I never knew what a cold sweat was until that moment. I thought I experienced it when I was examined to determine what breeder level I’d be, but no. That was nothing compared to this. Sweat descended slowly down the back of my neck, damp the curly wisps at the hairline. From there, it traveled down my spine, trickling slowly like a lazy rain drop on a window.
I had to say something. The longer I stayed silent, the more his smiled curled into a knowing grin. I licked my bottom lip before saying, “I guess…I guess you’ll find out in three days.”
My eyes stayed on his face even as he toyed with me, flicking his gun between both hands as if he was playing hot potato. He finally stopped and holstered his weapon.
“This should bring you peace of mind.” I raised an eyebrow in confusion. “You’ve met your potential executor face-to-face. You should be comforted knowing that I will be the one to pull the trigger if you’re not a pure bred wolf. It’s as the saying goes, ‘You rather the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”
“I rather not associate with devils.”
“You don’t have that luxury when you live in Hell.”
Judge Jackson was wrong. He wasn’t a devil. He was the Devil because there was no other reason why he would taunt me the way he does. He’s a cat and I’m a mouse trapped by him that he will toy with until he became bored and finally put me out of my misery. Chances were I wasn’t a purebred wolf–all the signs were there. And because of that, I have to live the next three days in unspeakable fear and anticipation that anchored in my heart. It wouldn’t move, sway, and it couldn’t be prayed away. Comfort in my final days would come to me. The only comfort I’d receive was when I took my last breath and the lights dimmed behind my eyelids.
The elevator doors slid open and I didn’t hesitate to run past him. I didn’t stop until I arrived in my room. I slammed and locked the door behind me–locking myself away from the psycho with the piercing blue eyes and murderous threats.
My back hit the door and slid to the floor in defeat. With my time ticking down, I only had two options if I want to stay alive; avoid Judge Jackson at all cost or escape Eden. Escaping would prove difficult. The exits to Eden always changed and I wouldn’t be prepared for the outside world. The best opportunity I had to escape was two days from now when a feast was thrown for the girls before Judgment Day. Sadistically, the elders called the dinner The Last Supper.
At that point, the only being I could put my faith and trust in was the Moon Goddess. If she allowed me safe passage and haven from Eden, then it was my fate to live, but if I was caught, then it was her will that I died. As long as I wasn’t sent to be a breeding machine then I could accept death. But I wouldn’t accept it without a fight.
***
I stared at myself blankly in the mirror as I tied the white bonnet to my head. I managed to tie the satin laces into the perfect bow. Supervisor Rachel would be proud of me. The white bonnets disgusted me, reminding me of the baby bonnets they put on children when they were born. It was unsettling. The Supervisors assured us that the white bonnets represented purity and new beginnings, along with the white dresses we were forced to don for The Selection. It was time; our 18th birthdays.
If our white attire represents purity and new beginnings, then what do their black bonnets and dresses represent? The only logical answer is death.
Although the supervisors fed us soothing words about the symbolism of The Selection, it did very little to assuage our growing fear. We were lambs being sent to slaughter. We were cursed to symbolically die by leaving Eden and being filled with a man’s seed or we were cursed to physically “bite the bullet.”
A red light pulsed above my door, signaling that we were to gather in the hallway. I glanced at myself a final time before filing out of my pen to join all the other little lambs in the hall. We were forced to line up according to our breeder sequence. I closed my eyes and shook my head as I ventured to the back of the line. The girls in Breeder Group A were giggling like school girls, spinning around and watching the long white skirt twirl around them. They were sick in the head–numb to the reality of their situation. Or, perhaps, they chose to make the best of their situation. Yes, they were subjected to being animals but there was a pot of gold at the end of their rainbow–literally.
I passed the Breeder Group B girls and they were a little more demure in their behavior–chattering softly to their group mates and not drawing attention to themselves. They were more grounded than all of us. They had accepted their fate, and knew they had to make the best of their situation. Then there was me in the back of the line, so far out of touch from reality with what some might call delusions of grandeur.
“Girls, listen up,” Supervisor Rachel said, herding us lambs to attention. “Before dinner, we will be making a pit stop. There will be no dilly-dallying. Supervisor Sarah, please supervise the back of the line. We don’t want to have anyone getting lost,” she said, staring directly at me.
“Agreed. We don’t want a repeat from earlier,” Supervisor Sarah growled, taking a spot beside me. She gave me a knowing look. Instead of responding, I faced forward and stared at the bonnet in front of me.
“Let’s go, my little darlings. A lady is never tardy.”
