Ros

The new woman whimpers softly to herself as her wrist cracks, malformed bones shifting and tearing through muscle in an attempt to force her to shift. Rocking back and forth, she clutches the shifting wrist to her chest and holds in a scream. Then her leg snaps. A throaty cry bursts through her cracked lips and she squeezes her eyes tightly shut, her breathing laboured as she tries to control her wolf.

"No, Tammy, no. We can't shift. Stop it. Please stop it." She mumbles to herself, begging her wolf to stop taking control of her body. It has been 19 days since she arrived here and she has not shifted once. Her wolf is desperate to be released.

I know, eventually, her wolf will stop trying to take control. I have watched it happen to every single person slumped in this room with me. Slowly her wolf will become weaker and weaker as she is forced to push that part of her deep down inside of her until it is like there is no wolf there at all.

But I know she will fight it. I don't understand why, but everyone fights it. They treat their wolves as though they are a part of them. They act as though suppressing them would be like cutting out their heart. That is why I stopped telling the new ones to forget their wolves; I had no energy to argue.

By the time she has got her wolf under control, almost half a day has passed. Well, I think half a day has passed. Time is a strange concept in this room. Windows at the top of the walls are our only source of light, allowing stark, artificial light to stream in and illuminate the harsh concrete cell. And so I count my days from the light. Every time it turns on, a day has started. Every time we are plunged into blackness, it is night.

I don't know how long I have been in this cell. But before that, I was in another cell. I preferred the previous cell.

This room was a featureless circle, with a hard concrete floor and brackets in the walls at regular intervals where we sat. No one had moved in a long time; the silver chains attached to the brackets prevented us from doing so. The silver collars around our necks prevented us from shifting too. It is why the new woman was fighting so hard to prevent her shift.

Shifting was suicide. And for some unfathomable reason, we all wanted to live.

"Anna, how are you?" the man chained beside the door whispered. His name was David. He used to be a warrior. He had a mate and three pups. He is the only one left with hope.

"I hate fighting her. It's cruel and it's wrong; she has every right to want to shift." She sniffled as she wipes away a tear from her eyes.

"I know it's hard," David responded reaching his hand as far as it can go before the chains held him back. "It will get better, trust me. Your mate, the Beta, will come for you. Remember what you said. He would never abandon you."

My fists clenched and my jaw stiffened. No one escaped the cell. The only way out was through the silver door, bound and drugged by our captors, and on your way to your death.

"Stop." My voice was hoarse and scratchy, having not been used for a long time, and it got the attention of every person in the cell. "She deserves the truth."

"What truth," Anna piped up, confusion etched across her face. She caught the nervous eyes of everyone in the cell as they looked away and then realisation dawned on her. "H-how long have you been here?"

"138 days," Isabel answered first, a grim smile on her face. I didn't know much about her; she hated to talk about her life before being captured. But I did know she was a rogue. I think she killed someone.

Sam answers next. "192 days." His voice was now emotionless and his tears had long since dried up from when he first arrived here as a newly shifted boy. He used to cry for days until we threatened to eat his rations. Soon after that, he accepted his fate and now waited patiently to be taken. I knew he will be next; he had been here the longest after me.

"96 days," Christine uttered from her slumped position on the floor. I did not like her very much. With her thin white hair, prominent wrinkles and frail figure, she reminded me of a ghost, especially with the chilling stare she gave me. But that was not the worst part. She had made it her mission to find out what my name was. And she was a very hard woman to ignore.

"78 days." John was a born rogue with parental issues and a tendency to argue with everything said. I didn't like him either. He complained too much.

Anna's head turned to look at David and he sighed, knowing he could not spare her from the truth any longer. "37 days. I'm sorry for lying. I just wanted to make it easier for you."

She nodded, tears brimming in her eyes as her last strand of hope was cut. And then her eyes lifted to look at me. "What about her?"

