Athena's pov

 My eyes were clouded by the remains of sleep when I looked at him, not fully accessing the danger I had stepped into.

 "Raphael?"

 However I became fully alert when he pressed the burning tip of his cigar on my arm, a searing pain shot through my body from that spot.

 In an instant I was awake and upright, breathing heavily as I tried to grasp what. just happened to me. Raphael pushed forward and grabbed my chin squeezing it and his hand applying enough pressure to do everything but completely shutter my jaw bone.

 "A worthless piece of trash like you is going to bed before me, who do you think you are?"

 I sniffled, trying to formulate words why my mouth was still trapped between his aching grip, and failing to do so which only compounded his anger.

 He threw me at the bed, my back knocking against the headboard, I cried out and curled up on the bed.

  "Raphael, I'm sorry please–"

 He got on the bed and threw a punch at my face.

 "Haven't I warned you never to call me by my name without adding my title? Have you forgotten what you are?" He grabbed my hair pulling my upper body up by the strands.

 "Let me remind you, you are a breeder. Someone who ranks even lower than an Omega, we shouldn't even be sharing the same air!"

 "Then let me go!" I cried out miserably in my pain, "just let me go, I'll find work and pay back all the money that you invested in my father's company...just please..." I broke down into tears, pathetic sloppy tears.

 He watched me as every muscle in his face translated his pure disgust. He shoved me away and this time it was the side of my face that hit the headboard.

  I let out another scream, but he grabbed me and pushed my face against a pillow.

 "Shut up! Breeders should be seen but not heard!"

 He grabbed my nightgown and tore it off with one pull. Intentionally applying just enough pressure to snap it off after the straps on my shoulder had sunk deep enough into my skin.

  Five hours later and he was still going at it, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine that I was somewhere else, anywhere else but here.

 I needed to go to my happy place; where was that ? Nobody had ever made me feel safe or protected.

 All that came before my eyes was a sheet of darkness, and the painful remembrance that I had never, not even once, been loved.

  Finally he was done, with only 2 hours of sleep left for me before dawn came.

 That will be enough time to heal most of the injuries, he was thoughtful enough to leave the worst of the bruises on places on my body that would easily be covered by clothes.

 I don't know why he bothered pretending, everyone already knew how he treated me. Was it really going to be a big deal if people found out that he was a full-blown sadist?

 I turned my head on the pillow to look at him, fast asleep. His face was so relaxed, he looked nothing like the man that was constantly tormenting me.

  I raised my hand like it weighed more than my entire body, then with the gentleness of a feather brushed it across his cheek, I tensed as the corner of his eye wrinkled slightly.

 But after holding my breath for 5 seconds it relaxed and he remained asleep, my heart started beating normally again and I swallowed a deep breath slowly so as not to make much noise.

  I repeated this motion a couple more times, during which I imagined that instead of being merely a breeder, I was his beloved Luna.

 That we had met under different circumstances, with no baggage behind us and our eyes were met with loving affection and nothing else.

 If only...

 When we woke up next to each other in bed, would I be cuddled in his arms? His voice slipping from his lips like a soft serenade as he whispered sweet nothing in my ear? When I looked at him, would his eyes be full of me and only me?

 I  closed my eyes to hold back the tears, why did I do this to myself?

 Picturing a future that would never be, indulging in a fantasy that left me dry and lonelier each time I dived in?

 Morning came quickly, the precious minutes I had wasted fawning over him in his sleep came to bite me in the butt.

 Five o'clock sharp.

 I always had to be awake by this time while others were still fast asleep, the reason? Raphael claimed I was so lazy and I had to make use of myself somehow as soon as possible.

 I think that was the reason he had given me, not like he really needed a reason to mistreat me.

 He was the Alpha, nobody would question him but I guess the shreds of conscience that he had left made him inclined to justify the baseline of decency that he treated me with.

 As I did every other morning, I prepared a metallic bone filled with piping hot water and I was holding a hand towel with my left hand. I placed them at his feet and began to wash it after he got up.

  The scalding heat that came from the water and soaked into the towels pressing until my hand every time I rubbed the bottom of his feet was mind numbing, I had learned to make the water at hot as possible because if I didn't do that he would wait for me to be done and then tell me to make another bowl until it reached the heat that satisfied him.

 As I winced and washed he casually said; "I'm having a guest today," I paused briefly with my washing.

 "Who?" I asked without thinking, meeting his eyes. They flashed with rage.

