I awoke to someone shouting.
I tried to focus on the sound, but it was impossible. My senses refused to back to me, and it seemed as if I was fighting against some unknown force to let me stay awake. I desperately tried to distinguish who the familiar voice belonged to and what it was saying, but each time I tried I failed miserably. The words were loud and harsh, but that was the only thing I could really tell.
I tried opening my eyes. I'm not sure if I succeeded or not because what I saw confused me. Blobs of green, grey, and brown mushed together in blurry and swirling circles that danced before me. I blinked heavily time after time, but the formless shapes kept changing. Darkness surrounded them and myself, playing around the edge of my vision, beckoning me as if I were an old friend.
I tried to feel my surroundings, but again, that only confused me. My head was heavy and laying on my chest. My legs were extended awkwardly in front of me. My arms, however, were nowhere to be found. They disappeared behind my shoulders and no matter how hard I tried to pull them forward, I couldn't. Something held my hands and fingers together so all I could feel was my own clammy flesh.
I don't know how long I sat like that. Unknowing, confused, and terrified. The voice could still be heard, but it did nothing to try and help. It just kept screeching. Something told me not to make any noise and alert them though, and I happily obliged. I didn't want to be on the receiving end of those screams.
Too much time passed before eventually, the shapes in my line of sight started to make sense. I understood the blobs of brown and green to be trees. The darkness was the night closing in. The grey was something far off, some sort of structure. Again, something told me I knew what it was, but nothing would click into place.
I heard another noise, but this time it was much closer and coming from directly next to me. I waited for my head to feel less heavy before I brought it to rest on my shoulder, my gaze shifting to the space where I heard the noise. Most of what I saw was once again, darkness. But, as my eyes continued to adjust, I was able to make out a large figure slumped against what I deemed to be another tree. The figure wasn't moving, but soft grunts were coming from its lips.
Then, it all came back. The night hit me as a heavy wave crashing upon every fiber of my being, pulling and pushing me against the tide. I tumbled, twisted, and turned with every assault. My vision came back, my mind was cleared, and I knew exactly where I was and who I was with.
Six figures stood before me in a small clearing. A small white stone building sat in the middle of the clearing; the old safe house. But, the figures made no move to go inside. They were each spread out a few feet apart from each other, staring at it intently. However, upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn't the building they were staring at. One smaller figure was pacing back and forth across the front of the structure, throwing her arms wildly in the air while letting profanities spew from her mouth. I realized it was her voice - Margaret's - that had woken me up.
Now that my ears were working again, I heard another voice, too. This one was also female, but it was not shouting like Margaret. It was icy, stiff, and demanding. I couldn't make out the words, but I followed the sound to the shape of another woman standing in the middle of everyone else. The short white hair and tall frame revealed the woman's identity as Damaria. Though her frame was unmoving, I noticed her head flick to the side with any movement from the trees. She watched her surroundings carefully, waiting for something. After a few moments she snapped in Margaret's direction, and her shouting immediately died down. She stopped pacing and moved to stand next to the three other figures. I could tell they were men, but I didn't recognize them.
I only recognized one other person from the group in front of me, and it was perhaps the one person I least wanted to see. Kade was standing slightly away from everyone else, though still close enough to clearly be apart of the group. He was standing on his toes, bouncing slightly. A large white box was held in his hand, and he kept incessantly fidgeting with the clasp. A few other supplies were next to him, things I recognized as towels, water, and a long and wide piece of wood.
The soft grunts came from beside me once again, and I whipped my gaze around to find a barely conscious Samuel tied to the tree next to me. When I saw the ropes binding him, my own position made sense. Like him, my hands were tied behind my back, behind the large tree. I wasn't able to move or bend my elbows no matter how I tried maneuvering myself and It seemed Samuel was in the same boat.
I watched carefully the next few minutes as Samuel got his bearings. His eyes fluttered before they flew open wide, hastily scanning his surroundings. He saw the people in front of us first. The view of the crowd with their backs to us sent him into a frenzy as he viciously pulled forward, oblivious to the ropes binding him to a tree. When he felt the restraints holding him back, he whipped his gaze to fight against them. As he did, he caught my eye. His body immediately stilled as he scanned me once over, then again just to be sure. I offered him a small smile, though smiling wasn't exactly what I wanted to be doing in this situation.
