Forever In The Past And Forever In The Future By Neener Chapter 1


    Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future by Neener Beener chapter 1


    Most people don’t even remember the packhouse has a dungeon. I do though. I have a little room in


    the back that used to be a solitary confinement cell. It smells of old piss, vomit, and blood. You get


    used to it. I have a cot and an old tattered nket to keep me warm. I even scored amp out of the


    trash. It still works, so I have light to do my homework. Home sweet home and all that jazz, right? I


    mean, at least I’m not a rogue.


    Oh yeah, I should introduce myself. My name is Iokaste Latmus, but I go by Kas. No one calls me


    Iokaste except for teachers on the first day of school. I’m a werewolf in the Silver Moon pack. Since I’m


    an orphan, I’m not


    restocking the pantries of the ranked members’ apartments on the third and fourth floors, I do normal


    teenager stuff. Except, I don’t really have a lot of spare time to do normal teenager stuff. So homework,


    homework is the extent of my normal teenager stuff.


    Right now, it’s eleven-thirty at night. I’m putting the finishing touches on my English essay when I hear


    the door of the dungeon m open. Great. Now what did I do? It doesn’t take much. Alpha Graham


    Connors is an alcoholic. It’s really difficult for werewolves to get drunk,


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    which means you have to drink really heavily to feel the effects. Which means he probably had a fight


    with Luna Caroline about his drinking. Which means she locked him out of their room. Which means he


    hase down to take out his anger on me. Just an average Tuesday night in the packhouse.


    The sharp smell of whiskey hits my nose well before he appears in front of my door. I know the drill. I’m


    already on my feet waiting for him.


    Oh crap oh crap oh crap. I’m thinking in my mind.


    “Alpha Graham, what can I do for you?” I ask with my eyes looking at the floor. I keep my hands


    sped in front of me, trying to look as small as possible.


    Without a word, a whiskey bottle whizzes past my ear and smashes against the wall above my cot. I


    flinch and can’t help but start to tremble and hug myself. We’re beyond ‘Oh crap’, we’re in ‘Oh shit’


    territory now.


    Whatever is about to happen it’s going to be worse than usual.


    He lunges forward and grabs me by the throat with both hands. I feel tearsing to my eyes as the


    lack of oxygen turns the edges of my vision dark. I desperately w at his hands, trying to escape his


    grip but it’s no


    use. He picks me up by the neck so I’m at face level with him. His eyes are pitch ck indicating his


    wolf Ruckus is at the surface. His breath stinks from drinking and his face is red with anger.


    I start gagging and choking from theck of oxygen. Without warning, he throws me across the room as


    if I weigh nothing. My body ms against the wall and Ind on my back on the cot. The shards of the


    broken bottle pierce the skin on my back through my thin t-shirt. The whiskey makes the cuts burn. I try


    to muffle a scream as the pain sears through me. Hees across the room and picks me up roughly


    by the hair. I feel the shards of ss cutting deeper as he pulls me up.


    He ps me as hard as he can before throwing me to the ground. He kicks me in the gut and stomps


    on my back over and over. The ss bits are grinding deeper into my back. I can feel blood soaking


    through my shredded shirt. I don’t dare move and make him even madder. I feel my ribs snap when his


    foot makes contact. One of his kicksnds on my jaw. I feel a sickening snap. Rattle in my brain. The


    metallic taste of blood instantly fills my mouth.


    Alpha Graham has been using me as his personal punching bag for years, but this was way more


    intense than it has ever been before. Usually, he ps me a few times, then whips me until I’m


    bleeding and raw. In the past couple of years, he started dipping the whip in wolfsbane, which makes


    me heal slower, so now I have gnarly scars across my back and arms.


    “Apha Gahm, sthoph. Pleesh,” I manage to eke out. My voice is small and garbled between the broken


    jaw and blood pouring out of my mouth. He abruptly stops and walks out of the room. Hees back a


    momentter with the whip and startsshing my back relentlessly.


    The whip is dripping with wolfsbane. Theshes,


    My vision turns blurry and I ck out.


    ckness and numbness surround me. Is this what being dead is like? It’s peaceful, but a little bit


    boring. At least I don’t have to feed the pack. Oh dang, I didn’t get a chance to turn in that English


    essay. It was a good one too. The constant soft beeps are soothing. I don’t know how long I’ve been


    dead, but I feel like I want to open my eyes, ready to take on the afterlife.


    After what seems like forever, I’m able to open my eyes and find I’m alone in a softfortable bed in


    a brightly lit, clean room. This is the afterlife? Maybe this is some sort of waiting area, but where’s the


    lobby? Is there a receptionist? My mind slowly bes more clear and I realize I’m not dead. I’m in


    the pack hospital.


