The vampires crossed the room and opened the door as she followed them out, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

Trapped

AHHH! I was so screwed. Pulling against the buckles, I looked down to assess the situation. My left hand was free but my right arm was strapped down and inside this blood cuff. Both of my legs were strapped down as well, and the space in the cage was so tight, it brushed the tip of my nose. I felt like Hannibal Lecter stuck in this thing!

Okay, breathe. Think. Any witch spells involving opening a cage? Before I could finish that thought, the big metal door opened again and Layla and a male and female vampire couple strode in. They were all dressed like they were going to the opera.

What the hell did she want?

“This is her. Our little money maker.”

Layla introduced me with a delighted tone in her voice. I wanted to strangle that happy sound right out of her throat and I couldn’t stop the growl escaping my chest.

The male vampire was freakishly tall as he walked closer and appraised me. “After Sarah drinks the blood, do I have to?” he asked Layla.

Layla gave a sly grin. “No need. You just take a little drink from Sarah, like you would during your love making. That’s enough to do the trick.”

Gross! I gagged and Layla cut me a look that gave me chills. Crossing the room, she went to the monitor and pushed a button. NO! Tara’s bloody murder scream filled the room. Shit. This was going to kill her if they didn’t switch her out soon. Too much silver. I needed to be on my best behavior so they didn’t hurt her anymore.

“No, stop! I’m sorry,” I told Layla. It killed me to be begging her but I would do anything for Tara or any of my other wolves.

Sarah didn’t seem fazed by Tara’s screams. She looked at me. “How many incubators do you have?”

Layla strode across to the cage I was held in and began to open a small six-inch, cut-out access panel in the door. I hadn’t noticed it before. Reaching in, she grabbed the blood bag that hung from the cuff in my arm, detaching it and pinching my IV shut with a clip. Then she clicked on a new bag and opened the IV tubing. How much blood could I afford to lose? I needed to distract her so she would leave the small door open. Sorry, Tara. One more time.

“We have about ten, with more on the way,” Layla told them.

Before she could close the access panel and turn away from me, I used the close proximity to spit in her face, making her mouth drop open in shock. Anger lit up her features and she looked like a demon, eyes red, hell-bent on murder. Her fist snaked out and she punched the cage hard, denting it near my face. Then she reached up and wiped her face clean of my spit and walked over to the monitor. The vampire couple looked at me with alarm.

“Make her hurt,” Layla said into the monitor. Oh God. I wished I could plug my ears.

Tara’s wails cut right into my heart but it had worked, she left the small access door to the cage open. After a minute or so of Tara screaming, she passed out, going limp on the screen. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I kept saying to myself, to Tara.

“Before we arrange payment, can we see the successful result?” Sarah asked Layla.

Layla flicked her eyes to me, still blazing with anger then she pulled out a walkie talkie. “Bring in my doggy,” she said, shooting me a death glare.

I suppressed a growl at the use of her word doggy.

‘Sadie, they are coming for Chelsea. I am strapped inside an iron cage but I distracted Layla and she left a small access panel open.’

‘How did you distract her?’ Sadie asked me.

‘I spit in her face,’ I admitted.

‘I like you more and more each day. They’re here,’ Sadie commented.

I searched for Chelsea’s pack bond, flowing strong within me and focused on communicating with her. As an Alpha, I could communicate with anyone in the pack, even in human form. It was a new sensation. ‘Let them take you. Don’t fight. Tara can’t take any more silver,’ I told her. God, I wished Tara was pack and I could talk to her and tell her she wasn’t alone. She had Kai, he was still her Alpha, at least one of us had Kai. I tried not to dwell on the bad shit.

Footsteps in the hallway outside got closer, and I watched Layla across the room as she pulled out the sonogram machine. Oh my God. I was going to see it. The … thing. I couldn’t call it a baby. I couldn’t.

The door opened and the doctor brought Chelsea in. Her hair hung limply around her pale face. She looked up at me and her eyes widened in fear when she saw me in the cage.

‘I’m here for you. You’re not alone and I’m getting us out,’ I told her firmly.

She nodded slightly and lay down on the small examination table. She stared at the ceiling, teeth gritting as the doctor pulled up her white scrub top and squirted jelly on her stomach. Now that her shirt was up, I saw that her belly was quite large for only being a month or so pregnant. How long ago had she been captured?

“How far along is she?” Sarah asked eyeing the baby bump with longing.

“She was inseminated about four weeks ago but the fetus is four months along. The baby seems to grow faster than human babies do. We think it’s because they are housed inside of the werewolves. They really are perfect hosts. The humans we originally tried all died. Too weak.”

Jesus Christ. I pulled against my bindings. If this thing was sucking our blood, would it be some kind of werewolf-vampire hybrid? It took everything in me not to vomit. Hosts? Like a parasite. Humans had died over this. My head was reeling.