"Are you hurt?" He softly whispered.
My gaze darted forward, watching the group in front of us. They hadn't seemed to hear Samuel, so I attempted to match his whispering. My voice barely came out, but when it did, it was hoarse and unrecognizable. "No. Are you?"
He let out a long sigh, eyeing the ropes behind my back. "What happened?"
"I don't know. I just woke up," I sighed. He watched me through tired eyes and I bit my lip, taking in his tattered state. I didn't fail to notice how he ignored my previous question, but it wasn't hard to decipher why. Memories of his thrashing limbs reflected in my mind and I closed my eyes, trying to hold back a flinch. Finally, I breathed out, "What did they do to you?"
Samuel kept my gaze, but he fidgeted with his ropes. "I'm not sure. It felt like silver, though."
I broke eye contact and looked at my feet, trying to find a worthy distraction. I knew I was supposed to be angry with Samuel, but I couldn't focus on that. In this moment, he wasn't who I was fighting against. It was the humans, my own people, that I now had to escape.
"Have they said anything?" Samuel suddenly prodded. I didn't have to look up to know he was staring down the group in front of us.
"Margaret was really upset and was going off about something. I couldn't really make out the words. Kade was too, but he didn't say anything."
"Margaret? Kade?"
I looked up at his confused face for a moment before my eyes darted back down. "The woman next to Damaria and the man with the medical supplies."
Samuel took a deep breath through his nose. "He's the one you smelled like," he said lowly. "It was his jacket."
"Yep," I replied without emotion. He looked at me pointedly and though I didn't want to talk about it, I reluctantly elaborated. "They're the ones who helped me out of town."
He didn't say anything to me for a long time. I could feel his eyes on me, but again, I couldn't bring myself to focus on him. I had to come up with another plan. I knew Samuel's pack was bound to be out there somewhere, probably watching us right now. If that were true, they'd free us. The minute they did, I'd run. Hopefully, they would all be too occupied with Damaria's group to notice my absence or come after me. It was a long shot, but it was the only option I could see.
"Samantha, listen to me," Samuel eventually stated. I kept my gaze down. "Riley is going to be here soon and I don't know what's going to happen after that. I need you to stay by my side no matter what. Okay?"
"I thought he told you what was going to happen?" I countered, ignoring his request.
"He did. That doesn't mean he's going to stick to the plan."
I laughed once but didn't respond. Samuel seemed to grow annoyed with this because he quickly asked me again. "Samantha, please. I don't want you getting hurt and I don't know what Damaria has planned."
"I'll be careful," I slowly answered.
He wasn't satisfied. "I know what you're thinking and I'm telling you it's not going to work. You need to listen to me-"
Samuel was suddenly cut off by a loud noise coming from across the clearing. The trees next to the house started to move slightly as a powerful voice pierced the night.
"Damaria Bourne." The voice loudly sneered.
Our group all turned towards the sound of the voice as we watched three men come out of the trees. One man was in the middle with the other two flanking him. They each walked haughtily towards us as a large smirk grew on the face of the man in the middle. As they approached, the group in front of us shifted back until they were standing only a few feet in front of where Samuel and I sat. The three men continued their advances though, only stopping when the one in the middle held up his hand.
"Riley Matthews." Damaria suddenly spoke, her voice cool.
The middle man's face darkened. "Actually, it's Alpha. I thought you'd have a little more respect, seeing that you did call on me."
I stared at the man in the middle, taking him in. I'd only seen Riley once before, and that was just hours ago. At that time, I hadn't been able to define much of his features. Now that I was able to take in his whole frame, I realized he wasn't what I expected, and it was unnerving.
He had the typical werewolf build; large and broad shoulders, thick muscles, and clenched fists. But, he was much taller than average. His height towered over every person in the clearing. However, it wasn't his height that demanded attention. The thing you couldn't look away from was his face. Bright red eyes shone constantly and thick tousled brown hair accentuated their color. I realized they were the same color that Samuel's eyes were each time he shifted. However, there was something more lurking in Riley's eyes. They were wild. Ferocious. Unforgiving. They were the kind of thing you saw right before death.
