Angela POV
I awake with a pounding headache. My vision is blurry. I try to focus, but everything is blurred. "Angela, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Deanne cries out. She grabs me and holds me tightly. It feels so good to be with her again. I look around the room, trying to see where I am and what the hell is happening here. I cannot get my eyes to focus on anything, not even Deanne.
"What the hell are you doing here? And why were you with Alpha?" she asks me.
"I was looking for you. I went to the bar and tried to find someone to tell me what happened to you. Alpha came into the bar and offered to bring me to you," I answer her.
Angela looks me over. I swat at her. "What the hell are you doing?" I ask her.
"I am checking to see if they marked you yet," Angela says.
"Marked me for what?" I ask.
"Ladies!" A loud growl comes from the front of our cabin.
"Get to your feet fast," Deanne says. Deanne helps me stand up and wait for the grumbling wolf to walk by all of us. He looks at each of us. I wonder how many women are here.
"You..... you..... you..... and you," he says, pointing at different women. He stops in front of me. He grabs me by the chin and pushes me down. "Not you..... at least not yet," he says as he walks away. He keeps walking through the room, picking women.
He finally takes the women he chooses. He ushers them out of the cabin and leaves the cabin with them. I grab Deanne by the arm. I pull her down to me so I can whisper into her ear. "What the hell is going on here?" I ask her.
"Come on," she says, pulling me to the back of the cottage.
I follow her. We walk past the other scared women until we get to the back bunk. There is a long row of beds. She leads me over to her bed. She sits down, and I sit down on her bed with her. "I do not know what is going on here, not really. I was drugged and brought here that night I went on a date with Archie. He was nice, but he took me for a drive, and now I am here. I woke up with a headache and a dog collar around my neck," she says, pulling her shirt down to show the collar around her neck.
I reach out and touch it, and it seems to have a tracking device or something. There is a light and something electronic blinking from the side of it. I touch my neck. I feel a collar. I open my mouth to scream, but Deanne places her hand over my mouth. "We do not have time to panic, Angela," Deanne says.
"What are they going to do with us?" I ask. The fear and reality of this situation are starting to overwhelm me. I cannot let the wolves win. I have to get the fuck out of here alive.
Deanne shrugs her shoulder and hangs her head. "I do not know. They have not touched us if that is what you are getting at. The wolves make us work. We cook and clean for them. I do not know what happens to the ones they come and take. You know the ones we never see again. I have heard stories about what happens, but I do not know for sure what happens to them. I just want to get out of here alive," Deanne says.
"We have to get the hell out of here. There has to be a way out of this hell," I say.
Deanne looks around the room at all the other women. "Don't you think we have all tried and failed? There is no way out. They watch us twenty-four hours a day. These things on our necks track our every move. If we did get out, guess what? They would be able to track us down," she says.
"There has to be a way out. There is no way this is how I am going to live the rest of my life," I say to her. I curl up in a ball on her bed and begin to sob. Deanne touches my back and rubs my back, trying to calm me.
"Everything will be okay. Just keep your head down and do what they tell you to do," she says, trying to soothe me, but I know it will not be okay. I cannot live like this. I cannot be someone's servant. I am in med school. I have my entire life planned out. I do not have time for this craziness.
"No one will come for us. They stopped looking for you. I was the only one looking for you," I sob.
"I know. The wolves told me no one would come. I bet Alpha lost it when you came into that bar looking for me," Deanne says.
"I did not back down from him either. I told him I was not afraid of him and that I would not stop until I found you," I say.
"I know you didn't. Don't try that here. The wolves will beat you. Don't be a hero. Just do whatever they tell you to do," Deanne says.
"I will," I say.
"No, you won't, but I warned you. That bastard Archie beat me the first week I was here. I finally stopped fighting. I cook, clean, hell I chop wood if they tell me to chop wood," Deanne says.
"I will try my best for you, Deanne," I say to her.
Deanne takes me into her arms and hugs me. A few of the other ladies come over to say hi. Before they can introduce themselves, the wolves are back. They are growling and screaming for us.
"That is Aspen, the dark-haired one, and Archie is the blonde-haired one. Archie is a real bastard. Maybe you will get paired with Aspen," Deanne says.
Aspen walks over to the cot. "You are with me today, Deanne, and bring your friend. I hear she has a smart mouth, and I do not want to watch Archie beat the shit out of her today," Aspen says. Aspen grabs a few more women as we make our way to the front door of the cabin. Archie is already yelling and making the other ladies cry.
"Don't look at them. They don't like it when you look at them. The wolves see it as disrespectful. Keep your eyes straight ahead," Deanne says.
I look at the ground. I cannot bear to see what is going on in the cabin. This hell cannot be my new life. I take Deanne's hand and hold it tightly as we follow Aspen.
