2: Packaged and Delivvered

                I knew it was futile, but I kept trying to go after him anyway. The grip of 12 large hands held me firmly in place, no matter how hard I tried to break free of their grasp. I’d already burned through most of the adrenalin that had fueled my earlier success, and without it, there was no hope for me. Eventually my body sagged in their hold, defeated.

                “Let’s try to get this done and over with quickly lads,” Nathan dropped the small duffle bag he’d been carrying onto the floor beside me. Kneeling in front of me I finally got a decent look at him so that I could commit his face to memory; I still owed him one for slapping me.

                The Beta was a few inches shorter than his Alpha, but still taller than me. I’d had a hard time seeing his face as he stood off to my side and I was preoccupied. He had dark brown hair, cut very short on the back and sides, but long enough on top for it to curl a little. He looked me over with big, brown eyes the color of dark honey. His lips were drawn tight as he frowned at me. His jaw line was still strong, but not as square as the Alpha’s and it was covered with a thin, neatly trimmed beard, barely more than day old scruff. Naturally, his tee shirt was stretched tightly over his own muscular chest, shoulders and arms. None of it would stop me from repaying him someday.

                 He pulled a leather strap with a small red ball from the bag. Oh hell no! I rallied what strength I had left and struggled to slip from their grasp. “Hold her still, damn it!” The 6 enforcers holding me tightened their grip; one moving to hold my head in place this time as their Beta pressed the red ball to my lips. I clamped my mouth shut.

                Laughing, he used his free hand to pinch my nose shut, cutting off my air supply. I could hold my breath for a long time, but eventually my lungs began to burn for more air. My mouth gapped open sucking in air. The red plastic ball fit snugly between my teeth and the strap was quickly fastened behind my head.

                “Now,” he drawled with a grin that sent a shiver down my spine, “for the fun part.” He pulled a small switch blade out of his pocket. My heart jumped into my throat and my eyes grew wide. There was a round of laughter from all of them. “Hold her arms out,” he instructed with a grunt.

                My arms were pulled out to the sides like a cross. Using the blade, he sliced through the shoulders and sides of the cotton shirt, the fabric falling away to leave me in my bra. At least it wasn’t one of my lacey ones; I did my best to glare at him anyway. “Lay her out,” he gestured at the floor.

                They pushed me forward and down onto my stomach, one kneeling on my back to hold me firmly in place. Eye level with the bag now, I could see coils of red rope before it was pulled out. “Bring her arms back,” he ordered, unwinding the rope. I tried to struggle, but their grip was firm, plus the weight of their bodies over mine gave them more leverage. My arms were pulled straight back behind me allowing him to loop some rope around my wrists. It was a shock how fast he looped the rope around my arms while he tied a series of knots up the length of them, it felt like a ladder formation. Most of the hands let go when he’d finished, knowing my range of motion had been diminished.

                “Almost done,” he smiled down at me. My ankles were yanked apart as he moved around to kneel beside me. The cold steel of the knife against my skin froze all my muscles in place. Gliding it along the side of my leg, the blade slid up to my waist, slicing through the denim as if it was made of paper, but it didn’t feel like he’d cut me. He made a second cut along my other leg, peeling the ruined jeans from me like a banana peel.

                With another length of rope, he looped and tied more knots up around my legs, securing them together. When he was finished, I laid there in my parents’ living room, gagged and wrapped up in rope like a mummy. The best I could do now was flop on the floor like a fish out of water. Completely helpless, every hand removed itself from me.

                “Blake,” he stood up to issue more orders, “pack her up and wait for us to finish up here. You’ll drive us back. The rest of you head back to the pack house and let our Luna know that we’ve collected our guest and that we’ll be returning home soon. Do not retire for the night,” he looked me over with a frown, “I’m sure the Alpha will want to take inventory tonight.”

                There was a chorus of “Yes Beta!” from all of them before they started filing out of the house. All but one, I assumed he must be Blake. He wasn’t quite a pile of muscles like the rest of them. He still looked strong, but he was built leaner than the rest of them. His hair cut was similar to his Beta’s, a little longer on top, but his dark brown curls were much tighter. His mocha face schooled into an expressionless mask, except his eyes. He looked down at me with big, dark brown, sad eyes. He picked me up off the floor and tossed me over his shoulder like a rolled rug, my legs held to his chest as he carried me while my hair swept from side to side with each step he took.

