A blonde girl stood. “I say so what! If we all rush the door next time it opens, we can fight them off. Let them kill her so that all of us can go free,” she roared.

Sadie stalked across the room and stood before the girl. “That’s my friend in there!” Sadie bellowed. Sadie and Tara had been in the same pack in Seattle for a while, they must have become close. The two girls stared into each other’s eyes. A dominance battle. This was a disaster waiting to happen. Ten werewolves in a room, all from different packs. No Alpha. We needed to be working together, not tearing each other apart.

I strode over to them, knowing this would come to blows if I didn’t intervene. These girls were both dominants.

“Enough!” I snarled and let power ooze from my voice. “We’re all on the same side. No one is getting killed. Not Tara, not you. No one. I’m getting us out of here.”

The blonde girl broke her stare to look at me, and laughed. “Oh yeah? How you gonna do that?”

I squared my shoulders. “I’m working on it,” I told her.

She rolled her eyes and turned her back to me. My wolf didn’t like that. I grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me. “If you rush the door or do anything to endanger Tara, I’ll rip your head off. Are we clear?” My voice was animalistic, as fear flashed in her eyes.

With this many wolves in a room, my dominance was ramped up. There was no leader and I felt the need to fulfill the spot.

She continued to stare at me, no doubt curious of how dominant I was. After a moment she began to sweat, her breath hitched, and she lowered her eyes and nodded. “I don’t want to hurt your friend. I just want to get this freak out of my belly and go home!” She grimaced and pointed at her stomach.

I looked at Sadie, eyes wide. “What is she talking about?” No. Don’t say it.

Sadie gave the girl a look of pity. “She is carrying the queen’s baby.”

Shitty shit shit.

The breath whooshed out of me as my mouth hung open in shock. There went my hopes that none of them had been impregnated yet. I glanced at her baggy clothes and saw the hint of a bump. Oh God. Then I scanned all of the girls. One of them was still in wolf form. She must have refused to shift.

“Anyone else?” I needed to know just what we were getting into.

“Not yet. Just me,” the blonde said, bitterly.

My mind was racing. How far away was Tara? The next room? Another floor? Could my magic reach that far? Could I protect her somehow? Could I protect her while also killing Layla? I doubted it as I tapped my foot nervously. Sadie tugged at my arm, leading me into a corner to talk privately.

“We need to get out of here,” she told me, looking vulnerable. Her eyes had dark circles around them; she looked weak. She looked worse than the rest. This was not the usual Sadie I was used to.

“We will,” I told her with confidence. God, please let that be the truth. I was already feeling claustrophobic under these tons of rock.

She gave me a weak smile as I looked closer at her arms; they had pink prick scars.

“You look gorgeous,” I joked with her and she laughed. The laugh sounded hollow and her face looked haunted.

Then I became serious. “What happened? Give me the scoop.”

She rubbed her arms. “Every few days they switch out which one of us gets tortured. I was first, then Tara, who knows who will be next. They’re very careful not to kill us. They won’t hurt blondie because she is pregnant with the queen’s spawn.”

Oh, shit. Now I knew why Sadie was so affected by seeing Tara in there. She knew what it felt like firsthand.

“There are multiple floors to this place. It’s an old cold war bunker or something. All of us have had our lady parts checked out. One girl was already pregnant with her mate’s child. They aborted it.” Sadie’s voice shook as she delivered this last news.

Evil bastards! My hand went to my mouth. Suddenly, I feared they would find out I was pregnant and take my baby. Tears lined my eyes and my throat constricted.

Sadie nodded. “They don’t care. They want baby growers. If you aren’t of use to them, they kill you. If you fight back, they hurt one of us. They have us trapped!” She pounded her fist on the wall.

Shit. I turned and scanned the girls. Some sat together, some alone. The one wolf who hadn’t changed was staring at me.

“What’s her deal?” I gestured to the wolf.

Sadie shrugged. “Refuses to shift. Been like that for days.”

I frowned. “No one has talked to her? Is she okay?”

Sadie rolled her eyes at me. “None of us are pack, so obviously we can’t talk to her while she is in wolf form. I’m sure she’s fine. The vampires have left her alone.”

Something Sadie said gave me an idea, a crazy idea. Oh, Kai, you aren’t going to like this.

“When will they switch out Tara? How is it done?”

Sadie lowered her voice, “I’m pretty sure they are listening. One time we tried to plan a break out and they were ready.”

Then she leaned in and whispered so soft I wasn’t sure I heard her. “Camera’s in the vent.”

My eyes went wide as I nodded and glanced around the room. My gaze settled on the air vent in the ceiling and the red glowing dot that lurked there. Shit, these bastards were smart; they had thought of everything. I lightly squeezed Sadie’s arm and then walked off to the opposite corner of the room to be alone.

‘Any news?’ I asked Kai.