We walk to another cabin. "Wait here," Aspen says. We wait while Aspen goes inside the cabin to get more women. Deanne squeezes my hand.
"It will be okay; just do what Aspen tells you to do, and you will get through this," she says.
I nod my head. Aspen returns with more women, and we continue walking cabin to cabin as he goes in and gets a handful of women from each cabin. How many women are here? I start looking around to see if I recognize any of them.
"I know what you are doing; stop it. You do not want any trouble from the wolves. Keep your head down and try to make it through the day," Deanne says to me.
The group of us finally make it to a massive house at the end of the row of cabins. "This is the Alpha's house," Deanne says.
I look up, and there he is, the bastard that got me. My mind and heart are full of rage. I want to stomp his ass. He walks over to me.
"You do not look as tough as you did last night, little girl," Alpha says to me.
"I am not your little girl, wolf," I say to him.
Alpha laughs at me. "You will not talk to me that way, little girl. You are lucky you did not get chosen. Maybe I will step it up and send you with the others," he says as he slaps me across the face.
"Stop, please," Deanne screams at Alpha.
Alpha grabs Deanne and pushes her to the ground. "Work them hard, Aspen," Alpha says, growling at the two of us as he walks away.
Aspen helps Deanne and me to our feet. "That was stupid. Are you trying to get killed on your first day here? Damn little girl, keep yourself in check, or Alpha will check you," Aspen says to me.
"I know, I am sorry," I say.
"I told you not to be a hothead, but you can't listen to anyone; you are going to cause us to end up at that awful place," Deanne begins and then stops without finishing her thought.
"What place?" I ask her.
"Don't worry about it, just do your work and keep your mouth shut," Aspen says. He takes me by the arm and leads me away from the group.
"Stop asking questions. You are going to get yourself killed on the first day. Listen to your friend, and you will survive," Aspen says.
"I am scared and confused, and no one will tell me what is going on around here," I say.
"I will explain everything to you; just go in the cottage and start cleaning, do the laundry, scrub something, just stay out of everyone's way," Aspen says.
I nod my head and run into the cottage behind the other women. I seemed to have managed to piss off everyone. Since no one is speaking to me for pissing the Alpha off, I walk around the cottage trying to find something to clean.
"You can go do the laundry; it is down the hall," Deanne says.
I walk down the hall and find the laundry room. There are piles of laundry everywhere. I start separating the laundry and working as fast as I can. It is hot, and it smells in here, but at least I am out of everyone's way.
I look up from the pile of laundry I am folding to see Deanne. She walks slowly into the laundry room. "I am not mad at you, but I did warn you. You cannot bark at the Alpha. You have to lay low. We need to do our work and fly under the radar until we figure out how to get out of here. For now, Angela, please, stop asking questions and just be obedient before you get yourself killed or worse," Deanne says.
"I cannot promise to behave, but I can promise to try," I say.
"That is all I ask. There is so much going on here. I want to get out of here alive and go home. Listen to me, please," Deanne says.
I do not say anything else. There really is no point in trying to plead my side of things. I came here to help her, and now I am trapped here with her. I have no idea what is going on, and no one will tell me.
Deanne helps me do the laundry in silence for the rest of the day. My friend no longer acts like a friend. She is different. What have they done to you? I look over at her. I want to smile and tell her we will be okay, but the truth is, I do not know what kind of shit show we are trapped in or how to get us out of it.
Aspen comes into the laundry room. "Let's go!" he yells at us. Deanne and I follow Aspen out of the cottage. This has been a horrible fucking day.
