6. Destination

Elysia’s POV:

I had lost track of time since my time in the scarlet room as there were no windows or clocks in the room but somehow I had been able to establish a routine. Every couple of hours different people came into the room and I was now familiar with the faces. There was the guard who did routine checks and took us to take a bath or use the toilet when we needed to, the older lady who brought us food and then there was Michelle.

She didn’t come as frequently as the guards or the food lady but whenever she came, you could feel the tension in the room as everyone held their breath while her intense eyes scanned the room. Every time that she came into the room she took four girls out with her and that was it.

The girls never came back, there was no way to know what happened to them as no one ever answered our questions but we just knew that being picked by Michelle was bad luck and so the woman’s presence never failed to get my heart beating fast within my chest.

After myself and the girls that had been with me had been pushed into the room, there had been one last set of girls and that had been it. No more was brought into the room but ever since the last set had come, we had reduced significantly in number as Michelle kept coming and taking them out, four at a time.

Thankfully, Seraphina remained and we had stuck like glue throughout our stay here. She was a wonderful girl and she had lived a more interesting life than I had before we had been brought here, so conversations with her were always lively and she always knew how to make me laugh. She was older than I was and had lived freely as a white omega wolf in her pack which was surprising because it rarely ever happened.

“If you really think abou-“ Seraphina was in the middle of her sentence, trying to convince me on how the local markets were better than the super ones, when the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway reached our ears and put an end to our conversation.

Whenever we heard footsteps coming in our direction, the room usually fell silent and all the girls waited with bated breath, hoping it was the older lady that usually brought us food. Finally, the footsteps stopped in front of the door and it took another minute before the door was pushed open to reveal Michelle.

The air of confidence that she always walked around with never failed to intimidate me. She was a small-looking woman and if I didn’t know better I would say we were the same age, but her attitude said otherwise. Her eyes always looked like they knew something about everything and her body language could only belong to someone who had years of experience.

As always, she was escorted by Scarface, and just like the first time that I had been in contact with the man, fear ran through me just by looking at him. Michelle walked through the length of the room like she always did, observing every one of us like it was the first time she was seeing us. She picked the first girl and pointed towards the front of the room, indicating that she wanted her to move there and the girl did so without hesitation.

Our time in the room had taught us to move swiftly especially when Scarface was around, the man had a short temper and lacked patience so he was quick to hit if one didn’t move fast enough.

Michelle picked the second girl, humming in satisfaction as she ran a finger through the lush locks of her blonde hair, the girl moved quickly toward the front of the room and pity bubbled in my stomach when I caught the tears that had formed in her eyes but I didn’t have the time to feel sad for someone else because Michelle was now in our row and I could feel the vibrations from Seraphina as she trembled in fear, I was pretty sure it was the same for me. She picked another smaller girl in front of us, Emily, I think was her name.

One more girl.

Michelle walked our row till the end before coming back and stopping right beside us, my heart stuttered to a stop and I closed my eyes tight, praying she would move on from us and when I heard the silent gasp escape from Seraphina my eyes snapped open to find Michelle’s fingers pointed in our direction.

Seraphina had been picked.

I watched with my heart in my mouth as my friend, the only friend I had made in here stood from her position and walked with shaky legs towards the front where the other girls were standing, she gave me a last look and the fear that danced in her eyes mirrored mine. I would never see her again if she left the room. We never even finished our discussion on how the local market was better than the super ones.

Courageous wasn’t a word that I would describe myself with. I preferred to hide in the shadows and blend with the crowd, or keep my head down so I went unnoticed, but as I watched Michelle start to exit the room with the chosen girls in a row, it felt like I was suddenly consumed by a spirit and I moved out of the bed and rushed in the direction of the leaving party.

“Wait! Take me instead, let her stay back please.” I said, blocking the way so Michelle couldn’t go out the door.

“You fool.” I heard Scar face mutter as he moved in my direction and I closed my eyes preparing myself for the impact of his large hands.

But it never came.

And I slowly opened my eyes to find Michelle holding out a hand to stop him. She had an unreadable expression on her face and her haunting eyes scanned my frame as if they were looking for something. Finally, she seemed to have found whatever she was looking for because she sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips as if to drive away a headache.

“Very well then. You can go back, you come with me.” She said and I heard Seraphina’s scream of protest but it sounded far away especially since Scarface prevented her from following us as we were led out of the room.

My mind was starting to reel from realization.

We walked through a long hallway in a straight line behind Michelle, there were so many doors on each side of the hallway and I wondered what they held inside. More girls?

Finally, we stopped in front of a room and Michelle pushed it open ushering us all into the room except for Scarface who waited outside the door. There were three girls dressed in crisp and beautiful uniforms with their hair put up in tight buns that I knew was definitely uncomfortable.

Michelle cleared her throat to get our attention and once she had it, she began speaking:

“Here, you will be prepared for what probably would be the most important night of your life. Several other girls have gone before you and have obviously failed but you can be the chosen one. Do as you’re told, no funny business, and most importantly, turn on your charm because you will be having dinner with the Alpha King tonight and one of you might be chosen to carry his baby! Good luck girls.”

My breath seized in my throat, my vision blurred and my head felt like it was swimming. There was no way.