They kept her alone in a darkened chamber, lit only by a single lantern on the bedside table. Stillness descended around her like a burden. The sound of voices and music from downstairs had faded as they stepped further upstairs and then cut off entirely after the door shut behind the Whoremonger and his Beta clients.
Leda cursed the courage that made her teeth and hands tremble. She wanted to be like Larisa who is happy and simple, contented with what the world presented her. But she couldn't be like Larisa, or even like the two girls kissing and grinding against each other on the couch, because she was something wholly different.
You're the girl that likes to be broken. Because she knew exactly what that meant and it terrified her.
That first estrous was still burned in her memory. She had barely made it home before the heat cycle heightened and she became a shaky mass of sweat and slick, so desperate to mate that her family had to lock her up for three days before the nightmare finally ended.
She had continued taking the alterants, even as it became more and more impossible to find a reliable dealer and they were forced to turn to the black market more often when the registered pills had finished. It had not been necessary for her to undergo a heat cycle after that first, but the likelihood of another always hover around her like an awful shadow.
Leda turned to take in what little of the room was visible in the low light. An uncorked bottle of wine sat in a bowl of ice next to two glasses. She filled one and drank at it, more out of a craving to calm her nerves than a taste for the alcohol. Her hand shook so that it was difficult to bring the glass cup to her lips without pouring some.
So lost in her own thoughts, Leda didn't know the door had opened until it banged closed. The sound terrified her enough that she jumped, making the wine slosh out of the glass and poured at the back of her hand. It was too dark to see him vividly, only a large shape apparent against the closed door. She froze in place, waiting for him to come forth or in some way disclose his intentions.
The silence extended by excruciating degrees. She felt the heat of his stare on her, even though she couldn't see it, which made his silent presence much more impossible to bear. Her legs shivered, the pressure of his silent regard was simply too much. She fell to the floor on her knees with the glass of wine in her hand hung from pliant fingers.
Leda did not comprehend what drove her to speak, but her voice came in a breathy hum.
"Please, sir." She said.
"Good girl." He replied.
His voice was startling even for an Alpha, soft and hard like steel plunged in chocolate, but wholly without emotion. She was shocked as he stepped forward, moving completely into the small circle of light.
Leda had spent her entire life avoiding the awareness of Alpha men. And here she was, trapped in a room with the biggest one that she had ever experienced. His face was like that of the old sculptures in the ancient park, all molded features and harsh lines, loosened up only by full lips and lashes as thick as butterfly wings. But there wasn't softness in the rest of him as he hovered large above her with bulging muscles and Alpha assault. She didn't have words to characterize anything beyond the danger that he posed to her. He was putting on a dark fitted suit in the classic style, a sign of the leisure class, but that did little to strengthen the pure aggression in his form.
"Tell me that you are here to serve." He said.
His words reverberated with something deep inside her. The idea of serving him whatever that he meant, tightened the muscles of her belly leaving her gasping.
The Alpha roared. She reduced her body closer to the floor in response, the action borne of some innate reaction.
"Do not compel me repeat myself, little Beta Or you will suffer the consequences." The Alpha said with rage in his eyes.
Her gut thudded in her chest as she spoke the words that he wanted.
"I am here to serve", She replied.
The Alpha lowered towards her, with her whiff caught in her throat on a harsh
gasp. But he only got to her side and removed the half-full wine glass from her unresisting fingers.
"No more of this," he murmured, with his voice heavy with command despite the soft tone.
Leda could only gaze up at him. His fingers caressed her face, turning it from side to side, practically clinical in his movements, as his thumb traced the arch of her bottom lip. Her mouth fell open, virtually a reflex, and his thumb spooned ever so slightly inside. The intensity of his concern was like wallowing under the glow lights that looked like the heat of sun in the hovels during the day.
"Quite lovely"
It was too dark to see the shade of his eyes but they flashed with a hazardous light. His voice, by discrepancy, was very cold and emotionless.