Chapter 1

♕Aria♕

"Wake up, Ari." Someone shook my shoulders, causing me to wake with a start. "They're coming."

I blinked the haze of sleep from my eyes. I was in the same position I was last night; my back pressed against the concrete wall and my knees tucked into my chest. It wasn't the most comfortable sleeping position, but it was practical when it came to protecting myself from any unexpected blows. Besides, I didn't like to take up too much room in the cell. Other people needed it more than I did.

I shot Gwen a small smile of gratitude. "Thanks for waking me."

"Of course."

Gwen assumed her position next to me on the wall, mimicking my position with her long legs pulled into her chest. She immediately linked our inner arms together, giving my arm a squeeze.

I don't think I could have survived for as long as I have in here without her by my side. I met Gwen three weeks ago when my pack had been attacked. I thought I was in the clear when I had made it into the woods, but boy was I wrong. They had wolves everywhere and I hadn't lasted more then ten minutes in the woods before one of them found me.

Gwen was one of the first people who spoke to me in the cells. She picked the twigs out of my hair and held me as I

cried. Her father was the Beta of her pack and had been killed during the raid, as well as her mother. She had no one and neither did I.

But now we had each other.

I smelt them before I heard or saw them. The smell of the pack members was over-whelming. It was like a wall of sheer masculinity, blood, and sweat smacked me right in the face. The cells usually smelt like a farmers market – an array of different pack scents scattered behind iron bars. But when the cell guards came, we all knew.

Immediately people began to scatter into formation, preparing for their arrival. Everyone handled the cell guards different. Usually the more dominant males liked to stir up some trouble and fight with them. They would come to the front of the cell and yell at them – anything really to get a rise out of them. Most people, though, tried to hide in the cells.

Gwen and I always try to act small. It isn't hard for me. I am an Omega. But for Gwen, I knew deep down it bothered her. To be a Beta's daughters, living in filth and having cell guards who were apart of the pack who killed her parents treating her like trash was sheer torture.

I think if she ever had the opportunity, she would rip the nearest wolves head off their shoulder no matter what the repercussions were.

"Look at them – dirty little animals in cages." One of the pack wolves growled as they began to come down the hallway.

They weren't wrong. We were in some form animals. I mean we all are – we're werewolves, you idiots. And yeah, we are dirty. Sorry to disappoint but the facilities in the cells aren't up to par.

"Disgusting."

"Why do we even keep them around?" One of them hissed, throwing scraps of bread into random cells.

A loaf of soggy bread was thrown into our cell as they passed us. Gwen was quick to leap from her spot next to me and snag it. She tore of a third of the bread before graciously tossing it to girl in the other corner of her cell. She didn't talk much but I think her name was Mary.

I watched as Gwen then split her piece in half, silently pushing the piece of bread into my lap. I squeeze Gwen's arm in gratitude again as she came back to her spot next to me. I would properly thank her once the guards were gone – I didn't like to speak while they were here.

The first guard who spoke laughed, carelessly tossing bread into cells. "Oh, you know why we have 'em. Alpha Benji just loves his toys, doesn't he?"

"Don't speak about the Alpha like that. You'll be living it up in here with them if you aren't careful with your words." The second one said, nodding his head in the direction of the cells that surrounded them.

"Living in the cells?" The one who asked the question snorted, shaking his head. "Yeah right. You'd be lucky if that was your punishment. I reckon Alpha would have your head for talking about him like that."

The first guy seemed bothered by the way his fellow guards berated him, huffing as he threw the last of his bread into a random cell. It was clear they were ignoring certain cells that held prisoners they specifically didn't like as much inside. "Will you both just shut up? He isn't here to hear it, so we can just leave it as that." He hissed.

All the talk about the Alpha made my body tense. It brought me back to the night of the attack. That was probably the closest I had ever gotten to the Alpha. He never came down here to see us. If there was ever someone in the cells he wanted, he just had them dragged up to him.

They never came back.

I hope to never be so misfortunate to meet Alpha Benji faceto-face. I'd rather rot in the cells than see the devil himself.

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"What was your pack like?"

Gwen and I were laying on our backs, staring up at the concrete ceiling pretending like it was the night sky. Her voice was soft, considering how late it was but there was still murmur amongst the cells. It never completely quiet here.

"It was nice." I smiled slightly, recalling fonder memories of my pack. "It's kind of ironic. I used to always say I wanted to leave and find a different pack – one where I would fit in better. But, now that my pack is gone...I miss it."

"Why would you want to leave your pack?" She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, turning her body more inward to look at me. "I've never heard anything bad about your pack."

"My pack wasn't bad, it's just –" I hesitated slightly, trying to figure out the best way to word my feelings. "It's hard to explain. Being an Omega is tough I think no matter what pack you belong to. You're just at the bottom of the food chain no matter what."

Gwen was silent but she nodded, taking in my words.

Before this all happened, we must have had such different lives. She was a Beta's daughter. She was a leader in her pack. Her family was wealthy, well-respected, and adored throughout her pack. I'm an Omega – I can count the amount of times I've been able to shift on one hand. I lived in the pack house and helped take care of the younger children to give back to the pack. My father had died in a land dispute when I was a little girl and my mother couldn't bear to live without her mate.

But we both ended up here.

The silence was eating at my thoughts and I didn't like it. "What was your favorite part about your pack?"

Almost immediately, Gwen's lips curled upward into a smile. "The Sunday dinners. Oh, gosh, what I would do for just one more." She wrapped her arms around her body, squeezing herself in a hug. "It was a tradition to eat together as a pack on Sundays and have a weekly pack council meeting. Alpha Xander insisted that it helped unify us as a family." "Your old Alpha sounds lovely." I commented.

"He's still my Alpha." Gwen's voice lowered when she responded, but her tone was strong. "I don't care what they tell us. That disgusting man is not my Alpha."

She didn't need to say his name for me to know who she was talking about.

I wrapped my arm around her, squeezing her in a reassuring hug. I don't know who it was more for – her or me. "He's not my Alpha either," I whispered in agreement, careful to keep my voice lower than Gwen's.

Gwen and I talked quietly for a few more minutes, recalling childhood stories of our pack that we had taken advantage of in the moment. We didn't realize we were living some of our favorite moments already. Gwen told me about the first time she climbed a tree and broke her arm falling. I told her how one of the pack children threw up on me on my birthday and made me cry.

We always did this. Talk into the wee bits of the night, telling old stories and acting like we were just two normal friends at a sleepover. It was the only way I could manage to keep my sanity in check. I liked to pretend that instead of sleeping on dirty concrete floors, that Gwen and I were just cuddled on the floor of our rooms hiding underneath the covers. That we were just two normal friends who couldn't help but gossip all night and go to bed when the sun starts to rise.

It helped me deal with the nightmare I was currently living in.

"I'm exhausted, Ari." Gwen yawned, rolling slightly away from me. "Goodnight."

I tucked my arms underneath my head, creating a makeshift pillow. "Night, G."

I closed my eyes, hoping like I always did that I would wake up from this nightmare soon.