                I could see Nathan gathering up the scraps of my clothes, tossing them into the duffle bag while I was carried away. He was even straightening up the room to erase all the signs of a struggle. Last thing I saw as we stepped out the door was him wiping the blood off the floor from where it’d dripped down his Alpha’s fingers. I hated him too.

                Goose bumps formed everywhere the cold night air kissed my skin the moment we stepped outside. The sound of car doors shutting and engines roaring to life echoed all around us as the rest of the enforcers followed their orders to leave. I was shivering in the few short seconds it took for us to make our way to the last black SUV left parked in front of my childhood home. “I’ll get you a blanket to keep warm while we wait,” he promised with a gentle whisper, moving to open the back hatch.

                He swung me back over his shoulder like a rag doll, cradling me in his arms awkwardly as he maneuvered me into the back of the car. True to his word, he wrapped a blanket around me, tucking it around me until I looked like a burrito. He even folded a second blanket and set it under my head like a pillow. I was as comfortable as you could be, if you didn’t mind being trussed up and tossed in the back of a stranger’s car with a plastic ball in your mouth. If it wasn’t for that damn little ball, my teeth would have been chattering.

                “I’ll get the heat going,” he tried to give a warm smile as he closed up the back of the car. After starting the engine and cranking the heat on, he stood guard outside, leaning against the side of the car, just within my field of vision out the window. He folded his arms over his chest, glancing to the left and right every so often like he was assessing possible threats. I wondered what our neighbors would think if they looked out their window to see him standing beside a running vehicle, wearing just a pair of jeans and a tee shirt this late on a winter’s night.

                The ropes weren’t exactly tight, but they did hold firm, just enough give to let me wiggle and roll from side to side. I gave up on loosening them quicker than I’d like to admit. If I moved in one direction or the other too far, cold air seeped in under the blanket, replacing some of the body heat trapped within. The car’s heat was taking forever to make its way to the back of the vehicle, and I preferred not to be shaking like a leaf in the wind.

                Even if I got myself loose, what was I supposed to do next? If I was lucky, I’d be able to land a blow before they knew what was happening. But it was painfully clear that I lacked the strength and training needed to get the best of them before getting tackled again. Blake was just one wolf at the moment, but I couldn’t run anywhere that he couldn’t sniff me out. Beyond the pack’s boundaries, I’d be considered a rogue anyway. If I stumbled onto another pack’s territory, they’d be more likely to kill me, than grant me any kind of sanctuary.

                Frustrated and with no one to direct my anger at, and no chance at formulating a workable escape plan, I laid back, staring up at the roof of the car. I could turn my head and watch Blake as he continued to stand guard and scan the empty street, memorizing the timing of each of his head turns.

                As soon as the car had reached a comfortable temperature, Blake moved and held a door open. He waited until the Alpha and Beta were fully seated before closing the door and moving around to the driver side and slipping in behind the wheel. It was a long quiet ride, an occasional chuckle or “hmm” coming from the men in the backseat, clearly using the pack’s mind link to have a privet conversation between them. I did my best to ignore them, choosing to watch the empty limbs of trees pass by through the window as we drove.

                “Welcome home pet,” Dmitri crooned as the blanket was yanked off unceremoniously letting the icy air hit me all at once, shocking me awake. His fingertip traced along one of the loops of rope wrapped around my legs. I tried to pull myself out of his reach, but I could only manage to wiggle like a worm on a hook. “Bring her to the smaller office,” he chuckled. “I’ll take inventory in there, but let’s make sure we keep it short, I have plans tonight.”

                “Of course Alpha,” Nathan replied, “Would you like a full audience?”

                “Just the mated enforcers for tonight,” he tilted his head to look at me thoughtfully. “Too many new faces might rile her back up, and as much as I enjoy watching her spirited attempts, it’s already late and Sophie is probably worried.” Patting my thigh, he turned and walked up the stairs, into the house.