I'm Sorry, Who's Your Mate?

Chapter 3

            “What?”

            “You’re Paige Warren, Collins, whatever. Point is, you’re the surrogate daughter to Sutton Collins.” I narrowed my eyes at surrogate.

            “What does my mom have to do with this? Oh my gosh, did they take her too?” I asked loudly, panicking again.

            “What? No, please, if they had, we’d be saved by now.” She rolled her eyes like it was obvious. “I’ve heard her mate would stop at nothing to find her so trust me, if she were taken, he would have found us already.”

            “Already…” I repeated softly. “How long have I been here?”

            “Two days.” She announced, nodding towards a calendar in the corner of the room.

            “Why do they have a calendar in here?” I asked absentmindedly.

            “It’s a way to show us how long we’ve been here and to diminish any hope of ever leaving.” She sighed and shrugged again.

            “Wait, you never said why they took me.” I reminded her.

            “Oh, well I thought that part was clear” I narrowed my eyes and she continued. “ You’re like the daughter to one of the most powerful Alpha couples in the country. Taking you is like kicking them in their weakest point. I bet you your parents are freaking out right now and that’s what the hunters want.” I nodded, suddenly understanding why my mom was so overprotective of me.

            “Why were you taken?” I sat down on the floor next to the gate and she let out a long sigh, mirroring my moves.

            “You know of the Pacific Rush Pack right?” I nodded, remembering Evan telling me about them. They were our neighbors and were based mainly in California, hence the name. I guess they’d set up camp during the California gold rush and got the name the Pacific Rush Pack. “The Beta’s are my parents. The hunters took me a few weeks ago when I went out on a run by myself.”

            “So what do they want? Money?”

            “No, they don’t want anything. They just want to hurt the packs and to do that, you have to take away what’s precious to them.” She said sadly, looking at her hands.

            “Are there any other girls here?” She looked away and spoke softly.

            “There used to be one other girl here. Her name was Marissa. She was some Alpha’s daughter from Wisconsin or something.”

            “Where is she?” I was almost afraid of her answer.

            “They took her a week ago to go to the bathroom but she never came back.” I shuddered at the thought of what may have happened to her.

            “Are they going to kill us?” I whispered. Tears pooled in my eyes and I cursed myself for leaving the reception. For going on a walk by myself. For not just staying safe and sound surrounded by dozens of werewolves.

            “I don’t know.” She replied. We stayed in silence, lost in our own thoughts.

            “Hey, you already know my name. What’s your name?” I asked randomly. She smiled at me and for a second, her eyes shined for an inner light.

            “Ariel. Ariel Adams.” I couldn’t help but laugh. She groaned and playfully glared at me.

            “Did your parents hate you or just really like the movie?” I asked between laughs. She joined in and giggled.