My Personal Hell, D. Richardson [ebook reader browser txt] 📗

them from the room all the same. I had been tense while they were talking and barely allowed myself to breath. When the girls were out of the room I couldn’t take it anymore. My knees buckled and I caught myself with my hands.

“Drake!” Becca yelled and I heard scrapping chairs and quick footsteps. I heard several people say my name, but I was stuck there. On my hands and knees, not blinking, mouth shut tight, and never moving. If I moved or tried to speak or even blinked I would scream. The pain came wave after wave like fire rolling up my back. I felt my shirt soak up so much blood, until finally the pain was too much. The world went black.

Chapter 5

Asher

 

 

 

I had been staring since I first laid eyes on her. There was just something about her that I couldn’t quite place. Her clothes were less than flattering, but she held an air of restrained beauty. I tried to shake it off. I had always had a taste for dark haired and dark eyed girls. So it would only be natural for me to have a base interest. But her hair was in a long tight braid and I itched to see what she looked like with it down.

She had watched with a detached interest as Mom went through the clothes with the other two. She never joined in or said anything, but just watched as if it were a documentary. She didn’t even show her own clothes off. It was as if she just didn’t care about them. That wouldn’t bode well with my mother and sisters. They were shopaholics and absolutely loved clothes.

Adrian had already reported to my dad about what he had seen while he was following them. Apparently they grabbed the clothes they needed plus some extra things for the little one and then went to get something to eat.

While Mom did everything she could to make the girls feel welcome, Ailith just stood there stiffly watching. It was almost funny when she tried to cook. I thought Mom was going to have a heart attack. It was equally amusing that when she was told not to, it was the first time Ailith actually showed any discomfort. Standing there fidgeting like she didn’t know what to do with herself.

Aaron decided to take pity on her and tried to lighten the mood a little. He was always there when there was tension, and he was the best at disabling it. He was friends with everyone, and everyone was his friend. It was almost impossible not to like him. But when he clapped her on the back in his Aaron way she went tense.

Her face showed nothing and her skin paled. When the girls exhibited worry for her she just smiled at them. Though the smile didn’t reach her eyes and it looked like it took a lot of effort for her to maintain it. Her and Lori shared a look as she urged the girls out of the room. As if taking a hint Lori took Kadi out of the room as fast as she could with Camilla struggling to keep up.

I looked at Ailith questioningly but she didn’t see it. As soon as the girls were clear she dropped to the ground. Mom was yelling for Dad, but I was already out of my seat and halfway to her, with Adrian just a step behind me. Aaron backed up with a stricken look, and what I saw would stick with me for a long time. I rounded the island to see her on her hands and knees. Her hands braced her upper body and her knees were close together. Her entire body was stiff. The back of her shirt was slowly turning a dark red.

“Ailith, babe what’s wrong?” I asked kneeling down next to her. But she didn’t respond. She just stared down at the floor as if she couldn’t see a thing. She let out a small sigh and collapsed. I barely caught her before her head hit the floor. I laid her down gently and Adrian straightened her legs so she would be more comfortable.

I did the only thing I could think of. Her shirt was soaked and I needed to see why. So I moved her braid to the side gently and grabbed the collar of her shirt. With one quick tug I ripped the shirt in half all the way to the bottom.

My mom let out a small scream as we took in the damage. Her back was covered in cuts. Half of them had stitches. It looked like someone had started to patch her up but didn’t have enough thread. So only the worst of them were seen to. But under the open wounds I could see scars in various healing stages. She had been whipped multiple times.

“Call the doctor.” My dad ordered as he knelt down next to her and Aaron ran off to carry it out. “God, the pain must have been unbearable. I don’t know how she did it. There was no way to tell that she was hurt.”

“She’s done it before. It looks like she’s done it a lot of times. Practice makes perfect.” I whispered but couldn’t stop the low growl at the end.

“Tom is on his way.” Aaron told us as he walked into the room. His face was pale and he looked close to tears. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know,” he mumbled and Mom put her arms around him.