My finger did not stop tracing the imperfections on the concrete wall as I felt all six pairs of eyes on me. Despite my speaking only minutes ago, I chose to remain quiet. I only spoke when I absolutely had to, otherwise, I let them answer for me.

"We don't know. She has not told us anything, not even her name," Sam finally spoke for me. "She has been here the longest, though. When I first arrived, the people in the cell told me she had been here longer than any of them as well. It is probably years though."

"There were people here before us?" Anna was smarter than I had thought she was, as she picked up on another thing they had been lying to her about. "What happened to them?"

No one replied.

It was a topic everyone always steered clear off. They did not want to think of what happened to their friends and companions who were dragged through the silver door and never came back. They did not want to think about what was going to happen to them one day.

The idea scared them. In fact, it terrified them. I saw it every time the hatch on the door opened and food was slid through the door. They tensed when they heard the footsteps on the floor. They held their breath when they heard the jangling of keys.

And they averted their eyes from the screaming person being dragged through the door.

"Are they dead?"

Silence. No one dared to admit the truth. Because saying it would make it so much more real.

Someone outside our cell flicked a switch and we were plunged into darkness. There was no warning. The cell was overrun by the inky blackness before we could say goodnight to each other and I heard another whimper from Anna. She had been here 19 days and was still not used to the sudden change from day to night.

She was probably the only one who remembered what a sunset looked like.

I loved nighttime far more than the daytime. I thrived in the silence that came with it, finally able to relax and concentrate without the others distracting me. It was where I found peace.

Focusing on the nothingness in front of me, tried to catch hold of one of my memories from before. They were few and faded, but still existed within the deepest corners of my brain and it took all my concentration to pull one to the surface.

But the ringing migraine in my head was worth it. The blurry face of my younger brother stared back at me through my mind and my ears strained to catch the whisper on his lips.

"Ros."

I think it was my name. It's hard to remember.

Falling asleep is never easy. My body aches and I am plagued by a persistent cough from the poisoned air. Everyone here is too loud as they shift around and their chains rattle, trying to fall asleep too. Eventually, hunger and exhaustion drag me under and I escape from these four walls for a few precious hours. My dreams are colourless, but not bound to this room like I am. They are created by the stories and memories of those I have listened to, most of whom are long dead. And a figure, the one who whispers to me in the silence, dances through my mind with pure innocence.

I wake to bright, artificial light. Beside me, I can hear Sam whispering to himself as part of his morning ritual. "My name is Sam Diley. My birthday is the 5th of October. I am 12 years old. I have been here for 193 days. My mother is Beta Sarah-"

I tune out of his mutterings. Across the room, Anna's face is streaked with tears. She cried at some point in the night, probably at the realisation that she is going to die here. If I was a better person, I would tell her that it gets better. After a time, life stops having value. You just wait for the end.

There is faint rustling and clicking on the other side of the door and I focus as much as possible on the noise. The others look calm, expecting the morning delivery of food to be brought inside by faceless people. But there are more people outside than there should be.

I look to Sam and hold out my weak hand for him to take. He grasps it as understanding dawns on him; aside from me, he has been here the longest. "Enjoy the fresh air," I tell him.

"You too," he sniffles. Around the room, each of us echoes the same farewell including Anna who picks up on what is happening with tears and disbelief. When the door swings open, I drop Sam's hand and look to the ground, waiting. Trays of food are dropped on the floor, all six of them. Sam doesn't get any morning food. Instead, his chains are removed and he is dragged out of the cell, weeping, by faceless people with no emotions. Behind him, the door is closed and we are left alone.

Anna is crying, David is speaking words of comfort that fall on deaf ears and Isabel is complaining about the quality of her food. The rest of us eat in silence, chilled by the thought that one day it will be us leaving. Somehow, that thought comforts me.

----

Logan

I barely registered the presence of my warriors as they respectfully bowed their heads. I was far too focused on the cell in front of me. In the night, it had been ravaged and was now decorated with ferocious scratches that ran deep into the concrete walls and a splatter of blood. Even the silver bars which separated me from the wolf inside were bending outwards.

