My Absence (Revised)

1 - Nala

*Trigger Warning - abuse and neglect*

I woke up to a searing pain in my leg. I forgot - my father, Alpha Reynolds beats me. And last night was one of the worst beatings I had undergone. 

'Ri-ing! Ri-ing! Ri-ing!' my alarm clock sounded. 

"Get up, you filthy animal!" my father boomed from down the hall. 

"If I'm a filthy animal, then what does that make you?" I murmured under my breath, already aware the day was ruined.  

"What did you say?" my father yelled angrily. 

"Nothing, sir, I'll be down in a minute." Getting up and going to my miniscule closet, I grabbed a worn pair of jeans, the cleanest pair of undergarments I had, and an old, ragged T-shirt. None of the clothes that I owned were by any sense nice. All of them had at least 3 holes and numerous stains.

I headed to the bathroom to shower. You couldn't really call this a bathroom - it was a sink with a rusty faucet in the middle of the wall opposite my bed, and the shower was in a corner of the room. The shower had no walls, just a shower head sticking out of the wall with a drain below. The toilet that I had was between the sink and the shower, and there was a mirror above it. The mirror should have been above the sink, like normal bathrooms, but because I was always in pain, I'd would sit on the toilet in front of the mirror to use the makeup the Alpha supplied me to cover up my bruises. 

The rest of the bedroom consisted of an old hand-me-down mattress that was older than me. I could feel every spring in it when I laid down on it. Some nights, the concrete floor of the room was more comfortable on her bruises and cuts than the lumpiness of the old mattress. 

There was a small armoire closet on the corner across from the shower area, and in it were the few clothes I owned. The walls of the room were dilapidated and old, with patches of moss (or was that mold) on them, and reeked of old blood and tears.

--

After I showered and cleaned what I could see of my open wounds, I changed into a different pair of clothes and brushed my teeth. The bruises that had stained my face the past few days had faded enough that if I kept my head down like I always did, no one would notice them. No new ones had been laid on my face, but my ribs and legs were a different story. 

"Come on you lazy rat! I've got a pack of starving fucking wolves down here! Hurry your fat ass up!" I heard my father yell, along with some other hoots and hollers of agreement. 

I grabbed my books and the few stationary materials I used and shoved them in my bookbag, and descended down the stairs. 

"Where have you been, you flea bag? We're starving here!" my father's beta, Rick said. Beta Rick was one of the only pack members that didn't hit me. He thought it was morally wrong for him to hit a woman, but that never stopped him from encouraging everyone else to hit me whenever they felt the need.

"Yes sir's. Please give me a few moments, and your breakfast shall be ready." I said in a quiet voice, desperately trying no to anger anyone further. I didn't want a beating before I went to school. I didn't have many other clothes to change into if these got bloodied.

I put my bag down in the corner of the kitchen it was least likely to get trampled on. I got out a skillet, some eggs and bread and bacon, and fried 100 eggs, 300 pieces of toast, and 200 pieces of bacon. I sliced cheese, and got condiments out of the refrigerator. 

"Hurry up-" I cut off the Delta with my rushed response, "Breakfast is ready, and everything is on the table. There are meat sandwiches and salad for lunch."

I grabbed my bag and quickly hurried out of the kitchen. I had a long walk to school. Since I was the disappointment of the pack, no one offered me a ride to school, and the pack grounds were too far away from the school for a school bus to travel. The Stone Pack was one of the farthest packs from any town or public building or transportation. The only way to get anywhere was to drive, and I wasn't permitted a drivers license or driver's permit. 

When I got to school, there were only a few minutes to spare before the bell rang. I rushed up the stairs to my locker, and as I was struggling to enter the combo with my anxiety of missing the first period, I heard footsteps approaching me closely. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard a gruff voice say, "Hey." I almost jumped out of my skin.