We approached what I assumed was a large room due to the ornate looming double doors that secured it. It was a heavy wood door with gold leafing for decor. Whoever was behind the door had to be important. I’d notice the door once before and took note of it. But by the time I passed the same location again, it was gone in the labyrinth known as Eden. I curse the individuals responsible for designing Eden. The doors cracked out open, creaking as it split in front of us. My anxiety was already sky high because we had no idea what waited for us on the otherside. What if they had been lying to us this whole time and our 18th birthday was actually today instead of tomorrow. I could see them justifying their treachery by telling us that they didn’t want to be cruel and wanted to put us out of the misery of waiting another day to discover our fate. I wouldn’t put it past them. We were herded in–our slippered feet barely making a sound louder than a whisper as we filed in one-by-one behind
I looked down at myself in a panic. I felt around my body, searching for a hole, searching for crimson blood. Nothing.Judge Jackson stood to my left. He was so close that it was impossible to tell where I started and he began. I turned, and my theory was confirmed when my lips grazed his cheek. He smiled at me genuinely, forcing my heart to play hopscotch in my chest. Gunshots continued to erupt around me, followed my the deafening drop of bodies, yet, none of those bullets struck me. “Why? Why am I still alive?” I whispered.Judge Jackson straightened to his full height and left my side to assess the death and destruction. I stayed in place but did the same, observing my dead sisters that laid on the floor. Some of them were clearly mutations. One of the girls, Mariah, had a wing sprouting out of her back. Another girl, Tamara, grew an extra eye in the middle of her forehead. Other girls appeared normal, and I suspected they didn’t have wolves like me.But if that’s the case, then
I shifted on my feet as the lengthy mating selection commenced. I’d since learned the men who were mask were from nobility and high-ranking status. As one might believe, they mostly chose Breeders from Group A. Some selected girls from Group B, but I silently rejoiced in the fact that they would never pick me. One of the masked wolves strolled back and forth between Breeder Group A and Breeder Group B. He reminded me of an apex predator who was on the prowl for his next prey. He stood tall and statuesque with bulking muscles that strained against his uniform top. Surely he’d pick a Breeder from Group A. They were guaranteed to produce pure and healthy offspring. A pair of boots landed in front of me. My eyes slowly slid up and connected with dark pools of malice. The girls in the other groups gasped and started to whisper loudly to each other about the noble’s uncanny interest in me. “Quiet!” Regulator Monroe yelled, reminding us that we were to remain silent. The noble wolf reach
My nose wrinkled and at the disheveled and unkempt male in front of me.He was older with a beer belly. His beard was patchy and he had a stain on the front of his shirt that didn’t look recent. His teeth were enough to give me nightmares for the rest of my life.It was obvious this wolf didn’t care about his hygiene and appearance. My mind was trying to process how he felt comfortable presenting himself in front of noble and high-ranking officials as he was. If he didn’t care enough about himself and reputation, then he surely wouldn’t care about me. The thought of having to lay down with the man and producing a child was revolting. I could barely stand being a few feet in front of him, let alone have him between my legs and laying on top of me. The smell of alcohol was overwhelming, forcing me to take a step back from him. This can’t be my life. I’ll gladly take a bullet before I let this man choose me! They love to tell us that we don’t have a choice, but that’s not true. There’s
The room fell deathly silent after Judge Jackson’s stunning and unbelievable proclamation.I watched as others turned to each other in silent confusion. Silently asking with their eyes, “Did that really happen?”I couldn’t blame them. I was asking myself the same thing. Regulator Monroe’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly until he threw his hands up in resignation. I heard him mutter under his breath before he returned to the stage, “My job here is done.”“Wait! I chose her!” Beer Belly exclaimed as he climbed to his feet. Judge Jackson shoved his gun in the disgusting man’s face.“You might want to sit this one out.”The foul man clicked his teeth together in frustration. You could see it in his eyes. He was powerless against Judge Jackson, but if he had a chance to pay him back for humiliating him, then he would.“Never mind. You can have her. She won’t be of any use to me. I doubt she’d even be a good lay. She seems like the whiny type.”Judge Jackson narrowed his eyes and gave t
An hour later we pulled into what I could only describe as a compound. My cheeks were still flushed from Judge Jackson’s indecent proposal and I didn’t dare look in his direction knowing he had a teasing smirk on his face. “We’ve arrived. Get out of the limo.” Defiantly, I stayed. “I’m more than certain I received a defective breeder.”My body stiffened.Has he figured me out during our drive to his compound? Will I be eating a bullet soon?“W-why do you say that?”“Because the young women are supposed to be meek and obedient, and you are the exact opposite.” I relaxed slightly once I realized he wasn’t talking about my missing wolf. “Imani, it has been a long day, and I’m ready to lay my head down for the night. Don’t you desire that as well? A hot bath, a hearty meal, and a warm bed that’s big enough for more than just one?”Now that he mentions it…“Good, girl,” Judge Jackson praised sarcastically once my feet touch the ground. “Follow me, and don’t fall behind.”As I followed him