"Jacob," I spoke softly, bending down closer to the bars as a huge silver wolf slowly crept up to the bars to meet me. His jaws were open wide, his hot breath on my face and I could feel his muscles anticipating my every move. "You need to take control. You need to shift back."

The wolf growled angrily, but I persisted. Jacob was the Beta of the pack and it had been two weeks since he had lost his mate, Anna. He had to pull himself together. For the pack and for his mate.

"I need you, Jacob. I need you to help me find your mate. The trackers can't find her scent and the rogue informants I have contacted haven't heard anything. You were always far better at this than me, that is why I made you my Beta. So I need you to shift back so we can find your mate. You are not helping her by being in here. You are letting her die."

I held my breath as I finished my speech, knowing the final sentence was a huge risk. Either, he would listen to me and shift back or he would be absolutely furious that I think he is letting his mate die. I hoped it was the first one.

Jacob took an unsteady step back and there was a loud cracking as his bones shifted and repositioned themselves into the skeleton of a human body. Fur retracted beneath his skin and his teeth and claws shrunk inside. Soon I was kneeling before the man I knew and recognized.

"I will not let her die," he growled.

Nodding to the warriors to open the cell, I tossed him a pair of shorts to cover himself up and he pulled them on quickly before following me out of that dingy prison. I saw relief in the eyes of many of the warriors we passed and I knew how they felt. Not long after Anna disappeared, Jacob had gone feral. He had rampaged through the woods, attacking anything and anyone in his path. It had taken six warriors to take him down and we feared he would never be the same. A pack without a Beta will crumble.

As we walked back to the house, one of the warriors patrolling the perimeter contacted me and I stared out into the woods to where he was.

Alpha, we found a trespasser by the creek. Should we bring him to the village? It's a young boy and he's injured.

Is it severe, I questioned.

No, Alpha.

"Get Alisa," I told my Beta as the message came through. "And meet me at the creek."

I'm coming, stay there, I told them as I turned and ran in their direction, feeling my wolf fighting me to be freed. My pack's lands were not vast and it only took me five minutes to arrive at the creek near the border where I saw two of my warriors sitting beside a young boy. The woman was speaking to the boy, who was bruised and bleeding, whilst the man kept a watchful eye on the tree line. As drew closer, I knelt on the floor beside the boy to not alarm him.

"Morning Alpha," the warrior greeted me. "This is Sam. He's been telling me about some bad people who hurt him and how we ran away."

I gave the warrior a thankful look and then reached to take Sam's shaking hands into my own. "I am very sorry that happened, Sam. Can you tell me what happened?"

His lip trembled, but he did not cry. "The faceless people took me from the others and strapped me onto a chair. When I woke, there was a nice man who took me outside and told me to run away and never come back or else they would learn I was still alive and kill me. I ran and I ran, but I kept falling over. Then they found me."

Stepping back, I made room for Alisa as she and Jacob arrived. She pulled out a kit and began immediately to tend to the scrapes across his legs, arms and face as I turned to my Beta. 

"Human boy gets kidnapped, runs away and ends up in our woods. It's a matter for the human police," I told Jacob. "If his parents live nearby, we'll return him, otherwise we'll drop him off at the nearest police station."

Jacob nodded. "I'll tell Roan to bring the jeep round and we'll meet him by the track."

As Jacob mind linked Roan, I returned my attention to the boy. "Sam, can you tell me your parents' names or where you are from?"

"My name is Sam Diley," he began to recite. "My birthday is the 5th of October. I am 12 years old. I have been here for 193 days. My mother is Beta Sarah Cagen. My father is Beta Harry Cagen."

"Hey kid," I stopped him. "Your parents are betas? Are you sure?"

"The betas of Jade Pack," he replied, oblivious to the silence that fell across the creek. Even Alisa stopped working as she looked at him with surprise.

"Sam, sweetie," she asked him. "Have you shifted yet?"

