With a bolt, we both jumped apart. I glared at the intruder but Willow stiffened against me. She instantly moved away and stood with her head bowed.
"I asked you a question!" the intruder demanded.
"We … I …" she stammered.
"She was upset and I was comforting her," I told him as I stood.
"Who are you to comfort someone from my pack!" he growled.
I stepped up to him and he shrunk away a little. I hovered over him standing tall at nearly six feet. He tried to puff out his chest but I could see the fear in his eyes.
"Who are you to stop me?" I demanded.
"I'm her …" he stalled. "Her beta."
"Her beta? No, you're not! Your father is her beta, not you." I challenged.
"You are here to train our warriors, not to seduce our women!" he growled before glaring at Willow.
"I said I was here to comfort her, not seduce her," I growled back. "You should be more worried about your mate seducing people than someone seducing Willow."
"What the fuck is that suppose to mean?" he growled.
"Come on! Surely you saw the way she was looking at us when we arrived. How eager she was to show us around."
He glared at me and then made to move away before stopping.
"Stay away from Willow!" he commanded but it sounded weak.
"Make me!" I challenged back.
His glare faltered a little before he turned and headed back down. I turned to smirk in triumph at Willow but it instantly dropped. Her face was pale, her breathing had quickened and her eyes were wide.
"Willow?" I asked gently.
She startled at my voice and her panic increased.
"I … I need … I need to go. I mean you … you need to go!" she stammered.
It pained me to leave her but she looked so scared. I headed to my room, my father was going over some paperwork.
"Willow is the alpha's oldest daughter," I told him.
He stilled before looking up at me, his wide eyes telling me he had no clue.
"Really?" he asked. "I thought she was the hired help."
"Well, she is in a way but I doubt she gets paid. It seems like she's treated more like a slave. She sleeps in the attic and was terrified that her father would find out I knew. The beta's son, Trip, caught us and warned me to stay away from her."
"I find that odd, why would he treat his daughter this way? Though I can't say I am surprised. It seems he favours his mate and new kids over his pack. From what I can see all the money the pack earns goes on them, well mainly his mate," my father mused.
"After dinner, I took a walk. I talked generally with a few pack members. They don't like the new Luna much or the way he indulges her. It doesn't seem like they know how Willow is treated or if they do, they don't care."
"We need to do something about it. She doesn't deserve this," I insisted.
"Max, I understand how you feel but we might not be able to do anything. If we interfere in this pack's business it could start a war."
"A war!" I scoffed. "This pack wouldn't start a fight with us, they wouldn't stand a chance and they know it."
Father nodded and turned back to his papers. with a grunt, I got ready for bed, my mind whirled with ideas of how I could help Willow.
----
Over the next few days, I didn't get a chance to see Willow. She didn't serve us during meal times and the rest of the time I was busy training. By the end of the first week, I'd had enough.
I asked my father to take over the training so that I could go pick Willow up, I knew she was out doing some food shopping today.
I intentionally parked further down the street so as not to cause problems for her. My heart broke as I watched her riding such a rickety old bike. It looked set to fall apart.
Just as I was about to honk my horn, a car rushed past her. Willow swerved to avoid being hit but the bike gave way. She fell onto the road and hissed in pain. I rushed over to her. Her arm was scratched up and bent at an awkward angle.
"Shit Willow!"
Without thinking I picked her up and placed her in the passenger side of my car. She didn't object or say anything just kept hissing.
I rushed her to the pack's hospital. The doctor forced me to wait outside before whisking her away. After an eternity, he finally came out and looked worried. The doctor motioned for me to follow him. Willow was asleep on the bed with one arm in a cast. I could see her hooked up to various monitors, with an IV line sticking out of her unbroken arm. She looked horrible.
"What happened?" he asked.
"A car drove too close to her and she tried to swerve to avoid it, but her bike collapsed. Why is she hooked up like that?" I asked him.
"What else?" he insisted, ignoring my question.
"What do you mean?"
"She passed out the moment you left, all her vitals are shockingly low and she is way too thin. It seems as if her wolf is missing. This type of fall should have healed her long before you got her here. For some reason, her body is failing her."
"Failing her? Do you mean she's dying?"
"No, at least I don't think so but she isn't healing. It's almost like she is human but I can sense her wolf, however faint. I had hoped you would know more about it," he sighed.
"Do you have any idea about how she is treated here?" I asked carefully.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, she's the alpha's daughter but she's treated more like a slave. She cooks, cleans and does it all by herself."
"A slave?" he crossed his eyebrows. "The alpha said she insisted on taking over the Luna's cooking and cleaning duties to honour her mother and help her new stepmother adjust."
"And you bought that?" I demanded.
"I had no reason not to, she too has said that very same thing. Over the years I have been concerned that she was taking on too much but whenever I suggested she ask her father for help she insisted she could manage."
The doctor sighed before rubbing his temple.
"I had hoped that when she went to college she'd at least be able to relax and enjoy her life but she decided not to go. With her grades, I had such high hopes for her. She could be anything she wanted but for some reason, she decided to stay here and serve her pack."
"Something tells me that it wasn't her choice. The first night we were here, at dinner, she was tripped by that girl, Julie. The Alpha insisted it was Willow's fault and she should deal with the mess. Even growled at us for helping her."
He turned to me with wide eyes.
"She'd cut her hands up pretty bad, her wolf wasn't healing her then either. As we were talking she suddenly crumpled in pain and screamed before passing out. When she eventually woke up, the Alpha stormed in and insisted she was fine and to get back to work."
The doctor rubbed his eyes before nodding at me to continue.
"The Alpha barks orders at her, sneers at her, blames her for everything. His mate treats her like a slave and don't get me started on the Beta's son and his mate."
We both turned back to Willow concerned. I had a sickening feeling things were much worse for her than we knew.