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“I’m Sam,” she says, running a hand through her locks. She’s beautiful with the longest lashes, and she’s wearing a rosy lipstick. I’ve only seen Jaine wearing lipstick. She once let try it on… it felt sticky on my lips.
“Meira,” I admit, figuring there’s no need to hide it any longer. It won’t change my situation.
“You’re doing well, Meira, to not be freaking out. Most women just brought in don’t cope well at all and have a meltdown.”
“Oh, I had my moment to freak out when Dušan caught me in the woods.”
Her jaw drops open. “The Alpha himself? No way!” Her voice squeals with excitement. “What’s he like? I’ve heard so many stories, all conflicting. A couple of the women have seen him and say he looks like of a god. But he won’t talk to anyone less than Alpha status.”
I almost choke on my laughter. “He’s more of a prick, if you ask me.” Just saying the words takes me back to us in my treehouse and his erection poking me in the ass. Yep, he’s a prick, all right.
She looks almost offended by my words at first. “What’s he like? Handsome?”
I blink at her. “You haven’t seen him?”
She shakes her head. “Been three days since I was captured by a male Beta and brought here. All of us girls are going to a mating ceremony tonight to see if our soulmate is in the Ash Wolves’ pack. If they’re not, then we will be traded to another pack somewhere in Europe. Dušan has a few trade partnerships set up apparently.”
I have no clue what the ceremony entails, but I get the gist enough to make sense of what will be going down. In truth, I hate the idea of the whole damn thing. “And you’re okay with this ceremony thing?”
She nods enthusiastically. “I was in heat when I hid in the woods for the past two cycles and it caused me excruciating pain. My wolf is crying out for a mate, and if I stay out there, a wild shifter will hunt me down and rut me until I die. So I’m excited to finally stop running and being scared. And I can’t wait to see if my mate is in this pack.” She reaches out and grabs my hand, her touch almost shaky from adrenaline. “I hear Dušan and even his Third, Lucien, might be attending. Both still have to find a mate.” The glint of excitement gleams in her eyes.
I can’t think of anything worse. But I don’t hate the woman for her happiness, if that’s what she wants. “Good luck with getting an Alpha.”
Her face beams. “Are you not excited about tonight?”
I stare at the women around us. Most talking are just as excited as Sam. These females crave a mate. They want a shifter to join with and to have babies. I can’t imagine living like this, to let someone else control me, to no longer feel free. Mama always said that until my wolf come out, I ought to keep away from other wolves because they will kill me for being different. Which is why I fight for my freedom so much.
“You’re being traded without a ceremony?” she asks.
Sighing, I say, “Yep. I’m being treated like an animal.” Bitterness coats my words, remember being caught in the woods and tossed into a truck. There, a male shifter interrogated me and made notes about me in his notebook. Then, I was hauled onto an aircraft. So while these girls get a ceremony, I got nothing like that.
“Oh, Meira.” She lays a hand on my bent knee. “You’re looking at this all wrong. You’re gaining a life partner so you won’t be alone anymore. Don’t you want that?”
I shake my head, and her eyes widen at my response. “Really?” she asks.
“Don’t you want more than just serving a man and having his children?” I try to keep the bitterness out of my words and not crush her dreams.
She blinks, staring at me with confusion. How nice it must be to live such an ignorant life. Maybe I’m the problem, fighting the primal call of my wolf, except I’m not like Sam or the other girls in the room. Things can never be that simple for me. What lies inside me isn’t normal, but I push those thoughts away.
“On the plus side, I hear the X-Clan have a technology that will make you immune to the infected, but it comes with a price to make you suitable to the X-Clan Wolves.”
I blink at her, because none of that is a plus for me.
“Well, Meira,” Sam says as she stands. “I’m sorry you get traded and don’t get a chance to find your soulmate in this pack first. We wolves are all born to find our other half, not to be loners, so I will say a prayer to the moon that you will find your mate soon.” With a short smile, she strolls across the room to join the others on the couch.
I lower my head and stare at the wooden floor, noting the scratch marks. Sam’s words stay with me. Except I remind myself I’m not like her, and the only solution for me is to be on my own.
Time passes as I close my eyes and drift off into sleep. Now, it’s night outside, and with it comes a lingering pain across my middle. It gets stronger, slicing deeper through me.
I push myself to my feet. Maybe walking will ease the ache. No one pays me attention, but all I can think about is breathing slow and pushing past the pain. It always comes and goes. My sickness has never left me, even after all these nineteen years.
But the pain lashes over me as if someone whipped me. I cry out, clutching my stomach, and then fall to my knees.
Voices escalate around me. Someone is at my side, but I can’t focus on anything. I hiss with the laceration tearing through me. It deepens, getting sharper, closing in around my stomach.
“Meira,” Sam says, frantically waving at someone behind me.
I drop to the floor. Stars blink in my eyes, blurring my sight, and my gut is on fire, feeling like someone is scooping out my insides. I hug myself, drawing my knees to my chest as I try to deal with the excruciating pain.
“I need help…” The words tear from my mouth as darkness feathers at the edges of my vision.