The boy nodded. "My wolf is really pretty. We like to chase squirrels and one time we caught a little mouse. It was cute though so we let it go."

I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly as understanding hit me with full force. He wasn't healing and he had no scent of a wolf. He must have been taken by hunters and, from his story, experimented on. Somehow, they had done something to him.

"Alisa, bring Sam back to the village. I need to contact his parents and make some other phone calls. If this is what I think it is, we could all be in danger."

Alisa picked up the boy in her arms, his bare feet too bloodied to walk on, and handed him to one of the warriors as she grabbed her first aid kit. I watched them start to walk back to the house as I pulled out my phone to look through my contacts for the alphas of Jade Pack's number. But before I dialled them, Sam spoke up.

"Are you going to help the others?" he asked and my head jerked upwards.

"What others?" I demanded.

He frowned. "David, Isabel, John Christine, Anna and that other girl. I don't know her name."

My heart skipped a beat and I heard Jacob's indrawn breath as her name passed his lips. "Did you say Anna?" Jacob stammered. "My Anna?"

The boy just shrugged. 

---

Ros

Something was wrong, we all knew it. No one had brought us food since Sam had been taken. The lights had been turned off twice, meaning two nights had passed. But still, we had received no food and no water. Our bodies were suffering.

Our Flesh had wasted away and our faces were taunt and sunken. Most of us had stopped talking and shifting around. Christine was suffering the worst, being already in a frail state on account of her age. Her chest rose in shallow breaths and she lay still as we watched, hoping someone would come for her. But as time passed and still no food or water was brought, that hope grew small and smaller. 

I was far more unnerved than the others. They put it down to carelessness from our captors. They believed we had been forgotten whilst they dealt with something major. To them, it was a mistake. But I knew the faceless people did not make mistakes. Perhaps they had grown tired of killing us one by one and were doing it all at once. Maybe they were watching us fade away. Or maybe this was just another sick game of theirs.

As time passed by and my stomach ached for food, there was nothing I could do but sit and wait. As the lights went out for the third time, we fell asleep quickly, completely exhausted. Little did we know that when we woke up the next morning, Christine would no longer be breathing. Some time in the middle of the night, her body gave in and she passed away.

On the third day, the door was opened and food was brought to us but it was too late for Christine. Their neglect, obvious from the panick as they realised the state we were in and the death of Christine, had come at a high price. The portions of food they brought us were larger than ever before, but we did not touch them as we watched Christine's body being dragged from the room.  Then she was gone.

Over the other side of the room, teary-eyed Anna gulped down her food with such desperation that she was soon retching and vomited it all over the floor. The rest of us ate more slowly, ignoring the urge to stuff ourselves full of food. And when we were finished, we gave what little was left to Anna so she would not starve. But, among us, we also made an agreement to set aside food for later, everytime it was delivered. So we would never suffer like Christine did.

---

Logan

I had never seen the packed village so busy in my life. At my invitation, alphas from packs in the area had all come, with missing person reports and a shared determination to find these hunters. With them, they had brought warriors and the families of those missing who had ended up camping in the meadow outside our village as we worked to find the location of these hunters. 

Sam had been incredibly helpful. After a joyful reunion with his family, who had feared him dead after he had disappeared in the woods over 6 months ago, he had bravely given us as much information as he could. Together we had created a wall of faces and names, some now confirmed dead and the others confirmed to be alive. Among those faces was a blank space that disheartened me every time I had seen it. It belonged to the girl Sam had told us about, the one whose name was not known to him. She had been there longer than anyone else he had known and had given up hope a long time ago. I just wished she knew we were coming.

On a separate wall was placed over a twenty photos of young woman who had been missing for years. Families had brought them over, each with their own story, which I had patiently and heartbreakingly listened to. From children disappearing whilst playing alone to a girl kidnapped from her home whilst her brother and alpha parents were downstairs. All could be the unnamed girl.