Angela POV I am exhausted when we get back to our cabin. Deanne still is acting strangely toward me. I try to stay out of her way when we go into the cabin. I look around for a cot to sleep on and finally decide on one close to the window and away from her and the other women. I came here to help her, and now it seems she may not have needed my help after all. "There is a cot next to me," Deanne calls to me. She points at a cot next to her. Something about the look on her face and the others: I do not think they want me around them. "It is okay; I want to be close to the window," I say to her. "Well, do not try to open it. It is locked, and there are guards outside just waiting for one of us to try to make a run for it," Deanne says. The other women look at me in a disapproving manner. I said I was sorry, and I have tried to stay away from them for most of the day. Leave it to me to piss off everyone in one day. "I just want to be by t
Angela POV The next morning is much like the morning before, except this morning, Aspen comes straight to me first. I watch him walking over to me, smiling. It is a tad bit awkward, but in a way, it makes me hot. I should be thinking about things like that right now. "You, Angela, you are with me today, come on," he says as he points to me with his strange smile. That smile, wow. I follow him out of the cabin and down the steps. I glance back at Deanne. Archie chose her. She does not look happy. Aspen gathers a few more women, and we start walking toward the woods. Damn, my big mouth has gotten me in trouble this time; they are going to kill me or worse. As we walk toward the wooded area, Aspen makes his way close to me. "Are you scared? You are awfully quiet
Angela POV I get back to the cabin and go inside. I look around, but I do not see Deanne, only the girls I was with today and a few that went with another wolf. I wait for the other girls to take their showers, just like last night. I do not want to be in there with them. They are still acting strangely toward and I am sure the black eye I am sporting does not help the matter any. I wait patiently. I watch out the window while I wait. I see the wolves walking around, chatting and drinking beer. I watch the birds fly around free unlike me. I sit here on a cot with a collar around my neck. I am hoping Deanne comes back soon, so I can see her and maybe talk to her. She seems so different now. I am sure all of this has changed her. I want us to mend our friendship. All of the women come back to their cots and se
Aspen POVI walk with Angela, holding her hand. I have no idea why I am doing this. I should not be doing this. I should not be with her, and I damn sure should not be taking her for a day of fun instead of working her ass off as the Alpha instructed for her. She has really gotten under his skin, and if he ever finds out I have given her any special treatment, he will probably kill me."Where are you taking me, wolf?" Angela asks me."You know that is really rude," I say to her."What? Calling you wolf, well you are a wolf," Angela says to me."Yeah, well, it is rude, and I do not like it. It also really pisses the Alpha off when you do it to him," I tell her."I know. That is why I do it," Angela says with a smile.I stop walking. I look down into her eyes. "If you do not stop trying to piss him off, you are going to end up dead or worse," I say to her.She looks scared for a moment. "I am not afraid of him, Aspen. I am not af
Angela POVAspen and I walk back to the cabin. He is quiet as we walk back. He reaches over and touches my hand before we leave the woods. I look down at his big hand touching mine. I look up to him as he leans down to kiss me. His kiss is like a bolt of electricity jolting through my body. I moan as he kisses me."Don't do that; I will never take you back, and then we will both be in trouble," he says to me.I smile and bite my lip. He pulls me into his warm embrace, holding me for another moment before we leave the clearing. He releases me, and we walk out of the woods. He walks me back to my cabin. I go inside; the others are already in bed. I look for Deanne, but she is still not back.I go to the back to shower. I grab my towel and clothes. I rush back to the last shower, hoping to shower before the lights go out. I undress quickly. I get into the shower and let the warm water run over my body.As my hands wash my body, I think of him. Why in the hell d
Aspen POVI walk with Angela to the back part of our territory. I cannot lie; I am excited about having her to myself all night. "Have many cabins, is it and how dirty are they?" Angela asks me.I laugh. "Well, there are eight, and the cabins were filthy the last time Alpha was there, but they are all pretty clean now except for two of them. I can help you, and we will have the rest of the night to build a fire or whatever," I say to her."Why does Alpha think the cabins are dirty?" I ask."Because the cabins were, but I have been going up there working on them for a while at night when I was bored, but he does not need to know that," I say to her."Well, it looks like you saved me from some hard work, Aspen," Angela says."Yeah, it looks like you owe me big," I say to her.Angela smiles a huge joyous smile. "That looks good on you," I say."What?" Angela asks."That smile. You almost look happy," I say to her."It is hard to be happ
Angela POVAspen carries me into one of the cabins. I do not think this night can get any better. He lays me on the bed and takes me. The way he feels inside me as he pushes into me makes my body quiver.Our wonderful night turns into a nightmare quickly. Aspen is pulled off of me by Alpha. Archie told Alpha that something is going on between Aspen and me. Archie and another wolf back Aspen into a corner. I can hear them growling as I try to get away from the Alpha.He grabs me and pushes my legs apart as he prepares to take me. I kick, spit, scream and try to hit him. He is so much stronger than me. He slaps me hard across the face. I can hear Aspen struggling to get to me through the ringing in my ear.Alpha grabs me around the throat and begins to choke me. I cannot breathe. I feel him so close to me. "No!" I scream as he chokes me."Fuck!" Alpha screams and falls onto the bed. I wiggle out from under him and run out the door of the cabin. I grab my cloth
Angela POvI sit down to eat the meal the two men prepared for me. I push the food on the plate watching the two of them. I wonder what they are hiding from me. I watch them talking to each other and ignoring me. I want to know what the hell is going on, and I am about to lose it. They keep talking about the auctions and tracking the auctions. It is all going over my head."I feel really left out of this situation. Will one of you please explain all of this to me? " I ask. I throw my fork down on the plate in anger.The two stop talking and look at me and then go back to their conversation. So, I guess that is that. I get up from the table, mad as hell. I leave my plate and go to the front door. As I open the door, Aspen rushes up behind me, pushes the door shut, and looks at me in a disapproving manner."Where are you going, Angela? Are you not aware of how much danger lurks outside this door for you?" Aspen asks me."I do not know, but as far away from you