Chapter 6

The car stopped suddenly, disrupting my sleep. I do not know how long we drove. I must have slept most of the time; I needed my full strength for what awaited me. I opened my eyes and looked out of the window. I could see some houses in view.

This must be the Moonlight Pack. I thought.

A few men were waiting by the Pack gate; I suspected they could be there for me. The door to the car opened and the man who sat beside me stepped out. I watched him exchange some words with one of the men and a few minutes later, he moved closer to me.

"Cone out,"

I stepped out of the car, adjusting my school shirt; I had no time to change it.

"Is she the one?" The other man asked and the man who had brought me nodded. "She looks pretty and young." He turned to face me. "How old are you?"

"Eight... Eighteen," I stuttered slightly.

He smiled. "Too bad you are in this mess. Come with me."

I followed him into the gate, walking behind him. There were so many beautiful buildings, some of which didn't exist in my Pack. Compared to the Starlight Pack I came from, the Moonlight Pack is bigger with beautiful buildings.

No wonder they could suppress our Pack so easily. I thought. But what would a big Pack like this want from a small Pack like ours? And why would they need our Pack secret to suppress us?

Judging from how big their Pack is, they would have done that without any stress.

We got to a building and he stopped. Two guards were by the door; they bowed when they saw him.

"Take her to join the rest of the girls. She is the traitor's daughter."

Hearing him call me the traitor's daughter, my eyes welled up with tears.

My father is not a traitor! Someone must have set him up!

I screamed those words out in my head.

How I wished I could say these words to the men in front of me but I couldn't; I wouldn't dare.

"Come with me," one of the guards said, giving me a very disdainful look.

I followed him into the building and through the hallway. We got to a room with the number 1468. He knocked on the door slightly, and it opened. A woman wearing a reading glass popped her head out.

"Mark, why are you here?" The woman asked, coming into full view.

She was dressed in a blue suit and she looked like a woman in her late fifties.

"A new maid," Mark, the guard answered.

The woman stared at me in silence her eyes pairing into mine; I looked away quickly.

"The traitor's daughter from the Moonlight Pack," Mark added.

"Oh, I see," the woman answered. "You can leave her with me." She stretched her hand to me. "You, come with me."

I moved closer to her and she opened the door widely to let me in.

"Miss Helen," Mark called. "You know what to do."

"Of course I do," Miss Helen answered with a smirk.

I knew immediately that I was in for it; she wasn't going to let me have any peace.

"You can leave, Mark."

Mark left, and I followed her into the room, which was a dormitory. A lot of girls were seated on their beds but they stood up immediately, forming two straight lines when they saw Miss Helen walk back in. I could see the fear in their eyes; I shivered in fear too.

"Follow me," Miss Helen said and I nodded quickly.

She got to the empty seat and sat down. Silence invaded the room as she stared keenly at the faces of the girls.

"You!" Miss Helen spoke up, pointing forward.

I wondered who she had pointed to; there were so many girls. A young, timid girl walked out of the line, and I blinked.

How did she know she was the one being pointed at?

No other girl stepped out which made me wonder how they all knew who Miss Helen was referring to.

The girl went down on her knees immediately.

"Ten strokes," Miss Helen said sternly.

Another girl stepped out. She seemed older than the rest of the girls. She walked to the table beside Miss Helen and took the cane on it.

I watched her flog the timid girl while the rest of the girls counted from one to ten. The girl being flogged made no sound.

Isn't she in pain? How could she not make a sound?

The older girl stopped when they got to ten. She returned the cane to the table and went back to join the line while the timid girl remained on her knees.

Miss Helen picked up a big book from the table and began to call out some numbers. The girls answered in turn at the mention of their numbers. It took a while before all the numbers were called. Miss Helen dropped the book on the table and gestured to me to move closer.

I took a few short steps, my heart beating so fast. My body was shaking too. I could tell from the atmosphere what my stay here would be like. I could also tell that I would not be treated nicely; being a traitor's daughter.

I got closer to her and stopped moving but my body would not stop shaking. The necklace I had held onto fell to the ground and I froze. Miss Helen turned to face me, her eyes burning in anger.

I bent down quickly to pick the necklace up, but she picked it up before I could. She stared at the necklace with a confused look; I wondered if she was familiar with it.

She stared at me. "Where did you get this necklace from?"

"My... My..."

I wasn't sure if telling her that it was given to me by my friend was a good idea.

"Speak up!" She yelled at me.

"My friend gave it to me," I answered quickly.

She furrowed her eyes at me. "Your friend? Who is your friend?"