    I need to leave before the Alpha finds me outside the dungeon. I try to get up but I can barely move my


    body. Every move causes excruciating pain. I start to panic, making the beeps in the room be


    faster. Oh, I’m hooked up to a bunch of machines. I try to figure out how to unhook them so no one


    hears the noises. Toote, I hear people in the hallway getting closer. I try to sit up. I need to ignore the


    pain. I have to escape. I slowly slide off the side of the bed. My legs were wobbly. The tubes and wires


    sticking out of me preventing me from getting too far.


    The door opens and the pack doctores in with a nurse. The doctor is an older man. He has ck


    hair that’s turning gray on the sides. The nurse is young with blond curly hair pulled back into a


    ponytail.


    “Ah, Kas. You’re awake. Let’s get you back in bed, shall we?” The doctor says gently. He and the nurse


    come to either side of me and reach out to hold my arms. A deep growl escapes my chest.


    “Don’t touch me,” I snap, shaking them off. My voice is scratchy and raw and my mouth feels like a


    thousand needles are poking into it.


    “It’s alright, Kas. No one is going to hurt you here. We’re trying to help you heal. Let’s get you back to


    bed and get you a drink of water,” the doctor raises his hands in surrender.


    I look at him hesitantly before epting their help back into the bed. The nurse hands me a cup of


    water with a straw. It hurts the whole lower half of my face to drink, but the water feels good on my


    throat.


    The doctor sits in the chair beside the bed as the nurse checks my vitals and starts messing with the


    tubes and wires attached to me.


    “Kas, you had surgery to remove hundreds of shards of ss from your back, we also had to reset


    some ribs, your jaw, and you had a lot of wolfsbane in your blood. We gave you a transfusion to clear it


    from your system


    so you could heal,” the doctor exins, “You’re lucky you didn’t die.”


    Sure about thatst part, doc? I think to myself.


    “When the pack realized breakfast had not been prepared, Beta Tate went to get you and found you on


    the ground in your…uh…room,” he looks at me with


    sympathy, “Kas, who did this to you? It’s a crime that could be grounds for banishment from the pack.


    Based on the scarring, this isn’t the first time you’ve been attacked.”


    I can’t answer him. I stare at my hands on myp quietly. How can I tell him Alpha Graham is the one


    who caused this? There’s no way he’d believe me, even if he did, what are they going to do? Banish


    the Alpha? Fat chance of that. I decide my best move is to just shake my head no. I don’t want to get


    kicked out of the pack for lying. I have nowhere to go. I would be a rogue.


    “Okay. Let’s move on to the next question. When do you turn seventeen?” He looks at papers inside his


    folder.


    “I-I don’t know exactly, sir,” I say honestly. He looks at me with a furrowed brow. He nces at the


    nurse and asks her to give us privacy for a few minutes. Oh crap, am I in trouble? I just woke up, I don’t


    know what I could have done while I was sleeping. She finishes what she’s doing and leaves the room.


    “You don’t know your birthday, Kas?” he asks, confused.


    “M-my father brought me here when I was a baby. He was a rogue. Alpha Graham, well…he…” I feel


    my face turning hot with embarrassment. My hands tremble and tears threaten to escape my eyes. I


    didn’t think I would have to tell this story to the doctor. I thought everyone already knew.


    My father was a rogue. Alpha Graham murdered him foring onto pack territory without permission.


    They didn’t realize he was carrying a baby until they unzipped his jacket and saw I was tucked inside. It


    was a miracle I survived. Since I was just a baby, they couldn’t just get rid of me but they didn’t know


    anything about me. I was wrapped in a nket that had the name ‘Iokaste’ embroidered on it. So, that


    is what they called me. My father could have actually been a kidnapper for all I know. The only reason


    they gave me thest name Latmus is because after they killed my father, they looked through his


    wallet to identify him. The only form of ID he had was a library card that said Andy Latmus on it. I’ve


    tried an inte search for his name on theputer in the school library before. Nothinges up in


    the search.


    “You don’t need to finish, I know what happened to your father.”


    “Well, after that…happened…Luna Caroline took me in until I was old enough to start school. Then she


    moved me into the dungeon. I’ve kinda been on my own since then. I never found out when my actual


    birthday is. To be honest, you’re the first person who has ever asked. I mean, I guess I’m sixteen. My


    wolf hasn’t woken up yet.”


    The doctor nods, looking at me with pity. Almost like he actually cares. He asks me a few more


    questions about my medical history, but there’s nothing to really speak of. I don’t remember ever being


    treated by a doctor before.


    “I see,” he closes the folder and tucks his pen into his shirt pocket, “Well, I know you haven’t had a


    chance to look in the mirror yet, but when you do, you may find


    you look a little different. Don’t be rmed. I believe it’s a sign that your wolf is starting to wake up. I’ve


    done as many tests as I could think of. It is not medically


    rted.”


    I look at him with confusion, “Y-yes, sir.” I assume he means I’m healing faster but, why did he need to


    warn me? Why not just tell me?