Free Web NovelChapter 24: Another Sick Punishment
REBECCA’S POV
"Rebecca."
A familiar, gentle voice woke me up from my deep sleep. Groaning softly, I lazily forced my heavy eyes open and saw Stephanie standing in the room.
"Goddess," I murmured, rubbing my face as I slowly sat up on the edge of the mattress.
"The head maid, Martha, has given you a duty," Stephanie grumbled, her brow furrowed in a deep frown.
"What?" I asked, completely confused and curious.
Stephanie hesitated for a long moment, looking down at the tiled floor before she could bring herself to speak. "You are to work at the construction site."
"The construction site?" I repeated, my eyebrows knitting together.
"Yes. You have to carry building materials from the deep storeroom all the way down to the back of the grounds where they are building," she explained softly.
"What! This must be a joke." A sudden wave of anger and disbelief rushed through me.
"No, it’s not. Martha made it completely clear. You are to transport the heavy materials from the storeroom to the other part of the castle where the site is."
"Rubbish, absolutely rubbish," I spoke in anger, forcing myself to stand up on my feet despite how sore my body felt from what happened on the desk. I paced the room, my chest heaving. "Does he know about this? Did Alpha Kaden order this?"
"I think so... I don’t know," Stephanie murmured, looking completely confused and helpless.
"Damn it," I grunted, clenching my fists.
I couldn’t be a breeder and also a heavy laborer. This was never part of the punishment. It was pure torture. My hand instinctively flew to my neck, my fingers brushing against the cold metal of the heavy choker locked tightly around my throat. Because of this cursed thing, my wolf was completely blocked. I couldn’t reach her, I couldn’t communicate with her, and I had absolutely none of our supernatural strength. Right now, I was no different from a fragile, weak human.
"I need to speak with Alpha Kaden," I muttered those words in raw anger, turning toward the door.
"You can’t see him, Rebecca! You know you can’t go to his quarters unless he calls for you," Stephanie explained, quickly stepping in front of me to block my path.
"This is ridiculous," I grumbled, running my trembling fingers through my messy hair.
"You have to get ready. It’s almost time for the shift to start," she spoke, her eyes filling with deep pity.
Sighing tiredly, I sat back down on the bed and buried my face in my hands. "I can’t take this. I just can’t take this anymore," I whispered to myself, hot tears burning the backs of my eyes.
"I’m so sorry you have to go through all this," Stephanie said.
I didn’t answer her. I just stood back up and walked straight into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me. Standing in front of the small mirror, I saw the tears finally streaming down my cheeks. I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand, refusing to let myself fall apart completely.
Slowly, I pulled off my torn clothes, took a quick, cold bath to numb the aching between my thighs, and returned to the bedroom. Stephanie was still waiting there. She gave me another pitying look, which I ignored as I took a plain, simple dress out of the small closet.
Exhausted, I put on the dress and stared into the mirror. My heart broke at the reflection staring back at me. My skin, which used to have a beautiful glow, looked completely dull and pale. My eyes looked dead, empty of all life, and my hair looked dirty and unkempt. With my wolf locked away by the heavy metal collar, I felt completely hollow, stripped of everything that made me strong. I gulped hard and shook my head, forcing the weakness down.
"Let’s go."
Stephanie nodded and led the way.
"Are you okay?" Stephanie asked with pity as we finally came to a halt near the back of the mansion grounds.
"Yeah." I flashed her a weak, fake smile. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
I looked around and noticed dozens of large, able-bodied male werewolves busy with the heavy construction of a new stone structure. Everyone was moving around quickly, lifting massive stones and logs with their immense supernatural strength, completely ignoring my presence.
"What are they building?" I asked, looking at the massive foundation.
"This used to be Queen Helen’s favorite place in the territory. She would always come here to sit and enjoy the quiet air," Stephanie explained in a low whisper. "So, the Alpha King has decided to build a memorial hall in memory of her. All her personal belongings will be kept here out of respect."
"Wow," I whispered to myself, my stomach twisting into a painful knot. He really must have loved her. And now, I was being forced to build the very monument dedicated to the woman everyone believed I killed.
"You! Come over here right now!"
A large, gruff man who looked to be in his early forties stared at me with pure anger.
"Go," Stephanie whispered nervously, gently tapping my shoulder. "He is the supervisor in charge of the workers. He will tell you what to do."
I took a deep breath and slowly walked over to him.
"Why are you late?" he barked, his voice dripping with deep hatred. It made me wonder what I could have possibly done to this man to make him hate me so intensely at first sight.
"I..."
He didn’t even let me finish before cutting me off. "Shut up and get to work!" he shouted, throwing a large, heavy woven basket right at my chest. Without my wolf’s quick reflexes, I scrambled and barely caught it before it hit the dirt.
"There," he pointed a thick finger toward a dark, stone building near the edge of the woods. "That’s the storeroom. You must bring everything out from the storeroom to this site, and you better be fast about it."
With heavy, dragging feet, I walked toward the stone storehouse. I stepped inside the cool, dark room and felt my heart instantly clench in fear. The storeroom was packed with heavy building materials, massive tools, and thick bags. Because the choker kept me in a weak human state, I had no idea how I was going to lift any of this. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
I scanned the room, picked up the lightest tools I could find, and placed them in the basket. Slowly, I hoisted the basket onto my head and walked back out into the sun.
With heavy steps, I walked back to the site and dumped the tools on the ground. But the supervisor immediately marched over, standing right in front of me with his arms crossed.
"This junk is the least of what we need right now," he yelled right in my face. "Go back in there and bring out the bags of cement!"
I frowned, turning around before he could see the hate in my eyes.
As I walked back to the storeroom, I looked around the entire site. There wasn’t a single other woman working here. It was just me and a crew of huge male warriors who still had their powers. This confirmed it—this was entirely Alpha Kaden’s doing. Another sick, twisted way to make my life miserable and watch me suffer.