[Judge Jackson]Killing.It seemed like the only thing I knew these days.Murdering was so ingrained and woven in my life that I wondered if I could live without it. I killed so often that they called me The Exterminator behind my back.Could I go cold turkey without spilling blood, or would I go mad in a blood-lust frenzy, killing every creature in sight?I didn’t particularly enjoy killing, but I understood how crucial it was to protect purebred wolves for the continuation of our species. I’d killed so many wolves since becoming a judge that I lost count. I couldn’t tell you the number of children that never saw adulthood because of me. Or the number of teenagers and elderly that were executed because they weren’t purebred wolves or they randomly mutated.The random mutations were alarming, and was something that even our greatest doctors couldn’t determine why it was happening.It had the elders on high alert and because of the expertise needed to handle a sensitive situation, I wa
ImaniThe thought of visiting a prison with Judge Jackson rattled me.I could see him locking me up in a cell and throwing away a key. I couldn’t go to prison. I lived 18 years in prison and refuse to go back. I ran to the door and attempted to open it, but couldn’t.I hadn’t noticed when we entered the cabin that there was not only a combination lock, but a keypad that appeared to require five numbers in order to unlock the door from the inside. I entered a few sets of numbers and was denied each time. Truthfully, I didn’t know what I expected. Did I really think I would randomly guess the numbers? That was a fat chance. I tried once more. My eyes widened when I received a message that there were too many passwords attempts and the door would remain locked for thirty minutes. I beat the door with my closed fists and screamed for help until my hands were sore and my voice was hoarse. I stopped once I realized Judge Jackson’s cabin was deep in the woods away from the packhouse. There
JacksonMy fingers clenched around the steering wheel as I drove to the prison. I’d been anxious since Imani rejected me earlier when I proposed marking her, and my anxiety shot through the roof when Andrew swaggered into my office with his shit-eating grin.I hated Andrew–always had. He offered nothing to bettering our society. If anything, he made it significantly worst by injecting his arrogance and cruelness like a noxious fume. He’d been cruel since he was a child in Oasis. Some might say Oasis made him that way, but I knew better. He was born unapologetically evil and that evil festered like a puss-filled wound. Andrew was a coward and resigned to being a noble who could skate by and live his life untouched behind his gilded gates. I didn’t hold a disdain towards nobles–I came from the same noble bloodline as him; however, I looked down on those who felt the rules didn’t apply to them and that the world owed them for simply breathing. They dressed to the nines for their fancy
JacksonI was about to shut down for the day when the door to my office flung open and the last person I’d hoped to see strolled in like he owned the fucking place. I held back a sigh and glanced at my watch. Who the hell let him out of confinement?“You don’t look thrilled to see me,” Andrew said. I stared at him and my lip curled in disgust when he sat his uninvited ass in an arm chair. “I’m sure you received the same reaction from your breeder,” I quipped. “Fuck you!” my brother barked, turning red in anger. I watched unimpressed as he attempted to restrain himself from shifting. His claws digging into the arms of the chair proved he was doing a horrible job. “I lost my breeder because of you!” he spat.“Correction, you lost your breeder because of you. The courts determined that your actions and long-term abuse physical and emotional abuse to your breeder was so egregious that she could no longer remain in your care.” I leaned across the desk. “Do you know how much of a sick mo
Imani“Imani? Can you hand me three of the 100 milliliter syringes?” Dr. Hemsworth requested. I turned around and collided with the metal tray that held the syringes and nearly toppled the tray and its contents over. Thankfully, I righted the tray at the last minute. “My word. Is everything okay, Imani?”“I-I’m fine,” I rushed out.I’m not fine. Jackson offered to mark me!I never responded to him–at least not verbally. Jackson offered to mark me and I ran out of his office like a bat out of hell, and didn’t leave my bedroom until it was time for him to drive me to the prison.We remained silent during the car ride, and the hard set of his jaw made me believe he took my fleeing as rejection, but that wasn’t the case. Marking between male wolves and their breeders was…unheard of.Many generations ago, it was a normal rite of passage for mated couples to mark each other. But due to the war with the humans and the declining wolf population, marking was a ritual that was no longer practi
