Chapter 9
Gabi’s POV
I helped mom by cutting up onions for the scrambled eggs, then cutting up the ham for her as she stirred the eggs, and then went to grate the cheese for the scrambled eggs. She adds the ham as I get it chopped up into small pieces. She gets it done in record time and sets a small saucer in front of me while she gets the other ladies to help her take it out to the dining hall. She would be back within a few minutes. She is going to stay with me all day. Dad will step in if she has to leave me for any length of time.
They have ham steaks, fried potatoes, toast, croissants, scrambled eggs, patty sausage as well as bacon. Bacon is what takes the longest time to cook, but it is really great bacon.
Dad is dealing with his work as quickly as he can, as he wants us to be out of here as quickly as possible. Dad is thinking that we should leave tonight as soon as we get done, on the premise that we are all going out to eat for the night. But since we have never done that before, it could cause suspicion of us trying to leave the pack. Mom wants us to wait until like 5 am to go because that is something we normally do, is to go early to get stuff for the kitchen, as on Mondays it is back to work at 5 to start breakfast again. So, it makes sense that we would be going out on a Sunday as that is what we normally do each week. I agreed with mom and so we planned to just load the trunk up right before we left so few people could see us preparing to leave. Dad also thought that it would be easier for us to leave because of the party that they were having and the town hall meeting that was announced this morning for Derek to introduce his mate to the pack.
I think the morning is better too for keeping it secret and telling dad as such. They would be looking for us if we didn’t go to the town hall meeting, so even if we cut out quickly at the end of it, we still needed to attend it. I am sure that Alpha Monty would be looking for us in the hall for the meeting.
I had healed up well from my attack, with no visible scars. The scars that I carry from it, cannot be seen on the skin, but in my brain and heart. It was a trauma to me, and I am terrified that Jack or his friends will try again soon because he got no real punishment for what he did yesterday. I am wearing the leggings that Luna Liz gave me yesterday and a large grey hoodie over them. The hoodie was found in the garbage as well, but the pocket on the front for your hands to be in had been torn about ¾ of the way across and had been damaged. No one claimed it and I waited 6 months before I wore it, in case of more clowning, but this hoodie was from a warrior, as it was large and down past my hips in length. I cut off the torn pocket so no one would recognize it just in case, and I would have deniability, in case Heather got the owner to try to accuse me of stealing it. Dad was with me now as we washed the dishes from breakfast together. The two Omega’s that usually washed, dried, and put away the dishes were now doing my duties of changing out the bed linens, and I knew I was fast from having had to do them for years, but it wasn’t fair that I had to do it by myself for the last 5 years and when I get replaced it is going to take two people to do it. Whatever, it is their problem now, as they are about to be down 3 Omegas anyway. I shrugged and kept washing the dishes. Mom gets the whole chickens in the oven now, so they have time to bake and cool as she is making chicken enchiladas for lunch. It is Derek’s favorite meal, and lunch is more informal. There will be a more formal dinner tonight of pot roasts, with potatoes, carrots, and onions. There will also be salad and their choice of peas, or green beans, on the tables too, with yeast rolls. The Luna wanted Derek to feel welcome returning to the pack, but why wouldn’t he be? He is about to run it, and he has been treated like a prince for the last 19 years. I help mom to chop up the potatoes, carrots, and onions into large chunks and she gets 8 roasting pans together for the first round as she will need to do this twice to make sure that each table gets one of the roasting pans. Each pan had two large, seasoned, roasts in it, so as soon as she removes the chickens from the ovens and puts them onto a tray to cool, she was going to start with the first round of roasts to cook. We will leave the heat on the second set to let them be ready on time and everything be hot. The kitchen is big and also has heat lamps to keep everything warm, but mom takes pride in her food and doesn’t want it to become dried out after sitting for hours under the heat lamps.
Lunch is set to be served at 1 pm because that is when Derek is supposed to arrive. Since I am helping, I am not required to be present to greet him, which I am good with, since it was bad the last time I spoke to him, and I don’t plan to repeat it.
I helped mom get everything out on the tables. She made some fried potatoes with onions and a chili sauce on top, refried beans, extra tortillas, and cheese on each table along with extra sauces; both green and red, and green onions, black olives, and sour cream, so everyone can tweak their food how they want it. We had just finished up and come back into the kitchen when we heard the crowd heading into the dining hall. Mom had made a small pan for us to eat out of and we still had some of the sides in there as well. From the sounds of it, everyone was enjoying the meal very much. I hadn’t seen Jack or his goons today, so I felt like today my luck had changed as I had been praying to the Goddess most of last night, for us to safely leave the pack. Luna Liz had come in after the meal and thanked my mom for the great meal and told her, “Claire, you have outdone yourself with this meal. It was delicious and everyone enjoyed it. No one makes his favorite meal like you do”. Luna Liz then walked up to me and asked, “How are you doing today, Gabi?” I looked up at her and nodded, I didn’t want to speak and lie to her. Plus, we were leaving very soon, and I wouldn’t have to see these asshats again.
Luna Liz nods back at me and pinches her lips together. I know she wants to say something to me but decided against it. She nods one more time and then smiles at the three of us before she walks back out of the kitchen.
Dad and I are on dish duty again, and we are having a good time talking and being together, and frankly, I feel safer with him next to me. The door opened and someone entered the kitchen. Mom had gone to get more supplies from the storeroom right next door, she wanted to add rosemary and basil to the roasts, as in her hurry she had forgotten to add them to the pans. She dried the spices that dad grew for her and wanted to grab them really quickly, as the roasts had only been in for about 30 minutes now and she wanted her last meal here to be memorable.
A voice spoke out and it was like nails on a chalkboard as it was Heather speaking, and she seemed like she was in a bad mood. Ah, yes, she just found out that she won’t be Luna and she is pissed. I expected her to yell at me, but she just told my dad that she had been told to report that the large light that covers the patio area was out and needed to be replaced for people to hang out there after the town hall meeting. She was right, if it is out, the Alpha and Luna will have a big problem with it. Dad looked at me and then over to the storeroom where my mom had gone. I only had the silverware needing to be done now and told dad that he could go, mom would be right back, so I put a towel down on the counter next to the sink where I would rinse the silverware and kept washing dishes. Dad tells me that he will hurry, but he will still have to get the power lift and the large replacement bulb.
About ten minutes later, I heard someone enter the kitchen, and I assumed it was mom, so I just kept washing the dishes. I felt an arm come around my waist and turn me around and I looked up at Jack’s smiling face. I go to scream, and he claps a hand over my mouth and starts pulling me down the hallway away from the storeroom towards the cleaning supply closet and the laundry room. I am struggling against him and trying to bite his fingers and then I start mindlinking my parents and Luna Liz. I am screaming for help, and I am even more scared when I see Jacks' two friends, Terrance, and Jake, standing there at the entrance to the laundry room. They both grin at me when they see me, and I start struggling harder in his arms. Jack shoves me into the laundry room and locks the door behind him and I run to the other side of the room and look around for something that I can use to protect myself. I continue to mindlink and I include the new Beta Justin Lewis in the call for help, as no one has responded to me from my parents or Luna Liz. I am frantic and my hands are shaking, but I will not go down without a fight. Jack might think I am weak, but I will fight him to the death if I need to, because I refuse to allow him to rape me as long as I have a breath in my body.