“We should get the other two girls checked out while he’s here.” Dad said as he eyed Ailith unconscious on the floor. She was still bleeding and I was worried that she would bleed out before the pack doctor could get here. I grabbed a towel that was sticking over the edge of the counter. I spread it out over my hand and pressed it gently against her wounds, afraid the extra pain would wake her up. But I couldn’t just let her lay there and bleed to death.

Adrian knelt on the other side of her and reached up for his own towel. He looked close to tears as he took in her appearance. She was even paler than when she passed out. Between the two of us we managed to cover her entire back. He took the top half with her shoulders and I took the bottom. Her wounds went all the way down to her waist band, and I realized just how deceiving her clothes had been.

Her shirt had been baggy and long hiding her torso, down to almost the middle of her thighs. It gave her the look of being a little on the chubby side. But in reality she was really thin. Almost too thin, but I bet that if I had wrapped my hands around her waist they would almost touch. Under the blood and scars her back was smooth and muscular, and I was willing to put money on her having a sculpted stomach.

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the girls. They may have a bruise here and there, but other than that I’m sure they’re fine. Physically at least.” Adrian told my dad while I was inappropriately checking out the wounded unconscious girl in front of me.

“What makes you so sure? If they could do this to her what would stop them from doing it to the others?” Dad answered with anger simmering in his eyes.

“She always got in the way.” A female voice said from behind us. We all turned to see Lori standing there staring at her friend looking paler than before. She moved forward and the others let her through. She sat down and put Ailith’s head in her lap, slowly running her hands over her hair.

“What do you mean?” Mom asked. Tears filled Lori’s eyes but she answered anyway.

“Just what I said. This one happened because Kadi dropped some glasses. Ally got in the way so she got the punishment. I should have been the one to do it. I’m the only full wolf out of us. Kadi’s only half, that‘s why she smells human, and Ailith is human as far as I can tell. But every time it was her, and then I would do what I could to help her after.” A tear slipped down her cheek as she gazed down at the other girl.

“You can‘t let Kadi know. She can‘t know how hurt Ailith is. She would just feel guilty and it‘s already done. Please?” Lori said and waited to get the agreement of everyone in the room before turning her attention back to Ailith.

The front door slammed open and Tom rushed in. Tom was our pack doctor and the best in the country. He was an old friend of my dad’s and had actually handled the birth of every member of the pack in my generation. And let’s just say there were a lot of us. He reached us with his black medical bag, but paused when he saw Ailith. One of the things that made him the best was the amount of empathy he held for every living being.

“What piece of shit did this?” He snarled. Okay, empathy for most living things.

“Luscious,” Lori answered.

He leveled his gaze on her but only nodded, telling everyone to give him some space. I backed up throwing the towel into the sink. I looked at my hands to see them covered in her blood, and I winced before turning to wash my hands. Adrian followed suit with a look of pain. I turned to watch him work.

We had managed to clean up a lot of the blood so he had a clear spot to work on the wounds. I watched as he poked here and prodded there. Again I was thankful for her being unconscious. All of that would have hurt like a bitch. Finally he sighed and looked up at my dad.

“We need to move her to another room. This hard floor isn’t helping her. I have some painkillers I can give her but they may rouse her. She passed out from pain and her body is waiting for it to ease. I might give her a sedative to keep her relaxed. I need to stitch some of these up or they’ll keep opening up and scar worse. With the number of scars she has it’s a wonder she’s survived this long.

It was difficult since they couldn’t touch her back with the risk of more bleeding. So it ended up being Tom and my dad braced her upper body in their arms, and Adrian and Aaron supporting her legs.

“She’s heavier than she looks.” Dad grunted as they made baby steps.

“I think I’m going to check her body fat percentage while I’m at it. This has to be all muscle.”

Somehow they managed to move her without uncovering her, and Tom sent everyone but Mom and Dad out of the room. So we sat in the hallway waiting for them to give us the all clear. Of course, we eavesdropped anyway. There was no hiding anything in a house filled with werewolves. Especially when you leave the door cracked open.

“Is she going to be alright?” Mom whispered.

“As long as