Page 52 of Dark Auctioned Mate

The woman stared at her blankly. Alanis examined her pupils. They were dilated and reactive. Whatever they had been administered was strong but not life-threatening.

“Can you walk?” Alanis asked.

The lady nodded at her, and Alanis assisted her to stand up. Rael was already walking through the room, examining each woman and helping those who were able to stand.

“Three of them are not able to walk,” he turned to Alanis, shaking his head. “Too heavily drugged.”

“Then we carry them.” Alanis took a quick glance around. She walked to the door they’d entered through, examining the frame. “Help me with this.”

Together, they worked the door from the inside, creating scratches and dents that would suggest someone had forced it open from within. Alanis scattered a few personal items from the women near the door—a shoe, a hair tie—making it look like the women had fled in a rush

“The guards?”

“Still outside, but they will do a check soon.” Rael glanced at his watch. “We have probably ten minutes until they know something is wrong.”

“Let’s go.”

Alanis arranged them in pairs—the more lucid women led the other ones outside, with the help of Rael. Together, they all walked to the north door, with Alanis leading to clear the way. The guard on the perimeter was at the back of the building. The second one would come back and find the warehouse empty, but they would be long gone.

The van that August had set up was parked two blocks away. The women were loaded very quickly, and Alanis gave each a quick medical examination as they climbed in. “No life-threatening injuries,” she said quietly. “But they should receive good medical treatment. IV fluids at least, blood work to determine the type of drugs they received, and trauma counseling.”

“The Shadowridge medical facility is on call,” Rael had his eyes on his phone. “They’re expecting us.”

It was a twenty-minute drive to Shadowridge territory. The hospital was small, but well-prepared and equipped. They took the women away, without question, simply offering assistance.

Alanis remained with them, helping the medical staff with skills she had learned at the Lumen. She knew how to communicate with trauma victims, how to make them feel safe, and how to collect information in a way that would not retraumatize them.

“You’ve done this before,” one of the Shadowridge nurses remarked. “You have medical training?”

“Trauma response training.”

The nurse looked at her with a hint of respect. “Where did you learn it?”

Alanis was about to respond when Rael appeared at the doorway. “Alanis. We need to talk.”

“Oh, okay.”

Alanis followed him to an empty office, her stomach tightening with anxiety.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Rael was in her face. “Who trained you?”

“What?”

“The seduction, techniques of extraction, trauma response guidelines—these are things you do not just learn on the job. You have been trained, and a lot apparently. So, I am demanding to know. Who trained you, Alanis?”

Alanis’s mind raced. She could lie and continue to keep the Lumen a secret, as she had been trained to do.

However, the sight of those women in that warehouse all alone and helpless, she realized that lying was no longer an option. And quite frankly, she was sick of all the lies.

“There is an organization,” she started in a calm voice. “They are called The Lumen. They rescue people who get out of trafficking networks or abuse from packs. They have

safe houses, medical centers, and legal help. All kinds of things to help victims rebuild their lives.”

Rael’s face remained blank. “And you work for them?”

“They trained me. When I ran away from my pack, I was picked up by one of their recruiters, and they gave me a place to live, taught me how to do things, so I could help other people.”

“Taught you how to do what sort of things?”