Chapter Nine (Zaid's POV)
It took me what felt like hours to open my eyes.
My body felt heavy and I felt so weak, so tired, but I was still strong enough to stay conscious. I felt something soft and velvety underneath me, far more comfortable than my bed. Who's bed was I on?
Come to think of it...
I couldn't remember what happened before I went to sleep. Was I even asleep? Was I dreaming?
Suddenly, the heavy scent of smoke filled my nostrils and I coughed weakly at the burning in my nose. I felt my eyes water at how heavy the smoke was. I tried to roll away from it, but I hit something hard. I grimaced and forced my eyes to open further. At first, it was all a blur. I saw long, blurry bars in front of me and a white wall behind it.
I frowned in confusion, then slowly lifted my hand to trace along the bar, my breathing tired and weak as I coughed again for clean air, but I ended up only inhaling a heavy amount of smoke. I gagged and rolled onto my back again. That's when I saw more bars above me.
My eyes flashed, my heart started to beat faster.
Where am I?
What's going on?
"I told you to take him away from here, not park him in your shitty trailer." A voice snarled from somewhere. I tilted my head back a little, blinking a few times to clear my vision. Slowly, everything was coming into focus.
I was in a cage. Steel bars surrounded me and stood over me, close together so I wouldn't even be able to slide through.
Just beyond the bars of my cage, I recognized the inside as a small trailer. It was attractive and mostly clean with white cupboards, a flatscreen settled across from the two soft benches that sat on either side of me. I must be where the table should be, I realized, tilting my head around.
Then my eyes landed on two men standing across from the door. I immediately recognized Breece standing closest to the door, his clothes soaked through and dripping to the white and purple tiled floors. Standing beside him was Jack Runningwolf, pulling a cigarette from his mouth with a calm, laidback expression on his face.
Suddenly, everything from before came rushing back, making my eyes widen.
The trap in the woods. The argument with my father. Holly being rushed to the hospital after the birth of her son. Jack making tea. And finally, collapsing in my bedroom.
Panic rose in my throat as I rolled over onto my side, pausing as a wave of nausea hit me so hard I couldn't move for fear of vomiting. I just breathed heavily, choking on the smoke as my hair fell over my face in wet strands.
"Look who's awake." Jack's voice stated.
I tilted my head up slowly, my vision blurring for a second before returning as I gritted my teeth, trying my best to glare at him. I wanted to sit up and grab at his wrist as he withdrew the cigarette from his mouth, but my body felt so heavy.
"What's that look for," Jack said with a dainty smile, "You're not angry with me, are you? I'm only trying to help."
"Quit talking to him," Breece snapped in irritation, coming up beside him as they stood outside the cage, "Will you just get out of here already?" Jack snorted, reaching out to an ash tray that sat a foot away. He crushed the cigarette butt into the glass, then took another cancer stick from his pocket, lighting it up. He blew the smoke into the cage, making me cough and choke, slumping to the velvety bottom of the cage.
"Don't be so impatient," Jack chided, ignoring me now as he turned to Breece, "I need to see how he acts in his natural environment. Have you seen Adam and Scorpio anywhere? They're going to be pleased when I show them I won the bet."
"You're intent on taking fifty bucks from Adam when the son of the most powerful pack in Moonstone is sitting inside your dinky trailer?" Breece demanded. Jack rolled his eyes as he tapped the ash off the end of his cigarette so it fell just inches from my hand. I withdrew to the back of the cage, which was only a foot or so away until my back hit bars. I slumped again in defeat.
"If you're worried about him escaping, don't waste the thought. I've reinforced the cage with steel and he's also heavily drugged. The tranquilzer I slipped into the tea is enough to keep even a rabid grizzly bear sedate. I don't pack lightly, Breece. What do you take me for? An idiot?" Jack asked, cocking a brow at Breece, who grimaced, but didn't dare look down at me.
I growled low in my throat, trying to pick myself up, but I fell back to the floor, breathing hard.
"Traitor." I spat, my chest heaving as my fingertips brushed the bars in an attempt to grab at Breece's pantleg, but he stepped away from me, turning his face the other way.
