Natasha entered the room as the door opened for her. Cayden had picked up on her presence a long time before she barged into the room.
"Natasha, what brings you here? Who permitted you to barge in?" He inquired without glancing up from the papers he was working on.
She laughed it off.
"I am truly sorry about that, my Alpha," she drawled. She stood close behind him while gently stroking his back.
"What do you want, Natasha?" Cayden asked, warily.
"Selena was in the kitchen when I saw her," I said.
"So?" He turned over another piece of paper.
"Why is she roaming around?" She was careful as she placed her hand on his chest.
"You need to focus your attention on other important matters, like running the nightclubs in the city. Selena is not your concern; I am responsible for her."
Natasha could recognise when she had crossed the line. She was the only person who understood his inner turmoil and his suffering. That gave her an advantage over Selena in certain respects.
"Do you recall those times when we were made to work in the mines against our will?"
Cayden put his pen down and stiffened; thinking about the past was never one of his favourite activities.
He spoke to her in a low voice and said, "There are some things a person never forgets, Natasha."
She gave a small nod before slipping her hands down his shirt and gently stroking his nipples.
"You had been assigned to work at the lowest levels. I was concerned about your well-being. I couldn't bear to see a 14-year-old being punished, so I disobeyed the rules and followed you to help."
Cayden had a firm hold on the pen he was using. He was familiar with the subsequent events because he had been told this story frequently.
"Are you aware of what took place after that?" She whispered into his ear. "You received 15 lashes, and the bottom was covered in welts. You couldn't sit for 2 days." She let out a chuckle.
Cayden made an uneasy movement with his body.
"You know what happened to me? I was raped by the security guards. I was just 16. It wasn't the first or the last time, though." She gave a painful smile.
Cayden recalled everything so well that it gave him nightmares every night. He couldn't forget about it. He turned and gave her his entire attention.
"Natasha, please accept my apologies. Even though I can't erase the past, I take full responsibility for everything that happened to you and the others. I wish I had been older and stronger, and I wish I had acted earlier."
Natasha's eyes welled up with tears. Now that she had his undivided attention, she could feel the anguish and regret that he was carrying. That was the thing that she required to keep him in control.
"It's not your fault, my alpha," she said.
"I just want you to keep in mind that I am prepared to put myself through that agony once more solely for you. I don't have regrets."
She plopped herself down in his lap and planted a passionate kiss on his mouth. She swore to herself that she would never let that bitch take him away from her.
"Natasha stop!" Cayden jerked back. His wolf refused to be near another woman. He had no problem fucking anyone before Selena.
She looked slightly startled and stared.
"Why are you here? You didn't answer me."
She sighed and got up from his lap." I just came to remind you that you are going soft. Now his daughter is roaming around freely. What next?"
"It's not what you think," Cayden said. "Now that her wolf is free, I can't keep her locked up. She is going to work in the kitchens until I figure out what to do with her." Cayden said in a dismissive tone.
"Ah! about that, I heard you saved her life." She gave him a sidelong glance.
"She wouldn't be useful for us if she was dead. Natasha I haven't forgotten anything. I know the humiliation and pain you went through for me. I am not getting soft. So do not worry."
No one in the pack knew how hard it was for him, To hate his mate.
"So she would work for us, eh?" Natasha suddenly asked. "Perhaps I can assign her some extra work?" She gave a sly smile.
"You will not touch her, Natasha. Is that clear?" Cayden's voice was steely. His eyes had shifted to glowing red.
"Of course! My Alpha." Natasha bowed. "I won't touch her."
'But others might,' she thought with glee.
****************
"Where should I keep this?" After removing the brisket from the oven, Selena questioned one of the other girls, named Katlin.
Before continuing to cut the potatoes into slices, Katlin took a glance around the room and said, "Wrap them in aluminum foil and put them back in. Just follow where your nose leads you from there."
Selena complied with the instructions and nodded her head. She learned that the responsibilities for the kitchen were split up during the week, and today it was their turn to be in charge of the space. The feeling of doing something for people other than herself, serving a larger group, brought a smile to her face, even slightly.
"You need to hurry," Bart grumbled as he evaluated Selena and informed her that lunch would begin at 1 and that they would not be upsetting the other people because of her.
The people were used to her relationship with their Alpha, so the gasps and silences and glares were not because of her relationship but because of her father. Selena gave a slight nod, but in the back of her mind, she knew that both she and her wolf were becoming more and more furious as the hours passed. She knew well that it was in her best interest to avoid getting into a brawl with any member of this pack. It had been a few days since she had initially begun working around the house. And it had been hard. People avoided her like she had a contagious disease and spoke to her as little as possible. Even Millie was nowhere to be found. She hadn't spent much time with either her or Cayden. To her surprise, Selena missed Cayden.
"Hey, is anyone finished in here?" A man with a military buzz cut entered the room, and judging by the colour of his hair, it appeared as though it would be blonde if he let it grow out. Although his physique was nowhere like as huge as the bodies of the other people Selena had seen in this area, he certainly kept his build robust.
The day before, she learned his name was Oscar, and that he was one beta. However, just like the rest of these people, he turned his back on her and ignored her completely.
His hazel eyes searched the kitchen for a moment before landing on Selena. "You."
While she continued to wrap the last piece of brisket, Selena looked up at him and asked, "Yes?"
"You did?" His arms were folded over his chest.
She put the last brisket in the oven and then cleaned her hands after putting the grease from her hands on the brisket. "Y-yes," she nodded as she did so.
"Good," he said before proceeding to the enormous cupboards and removing the dishes from inside. When she was finished drying her hands, he went back over and effortlessly stacked many in her arms, which caught her by surprise a little.
"Help set the table. 35 for each one. Move quickly. Don't drop anything."
After that, he turned, and she walked after him while biting her lip but keeping her annoyance to herself. As she made her way to the first of the three lengthy dining tables, Oscar abruptly came to a stop. Selena raced into him and collided with him, her body slamming into his back as he yelped. The dishes fell with a loud clang.
"Are you kidding me?" He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Can you walk straight?"
"I….. I am sorry." Selena murmured.
Because he was so furiously angry, he didn't give her a chance to say anything before turning to her and stalking her. When he did this, she stopped moving forwards promptly and started moving away from him.
"It doesn't matter to me if you are sleeping with the Alpha himself; I don't want to see you anywhere within ten feet of this place ever again. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!?"
"Oscar!" Katlin stepped in. "It is not worth wasting your efforts on her." She cast an angry glance in Selena's direction. "You would have been better off sleeping on Alpha's bed. Nobody wants you to be here."
Selena's eyes welled up with tears as she sprinted away from the scene while gripping her chest.