#Chapter 2 - Meet

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of a heavy battering ram erupts from the other side of the door.

Boom! Boom!

“Police! We’re coming in!” the shout from the outside.

Gamma fighters enter the building with their masks shielding their faces, while some block the exit to keep the traffickers in. Dressed in thick camo print with black vest containing Blue Moon crest embroidered on them, they take their stance and join the other police in the fight.

The traffickers don’t back down; instead, the present of the gammas seems to ignite their blood lust more. They flock in droves, and some are struck down before they can attack. Others have their arms jerked behind their backs as cuffs are snapped around their wrists.

Members of the bidding circle race around the room to avoid capture or death as bullets fly from both sides. Chairs lay haphazardly on the ground with abandoned tux jackets sprawled over them. Ladies pearl beads detach themselves from their strings and threaten to trip those fleeing. Captives crouch in the corners of their cages, hoping that soon everything will cease.

This scene unfolding should be more shocking than it is, but years of turbulence in the werewolf world have brought us here.

I sometimes have the twisted notion that my rejection of Ansel five years ago was the domino that started the effect of the slow process of salvation for our people.

Shortly after, his father staged a coup d'état and later replaced the old, incompetent alpha king. With his two sons by his side, they worked hard these past few years to fix what had been broken, but the damage had been already done by the years of the prior alpha’s rule. The distrust among packs has slowed progression.

No loyalty lies among packs as their members’ malnourished bodies crumble in the streets from lack of food. There is no thought of bearing cubs when poverty and poor living conditions force any virile wolves to the brink of madness. And those who remain sane do anything to hold on to it, even if it means sacrificing the good that they once were.

Constant disputes among the major packs allow for enemies like the vampires and bearmen to invade our borders. We face many battles that reveal, time after time, the consequences of our division. But the worst was born through the disintegration of our world.

Traffickers, drug dealers, and other criminals’ prey and profit on the desperation of others. Debt is accrued and those who can’t pay are forced to barter the things that mean the most to them.

Healthy female wolves and cubs are purchased against their will by the rich under the guise of doing what is needed for our world to survive extinction. And at the forefront is our alpha, Ansel, and his brother, trying to make things right.

Ansel's scent floats through the air again, bringing me back to the present. Ada picks up on it at the same time that I do and immediately goes into a frenzy.

“I told you! He’s here! Look! He really came to save us!” she shrieks, no longer caring about our bruises.

Watching the scene unfold, I put the pieces together.

“No Ada. I’m pretty sure that he’s here because he’s the leader of the gamma fighters sent here to capture the wolf dealers. I doubt he will notice us at all.”

“Yes he will!”

I ignore her. I don’t want to go down the path of this debate again. One thing that Ada was right about, however, was that I and the others were going to be rescued. I feel like I can finally let go of the breath I’d been holding in even amongst the turmoil of the surrounding screams.

I hear the click of the barrel of a gun and freeze. A gamma is pointing his pistol in my direction! His gloved hand tightens around the gun, and I close my eyes and brace myself, but a scream of agony makes my eyes shoot open.

“You fucking shot me in the arm!” the auctioneer yells. He raises his gun, but the gamma puts a bullet through his heart. His lifeless body slides down the bars of my cage, leaving crimson blood behind. The screams around me intensify.

“We need to get out of here,” I say to Ada, and she grunts in agreement.

I headbutt the iron cage and sink my teeth into the bars, but it doesn’t budge. I’m not strong enough, and as I peer up, my stomach drops. A bloody bullet is lodged in the lock of the cage, preventing it from opening.

”Dammit!” I shrill over the madness from the rage pouring through me. I try again by ramming my body against the door. “Open!” From my peripherals, I can see the traffickers who’d beaten me before hurrying to my cage. 

He’s seen me trying to escape, and swiftly, he grabs the leash of my collar and yanks. “Stop it!” he screams in my face. “I told you to stop being defiant!” He raises his hand, and the back of it strikes me hard against the face. I crumbled to the bottom of the cage and writhe in pain. He doesn’t get another chance to strike me as the bullet from another gamma’s gun pierces him in the back, killing him instantly.

My vision is blurry from the bruising forming around my eye, but I can still make out the sight of stalk blond hair that moves through the crowd.

Ansel?!

I gather my strength and trembly stand on my hind legs to get a better view. A man with an expensive fitted black suit and blond hair that begs to have fingers run through it returns my gaze. On the breast of his suit jack lies a Blue Moon embroidered crest that matches the gammas.

It was him, and like no time had passed, he still did a number on my heart.

Ansel remains planted firmly among all the chaos. His eyes stay fixed on mine as if we’re frozen in time. I part my lips, but the sting of a prick on my side strangles my words. There’s a click beside me, and looking down, I see an empty needle at my feet.

The room around me begins to spin and I sway back and forth in my cage. The drug courses through my body, and I can barely hear Ada’s whimpers as it affects her too. I collapse, and my breathing shallows as I feel the cage lift. Grunts and groans erupt from the dealer’s mouth as they band together to remove me.

The dead bodies and electric sparks from the guns fade as I’m carried from the building in my cell. Drops of rain cascade down to the top of my cage, leaving small thuds behind. I am placed inside a rusted truck. I can’t make out the people around me through their dirtied mask and stained clothing. They shake my cage to taunt me, and my head slumps back.

“W-were a-a-re y-you t-taking me?” I slur out, but I hear nothing but the roar or thunder and gunshots in the distance drawing closer. Then, as if some type of dream, cedar and gin permeates the air again.