"Just hurry with your experiments and be gone with him. The smoke won't cloak his scent for long, especially with his mate running around searching for him." Breece told Jack harshly. My eyes widened and I looked up at him.
He knew about Scythe.
How could he know about Scythe?!
He threw me a short glance before looking away, nodding to Jack before he departed from the trailer.
Jack just blew smoke after him before he put the cigarette out, bending down on his hunches in front of the cage. He held onto one of the bars, peering in at me with a wicked smile.
"Don't worry. I take very good care of my pets. I'll try not to hurt you, but no promises. I must admit, though. I like you like this, Zaid. You're so cute. Oh, that reminds me. I have a gift for you." He rose to his feet, heading to one of the cupboards above the black stove just across the walkway in front of the cage.
I rolled as far back as I could get, gripping the bar and keeping my back to Jack. That's when I looked down at myself and froze. The reason I felt cold. My clothes were completely gone. I was stark naked. Not a part of me could be hidden. My breath caught in my throat as my face flamed with embarrassment.
"Where is it? Oh wait. Here it is!" Jack exclaimed gleefully and shut the cupboard, coming up to the cage. He opened the top, swinging the barred door back. I went to lunge out, but it was as Jack said. The drugs in my system had me slumping back to the bottom of the cage in defeat, panting in exhaustion at the quick movement.
Jack smirked and reached into the cage with a collar. A black leather strap with two buckles and strange metal studs that were rounded at the ends. He clamped it around my throat, making me choke.
"Ah, too tight?" He asked as he tightened it even further. I gasped for air, my hands reaching up to jerk on it so I could breath, but my grasp was too weak and Jack easily knocked my hands away.
"Off," I choked, "Take it off!"
"Oh, no, I can't do that. Here, let's make it just a tad looser. I like hearing your voice." Jack replied kindly and looped the buckles. I gasped as air rushed into my lungs and I slumped to the bottom of the cage again, breathing heavily. Jack leaned away from the cage, shutting the top over me.
He went to the bed that was sitting just beyond the door with a pull out door, then came back with a large metal plate that he slammed onto the top of the cage. My ears rang with the sound and I cringed, covering my ears weakly. I rolled onto my stomach, struggling to prop myself up on my elbows as I watched Jack walk to one of the counters, pulling the top off the counter and placing it over the metal plate above my head.
I blinked, watching as he pushed a button under the counter, humming while he worked.
"Well, I guess now's as good a time as any," Jack said cheerfully as a table rose to replace the counter, beakers and glass tubes clinking as they surfaced, "The wolf back in the woods when you found me wasn't my mate. He was a pet of mine. Oh, but don't worry. He volunteered for me. You see, Felix was like you. He was next in line to inherit the place as alpha of Trinity, but he wasn't fit for the job. He was too withdrawn, too young. So, I offered him a home with me. Of course, I'll admit I neglected to tell him the conditions to living with me, but that wasn't a problem."
"He submitted to my blood tests and experiments. In fact, he eventually submitted to the drugs, but of course, that was his fault. If he would've just held still, I wouldn't have had to use them so much. He eventually got addicted to them. Anyway, not the point. I've been working with Scorpio and Adam for a while now. We heard there was a powerful pack down here in Moonstone, according to another pack we annihilated. I couldn't resist. I'm so interested by our kind. Did you know there are some of us who are gifted by the Goddess with unimaginable powers?"
"There are centuries of knowledge hidden away inside us. It just takes a strong, honorable wolf to actually pursue that dream... Unfortunately, this is the first time I've ever felt so strongly for an experiment before." Jack's voice trailed off as he turned to face me. I glared hatefully at him in return, gritting my teeth as I struggled to stay conscious and alert of everything he was doing.
"You're a gorgeous wolf, Zaid. Not just as a wolf, but as a man. The moment I saw your eyes, I knew you had to be mine. It wasn't just your status, your position, your power. It was you in general. I've chosen you, Zaid." Jack declared. My eyes flashed as my breath hitched in my throat.
