The Alpha’s Curvy Cinderella - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

Jordan POV
The walls continually feel like they are closing in on me. I’ve screamed so much that my voice is practically gone now. My fingernails scrabble uselessly at the hard bricks of the well, my nails broken and torn, dirt beneath them. I let out a small whimper, curled up in the smallest ball I could make, shivering violently from the dampness that never seems to fade away. My eyes, thanks to being a shifter, have adjusted to the darkness, but nonetheless have nothing to focus on, besides the walls of the well itself and the throng of moving and wriggling critters on the floor that occasionally shoot across my feet or are daring enough to sprint over my body, causing me to shudder or bite my lip in fear.
What on earth had possessed me to provoke Father in such a way? Rage like I’d never known before had consumed me to the point that I’d been unable to hold my tongue, tired of being belittled and treated like dirt by someone who should love me unconditionally. I was so tired of being blamed for something out of my control, that I lashed out without considering the consequences and now I was paying as a result. Still, I refused to apologize. No matter what he did to me, I had only spoken the truth, which had been building up internally for years. He could beat me, torture me, keep me down here, and still, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of an apology. He didn’t deserve one. He didn’t deserve me.
I wish I could go to another pack. It strikes my mind that I could go to Jaxon’s pack for sanctuary, but sanctuary can only be granted under the most dire of circumstances. The majority of the time, in order to leave your pack, you must ask permission from your legal guardian, or failing that the Alpha and Luna of your pack. For a moment hope flares in my chest and then just as quickly fades. There’s no way my father would agree to me leaving, that was definitely not in the cards but was there a slight chance the Alpha and Luna would? Or had Father already spoken to them about the possibility and engineered it so that they would refuse?
Sanctuary. I pondered the word. It had been designed so that those suffering domestic violence could seek shelter and be protected at a different pack to the one where they were being abused at. Was that relevant in this situation? Was this domestic violence? Because I always thought that domestic violence occurred between two partners or mates. Not to mention who was going to believe I was being abused? My father and my sister would just deny it, and I doubted that Stella was going to speak up. Not when she herself had encouraged my father to punish me for daring to speak back. She was just as bad as they were. The evil stepmother, like in the Cinderella movie, I thought glumly. Only that stepmother seemed like a cakewalk in comparison to this one.
Maybe Jaxon could help me? His parents had seemed so nice and welcoming. They would believe me; I knew they would. All I had to do was get to school and then get Jaxon alone to tell him my situation. They would help me; I was certain of it. But I needed to be let out of here first and, I thought with a grimace, I needed to appear like I had learned my lesson so that they didn’t suspect anything. It looked like I might have to force an apology out of myself after all, as contemptible as that might seem to me.
I had lost count of how many hours, or was it days now, that I had spent trapped in this well with the cover over it. My father had ignored my screams. I had been given no food or water and as disgusting as it sounded, I’d been forced to do my business to the side of the well, as there was nowhere else to go. I felt so degraded. It wasn’t a new feeling, but I was fast losing all hope of even being let out. Was Father trying to murder me? Was he going to let me starve to death? My heart began to race at the thought and I felt myself beginning to panic again.
“I want out” I whispered painfully, licking my lips with a dry tongue, my arms hugging myself tight in an effort to make myself warmer.
What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger
The thought flashed into my mind unbidden, strong and then was just as quickly gone. I blinked. It had come from nowhere, the voice inside my head encouraging and loud. It hadn’t sounded like me. I chuckled wryly to myself. Great, now
I was hearing voices inside my head. Way to go Jordan, I thought shaking my head, you’ve well and truly done it now. You’ve started to go insane. Father will be so impressed I thought sarcastically.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
Easy for you to say, I thought back, anger and defiance rising inside of me. You’re not the one trapped inside a well, with no ladder and no hope of escape. I know you’re trying to encourage me or whatnot, but I really wish you would shut up, I told the strange voice fiercely, willing it to go away and leave me the hell alone.
Besides, why shouldn’t I feel sorry for myself? I was cold, alone, miserable, starving and thirsty. What person in their right mind wouldn’t feel sorry for themselves in that condition? A f*****g skeleton that’s who, because they were already dead and wouldn’t feel any of that I mused. I was weak, tired, and drained. I would have given anything to have even the smallest patch of sunlight come in through the cover, just to feel the warmth on my body and see the light it produced.
You’re strong, you can get through this and come out stronger on the other side. Believe in yourself and you can accomplish great things.