I held my breath as the three men suddenly looked towards Samuel and me. Riley's frame stiffened and his expression grew to the rage of a thousand storms.
"Are you alright, Samuel?" He ignored everyone else and spoke only to the man at my side.
Samuel shifted, tugging on the rope behind his back. "I'm fine," he growled.
"I assume you brought them?" Damaria interrupted, stepping into Riley's line of view.
It was then that Riley nodded to the men at his sides. They both disappeared and reappeared a moment later with a line of people being towed behind them. I widened my eyes at the sight. They each had roped binding their hands and wrists and they were tied together like cattle being led to a slaughter. I counted seven in total, men and women of all ages. They were all tired, their bodies dragging behind them as their wrists were pulled forward. My breath hitched as my eyes rested on a particular girl. She had familiar features and had to be the youngest one, no more than seventeen years old. She, like the men and women around her, was struggling to even stand.
My gaze shifted to the men that were holding the ropes, realizing that I immediately recognized one of them. Of course, it was hard to miss the icy vacant expression of Payton Bray. His hair was black and cut short, leaving no room for error in his sharp features. His thick and broad shoulders matched his arms and legs. The muscle beneath his clothing seemed to beg to be ripped out of its constraints. Looking at his small blue eyes, you could tell he was willing to let them. It made sense that he'd be here, as I knew he was third in command. But still, his presence unnerved me.
The group came forward until they were standing just behind Riley, who was now openly smiling. He looked at each person before him, his grin only growing wider. Damaria noticed and quickly tried to take control.
"Give them to us and we will release these two." She deliberately gestured towards Samuel and me.
Riley cocked his head and faked a sigh. "Where's the fun in that?"
He gestured behind him and Payton grabbed the nearest person to him, who happened to be the girl I'd been studying earlier. When Payton grabbed her she looked around wildly, reaching out to another man that stood next to her. He was a bit older, but it was hard to miss the similar features. The more I studied them, the more I realized they had features exactly like someone else I knew. This man reached out and tried to grab the girl, but he was quickly pulled away from her.
The young girl let out a cry as she was shoved harshly into Riley's arms. Damaria's group noticeably stiffened, and I heard something fall. My gaze whipped to where the noise came from to see Kade struggling to stand still. He'd dropped the white box and medical supplies had been spilled all around him. A man held on to his arm as he pulled Kade back, but Kade only had eyes for the girl in Riley's arms. As she struggled, I noticed the man the girl had reached out to was fighting to get to her. Before he could accomplish anything, Payton turned to him and forcefully locked his hands behind his back and around his neck.
Riley stroked the young girls matted dark hair. "Such a precious thing. I assume she belongs to you?" He pointed his smirk at Kade. Riley then noticed Payton holding the other man and smiled wider. "It seems they're both yours. Is that so?"
"That doesn't concern you," Damaria spoke authoritatively, glancing to Kade. "We had a deal. Now, hand them all over."
"Hmm, yes, we did." Riley paused, looking down at Kade's sister. She had her eyes closed and I noticed the gleam of tears on her tan cheeks. "But, you know, it just doesn't seem fair to me. I mean, you get all of these humans back and a chance to leave forever. What are you giving me, again?"
Damaria narrowed her eyes. "Your Beta and his mate."
I saw the two men behind Riley shift and exchange glances. Riley however, seemed to already know what I was. He frowned and stuck out his bottom lip, a mock sad expression lining his features. "I still don't see how this is fair."
"Stop playing games, Matthews. We had a deal."
Riley suddenly sneered. He looked at the girl beneath him, his smile only growing as he watched her terrified expression. "Yes, but you see, deals are so easily broken."
With his last word, he placed a hand on either side of the girls head and twisted, breaking her neck in one easy gesture.
All hell broke loose.
***
Cliffhanger...don't kill me...!
What do you all think is going to happen??! Who are the two people Kade was going crazy about?? Will Samantha run?? Will she even get the chance?!?
Thank you all for being so wonderful and amazing!! I couldn't do this without your support!!
Mquistey