Imani“Because I leave in a few days for a mission.”I dropped the plate I was washing in the sink. “What did you say?”“I must leave for a recon mission in a few days. I’ll be living amongst the foul beasts.” My brows crinkled in confusion. “The humans?”“Precisely,” he confirmed. “But that’s dangerous. You can’t go,” I protested. “It’s my job, Imani.”“I’m coming with you,” I said without thinking. Deep laughter rumbled from Jackson, and I couldn’t blame him. My suggestion was asinine, but I was desperate. What if he didn’t return?“I’m afraid that’s not feasible, Imani.”“What do you have to do on this mission?” I asked, following him out of the kitchen to his office. “Did I forget to mention that it was a top secret mission?” he said, teasing me because he knew it would get under my skin.“Can you be serious?” I asked in frustration. He eyed me cautiously as he sat in his office chair. I stood in front of his desk and glared at him until he motioned for me to sit in the chair
JacksonI growled at the screen as I turned the pancakes in the pan. I was on the sixth episode of Bleed With Me, and I was cursing every single second of enjoyment I gained from the sordid show. “Screw her for introducing me to this show,” I grumbled. “And screw King Westin for intentionally sending the prince on a wild goose chase. I swear to–”“Good morning,” Imani greeted breezily as she entered the kitchen. I fumbled with my cell phone and nearly dropped it in pancake batter. I caught it before I faced an early-morning crisis and shut off the show before she could figure out what I was up to. “Are you okay?” she questioned as she approached the coffee maker. “I’m fine.”“You don’t look fine.”“I look better than you,” I teased lightly, smoothing down her curls that had tangled from her wild sleeping.“Ouch,” she commented with a roll of her eyes as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “I should be saying that. Is there a reason you sleep so violently?”“I think it has something
Imani“Here…put this on,” Jackson said, offering me one of his shirts. I accepted it without hesitation and pulled it over my head. I wasn’t surprised when the shirt swallowed me whole and stopped at my knees.“Would you like a late-night treat?”My interests piqued. He’s being so…nice. I hope Nice Jackson is here to stay. I don’t know how I’ll feel if he turns into an asshole again. Especially with how far we’ve come. He snapped his fingers, drawing me back to the conversation we were having. “Um…yes, I would like a treat.”He nodded. “I’ll be back shortly.”Jackson left and I returned to my bedroom to retrieve my laptop and headphones. I’d started the next episode of Bleed With Me while I waited for his return. I was so immersed in the show that I hadn’t noticed his return ten minutes later. Strong fingers tapped my shoulder and I was surprised to find Jackson hovering above me with two steaming mugs in his hands. I removed the headphones and apologized. “Too much television can
Imani“I need more, Jack.”The words had tumbled out of my mouth faster than I could have ever imagined. I was past pretending–past shame and embarrassment. I needed Jackson, and I’d worry about how our dynamics would change in the morning. He kissed me again, and the smoldering fire in my belly turned into a raging inferno. I fell back against the pillows and my legs parted instinctually. “Your wish is my command,” he whispered against my lips.I sharply inhaled when his fingers ran between my folds. My legs trembled around his thick body and he grinned wolfishly. “So sensitive, Little Lamb. And so wet. Let me show you.”He raised his fingers in the darkness of the room that was bathed by the moonlight. His fingers glinted with my arousal for him. My jaw slackened when he eased a dripping finger toward his mouth. His pink tongue slid out for a taste while the anticipation was killing me. My hips rolled–searching for contact. I whimpered when my clit scraped across the front of his
Jackson“You wanted me to hear you, Little Lamb. So…here I am.”“It was an accident,” she tried arguing, pulling the sheet tight around her. I inhaled deeply and released a shuddered growl. My wolf, Rowan, threatened to make an appearance–the need to mate was enough to bring him out of hibernation. “This was no accident, Little Lamb; you wanted me to hear you.” She shook her head furiously. I grinned. “I knew you were in heat since the moment I opened my eyes this morning.”“You…you did?”“I did,” I replied painfully, trying to concentrate on not losing myself to my primal side–the side that wanted to consume her, uncaring of her comfort or pleasure.She has no idea how difficult it was riding in a vehicle with her!“Why didn’t you say anything?” she questioned. It took me several seconds to reply because my eyes were transfixed on her hard nipples poking through the thin sheet that hid her body from me. “Because…I wanted to see how how long you’d go before asking for help, and you
ImaniMy top teeth drove into my bottom lip as the vampire lovers passionately kissed on the screen. My throat felt tight and dry as the raw passion between the forbidden couple from warring covens intensified. I snatched my champagne glass off the coffee table and guzzled it down, hoping it would provide relief. Instead, the room seemed to become warmer and it felt harder to breathe.Truthfully, I’d been warm since I stepped into Judge Max and Mary’s residence. I was grateful when Jackson removed my coat because I was sweltering. I didn’t say anything about the temperature in the home because we were guests and I didn’t want to be difficult.But now I feel like I’m on fire.My mouth gaped when the male lead crammed his face between the female lead’s legs. She writhed on the bed, moaning and twisting her fingers in the black satin sheets.“Are you okay, Imani?” Mary asked, pausing the show. “I-I’m fine,” I stuttered. I snatched my eyes away from the screen and focused on my lap. “Yo