Forced to Become

Ch 7 insight

The boy stepped closer to me, reaching out to play with my hair. I didn't even dare resent his touch now, for fear he would somehow know and get mad at me. I had a feeling I was going to need his goodwill; it might be the only thing that would keep me from being punished every other second. It didn't stop me from hating every second of it though. It was hard, not flinching away from his touch.

"Get him out of the sack," the man told the driver as he gave the sack a kick.

"Yes, Lord," the driver said.

The man walked off with the dog and the lights came up brighter.

I blinked a few times at the brightness, being sure to keep my head down. Unfortunately, that gave me a perfect view of the boy being pulled from the sack by the driver.

His ankles were collared like mine, but they still had a chain between them. His wrists were also handcuffed like mine, but attached to his ankles instead of his collar. He had bruises, everywhere I could see. I closed my eyes, not wanting to look anymore. I had my own bruises starting to show along my sides and stomach.

"Come, new one," the boy said with a slight tug on my leash as he started walking.

I followed, my stomach in knots, tears falling. My arms ached from being bent up and over my head. Better than being like the kid in the sack, I told myself. The very thought of that kid made me nauseous.

"You are learning so well! I'm proud of your obedience," the boy whispered as we made our way down a hall.

His words did nothing to comfort me; rather, they did just the opposite. I hated myself for being obedient! I hated him just as much, even as I was grateful for his attempts to keep me from the violence in the man.

I could see his arms go up, and my eyes automatically followed. I watched as he slid a key from around his neck to open the door we stopped in front of. The sudden burst of panic in me at the thought that he might notice my upward glance had me quickly looking down again.

Another key, I thought. Did it make a difference? I didn't think so. I doubted the same key would open everything. He swung the door open but didn't move right away. He sighed heavily.

"Come new one. This is our holding area," the boy said, sounding glum. "This is where you will learn the rules. You will gain more freedom as we are sure you understand what is expected of you."

I felt a rock land in the pit of my stomach as I glanced into the room with trepidation. I didn't see any windows, just drab dirty walls, and a rough, wooden floor. There were three boys chained along one side of the room. Any possible doubts I might have had about if my kidnappers were really the ones from the news vanished. All of the chained boys were on down on all fours and had their heads bowed down.

The boy jerked the leash hard, and I stumbled forward into the room. I didn't understand why he was suddenly being so harsh until I heard the man behind us.

"Everything is ready," the man said. "Can you set him up on your own? I want to take care of the omegas and check on the girls."

"I know what to do, Alpha" the boy answered as he led me to the wall opposite the other captives.

"Don't forget to feed and water them."

"I know what to do, Alpha," the boy said again sharply.

I cringed inside at the boy's resentful tone as he pulled down on my leash. I lowered myself to my knees, not daring to do anything to bring unwanted attention to me. I feared the man's wrath at the boy's tone would fall on my already sore body.

The man stood silent while the boy attached a new collar around my neck, a leather one that was already fastened to a chain bolted onto the floor. Once I was securely fastened, he removed the hated choker chain from my neck. He unclipped my handcuffs from the leash, gently pulling my hands down toward the floor.

It was easy to figure out what I needed to do after seeing the position held by the other boys. Hating everything about this, I lowered myself to all fours. That's when I noticed a small hoop coming up from the floor in front of me, like part of a hook and eye set up, that had a clip attached to it.

The boy pulled my hands toward it. I didn't resist, not in the least; not with the man standing there. The boy snapped the clip around the center of my handcuffs. It would be easy to remove it if I could actually reach it, which I couldn't. My hands had no choice now but to stay on the floor.

The boy sighed as he stood up and turned to face the man. He only stood there for a second though before walking over and kneeling before the man. I couldn't stop myself from raising my eyes enough to see what was happening, even as I remembered to keep my head bowed down some.

A resounding slap rang out as the man backhanded the boy across the face. "How do you expect them to show respect when you do not show it yourself?" the man snarled.

"I will gain their respect by believing them when they answer my questions, Alpha, and I will punish them if I find they are not truthful with me. I apologize for being disrespectful toward you Alpha," the boy answered with absolutely no hint of any kind of attitude in his voice.

I was flabbergasted! I found it hard to understand how the boy had the audacity to rebuke the man and sound respectful while he did it.

The man seemed taken aback as well, standing there, staring at the boy. "Get to it then," the man finally said, then just turned and walked away.