 "I'm sorry," I apologized looking down, "it's not my place to know who visits you," he rubbed my head, petting me like a stray dog.

 "Don't worry, my guest is someone you already know."

Athena's POV

 My brain was doing mental gymnastics, trying to figure out who was coming to visit the infamous Alpha; Raphael had very few friends, as one would expect from a man with minimal trust and a temper shorter than a baby's pinky finger.

  It took a load of generosity of the words 'friends' to place it on those he had not yet tagged as his enemies.

  Yet the entire Pack House was turned upside down, every corner was swept, decorations were hung and it didn't make any other little changes that made the entire place glow up.

 As noon drew closer I found him constantly checking his watch, his head would flick over about 80 times per minute, then he would make a call in a hushed tone repeating the process again.

  Now my curiosity was spiked, who was he so eager to meet?

 I met the answer to my question about half an hour later, a car smoothly drove into the packhouse ground through the high still gates that had been thrown wide open and invitingly.

 Unlike most guests, I noticed that this was not searched at the gate but allowed free passage.

 "What are you doing just standing around?" Raphael said to me with a shove at the door.

 "Make yourself useful and help with the luggage!" He snapped, I nearly lost my balance from the sudden shove but carefully regained it to Raphael's displeasure, he always got an extra kick out of embarrassing me in front of important guests.

 Instead of standing next to the alpha as my place was properly supposed to be I stood next to the maids ready to take the luggage of the guest.

 I guess they were going to stay here for some days if they were bringing luggage, that was really peculiar because Raphael had never housed anyone before.

 Imprisoned maybe but never will fully housing anyone.

 The car eventually packed and then in a blaze Raphael rushed over to the front door, he made sure to brush pass me and this time applied the right amount of pressure that made me lose my balance and make the maid next to me step away making sure I collided with the floor.

 Pain shot through the side of my hand that took the brunt of the fall.

 I closed my eyes and grabbed my arm, trying to swim through the pain and humiliation once again when I heard a chuckle that made my skin prickle.

 I'd heard it before.

 Several times, especially when I was in positions like this; disregarded and suffering.

 Until I peeled my eyelids open I wanted to believe that it was just my imagination, my life was already so horrible it couldn't get any worse right?

 "Hello, sister, it's been a long time."

 Maybe I'm just destined to suffer.

 The sight of Isabella, my step sister who I had been exchanged for to play the role of a breeder grinning from ear to ear as she looked down on me was enough to force me back on my feet in that instant.

 "Have you got mute? Won't you respond to her greeting?!" Raphael barked at me, shivers ran through my body and I responded to Isabella's greeting before my brain even registered it.

 "That's true. How have you been?"

  "I've been good," she said sizing me up, "though I can't say the same for you. You should try to take care of yourself more,"

 I was burning with rage within myself.

 How dare she?!

 My life had been ruined to save hers, and that was all she had to say to me? What was she even doing here?

 What was even worse was that she was allowing Raphael to rub up against her like a cat.

 I always assumed that my mate was the cold type, that even If by some astronomical chance he somehow fell in love with me; I shouldn't expect much.

 But, oh boy was I wrong.

 He didn't even bother to hide it, his hand had wrapped around Isabella from the moment they made contact.

 Isabella saw that my eyes were burning looking at them and took this as encouragement to make the press the hot iron deeper.

 "Raphael, I told you that I didn't want you to be so touchy if I came. Here you are breaking your promise!"

 He pulled aside a straight strand of her hair and left a kiss on her cheek.

 "You'll have to forgive me for that, but it's also your fault too. Why did you have to come around looking so beautiful?"

 I flushed with shame and rage at the same time, I wanted to march up to Raphael to demand why he was touching my sister like that? The only time he touched me was when he was raging with lust and unable to help himself.

 But here he was holding her like she was a fragile piece of China that would shatter at the slightest extra pressure.

 "Let's go in, Isabella..." the shift of his eyes from adoration to pure disgust when it came to me could be studied, in fact it should be.

 "Clean yourself up before you pack Isabella's luggage, and make sure you don't drop it too. Gosh! How can you think of being a luna when you are such a pathetic klutz?"

 Isabella laughed at his detriment with me and he brushed like a teenager looking at his first crush.

 You could literally see the hearts in his eyes as he stared at her as though she was the only person in the entire world and everybody else was just stick figures compared to her.

 I felt sick.

 More than that, I was justifiably upset.

