. What the hell?

I was still caught up in her words that I did not notice the person walking up to us, but the hard kick to her face threw her sideways, and I saw who it was: Viktor. I got a little pleasure from that.

“How dare you?” Viktor growled at her.

She hugged herself tightly to shield her face from his kicks.

“Stop it!” shouted Clyde, joining us. Viktor had to obey his command, so he backed away. “What are you talking about, Layla?” he asked her, always so calm.

“I… heard, them… they… Freya would kill Jarod… when they are together… I swear it, I heard them talking,” she pleaded for us to believe her. It seems like her life was hanging on this now, and I’ll be damned if it is not.

“Lies, how dare you try to lie about something like this?” Viktor yelled and would have done her more harm, but Clyde held him back.

“Alpha,” Clyde called again, for me to at least say something. “This is a serious issue.”

“Why? Don’t tell me you believe her,” I finally said, my voice has gone darker as I turned my glare on Clyde.

“What if she is right?” Clyde asked.

“You can’t be serious right now. I won’t stay back and watch this brat lie against me, and you backing her up,” Viktor said to Clyde.

I turned to fully face Layla. “Are you planning on turning my men against me? Is that what you want because I rejected you? Isn’t that cheap of you?” I asked her. “We will continue this meeting later,” I said to the room at large, bent down, grabbing her hair. It is time for her to be punished. First for coming and disturbing this peaceful meeting. I dragged her to one of my men. This should be fun. “She needs to be punished,” I told my men.

“Alpha!” Clyde said.

“Whatever punishment?” my head of war asked.

“Yes,” I answered him. The men laughed, clearly liking the idea.

“You can’t expect everyone to punish her, for what?” Clyde asked me, not pleased with the idea. But he does not like most of my ideas when it comes to the bitch.

“She just disrespected all of us,” I said, going to have my seat. “Pass her around when you are done with her.”

LAYLA’S POV

I cried, begged, and bled as I was passed around to be punished. My whole body ached from being kicked, the blows, the punches, the smacking, the spanking. My body felt weak, and I could see a lot of cuts on my body. My dress was almost falling from my shoulders as it was torn in a lot of places.

Only if I was not born to live such a life, how easy my life would have been. I wouldn't be here. I was now past being humiliated; my pride was totally bruised. I was like an object that anyone could use and toss aside, stepped on and thrown into a trash can. There was nothing to my life again, nothing at all. Why can't I have a normal day? Why can't I just end my life successfully? As I was passed around in the room, I stopped feeling anything. It was my body; my mind shut down. I could feel the tears that ran down my face. I would obey anyone's command automatically, but it was not really me.

I was not seeing anything. Nothing made sense again, and it was like I was in a blank room. The only thing Jarod did not permit his men was to have sex with me, telling them that should be preserved for him alone. My dress was almost pulled down to my waist, but doing as they pleased with my powerless and fragile body bruised my heart. How I was still standing was a misery to me.

Finally, I got to Jarod, and with his touch, I came back to the present and stared at him with tears stained eyes, not believing he could be such a beast. Has he no feelings? He smirked down at me and pulled me into his lap. His head went down to my chest; he took one of my nipples into his hot mouth, bit hard, and sucked. I cried out in pain and tried to push him away. I could hear his men cheering him on. The only people who refused to touch me were Clyde and Viktor, and I could not even meet Clyde's gaze; he looked so mad, his fisted hands at his side.

Jarod gave me a slap across the face for trying to push him away. His men laughed. He pushed me down on the floor, lifted my dress up, and had his way with me. I just couldn't stand it again; I was losing consciousness, and the last thing I felt was Jarod pulling away from me.

"She is almost passing out, Alpha," Clyde said.

Jarod stood up, adjusting his clothes. "Serves her right for coming up with her lies," he faced his men. "We should never let our guard down; this bitch is looking for any opportunity to feast on our weakness," he addressed the room. "Now, let's see what to do with you, bitch."

"What do you mean? You are still planning on punishing her?" Clyde asked, confused.

"Yes."

"Look at the state of her, what else do you want? She is out of it already."

"I am not satisfied yet," Jarod said.

I tried to gather my dress back in place to hide me from the still prying eyes. I avoided looking up at Clyde, but Jarod bent down and grabbed my hair. He started pulling me out of the room.

"You should have known your place. You deserved all that you got today, and there is much more to come till you learn your lesson. You will be punished," Jarod told me.

"Please," my voice sounded strange even to me. I begged as he continued to drag me away from the throne room in total humiliation.