Chapter 2: Where am I?

I woke up on a cold floor, lying on my stomach, in a strange room. As if glued to the floor, I remained in that same spot, scanning my surroundings. I realized this wasn't an ordinary room but a cell with rusty iron bars serving as a door. Also, I was not alone; several she-wolves were here with me. Fearful, they peered at me from the ground, tightly clustered against the wall.

One of them, a dark-haired one, pointed to my left and I turned to see a tattered blue dress. I reached for it and immediately got up, putting it on.

"Where am I?" I asked the dark-haired wolf.

"We are in the Novak Pack territory," she answered timidly.

"Who are they, and why have they locked us in here?" I asked, unaware that such a pack even existed.

As she's responding, my eyes are raking the cramped room with not enough space; they packed us in, with the tiniest barred square window providing us with minimal fresh air, failing to relieve the musty odor that permeated the space.

The stares from the others grew more intense, each confused as I about why we had been brought here as well, except for one.

"You really don't know who the Novak Pack is?" The dark-haired she-wolf asked incredulously as if I should know.

I shook my head, indicating that I didn't know.

She stepped closer to me, glancing outside the cage to ensure no one was around to hear her speak.

"The Novak Pack is not only well-known for being the wealthiest pack due to their gold and oil resources, but their vicious leader, Alpha Gunner," she whispered. Her voice lowered even more when she called his name as if he was nearby.

Noticing the clueless look on my face, the unnamed she-wolf felt it her duty to tell me about him.

"He's ruthless, lacks compassion, and has a heart of stone. Many she-wolves take their own lives upon discovering he is their mate because they believe it's far worse than to be with him," she continued, whispering again.

"I've heard no she-wolf has ever survived his rejection as well, as his words are like molten iron," she added, providing more details about the vile alpha.

The news about him troubles me.

"He's also more of a beast than every werewolf is," said the unnamed she-wolf.

"What do you mean?" Fear started to rise within me.

He rarely shifts into his second form, which leads to his full beastly behavior and a loss of connection to his human side. This makes him wilder than any non-shifting creature and always hungry for a kill."

My eyes pop wide open. "Why does he want us here?" I asked quickly.

"He makes his men capture us rogues and works us to death in his gold mine and oil refinery."

The others gasped at the news, and I felt an even stronger urge to escape.

"How long have you and the others been locked in here?" I asked worriedly.

"The majority of us was captured today, just like you and the others, a day before."

I looked at them with pity, scared, young she-wolves still in their early teens, trapped in a cell as if they were nothing. Only someone with a heart of stone would do this to teen werewolves.

We heard footsteps approaching us, and immediately, the nameless wolf and I rushed to stand close to the walls, keeping as much distance as possible from the iron cell door.

Two men stood in front of the cell; they appeared to be guards or fighters. The uniforms they wore were forest green, complemented by dark black shoes. I watched them as they studied us in the cell.

"What should we do with the woman in the blue dress? It appears she could potentially find a mate tonight." One of the men whispered to the other as he stared at me.

I snarled at him, angrily baring my teeth.

Unbothered by my action, the other responded, "Slaves are forbidden to have mates. If her mate comes here tonight, we will capture him and compel him to work for us. If he refuses, we will unalive him, as the alpha's ordered."

My eyes widened as he smirked and walked off with his co-worker joining him. I quickly reached for the pendant on my necklace, making sure it was still there. I squeezed it, feeling relief that my mate would be safe away from me tonight.