2. Wrench in the works

*TW: Mention of a battle*

Gemma

She had been held in the pack for a little over a month now.  Summer was just starting to take over from spring and she had started things that would make her escape easier.

She’d started opening and closing her bedroom window at intervals to get her guards used to the sound of her window opening without her trying to get out.  From what she’d managed to study on the unblocked internet about wolves, her scent would be surrounding the area with the wind blowing into her room.  She studied on wolves and dogs, since she didn’t know how trustworthy the information on werewolves were.

She had also collected water bottles, two contained water, one that she would drink from and one that she could douse herself in to minimize her scent for a while.  The other contained bleach that she had collected from the small amounts she could collect from soaking the bleach wipes and then squeezing out all the fluids.

She also had a small stash of non-perishable snacks that she was keeping in her closet along with everything else she would need.  She had gone through her handbag and was grateful that she was kind of a pack rat with all the useful things she had found.

When the opportunity came, she would be able to escape.  She had managed to keep the alpha’s son at bay, though he came every week to spend time with her so she would be less inclined to flinch whenever he came close.  She had been unable to stop that reaction since she always remembered how unexpectedly he had slapped her out of nowhere.

She was also pretty fit now with the amount of running she did.  She could do five miles without a struggle now.  Of course, she also studied ways to escape blood hounds and did other random searches in between, in case they managed to figure out how to check her research history.  They might have kidnapped an IT specialist since they seemed to have gotten away with kidnapping her.

She wanted to find her way out of this pack, soon.  She’d done more than enough to help their pack.  They had three new businesses, the bar bringing in the most at this point, judging from the financials she had to go through.  Some of the income was confusing though.  She didn’t know what it could be.

Suddenly, a bone chilling howl broke into the late afternoon air, startling her.  She went to her window and noticed her guard panic.  That wasn’t good; what could make a werewolf panic?  Her question had gone unanswered until her guard suddenly rushed away from the window and then she heard the noise.

It sounded like a dog fight...well, how she guessed a dog fight would sound like, but at a much larger scale.  The growling, painful whining and terrified screams were deafening.  It was terrifying, were they being attacked?

The alpha son appeared at her door and pulled her out of sight, closing the window and locking it from the inside.  Then he looked at her with worry.  “I need you to stay here, stay out of sight.  We are under attack.”

He only waited long enough for her mute nod, before he disappeared, locking her door again.  Gemma considered trying to escape at this moment, but decided that she would rather not end up in the middle of an attack, so she waited, listening to the noise levels rise as the attackers seemed to gain some ground.

Then the screams of terror inside the house and the growling increased.  Gemma did the childish thing by sitting quietly in the bottom of her closet with the door closed.  She felt so far out of depth that she didn’t even know what she could do to defend herself.  The only things close to weapons were the small weights she’d been using to get stronger.

Finally, there was silence; an eerie silence, only broken by footsteps that sounded like boots going back and forth in the hallways.  She waited quietly, trying not to make a sound if it meant she would not be discovered, since she had the eerie feeling that the attackers were now in the pack house.  She fell asleep in the closet, waiting for her nightmare to be over.

Gemma was startled awake by the alarm and she rushed out of the closet to silence it before someone found out about her; she just hoped that no one had been close enough to hear it.  Opening her window, she saw no guard placed there and she considered making her escape.  She closed her window again, just to be safe.

Trying to collect her thoughts, she took a shower and then walked out of the bathroom in a towel, to find some clothes that would work for her escape plan.  She only had sneakers, but she would need clothes that allowed her to move easily.

She squealed in terror when she suddenly found a strange wolf leaning against the doorway of her apartment.  He was dressed like he had some military work and he looked her up and down with a raised eyebrow; yes, he was definitely a wolf with his predatory way of looking at her.

Meanwhile Gemma was still trying to get her heart back into her chest and calm down.  “C-can I h-help you?”  She squeaked in a small voice.  She knew he was a wolf; he had the same power and height around him, the same predatory look and movements, the same intense stare that looked for weaknesses.

“Commander wants to see you.”  He answered casually.

“C-can I get dressed?”

He rolled his eyes.  “I’ll wait for you outside, you have five minutes.”

Once he closed the door, she rushed to put on clothes.  Apparently, she took too long because he opened the door even before she could put shoes on; thankfully she had pulled all her clothes on before she had attempted to find her shoes otherwise he would have caught her half-dressed.

He grabbed her upper arm in a firm but gentle grip and then half dragged her down the hallway towards the office she now knew was the Alpha’s.  The house that had been impeccable before was now in shambles.  Blood covered the walls in certain areas; furniture lay mangled and broken on the floor, there were even claw marks that had damaged the walls and doors.  It looked like she had made the right decision to remain hidden during the battle; because she was sure she would not have survived if she had ended up in the middle of a battle.

Wolves in military uniform were clearing up broken furniture and going about their day like they were in the middle of a military headquarters.  Soon, they found themselves in front of the alpha’s office door.

The guy holding her like some disobedient child knocked firmly and a voice from inside told them to enter.  The moment she set foot inside the office, the wolf standing near the window turned and growled; his eyes dark and menacing.

Gemma automatically stepped back in fear and bumped into the soldier behind her.  “Leave.”  The commander in front of her ordered and she found herself alone with him.

