The Beast's Possession

**Aife pov**

He didn't just send me away. That despicable, disgusting man pushed me out of the office and told his guards to walk me to the kitchen, where Claudia would be waiting for me.

To make matters worse, he told his men to keep an eye on me so none of the women would try to give me their clothes to cover up.

I focused my gaze on my feet as they walked me to the kitchen, both of them tossed in revolting remarks about my body and even touched me as they walked, justifying the stolen touches as accidents. As soon as they shoved me inside the kitchen, they stood at the door and crossed their arms, eyes on me.

"Aife, dear, where are your clothes?" Claudia rushed to me. The concern on her face broke me, tears escaped my eyes and streamed down my cheeks as I fought to stay quiet.

Claudia gripped her cardigan, her intent clear to everyone, but she was stopped by one of the guards. "Don't. She is to work naked. Alpha's orders."

At the words, all heads snapped in my direction, eyes wide, mouths open.

"But why?" Claudia asked as she stepped in front of me, as if she was trying to shield me from their gazes.

"Because he said so. Who are you to question the Alpha? What is it, reject? Have you grown a backbone because of that mutt?" One of the men shouted. "No," Claudia whispered. "I apologize."

The lump in my throat returned. It grew bigger as the rest of the women did their best to avert their gazes and give me the chance to hide away from them. "Come along, dear, we need to do some laundry first," Claudia nudged my side.

I hated the thought of leaving the kitchen and being exposed to more prying eyes, but I had no power over the situation, so I followed her.

Only when we entered the laundry room did I understand why she led me away from the kitchen. The guards didn't enter, they stood by the closed door, and here, I was alone with Claudia, no more eyes.

As soon as the door closed behind us, my knees gave in from under me and I let it all loose. Somehow, I still had tears to cry and finally, some sobs escaped my lips while her arms enveloped me in a warm, comforting hug. "Aife, oh Aife, what did you do to deserve this?" Claudia whispered.

"Nothing," I choked out the word as my fingers dug in the carpet. "I did nothing. I didn't utter a word, didn't defy a command, nothing. He just..." My voice broke before I could finish what I was about to say.

The worst part was that for her to understand the situation, I had to come clean with what happened after they first brought me here. I wanted to keep it a secret so badly, I hated myself for even thinking of coming clean with someone.

"Aife, listen," Claudia let out a shaky breath. "Alpha, he isn't a good man, we all know that, but he isn't someone who acts on a whim. He has never done anything unless he needed to or he was provoked to act. What happened? You can tell me. Together, we will figure out what went wrong and how to avoid anything like this from happening ever again."

I sucked in a sharp breath and brought my hand to hers, clutching it for my dear life. "This isn't the first time," I managed to force the words over my lips and instantly regretted it.

Claudia tensed. "Isn't the first time? Aife, what are you hiding?" Her voice was barely audible, but the anger and confusion behind her words were evident.

Instead of laying it all out through the sobs and hiccups, I tried to ground myself first. I had to calm down to make sense. And if I really was about to tell anyone about my experience, I was glad it was Claudia who got to listen to it.

She didn't rush me to start working, just held me until I cried it all out. Once I was calm enough, she helped me to my feet and tried to slide her cardigan off her shoulders again, but I quickly stopped her. "No, you'll get in trouble. He told the guards to keep their eye on me so no one gives me clothes."

I was cold, humiliated and exhausted, but I still wanted her safe. Claudia glanced at the door and nodded. "Okay. We still need to deal with the laundry, so watch me while you tell me what's going on."

It wasn't like I didn't know how to do laundry and fold it, but I appreciated her attempt to give me a moment to rest, especially after the emotional rollercoaster I just experienced.

The first few minutes were silent as she separated the clothing and loaded the washers. When one of the guards poked his head in the room, I was folding the sheets and Claudia was adding the detergent to the laundry. He nodded at us and disappeared again.

"Tell me," Claudia whispered as she closed the washer door and leaned against it.

I glanced over my shoulder to ensure no one was listening and returned my attention to Claudia. "The first day. After they kidnapped me and took me here. I don't remember how I got here, but I remember waking up in the dining room. I was laying on the table, right in front of that man and surrounded by the rest. He demanded I strip, told me my parents were still alive and if I wouldn't do what he told me to, he would kill my mother, so I did. But it wasn't enough since I was still wearing my underwear."

The lump, the fricking lump grew in my throat again as I closed my eyes and took a shaky breath. I regretted doing it nearly instantly as the images of the memory started flashing before my eyes.

"Then," I whispered. It was so painful to remember everything, but speaking about it with someone was way worse.

Claudia appeared next to me and placed her hand on mine as she whispered, "then?"

I couldn't look at her, I was too ashamed, too hurt to look into her eyes as I was partially reliving the torment. "He made his men hold me and finished undressing me himself. He mocked me, laughed and described my body to everyone for what seemed to be hours. I'm not sure how long it really was, but it was the most humiliating moment of my life. I guess this one is topping that though. Anway, he let his men touch and grope me. I suppose I should feel grateful that nothing more than that happened. I think..."

"Aife, what do you mean by 'I think?? Did they do it or not?" Claudia's hands were suddenly gripping my shoulders as she shook my body.

My eyes snapped open. "I don't know." The words that left me sounded desperate, as if I was seeking the answer to the same questions as she was. "How can..."

She started, but I cut her off. "I fell and probably hit my head. I think that's why I don't remember more. The next thing I remember is cells and a man in the cell next to mine talking about overhearing the guards discussing me, losing loads of blood."

Claudia's face twisted, as if she was in physical pain. Her grip disappeared from my shoulders as she threw her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug again.

She was about to say something, but the same guard appeared again and Claudia jumped away from me as if I had burned her. She quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks and asked the guard if he wanted anything.

The guard mentioned something about us leaving, but not before reminding Claudia that I was to go back to the women's housing naked. He stressed that he was more than happy to walk me home if she was incapable of following the Alpha's orders, but thankfully, she convinced him no woman would go against the word of their great leader.

Leaving the house felt surreal. Walking past all of those men who kept whistling, hollering and grabbing me was pure torture. By the time I finally got out, my skin was covered in bruises, red spots from their slaps and even some bleeding scrapes from their claws.

Claudia held my hand and asked the rest of the women to walk ahead and give us privacy. They did, neither of them looked at me, as if they knew how much it would hurt me if they saw me like this.

Once they were ahead, Claudia and I started following them. "You aren't on the evening shift today. I will tell you what's going on with the clothing situation after I return from my shift." She muttered as if she was addressing herself, not me. I kept quiet. My throat and eyes burned from crying and the only thing I could focus on was how much I wanted to get out of here.

"I will try to talk to Delta today. He's returning from visiting a friend in another pack and we're pretty close. I think he might have an idea why Alpha is going all out on torturing you like this."