I resisted the urge to whimper in horror at what he meant.
A sneaky smile spread across his face.
"You're going to be my mate, Zaid. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of your time here in Alabama because in two days time, we're going to my home in Washington state." Jack explained coolly as he slipped on a pair of white rubber gloves. I rolled onto my side away from him, my back against the bars as I hid in the shadows of the cage.
Jack just hummed as he got a syringe and a small glass vile. He plucked the cap off the syringe as he approached the cage, smirking at me.
"Come on, Zaid. It's just another blood test, nothing to worry about. I just need enough of your blood to fill this little vile here." He soothed, but I wasn't going anywhere near him. His eyes flickered and he got up, ready to move the plate off the roof of the cage when the trailer door flung open.
Jack whirled around, glaring.
"You son of a bitch, I don't care if this is the wilderness, knock first!" He snarled viciously, slamming the syringe down on the counter. Adam came sauntering in cockily, smirking until he caught sight of me naked in the cage. He stiffened. Scorpio came in behind him, shutting the door and nodding apologetically to Jack before looking straight at me.
I felt so exposed, lying there in the cage completely naked with three men staring at me.
"You're kidding me," Adam gasped, "He was one of them?"
"Are you stupid?" Scorpio muttered dryly. Jack glared at them.
"Do not barge into my home. I was trying to get him to submit to a blood test, but unlike Felix, he won't hold still, even with the drugs in his system."
"Won't the drugs effect the blood test?" Scorpio asked. Jack just grinned at him, but said nothing in response as he swept the syringe up again, flicking it a little.
"I need you two to hold him down while I draw some blood. And do not bruise him. You've already cut his ankle with your barbaric traps. In case you've forgotten, Zaid is special." He drawled, gesturing for Scorpio to heave the metal plate off the cage. Adam just stared at me, his eyes practically glowing in the dim lights of the trailer.
I didn't like the way he was looking at me. It made my stomach churn. Although, I didn't have time to worry about him with Scorpio throwing the cage top open, reaching in to grab me. I did the first thing I could and bit his wrist, hard. He hissed and jerked his hand out of my mouth, my teeth scraping skin off as he did so.
I snarled at him and he snapped his head to glare at Jack, who held his hands up in defense.
"He's a wolf." He answered innocently. Scorpio scowled.
"So get him a muzzle."
"All we have is duct tape."
"You packed grenades, syringes, drugs, shotgun shells, and a steel cage, but you didn't pack a muzzle?"
"Well, excuse me. I was overexcited and forgot to pack it. What about you? You have sick hobbies. Got any gags left over from your gangbang days?"
"Shut up, or I'll slit your throat."
"Try me, human." Jack answered nonchalantly, giving Scorpio a smug grin. Scorpio merely glared at him, then looked down at me with a haunting glare. I flicked my tongue across my lips, ready to bite him again in case he reached for me.
"Get the duct tape." He commanded. I glared, watching Jack shrug and gesture for Adam to obey. Adam moved stiffly, taking out the duct tape and tossing it to Scorpio, who snatched it from him and ripped a huge piece off, balling it up before sticking it to the sticky side of another long piece.
I tried to tense and get ready, but my muscles just wouldn't work. It was the feeling you got when you first woke up, where even clenching your fists was difficult. Just think of that, only two times worse. I couldn't even grit my teeth anymore.
Scorpio moved faster, shoving the ball of duct tape in my mouth before pressing the other piece over my mouth. I choked on the sticky, disgusting ball of tape in my mouth. I reached up to rip it off, but Scorpio caught my wrists and jerked me out of the cage roughly.
"Mmph!" I immediately crumpled to my knees, but Scorpio heaved me up by my wrists, making me wince. Pain throbbed in my wrists from the rough treatment as he heaved me over his shoulder. I writhed and dug my nails the best I could into his back, but my nails hardly sank into his tank top as Jack caught my arm, thrusting it out.
I tried to jerk it away, but Jack was already drawing the needle closer to the middle of my elbow.
