Chapter 001

“Line up girls! the Alphas and their Beta’s will be here today to pick a bride or a slave. So pray to the moon goddess that you’ll get picked or that’s another year for you here!” Madam Claudia shouted, banging the baton on the cell bars.

“Who do you think will be here today?” Ruby, one of the girls in my room asked, happily pulling her dress over her head.

“I hope I get picked. Better to be a slave to one wolf than a whore to all.” Renee snorted. She was another girl in the room and my worst enemy.

“You! Get your scurry self here and clean my boots, at least one of us needs to be clean today,” she said, pointing to me.

I nodded, walking over to her bed and bending forward to grab her boots from under the bed.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Huh?” She screamed in my ear, pulling my hair back.

“Renee, you’re hurting me,” I whined, tears gathering in my eyes.

“ let her go Renee, madam Claudia will be back soon. She won’t like that.” Aria said, coming out of our shared bathroom with a towel wrapped around her chest.

Renee snorted in response, throwing my hair, “you little whore! Pray that I get picked or it’s going to

be hell for you.”

I let the tears in my eyes fall, picking up her boots and walking over to the window. It’s been six months since madam Claudia found me outside of the brothel where I worked as a waitress.

FLASHBACK:

“I’m going to get what I paid for!” One of the men screamed at Robb, banging his fist on the table.

“Astrid is not old enough to satisfy you.” Robb explained, pushing me behind him.

I was 19 but due to my small stature one could think I’m 14or fifteen which sometimes was a very big plus on my side, since it was frowned up here to have a young she wolf as a sex worker. You could get killed or rather banished and become a lone wolf and nobody wants that.

“Damn right she’s young! I saw her kissing the baker’s boy the other night. No child would do that.” The man sneered.

The baker’s boy was Sam, and I wasn’t kissing him. I was older than him and he was still yet to change into his wolf form and he was my only friend, so the night the man claimed to have seen me kissing him, I was only dusting away the floor from his head.

“That’s is a lie, Astrid would never,” Robb defended.

“Are you calling me a lier?” The man screamed, attention was being drawn to us as the murmurs grew in the bar.

“No sir, I never said you were a lier.” Robb said.

“I need your manager here immediately! If she is a child like you claim, then she shouldn’t be walking here at all.” The man said, picking his nose with his finger, “I’ll report this, then we’ll see how this brothel still stands by tomorrow.” I added walking out of the brothel.

“What are we going to do?” I whimpered still hiding behind Robb.

“We’ll be fine. Ryker will never believe him.” Robb said, ruffling my head, “now go up and shower, your shift starts soon.”

I nodded going up the stairs towards the room given to me and Robb by Ryker our boss. The room now belong to me since Robb had built a small shed for himself and his wife.

We came into town a year ago, with Robb pretending to be my father. We were both banished from our pack. I was said to have killed my mother during child birth, and my father the alpha remarried, eventually my step mother got fed up of me and made my father banish me. Better than killing me right?

I was sixteen when I left the pack, met Robb when I turned seventeen and ever since we’ve been together. He now have a wife and they are expecting their child, so they needed space.

“Astrid! Astrid! Get out here this instant!” Ryker shouted pounding on the door.

I opened the door, my hair still damp from the bath I just had.

“What am i hearing about you refusing a customer today?!” Ryker asked, his body visibly shaking with anger.

“He wanted me to go home with him and I refused, then he started causing a scene.” I said, looking down at my feet.

“And why wouldn’t you go home with him? Where do you think you are? Huh?!” Ryker gritted his teeth pulling my face up to meet his eyes.

“Wh…what?” I asked confused.

“This is a goddamn brothel Astrid! If he says he paid for your services then he did! So you have two choices now, either go home with him or leave here tonight!”

“Wh…what do you mean?” Fear starting to creep inside my body.

“ you heard me Astrid, you either leave with him tonight or you pack your things and leave this place for good.” Ryker sneered. “You have ten minutes.” He said and walked out.

I don’t know how long I stood with my damp hair dripping water to my face. But in the next minute I was thrown outside into the rain with the one bag of clothes I had to my name.

Robb watched as I was being thrown out, pain and anger written on his face. He couldn’t do anything and I didn’t blame him, he had his wife and unborn child to think off.

“Stay by the bakery everyday, I’ll get food to you.” He said, giving me a bag of food Alice, his wife had packed for me. They lived in a small shed behind the brothel, even after many pleas by Alice I couldn’t possibly inconvenience them with me living with them.

“I’ll be fine Robb.” I smiled, the rain poring down my face.

I gathered my bag and walked away from the building that housed me for two years.

I walked for days, living by the little food given to me by Alice.

Then one night under the rain, I met her. She approached me carrying a red umbrella. She was beautiful.

“What are you doing out here all alone child?” She asked lowering yo my level.

I looked up at her, her perfume was a breath of fresh air compared to where I was.

“What’s your name?” She asked again.

“Astrid.” I murmured a response.

“How old are you Astrid?”

“19.”

“Would you like to come with me, Astrid?”

I looked at her, making a decision. I didn’t mind where she was taking me as long as I had a roof over my head, clean clothes and food to eat, I’d follow her to hell.

I nodded, gathering my bag as I followed her into the coach. I don’t know how many days we spent on the road, but we went from coach to a train then to a car, all the while stopping in between were I got to shower and eat. And at the end of the week I was brought here. To “House of the Lost.”

FLASHBACK ENDS: