Three

 We got to an old, single-story building named "The Academy" 

Worry clenched my stomach. Before even seeing a topless girl beckoning from the balcony with breasts like ripe fruits waiting to be plucked, I knew this place was a whore house.

Sara's lips curled with disgust and she turned on our mind- link. "What are we doing, Dakota? I don't like this place."

"I know, Sara," I replied, offering a watery smile while maintaining a safe distance from 'Madame.' "We need some food to fuel our human bodies and I stink badly. I promise not to let anything happen to you."

She stared at me like I'd gone crazy. Madame turned around, her clown faces morphing into a grin and eyes sparkling with excitement. 

"Come… come," she motioned with her hands. I stopped walking and her smile died. 

"Madame, I don't know how you intend to help, but we're not interested in selling our bodies."

She exchanged glances with the male beside her and I stared past her to the peeling paint on the brothel's walls. 

 "Honey, you should be grateful for any help you can get. You're a rogue and males out there would tear you to shreds when they realize you're a foreigner. The horny fools have a fetish for lighter-skinned females, especially someone as curvy as you are."

 "I just want a bath, dinner, and a place to rest my head, that's all."

She narrowed her eyes while her partner's jaw clenched in annoyance. 

"Why are you being so stubborn? I'm only trying to help. The least you can do is thank me."

 Having no choice, we walked past the entrance where a red lantern hung over the doorway. Madame pushed open the door, the rusty hinges creaking in protest. 

Inside was dimly lit, and the musty smell of alcohol and sex filled my nostrils. Sara's breathing went rapid and I squeezed her hand to assure her. 

"We shouldn't be here. This place is dangerous."

Ignoring Sara, we followed Madame up the creaky, broken stairs. A naked female in a red G-string walked past us, swaying her hips.

Madame led us to a hall where females of all shapes and sizes lay almost naked on narrow beds chatting idly while others were preparing for the night.

"Where's Olivia?" Madame announced and all eyes fell on us. 

The hall grew completely silent. Some stared at us from head to foot with envy while others were attempting not to stare. They must think we're here to steal their clients.

A red-haired female walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a tiny towel. Stunned, her hands hung loosely at her sides.

"Olivia. Meet Lucia and Mary. They are rogues and need a place to stay, "Madame said with a sickly sweet voice. "Make sure they freshen up and have some food to eat. They are not to join for tonight's activities."

Madame walked away and I turned slowly to face Olivia. Surprisingly, she wore a genuine smile. 

"Golly, you're going to dethrone the queen bee and steal all our clients with those eyes and body you've got. I'm dying of jealousy. Tell me where you're from."

She spoke in one breath, her eyes glossy as she gave us a once-over. 

"The south coast, Lifelong pack," I said dryly and she gasped. 

"Why did you come all the way here from the south coast? Bad girl."

I decided to play along. "Long story. I was banished and here I am. But I assure you that I'm not planning to take anyone's position."

She scoffed, taking off her towel. "That's what everyone says until they join the Academy and become pros at blowing all shapes and sizes of cocks."

"Ew! " Sara gasped loudly. "We are not whores," her sharp voice echoed across the room.

 Olivia's smile gave way to a frown. She eyed Sara from head to foot and I nudged Sara to apologize 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

"Let me show you the bathroom," Olivia said to me, her smile returning.

We walked down the hall to a narrow wooden door. Olivia opened it and gestured inside, revealing a small, but clean bathroom. She handed me a towel and a sponge, along with a tube of toothpaste. 

Alone with Sara in the bathroom, I scrubbed off the dirt and grime off my body and let out a sigh of relaxation.

After bathing, we followed Olivia to the other side of the building, to an empty kitchen. She reached into a cupboard and pulled out a loaf of bread, still warm from the oven. We sat on wooden stools, enjoying the soft, fluffy bread and meat sauce. 

"We need to leave this place," Sara said between bites. "To somewhere safer."

"Not tonight," I shook my head. "You heard Madame tell Olivia that we're excused."

After we finished eating, we headed back to the now-empty hall. I lay down on the spring bed allocated to us. Sara lay beside me and for the first time in days, I drifted to sleep.  

****

Seven days later

The loud and annoying bell chimed downstairs, cutting through the silence of Madame's brothel like a knife and thankfully waking me from a nasty dream.

We couldn't leave because we had nowhere else to go. Staying here was better than living in the woods, since we needed food to fuel our human sides. Plus I lost my powers and couldn't protect myself and Sara from predators.

Without moving, I lay there in my narrow bed, staring up at the peeling paint on the ceiling and trying to shut out the sound of Madame's voice.

The Academy was shitty and the more I stayed here, the more prone I was to compromise my values and do things I never thought I'd be capable of. 