"Stop struggling, Zaid. It'll only hurt worse the more you do." Jack advised with a delicate smile, then plunged the needle into my arm. A sharp, pinching pain shot up my arm. I immediately let myself weaken to dull the pain. I panted through my nose, my tongue fighting against the duct tape in my mouth.
All the while, Scorpio kept his grip around my waist with one arm as I moaned past the tape.
I felt even worse after Jack was done. I couldn't even think of struggling as Scorpio slung me onto one of the soft benches. He jerked the tape out of my mouth, tossing it in the garbage, watching as Jack studied the syringe with an eerie smile.
"Oh, this is going to be great." He mused.
"Okay, can we cut the creepy sci-fi shit and just get paid? I want to get out of here." Adam grimaced, glancing at me quickly before looking at Jack, who rolled his eyes in disgust.
"I said I'd pay you after we get back to Washington. Have some patience, will you?" He demanded, heading to his mini-lab on the counter where he filled the vile with my blood. I felt dizzy just watching and instead just tossed my head back on the pillow sitting on the bench, panting gently for the clean air that was pouring through a cracked window.
"Do you even have proof he's actually a wolf?" Adam asked uneasily.
"Of course I do. I've seen him change." Jack snorted incredulously.
"Show us." Scorpio replied. Jack stared at him for a while, then smiled.
"Certainly," He turned to me, standing over me and reaching down to brush the hair back from my forehead, "You're a little weak, though, aren't you? Willing yourself to turn won't work as good as forcing you." He grabbed a small device about the size of a flash drive, flicking a switch on it before he came back over and pressed the tip of it to one of the prongs on the collar.
Pain exploded in my body and before I could try to stop it, a scream ripped free from my throat as I writhed on the bench, trying to catch my breath past the blinding pain that assailed me.
I was being electrocuted, I realized in agony as my bones cracked and wrenched. My skin stretched and pulled painfully into place. The collar around my throat grew tighter as I choked on another scream. In about two minutes, I was fully changed, lying on my side as a wolf, breathing heavily and whimpering in pain.
"Holy shit." Adam breathed.
"Neat toy." Scorpio commented. Jack beamed proudly as he waved the little device before glancing down at me.
"Yes. Too bad it hurt him so much. He'll be changing back in a few minutes, though. He's too weak to hold his form. For now, we'll put him in the cage. I'm going to perform some tests. In the mean time, keep an eye out for his pack. They're bound to be hunting for him. After all, he's the sole heir to Luna. Or, well, was. Now he's mine."
I cringed and nuzzled my muzzle against the corner of the bench, trying to will my body to move, but I was just too exhausted. Everything inside me ached. And Jack had told the truth. In a matter of minutes, my body was changing against my will as the rest of my energy was sucked from me and I slumped on the bench as a human, breathing heavily.
Jack smiled, glancing at Scorpio and Adam, who were studying me before they headed for the door.
"You better pay us." Adam grumbled.
"Twenty grand as I promised. In fact, here," Jack reached into his jean pocket for his wallet, "I'll give you two hundred of it right now to go out tonight and celebrate. You deserve it, my friends." He tossed them each a roll of twenties. Scorpio and Adam shared looks, Adam grinning, before they departed the trailer, slamming the door shut and making Jack scowl before he came over to me, sighing.
"Sorry about that. They're so barbaric sometimes..." His voice trailed as he reached out, lifting me up so he could settle himself on the bench, my head in his lap. I didn't want to be this close to him, I didn't even want to feel his skin touch mine, but I couldn't get my body to move. Only my fingers twitched in protest as Jack hummed, stroking my hair. His hand drifted down my spine, sending chills through me as his hand rested at the small of my back before gliding up again.
He was insane.
He had to be.
He was just sitting here, humming a strange tune. It sounded like a child's lullaby and it was only making me sleepier, but I couldn't fall asleep. If I did, who knows what he'd do to me once I was out? At the same time, it was getting more and more difficult to keep my eyelids open. They slowly began to drift shut with the help of his gentle fingers tracing down the back of my neck and over my spine, then all the way back up so he was running his fingers through my hair.
Someone get me out of here.
Please!