Chapter 7
Macaroni and Cheese. I could make him macaroni and cheese. After pushing away from the wall, I hobbled into the kitchen, nearly falling in the process, and began to scavenge through the cupboards for something to fix him. He had nothing in the fridge except for mayonnaise and a few pieces of moldy bologna. The cupboards were filled with nothing, but junk food, but I was able to find a singular box of mac n' cheese. Huffing, I turn down the hall and slowly make the short journey to his office. I knock on the door and lean against the door frame.
"Come in." I hear his deep voice boom.
Opening the door, I wobble through the door and collapse in the chair in front of his desk. Alex is sitting with his wire framed glasses still on his face, doing some paperwork, but he immediately looks up as I collapse in front of him.
"I thought I had asked for some food." he says, raising his eyebrow.
"You did, but you don't have any food in the kitchen."
"I don't have any food." he repeats slowly.
Shaking my head no, I push myself back into a standing position and walk back over to the door, leaning against it.
"You only have one box of macaroni." I huff.
It seemed that the more that I moved around, the quicker that I lost my breath. Alex's office was barely around the corner from the kitchen on the bottom floor. I didn't need to take any stairs or walk down a long hall. It was a straight shot from the kitchen, but I still seemed like an asthmatic when I arrived.
"Then….," he sighs tiredly, "Cook the box and I'll get somebody to go get groceries."
I open my mouth to reply, but quickly decide against it and turn towards the door.
"What, Claire?" Alex asks lightly.
"N-nothing."
"You were about to ask something. Ask it." he demands.
"Can I go?" I whisper, fear once again building in my body.
The room falls silent and I grit my teeth in an attempt to stop myself from screaming and sprinting away. Alex slowly stands to his feet. His eyes holding a dark look in them.
"Are you trying to leave me?" he barks, stalking towards me.
"W-what? N-no of c-course not." I stutter around the lump growing in my throat.
"I'm not an idiot, Claire. I know how much you despise me. How much you wish you could leave. How much you want to go back to your old pack." he mumbles, still stalking towards me.
He was a predator and I was his prey.
I shake my head frantically and take a step back. This continues until my back is pressed flush against the wall and he is within an inch from my face.
"Is that your plan? Persuade me to let you out of the house and you run the first chance you get?" he slightly growls.
"N-No, sir." I whimper, casting my eyes away from his deadly look, but I can't fight the shiver that runs down my spin from the feeling of his warm breath on my face.
He grabs my chin, yanking it forward and growls out, "Look at me when I talk to you."
I try to gulp down my fear and stare at him with pride, but the tears building in my eyes betray me.
"You're crying," he grunts, "You're still afraid of me."
My tear filled eyes widen as he steps back and sighs, "There are clothes for you in the bedroom. Take a shower. Change. Make the food. Come back here. We'll go after that."My jaw drops at his words and a grin makes its way to my face. He was letting me leave! Of course, I would be under his watchful eyes, so escaping would be out of the question, but he was letting me leave this place! I had not been outside, properly outside, for years. I was never allowed in my old pack to go to the farmer's market or the mall. I was ordered to remain in the basement until it was time to cook and if I moved I would be punished. It was quite a stupid rule, however, considering I spent most of my time chained up in a cell. I was only ever let out of that cell if I had to do one of two things, to cook food for the pack or to please one of the males. At first it was horrible, but eventually I got used to it as the years went by. My old captives were a lot less powerful than Alex is and he respects my freedom.
"Go before I change my mind." he orders.
I turn to leave, but before I am fully out the door, I see the corners of his lips twitch up in a small smile. My lips spread into an even bigger grin at the sight. He actually smiled.
~~~~~
I hadn't thought this through. When Alex had asked me to make him some food, I had immediately accepted. Of course, me being me, I never thought of the trouble I would have actually carrying the food to his office. I had resorted to only using one crutch and I grasp the tray in my other hand. The walk to his office is a much slower one. My foot has began to thump again and I swear that I feel the stitches in my foot ripping every time that I take a step. The hand holding the tray is shaking and I have to put all my effort into not actually chucking the tray. Finally after what feels like years, I make it to his office and gently push open the door. After I step foot into the office, I immediately wish I would have knocked. I watch in horror as my mate smashes his fist into Sebastian's face over and over again.
A scream leaves my lips when Sebastian counters and slams Alex's head into the wall. I hurry forward, grabbing onto my mate's arm. I expect him to immediately calm down like he did before, but instead he throws his arm out and sends me flying. I slam into his wooden desk and the back of my head connects with the corner of it. A stab of pain consumes my body and I let out a strangled cry. Curling into the fetal position, my hands grasp my head as I pray for the pain to subside. The edges of my vision are slowly growing black and my head is throbbing. I raise a hand and press it to the back of my head. A sticky substance coats my hand in a way that can only be blood.
"Look at your mate." Sebastian grunts out, fighting against the onslaught of attacks.
"Don't you dare speak about my mate." Alex's wolf booms.
"She's…..hurt." Sebastian chokes out as he takes several punches to the stomach.
Alex immediately stops his assault and whips around. His eyes widen as he takes in my crumpled form on his desk.
"What the fuck did you do?" he accuses Sebastian, sending him a glare.
"You hit her." he wheezes, sagging against the wall.
My eyes begin to droop and my vision is nearly entirely black.
"Call the doctor!" he screams, "Don't you fucking die on me you worthless Omega. I can't die!"
"I'm…..fine." I whimper, going to sit up on the desk.
"Stop." he growls.
I fight off the darkness and I stand to my feet. Alex quickly latches his hand around my wrist. His claws are tightly digging into my wrist, but I barely notice.
"Stop it, Claire!"
I rip my wrist from his hold, just as the doctor runs in.
"Sit down, please!" the doctor calls, coming over to guide me to a chair.
"Let me bandage you up!" he orders again, forcing me to sit down even when I resist.
I try to fight back for a few more minutes. I'm tired of people standing over me thinking that they're better than me. I'm tired of people hurting me and seeing my pain. I'm tired of it all. Eventually, I grow too weak to fight back and allow the doctor to bandage up my head. He gives me some pain medication and tells me that I should stay in bed for a while. The whole time the doctor is here, Alex does nothing to help me. He stands in the corner of the room with a smug look on his face. Whether it was because he hurt me or because Sebastian is nowhere to be seen, I do not know.
I was clearly naive when I thought that this relationship would actually work. He is Alexander Westwood, relationships with him never work.