Learn Your Place

"Adequate." He said, pulling what seemed like a handkerchief from His pocket and wiping off the leash before handling it again. "You do know that you massively fucked up, right?"

Nikki cowered slightly at the cold way He'd said that. "I did what you asked, Master. I promise I'll do better next time."

He let out a dark chuckle, leading Nikki down the hall once more with the leash. "One. I know you will do better, especially after tonight. Two. I don't ask anything. I give orders. And three. Despite me specifically warning you about it, you made me repeat myself. Multiple times. You are not going to enjoy what's about to happen to you."

Nikki opened her mouth to protest but the vindictiveness of the way He looked back at her shut her up. Nikki just followed Him in silence, already trying to stop herself from trembling. How does a man who greets you with rape go about punishing you? Her heart began to pound even harder as she realized that He was leading her outside. She wanted to stop, but He had the leash in hand. Was what was about to happen to her worse than suffocation?

To her surprise, Lucy and Piper didn't come running to them. Nor did He call for them to. But now that she could get a better look, Nikki still didn't see the supposed electric fence. Or any fence for that matter. The land made her think of a farm, only there didn't appear to be any animals on it. Just various little shacks, some appearing in the distance. But the land had a lot of hills which made distance vision tricky. And outrunning dogs would probably be impossible, as He said.

Nikki blinked as they crossed one of the hills and she could see a gate. But it definitely wasn't the one He'd mentioned. It was around one of the shacks with what looked like a...

"Is that a...doghouse?" Nikki asked when she could make it out.

He let out a loud but short whistle and Nikki stopped in her tracks immediately. "Nikki, this is Alpha. Alpha, Nikki." He introduced as the huge Rottweiler who was somehow bigger than either of the other two shook himself off, and upon acknowledging Nikki immediately started growling.

"Now Alpha doesn't have the...temperament of Lucy and Piper. And he's extremely territorial." Nikki was forced closer to the gate as He opened it. "Stand up for me. All the way."

Nikki was petrified but she was in this situation because she hadn't followed orders. She stood up slowly but surely, visibly shaking. Walking on her feet like a normal person who just happened to have a leash around her neck, Nikki followed Him as He pulled her further inside. Alpha watched them closely as He led her to the back of the shack. It acted as something of a wall, which was the farthest thing from the doghouse as anything within the small gate. She watched as He pressed her back to the wall and took the handle part of the leash and wrapped it around a hook that was above her. Nikki's heart began to beat even faster. Was He about to hang her?

"With enough effort, you could probably pull that hook off there and get out of the gate." He stated calmly, stepping back to look at His work. "I wouldn't. All that moving and pulling would make you an easier target. And if you're free, well...well that would have its own problem. Everything in this gate is Alpha's territory. You remember what I said about that?"

"...yes Master..." Nikki eventually choked out, looking closer at Alpha and seeing that he had a thick collar around his neck with a chain that seemed fastened to something inside the doghouse.

"Good. Because the only thing keeping him from tearing you a new one is me being here. That and this chain." He motioned to the chain that Nicki had just noticed. "You keep pressed against that wall and he won't be able to reach you. You move and...well...I might have to get a new dog. He pulls you in and you are in for one painful night, assuming you don't suffocate."

"Night?!" Nikki shrieked.

"Alpha really doesn't like loud noises." He stated with a grin. And surely enough, as soon as she yelled, Alpha's ears perked, and he reared down, ready to pounce. "And yes. You'll be spending the night out here."

Nikki's trembling was even more evident now. "M-master? Please...please don't do this. I'm sorry. I'm so...so...so sorry. I swear to you I'll never question you again. Please don't leave me out here..." Her voice cracked a few times as she begged, and she didn't care how pathetic she sounded if it meant that she wouldn't have to spend the night out here hoping she didn't get mauled.

He grinned at Nikki and took a firm grip of her chin and looked her in the eye. "You know how you feel right now? That fear so violent that you can barely talk? I bet it feels like your heart will beat right out of your chest. I want you to remember this moment. Remember how helpless you truly are if you speak when I haven't told you to. Remember it if you make me repeat myself. Remember that when I decide to punish you that there are no reprieves. Beg and cry all you want. No one will hear you. You have literally nothing to give me that I can't just take. You have no value except that which I give you. Remember that."

"Good night, Nikki." Was all He said as He walked away, leaving her tied to the hook and at the mercy of Alpha's chain and her own ability to stay pressed against the wall.

"Master! Please don't leave me here! MASTER!" The tears started streaming down Nikki's panicked face as both the bane of her existence and simultaneously her only hope left. He didn't even look back at her. But as soon as the gate closed, Alpha brought back the reminder that he hated loud noises as he lunged at her, barking, snarling, slashing and snapping. Knowing he didn't like loud noises didn't stop Nikki from screaming. The chain did its job. Alpha couldn't reach her. But it was barely. She could feel the wind from each swipe of his powerful claws and could feel his breath every time he tried to bite her. Every second she wasn't firmly pressed against that wall was a second that Alpha could pull her into his territory. And if that happened, at best, the hook holding the leash around her neck would hold and she'd suffocate in horrible pain. At worst, she'd be eaten alive or just enough to bleed to death. And there was nothing she could do about it.