Page 35 of Red's Beast

"Oh, it definitely won't happen again. Come with me, now." His words are laced with the alpha command, and though they don’t affect me, I follow along anyway out of fear of what he might do to my grandmother should he learn that they don’t work on me.

When we finally reach his house, Corbin is already there, waiting for us on the porch. He is dressed simply in a white shirt and dark-colored pants tucked into his boots as if he is about to work. I watch as he leans against the side of the porch with a cocky grin on his face.

As I head up the steps behind his father, he reaches out and pulls me toward him.

"That's a good little girl following orders. If you won’t do it for me, then my father is going to make you obey.”

I don’t say anything. I only stare up at him and understand just how far he is willing to go to make me submit to him.

"Let her go. She is going to learn once and for all. It’s this or things could always force her into submission.”

I gulp as I realize what he means by those words. He’ll take my only family left and leave me with nowhere to turn, but here.

Nigel pushes the front door open and leads me inside after Corbin lets go of my arm. I look to the left, where buckets of cleaning supplies usually wait for me.

Today, there are three large buckets with plenty of things to clean with, along with scrub brushes, which I hate most of all.

“Do you want me to clean the entire house?” I ask innocently.

"Silence!" He snaps, causing me to turn away and drop my gaze to the floor.

"You will clean the house from top to bottom and leave no spot untouched. Then, once you're done, you will spend the night in one of the cells.”

My eyes widen as I realize that I won’t be going to grandmother’s cottage tonight. I never miss more than one day or she worries. “But I need to go to my grandmother’s house. She will be waiting for me to come.”

He shakes his head. "You will learn your lesson well. Never disrespect me or my family or there is worse to come. What is sad about all this is you never had to clean again. But here you are, making stupid decisions, so you will pay the price. As for your grandmother, she will know that you are fine and staying in the village. I will make sure one of the pack members takes her a meal.”

"Yes, alpha,” I say as I bow my head.

There is no point in arguing or disputing the rest of what he said. To them, I messed up and now I have to pay for it.

"Good, now get to work."

Without wasting a single second, I reach for the closest bucket and quickly make my way down the hallway to the first floor bathroom.

"How bad can they be?" I ask myself in a whisper.

The moment I swing the door open, I realize that they are just as bad as yesterday. So my words have come back to bite me. My shoulders slump in defeat as I set the bucket down just inside the door.

I take out the first bottle of cleaner and spray it across the sink as I walk inside. Once again, my gloves are nowhere to be found, so I have to clean everything without them.

After tirelessly scrubbing the bathroom with all my might for what feels like eternity, my fingers turn red, but I’m finally able to restore it to its former decent state. Then I move on to the dreaded toilet.

A sigh escapes my lips as I look at the crusty residue that has accumulated on the top of the seat. I have found it to be helpful by spraying the cleaner and waiting for about a minute before wiping it clean. It gives the solution enough time to penetrate and loosen up any dirt, making it much easier to clean the surfaces. I’m not exactly sure how it gets in such a state, but I don’t want to know what is on it.

I’m hoping it’s just mud.

As I focus on finishing the last part of the bathroom up, I hear footsteps coming down the hallway.

I turn around to see who it is, only to find Corbin leaning against the doorframe, staring directly at me.

“This will teach you to embarrass me, little alpha. If you know what is good for you and your dear grandmother, you won’t ever make this mistake again.”

“We were alone, Corbin. No one saw it,” I say between clenched teeth.

“It doesn’t matter. You shouldn’t have done it,” he says as a smirk pulls at the corner of his lips. “Look at you, little alpha.You’re on your knees, having to clean up our messes. Isn’t it wonderful?”

I don’t bother justifying that question with an answer. Not fully, anyway. “Your point has been made. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m going to finish my chores.”

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