To my relief, the day we had decided to stage the assault and rescue came quickly and soon I was shifting alongside many of my warriors for the run to the location Sam had identified for us, where scouts waited for us to arrive. Beside me ran nine alphas, some mated and some not, like myself. Most had come because it was the right thing, but one was hoping his sister would be there, the one who was kidnapped from their home. They had brought their warrios who ran with us now, each as determined as the next to put right a great injustice and to protect whoever the hunters would go after next.

We stormed through the forest like an army as deer, squirrels and birds dove out of our way. Canines flashed in the morning sunshine and our fur bristled, ready for a battle. We followed Sam's scent from when he had fled and the scents of our trackers and scouts who had gone ahead. After what felt like hours, we reached the clearing where a sprawling concrete building was nestled. As planned, we began to split up and circle around as I took my position in front of the main entrance. When I was sure everyone was in place and ready, I howled.

---

Ros

I was caught off guard when the door was opened. There were no trays of food and a large number of people, which could only mean one thing. But they never took another so soon after the first. And they never spoke aloud so blatantly.

"Get the Alpha," one of them said.

Looking up, I tried to figure out which one of them was who was to be taken. But no one seemed scared, only confused. Then they approached me and my heart almost stopped. I stilled, dumbfounded, as hands grasped my wrists and my shackles were removed, revealing scarred, chaffed stripes of clean skin beneath them. My arms were twisted behind my back as I was pulled to my feet, but my legs gave way beneath me and I had to be held up by the people. As I was dragged towards the door, I finally snapped out of my stupor and terror made me buck and thrash. 

I cried out as I slipped out of their grasp and landed on the hard concrete floor. Then they were on top of me, pinning me down as my arms were twisted behind me so tightly I was certain they would break. My whole body was raised in the air and the door closed behind me as I entered a whole new world of white tiled floors and dusty grey walls. 

Giving up my resistance as exhaustion quickly reached me, I slumped in their grasp and allowed myself to be carried down endless corridors until I was placed on a chair, its icy cold material making me jerk away from it. My wrists, ankles and waist were bound to the chair and then a strap was tightly fixed on my forehead to stop me moving. Around me I could hear low voices and movement, but my vision was restricted to the bright lights in the white ceiling and the top of a featureless wall. It was a disappointing view to be the last one I ever saw and there would be no fresh air. Still, at least the waiting would finally be over. 

There was a sharp scratch on my wrist and I closed my eyes, allowing a single tear to slide down my cheek. Was this it? Were these the last breaths I would take? Had everyone else gone through the same thing? The thoughts swirled around my mind mercilessly as I wished the faceless people would tell me what was going on. At the very least, I would have liked to know why.

There was a loud bang and raised voices as someone stormed into the room. Their words were jumbled and they were out of breath, but I caught a little.

"Wolves ... woods ... under attack. Put her back... postponed," the man gasped. 

At his words there was a flurry of activity and suddenly the straps binding me were loosened and I was pulled from the chair. As quickly as I had been brought here, I found myself deposited back into the cell and shackled to the wall. They disappeared and slammed the door shut behind them, leaving me in silence.

The first ting I did was lean forwards and dry heave as spit dribbled from my mouth. Looking down to my wrist, I could not even see a cut from where the pain had come from and considered for a moment that it had just been a dream. 

"What happened," David asked.

Leaning back against the wall, a sob wracked my body and I clasped my hands over my mouth to contain it. "I don't know," I rasped. 

"But-" Anna started, but I turned away and leant my head against the wall, ignoring whatever she wanted to say. I wished the lights would turn out and I could go to sleep, escaping to the world of dreams I treasured. But they remained constant and blinding and the murmur of conversation from the others made it impossible to sleep.

I don't know how much time passed before I heard movement outside the door and I knew who it was. The man had said that it had been postponed, which meant they had come back for me. I took a deep, shaky breath as something collided with the door and made my peace. Then the door flew open and landed in the centre of the room.

Through it streamed men and woman, barely covered in scraps of clothing, with looks of horror and sadness on their faces. I watched as one of the men fell to his knees in front of Anna and held her so tight I feared she would be crushed as they wept together. Another man cradled John in his arms whilst Daniel was embraced by a woman who seemed to be his sister. No one was here for Isabel, who I knew was a rogue, but several stepped forwards to strike the chains off her and set her free as they moved from person to person. When they reached me, I sat still as the silver collar was removed from my neck for the first time and the chains around my wrists and ankles removed. Their mouths moved as they spoke to me, but I paid them no attention until one of their hands brushed against my arm and I jerked backwards.

Someone gave an order and the others were helped to their feet and began to walk out, leaning heavily on people's shoulders. A man offered his hand to me, expecting me to follow their lead, but I ignored it and drew my knees up to my chest. I didn't trust them or the world outside this room.

My unwillingness to move drew the attention of those still left in the room and they crowded forwards, speaking in soft tones and offering their hands for me to take. A woman spoke suddenly and sharply and their voices fell silent as she knelt in front of me and tried to get my attention.

"Hey there," she spoke softly. "What's your name?"

I shook my head. I didn't trust them. They were strangers, just like the ones who ran this place, and I had no idea what they wanted to do to me.

"Well my name is Alisa and I am with all these people around you who came to rescue you. Do you understand?" She paused for a response, but I ignored her and began to trace patterns into the floor with my fingernail, following those I had already etched in. "We need you to come outside with us so we can get you to my infirmary and examine you properly so I can treat you for any conditions you may have."

I shivered at her words and drew more into myself.

She swore and stood up. "Get Logan. I don't know what to do except drag her out of here and she'll never trust us if we do that."

The people stood around, shuffling their feet and walking in hushed whispers as they waited for this Logan person. I just wanted them to go away and leave me in peace, but that did not seem like an option to them. So I sat and waited too. 

Eventually he appeared, with Anna and the man who's been first through the door. She was wrapped in a blanket and held in his arms and gave me a look of sadness as she stared at me. As I watched her, I did not notice the man named Logan suddenly rush forwards until I was locked in his arms.I tensed up completely as he sniffed my neck and stared at the wall ahead, hoping he would release me. When he did, I quickly shuffled away from him and his face fell.

"Mate?" he murmured tentatively, much to the surprise of the occupants of the room. There was a rush of hushed voices and then too many eyes staring down at me as their heads bowed respectfully.

I shyed away from their gaze as the room seemed to shrink. There were too many faces here, too many voices and smells and bodies. I had to get out. 

I pressed my palms against the wall as I rose to my shaky feet, almost feeling them cave beneath me. With great effort and determination, I placed one foot in front of the other and stepped forwards - my first step in years. Then my legs buckled and I fell downards, only to be grabbed by hands that stopped me crashing against the floor.

"Hey, let me help you," he spoke softly. "Grab my shoulders and we will walk together."

I dug my fingers into his shoulders as he wrapped his arm around my waist and took some of my weight. Placing one foot in front of the other, the crowd parted as I walked through them and into the corridor. Instead of going left, we turned right and began to advance slowly past groups of people and blood splattered walls towards the source of a cold breeze moving through the building. I took deep breaths and smiled at the fresh-tasting air. It was like the food of the gods on my tongue. 

Stepping out into the sunlight, I pushed away from Logan and fell to my knees, feeling the grass beneath my fingertips and the breeze in my long, matted hair. "It's real," I breathed at the world before me that I had only explored in my dreams. "It's beautiful."

Then I heard his voice, the one who haunted me in my dreams. Only it was gruff and wrought with sadness. "Ros?" it cried. "Oh by the Goddess. Rosaline. Oh Ros."

A man fell to his feet in front of me and I looked up to recognise the same soft green eyes as the boy from my memories. Logan gasped and pulled me tight against him.

"She's your sister, Alpha Ross?" he asked the man. 

"She's your mate, Alpha Logan?" the Ross answered.

They looked at me in amazement and I stared back, dumbfounded. I had a brother and a mate and two packs. I had my freedom. But what would I do with it?