"Girls, get ready," Madame's high-pitched voice rang from downstairs and the girls groaned.

Madame could be nice when she needed to be, but she made sure no one disobeyed her. Rumour had it that she was very good at finding out secrets and using them to control males. It made me wonder whether males tended to be overly talkative when they were having sex.  

The business was booming for her. She had a handful of girls who were tagged 'unbreedable,' made up of omega females, slaves, and refugees like me who were objects of the males' darkest fetishes.

Madame's assistant, Olly, whom Olivia called Un Alphonse; the French word for a pimp, hated me so much after trying to force me to suck his sausage cock.

The thick bastard with breasts bigger than females was a sadist. Olivia joked that he was castrated before puberty and I almost believed it because of his less bodily and facial hair, raging temper, and constant cussing.

Madame on the other hand was patient, biding her time, and always begged Olly to give us some time to adjust.  

"Do you know how much money you would have made us?" Olly's saggy face screamed two days ago. "The males love fresh blood. You can't be bar girls forever!"

Most of the girls didn't even look forward to yet another night of wrapping their hands and slurping their mouths against cocks of all shapes and sizes and working for only ten coins an hour. 

I sighed and sat up. The weather was pissy and thick with a one hundred and fifteen degrees temperature that could fry an egg. Dampness clung to my skin and Sara walked in with a bowl of soup.

"I'm not hungry," I muttered listlessly and looked away."

 "You're going to get sick. All you do is drink lemonade. Take a sip."

Achy and exhausted, I pressed both hands over my eyes. "Sara please, take it away." 

She did and her soft hand trailed down my bare arm."We don't have to stay here, you know that, right?"

I scoffed. "Oh yeah? Tell me where else we can go. We're outcasts, Sara. No one wants us and I'm not ready to suffer humiliation and embarrassment from those fools who turned us away."

"You're an Alpha, Dakota. These people are perverts and I'm tired of witnessing all the violence, choking, gagging, face slaps, cartoonish twerking, loud and fake yes… yes… yes…moanings of the girls. I'm done."

I threw my head back and let out a great peal of laughter and Sara, who tried to suppress a giggle burst into tears. I stopped laughing and hugged her. The poor girl didn't deserve this.

Nor did I.

"Sara dear, I asked you to stay back, didn't I?" I said with a weak voice.

"Without you? I'd rather die."

I sighed. "I admire your positivity, but there's no hope," my voice filled with resignation, wounding a hand in her silky hair. "We have to stay here for now. It's better than getting killed in the forest or dying of starvation."

 My dress for the night was a deep, v-necked mini gown. I groaned because my boobs weren't small, especially because I was nursing a child before he died. The perverts always stared without shame at them. 

The girls seemed happier than usual and I asked Olivia why. Although she was a hooker, she had some baseline goodness and was the only one who didn't hate us. 

She chuckled, applied bright red lipstick, and smacked her lips together.

 "Today's Friday. We're expecting an abundance of customers. I have my eyes set on the late Alpha's second son, Axton. It's always a good time when he's around and although he has a type, I plan to seduce him tonight. He's a sex god. You know him, right?"

I shot her a twisted smile and rolled my eyes. "Do I have to? What's so special about him?"

She looked at me with a deadpan expression. "The fact that he's the Alpha's son is special, then the icing on the cake. He's hot as fuck and tips well."

I didn't get what was so great about fuck boys. We made our way down to the den of sin, where all the corruption took place.

Most of the girls were half naked, some covering only their nipples. They were either kissing or performing a lap dance. 

I sighed in relief and didn't bother serving drinks because Madame and Olly were nowhere to be seen. Instead, I headed to the furthest part of the bar, close to a huge standing fan, and ran cubed ice over my parched lips, sighing softly and chuckling.

"Dakota!" Sara called, rushing to me with speed and stark fear in her eyes. 

I turned around, wondering what was up and the thought we were in trouble tore at my insides. 

"I… I saw… "

"You saw what?" I asked but caught a whiff of the most alluring scent I had ever smelled. 

It was a mixture of musky, earthy, and sweet fragrances, like the aroma of fresh rain on the damp earth, mixed with the scent of flowers in bloom, but it wasn't the smell that bothered me. It made me dizzy with desire and was primal, almost choking my nostrils.

 Without even realizing what I was doing, I turned sharply toward the scent, my body moving of its own accord. 

I rushed forward, collided with a figure that seemed to appear out of nowhere and raised my head to meet the most piercing hazel eyes I'd ever seen.

The male standing in front of me was tall and bronzed and eyes filled with shock. His long, dark lashes fluttered and for a moment, we just stood there, staring at each other. 

Then, he took a step forward. My mind cried a warning when I realized what this meant but I couldn't move an inch. 

"Mate?" He whispered with a low and rough voice against my neck.