Page 1 of Anarchy

Prologue

“On your knees, Aspen. You know the rules.” I growl, her bony knees cracking against the hardwood floors of the dining room. She has been testing me all damn day with her lack of listening skills. These rules have been in place since the day I brought her home two years ago. I’ve spent countless hours training her to be my perfect pet, but she’s still not perfect. Always defiant in little ways. Like right now, dinner is ready, but it was supposed to be done ten minutes ago. She knows that shit pisses me off the most. Aspen claims she isn’t feeling well today, but that’s no excuse in my book. Looking down, her head is bowed, her blonde hair hiding her face from my scrutinizing gaze.

Reaching out, I run my fingers through her frail hair. Today it lacks the usual silkiness and luster it usually carries, but I brush it behind her ear anyway. She has indulged me with my favorite meal today, a pot roast and all the fixings. My finger brushes against my fork when a knock sounds at the door. I sit back in my chair rigid, thinking I am just hearing shit, but the knock comes again.

“Who the fuck is that?” I grumble, pushing my chair back and heading for the door. I stop at the threshold to the dining room and turn back to Aspen. “Stand up, Aspen. No talking unless I give you permission, or you will be spending the evening in your cage.” With that, I turn around and stroll over to the door. Cracking it open just an inch, I peer out. Annoyed when I see a skull face mask greeting me. Familiar, piercing green eyes stare at me.

“Ghost? What the fuck happened to you?” My brows pull together as I gaze at him and push the door open wider. He’s covered in blood, dirt, and from the looks of it, brain matter. While I’m no stranger to bodily fluids, it’s the short curvy girl standing next to him in disarray that has my focus.

“A fucking lot. Long time no see, asshole. I’m cashing in that favor. Let us in before we wake the dead and we all have problems on our asses, Mav.” I grit my teeth as I grab the girl's hand, and push past me, dragging her along. “Lock the door, man.”

“What are you doing here, Ghost?” Irritation and anger fill me with their sudden presence. My eyes track the dirt from their shoes through my clean house.

I decided to humor him and lock the door behind us. Rolling my eyes, I nod my head towards the closest room. His shoulders tense as he leaves the girl behind and wanders into the room. Kicking the door closed, I point a finger at him, “Seriously, man, what the fuck are you doing way out here? We agreed to never see each other again two years ago!” Whisper shouting at him as he stands before me against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, and one foot kicked up against the white wallpaper. As long as I’ve known him, he’s always been the same. Very stoic with an “I don’t give a fuck” attitude. I wish I was that way, but I prefer to make sure people know my true thoughts and feelings. Ghost heaves out a sigh before pushing away from the wall, and the dirty footprint left on the wall behind makes me twitch and clench my fists. Guess Aspen will be doing extra cleaning tonight.

“Look, I know what we agreed to all those years ago, but if you haven’t noticed already, the world is literally going to shit outside. We were just fighting for our lives back there! Let us stay just for the night, Mav, I swear we won’t be any trouble.” By the time he finishes, his chest is heaving, and I see the desperation deep in his eyes.

“Fine, but there are rules in my house, and you better relay them to your girl. Aspen doesn’t know anything that’s going on outside of these walls. She is clueless, and I prefer to keep her that way. I don’t need her panicking over something we can’t fucking change.” My body trembles with anxiety at the thought of Aspen figuring out what’s going on in the world right now.

“You got it, Mav. No worries, we will be out of your hair first thing tomorrow.” Ghost reaches out his hand, and I shake it to solidify our deal. He walks away from me and back towards the foyer in search of his girl, and I follow after him begrudgingly.

“Get cleaned up and come eat. I’ll get my wife to set you a place. You can use the guest room. There’s a bathroom inside. It’s up the stairs on the left.” I don’t give them a second glance before I leave them behind and head towards Aspen.

She’s exactly where I left her, against the wall in the dining room, her head bowed and her hands clasped in front of her. “We will be having two guests this evening. Get the table set for them.” I watch as she scurries away towards the kitchen to grab more dinnerware. Racing back so fast that she trips. The dishes almost go flying, but she keeps them grasped in her hands. She gets the table set for Ghost and his girl in record time, which annoys the fuck out of me, because she never has it done that fast for me. Aspen turns back to the kitchen and doesn’t reappear until she’s carrying two glasses, and our guests are walking into the dining room. “Have a seat.” I direct toward Ghost, his girl following closely behind him. After Aspen sets the glasses in front of them on the table, she steps back and just stands there like a ditz. “Serve them, Aspen.” I order, and she gets to it like her ass is on fire.

I eye Ghost’s girl as Aspen serves her, noticing the sour look on her face as she watches Aspen. She has no room to judge how I run my house when she also has a collar around her neck. Glancing over, I see Ghost giving me the stink eye as I watch her. Once their plates are filled with pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, and sweet peas, she comes back and kneels on the floor at my side. “Dig in.” I grumble before tearing my eyes away from the girl and focusing on my own at my feet.

Picking up the fork, I take a bite of the meal and struggle to conceal a moan at how good it is. Even if Aspen is grinding on my nerves today, she’s still a decent cook. I scoop up another bite of food and hold it down for her to take a bite of.

“Oh my god. This is amazing.” The small girl says around a mouth full of food. I hear Ghost growl across the table, and it makes me smirk knowing he does remember my rules.

“It’s okay. Thank you. My wife is an amazing cook.” I say with no real emotion behind my words. “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”

She swallows the mouth full of food she has before replying, “Rue”.

“Rue huh?” I glance over at Ghost, continuing to smirk because I know it pisses him off.

“So, what have you been doing out here in the middle of nowhere, Maverick?” Ghost says, trying desperately to get the attention off of Rue. “Doesn’t look like there’s much to get up to out here.”

“Just living the dream, man.” I reply as I pick up another fork full of food and shove it into my mouth. Ghost knows damn well what I’m doing out here in the middle of nowhere since he’s the one who helped me find this damn place. So I take the comment as a sign to shut my mouth. Ghost starts up a conversation about one of his latest hits, using our code so the women don’t understand.

“The meal was wonderful. May I thank your wife?” Ghost asks. Pride swells in my chest at him following my rules even if he doesn’t want to or agree with them.

“You may,” I reply, leaning back in my chair.

“Thank you, Aspen. It was delicious.” She lifts her head and looks directly at him, which spikes my anger, before replying softly, “You’re welcome.” Regardless of whether I give her permission to speak to them. Aspen knows she’s not allowed to make eye contact with other men. She will pay for it this evening. Ghost clears his throat, distracting me from my thoughts of punishment.

“We’ve had a rough couple of days. We’ll get some sleep and talk tomorrow, if that’s okay?”

“Tomorrow.” I respond, giving him a nod, and wait as he helps Rue out of her chair and they leave the room. I sit there in silence while I listen to them making their way up the steps. Once I know they are out of earshot I turn towards Aspen, peering down at her, “What did you do wrong, Aspen?” My voice strained as I grip the edge of the table, my knuckles turning white. Her body trembles under my stare, and she takes longer than I’d like before she replies.

“I-I looked at him, sir. I’m sorry, I disobeyed you.” She stutters out.

“Look at me, Aspen.” Her face turns up to me, her cheeks flush, and her hairline has a few beads of sweat on it. “Tell me just how sorry you really are.” I watch as her throat bobs and her thoughts whirl behind her hazel eyes.

“I am deeply sorry, sir. I will serve my punishment in my cage this evening.” Her response is thick, and I know she’s on the verge of tears, but I don’t give a fuck.

“Then go!” The command comes out deep and demanding. Her skinny legs wobble as she makes her way to her feet and scurries off towards our bedroom. I hear the familiar squeak of the cage door as it opens and closes behind her. Placing my elbows back on the table, I lean my head into my hands. I stay there for about thirty minutes before making my way to my room and see Aspen curled up at the bottom of her cage. Eyes wide as she looks up at me through wet lashes. “Get up. You still have chores to do tonight. Once they are finished, I expect you to get the fuck back in there. That’s where you will be sleeping tonight. Oh, and there is a dirty footprint on the wall in the living room; see that it’s cleaned.” She reaches for the door of the cage, swings the door open, and scrambles out towards the kitchen.

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