I was starting to lose my mind, I thought hysterically. The voice was so damn persistent. It was like a personal cheerleader. Annoyingly perky too. Where was the doom and gloom to go with the seriousness of my situation? Count Dracula’s voice would be more appropriate, I thought a bit wildly, than this. I didn’t want to be told optimistic things. It was more infuriating and well, a little kind of babying. Suddenly the sound of footsteps began to approach and my ears pricked up in response. Was my father finally coming to let me out, or had he come to gloat about my situation some more? Anticipation flooded through me as I began to pray for the former.
The cover began to slide to the side with shrieking noises as I winced. It fell to the floor with a loud clunking sound and then a ladder was pushed down to me.
“Hurry up, before I change my mind” my father’s voice snarled.
I stood up shakily, my limbs feeling like they were floppy, and made my way to the ladder. I grasped the rungs and slowly, torturously made my way up, rung by rung, my father muttering under his breath, clearly annoyed at the amount of time it was taking.
Finally, I swung my leg over and collapsed on my back, onto the ground, gasping for air. My father rolled his eyes. “Must you be so dramatic” he snapped, lifting the ladder and placing it back in its usual place?
“I thought I was going to die” I panted, rolling onto my stomach and getting onto my hands and knees, before getting to my feet.
He snorted. “Two days without food and water was hardly going to kill you,” he said impatiently “The most it would have done is made you lose a little bit of that weight you’re carrying around” he added cruelly, beginning to stride off as I rushed after him.
It was bright outside, and my eyes blinked, watering slightly as they adjusted to the brightness. I walked inside the house and into the kitchen, shocked when I realized it was far past the time I would normally go to school. I was late. My father held up his hand. “You’re not going to school,” he said calmly as I stopped in my tracks “You’ve only got a few days to go anyway. Instead, you’re going to stay here and do things around the house and this afternoon, you’re going to go and be Sarah’s personal omega. She specifically requested you.”
I digested his words. “But school is important to me” I choked out, even as I held onto the table to keep myself upright” and my grades. . .” I protested weakly.
“Are going to stay all A’s?” he said with a roll of his eyes “I confirmed with the teachers. Turns out your friend Jaxon isn’t going to school for the week either” he said nonchalantly “So isn’t it a good thing? You wouldn’t have any friends to sit with.”
I fell silent. So much for speaking to Jaxon alone. That possibility was long gone. But what was this about being Sarah’s personal omega?
“I thought I wasn’t supposed to be a servant in the pack house” I accused as Stella came into the kitchen and viewed me with a small smile on her lips.
“That was due to Alpha John and Luna Mary. Your sister is about to become Luna and it is her prerogative to choose a personal omega if she wants to. She chose you” my father snarled “so get over it. Sit down and have something to eat,” he said coldly “before you start your duties for Stella.”
Stella placed a fruit salad in front of me and a cup of black coffee. “This is all the sustenance you need,” she said calmly as I gaped at her.
I hadn’t eaten for two days and that’s all she was giving me? My stomach rumbled hungrily. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I glanced at the fridge and gasped. There was a large padlock on the door. Stella had locked it, to prevent me from getting more food. She looked to where I was looking and raised an eyebrow. “I can’t have you sneaking food” she explained, sitting down at the table as my father nodded.
I slowly began to eat the fruit salad. My father kissed Stella on the cheek. “I take it you can take it from here,” he said warmly as she smiled up at him happily.
“Oh, no worries hun. I’ll make sure she gets to the pack house on time” she promised him “Go and do your training. I know you’ve been a bit stressed” she added darkly, shooting me a look full of daggers.
Oh so that was my fault, I fumed. My father disappeared from the kitchen. I finished the minuscule fruit salad, not even remotely satiated, and began to sip at the black coffee. Stella got up and disappeared from view, coming back with a toothbrush, a bucket of hot soapy water in hand, and an apron which she flung at me.
“Put that on” she hissed as I stood up and obliged, handing me the toothbrush and bucket of water.
“Go and scrub the bathroom floors,” she said as I looked down at the toothbrush in disbelief “I want them to be sparkling, do you hear me” she growled.
I gulped and she slapped me across the face, hard.
“The answer is yes ma’am” she snapped.
“Yes ma’am,” I said quietly and she nodded with satisfaction.
“Now get to work” she ordered.
I turned on my heel and walked away, clutching the bucket and toothbrush. Today was going to be a long day, I thought miserably, wondering what else today would have in store for me.