Was he intimidating?  Yes.  Did she feel as scared of him as she was of the alpha’s son?  Strangely, no.  Was he beyond lickably handsome?  “Yes – wait, no!  Bad, Gemma!  This was not the time to find her will to live with a mean looking wolf. 

Men, good; wolves, bad!

“I see from the alpha’s records that you are his secretary.  Why would he hire a human?”

She swallowed hard at the lump in her throat.  “Kidnapped, he kidnapped me.”

“His records show he paid you a salary.”  He answered with a confused frown, while he paced in the ever proud military rhythm towards the desk and glanced at the computer screen.  Man, that was hot!

No, Gemma, focus!

“According to the Alpha’s son it was to make me look like a runaway human and not a missing person.”  She answered.

“But you had full access to their books and financial decisions.”  He frowned with confusion.  His dark hair was a mess, as if he’d pushed his fingers through it and there were dark circles under his hazel eyes that made it look like he pulled an all-nighter.

She also realized that he was apparently much more intellectual than anyone in this pack had been.  He had already gone into the computer system and checked her usage of the programs.  Gemma wondered if he had already gone through her search history or if she still had time to delete it all.

“They also had me locked in my apartment without any chance at walking outside.”  She answered.

“I see.”  The muscle in his strong jaw was jumping while he stared at her with an unreadable expression.

Man, this guy was hot; she just wanted to lick the pecks she could see through his tight shirt.

Get it together, Gemma!  He’s the enemy until proven otherwise.

“So, you wanted to see me so urgently, because?”  She asked, glancing down at her bare feet to prove her point.

“Oh, yes.  I can’t seem to find out what this income from their bar is for.”

“Is it the amount of three thousand every two weeks?”  She asked and at his nod, she shrugged.  “I couldn’t figure it out either.  None of the stock could be sold for that amount, not even in bulk.  All I could think is it was for something that was never loaded as stock.”

“Fuck...”  He growled with annoyance.

“I suggest you check his drawers or book shelf.  They weren’t too smart with computers; I ended up doing most of it.  He would probably keep notes written down somewhere.  They didn’t think highly of intelligence in this pack.”

“Yeah, that much was obvious.”  He admitted, absently.  Then he met her gaze.  “Now, about the other thing...”

“The other thing?”  She asked in confusion.  “You mean my captivity?  I don’t suppose you’d let me go with a heartfelt promise that I don’t tell anyone about werewolves?”

He shook his head without breaking his intense stare in her eyes that were making her both uncomfortable and very hot.  “I can’t let you go, you’re my mate.  But I have no intention of acting on it with a human, though I can’t let you go and weaken myself at this point.  So…”  At that his eyes glazed over for a moment; what just happened to his eyes...

Gemma was still trying to figure out what his words meant when her arm was suddenly caught by the soldier from before and she was marched back to her previous prison.

“Your breakfast will be here, shortly.”  The soldier informed her with a sad look on his face before he left her alone and locked the door.

Damn!  She was still a prisoner, but she now had a different captor.  Well, that was a wrench in the works if ever she saw one.  Gemma paced back and forth in front of her bed, she assumed he didn’t expect her to still do office work.  That could be useful in the long run.

Gemma quickly rushed to her office and sent through the safety check to her attorney.  She needed to keep her finances running so she could escape.  She had absolutely no intention of hanging around and waiting for the next batch of wolves to attack and take over.  These wolves were no better than barbarians.  She took the time to clear her search history and backed up all the important info she had on her computer onto a thumb drive she always kept in her handbag.  Then she wiped the computer.

She now just had to find a plan of action she could work with.  So she sat down and planned it out.  She had the feeling she had to be smarter with these wolves, so she did not do any searches on the computer; she did it on her phone that she had successfully hidden from the pack, sitting on her bed in case they had discovered the camera system in her office.

Then she made a list of things that would buy her some time if she were being tracked or followed.  She also looked up a map of the area and saved it on her phone.  She quickly dumped her phone in her bag and pretended to be shuffling around for socks when she heard the lock on the door.

It was the soldier from before with a tray of food.  “I didn’t know if you like coffee or tea, so I brought both.  I also filled your tray with everything on offer.”  He smiled at her.

“Thanks.”  She said sourly.

“Look, don’t take the Commander’s attitude personally, he didn’t expect this or planned for it.  He’s all about planning things out.”

“Well, he could’ve let me go.”  She retorted as she grabbed the nearest pair of socks and slumped onto the bed.

“Sweetheart, you’re right dab in the middle of a bunch of packs.  He cares enough not to just throw you out and leave you to their tender mercies, which, if we’re being honest, is not very tender.”

“So it gets worse than being slapped for not agreeing to work for your captors and then have to deal with the same wolf attempting to get in your pants for a month straight?”

“Wait, they did that to you?”  He asked with shocked horror.

“Yeah, I should probably be grateful he didn’t lose patience and rape me, considering what you just said.”  She snarled at the soldier with annoyance.  “Should I worry about that with you?”

Yes, she was being a little salty, but she was entitled to be after her experience with wolves.  She had applied for a job and got kidnapped, assaulted and attempted coercion into sex.  And now she was still a captive with a new wolf in charge.  And she knew what men wanted after a war; she’d read what happened to women when a battle was over.

The soldier looked insulted.  “The commander would never allow that!  You’re under his protection.”

“Forgive me if that doesn’t mean anything to me.”  She snapped with annoyance as she took the tray out of his hand and left him standing in the doorway as she went into her office to get away from him.