 So I went towards the car, grabbed one of the largest suitcase and allowed it fall and scatter on the floor 'accidentally'

 A wave of satisfaction brushed past me, as the suitcase broke and clothes spilled out, then the next thing I saw was Raphael's palm followed by a complete darkness.

Athena's POV

 I was unconscious for half a day, then woke up with a throbbing headache. Raphael had nearly slapped a concussion into me because I dropped Isabella's luggage.

  The imprint of his hand was still there outlining just how deeply he had hit me, the worst part was that he had not even bothered to check if it was intentional or not-it was was but still- all that mattered to him was that I had made a mistake and I had to be punished.

  I looked around my surroundings, taking note of the boxes and haphazardly tossed about household items that had regarded dust and cobwebs.

 There was a sad little window that was the only source of light for the room, and then a door that was the only way out.

  But it was locked and I banged on the door for as long as my malnourished body could manage before sliding off the dusty surface down to the floor.

  I remained there until I was nudged by a plate of food; if I could be so generous to call it that.

  It was a stale piece of bread, with visible black spots and a half rotten banana, under the plate was a note. It read; "You'll remain here until you learn your lesson,"

 Droplets of my tears dropped on the piece of paper, I stayed in that storage room for another hour then the next I don't know how long it was until somebody finally came and open to the door, by that time I was so starved that I had eaten the food brought to me and felt like I was going to throw up.

 The maid that opened the door gave me a look of disdain.

 "The alpha wants to see you immediately," she said to me with annoyance like she couldn't even be bothered with someone like me.

 I dragged myself up to my feet and followed her, ground tilting with every step I managed to take until I was in the living room.

 Raphael the held a platter of sliced oranges animals feeding them to Isabella like she was a fragile baby bird.

  I watched feeling the resentment grow inside of me, Raphael ignored me for a good solid 5 minutes and continued to feed Isabella.

 It was Isabella seated next to him on the couch that placed a playful hand on his shoulder.

 "Raphael, Athena looks like she's going to collapse anytime soon..." she said with a giggle.

 He grunted.

 "Don't bother with her, just focus on me, Isabella..." he cooed to her, they continued their play in front of me until he finally turned to give me a long look.

 "Isabella pleaded for your sake even though you were so careless with her belongings, so you should thank her if it wasn't for her I had no intention of letting you out of that room for the next 3 days,"

 A lump formed in my throat, what phase of the nightmare was this? When was I finally going to wake up?

 He continued, unperturbed by the tear marks on my face.

 "I invited Isabella to stay here for a while, and since she is not familiar with anyone else, I've decided to make you her personal maid so she can adjust comfortably," He said it so flippantly, not explaining how they had established relationships who intimates that she was able to drop by to visit not me but him and stay for as long as he was willing to house her.

 As if having her around was not bad enough, I would have to play the role of her personal maid.

 I don't know if I was shaking because of hunger or anger, maybe it was a mix of the two.

 With a bridle on my tongue, I said, "Isabella, I can recommend other maids for you that–"

 "What are you saying? You aren't doing anything and all you are capable of is just lazing around all day, can't you help your sister out?" Raphael was quick to attack me, but I looked at my step sister desperately hoping that even the darkest corner of her heart could have some sort of pity for me.

 She parted her lips to speak but before she could Raphael held up his hand.

 "Isabella, don't pay any attention to her, she should be your personal choice whether she likes it or not," he paused and now he was looking at me with a glare while he was still speaking to her, "remember that you are free to punish her if she does anything badly or intentionally upset you, you will face no repercussions,"

 Just when I thought that the whole purpose of burying my dignity could not go any further, my own mate would pick up a shovel and prove me wrong.

 As he was listing all of this out to Isabella I wondered what I had done to deserve this sort of treatment.

 All I had ever done was taking care of him, if he asked me to jump I would ask him how high...and yet Isabella had found herself in the picture without even doing anything for him, without once lifting a finger for his sake.

 I was completely heartbroken, but strangely relieved. It was clear what was going on between the two of them even though he had not stated it in white and black.

  Soon when he was probably going to kick me out.

 Suddenly the dreariness in my mind began to fade away, if he kicked me out I could finally be free. Since he didn't want me and he was not changing his mind anytime soon then it was just for the best that I left, right?

 Thinking about that gave me a huge burst of energy, and I carried out my new chores as a personal task with a smile on my face.

 That smile quickly disappeared when I was called to the Alpha's bedchamber that night.