First Bite - Shifter Romance Box Set: Anthology of First in Serials and Series

by Vaughn, V.

  Kalena’s eyelids grew heavy and she faded quickly into darkness.

  Chapter 3

  THIS EVENING MARKED THE night of the food and supply drop. Every twenty-nine days, two trucks would visit Area S2 to replenish the main hub’s essentials. In the days leading up to the event, the inmates would get anxious, the death toll within the barricades would rise, and the bartering and fighting would begin. One less mouth to feed meant more rations to go around for any that remained alive. And the rations were by no means abundant. There were well over one hundred inmates here, but every twenty-nine days, the trucks only brought enough food and supplies to provide for a little over half. Probably on purpose. After all, those sentenced and kept here were meant to die here - sooner rather than later. The longer the inmates stayed alive, the more money it took to feed them and secure the walls to prevent escape.

  From day one of Thane’s arrival, he’d caught wind of the lottery system set in place for gaining food and supplies. Zsecar Nolan, the leader who had been in charge here for the last couple years, instituted this practice. The inmates could barter—trading things of value already in their possession—or fight in the cage and come out a winner to earn a place. When the supply trucks finally arrived, there were thirty passes available for the privilege of first access to the goods. The rules were, you walked away with whatever you could carry in your arms. No bags, satchels, or anything of that nature was allowed. And even after privilege passes were given and supplies were rationed, no one was safe. If inmates didn’t run in a crew or were too vulnerable to watch their own back, they could easily get jumped and pillaged for their belongings.

  Thane was hesitant to participate. He could, but it would mean receiving too much unwanted attention from Zsecar Nolan and his runners. He had been doing well on his own out here without associating himself with Nolan’s group, and he refused to bow down now.

  While he didn’t participate, he still took a place in the shadows behind a few boulders and dense trees to observe the events and witness the drop. A dusty trail led the way to the main site, which consisted of a man-made bartering ring and the fighting cage. The inmates were already fighting in the cage, and two bloody wolf carcasses were piled up just outside the ring nearby.

  Half a dozen female inmates were loitering around, as well. The group represented those committed to serving Nolan, and he, in turn, acted as their pimp. Outside of the females offering their bodies for a few marked stones, Thane knew of three other females who inhabited Area S2. All three were spoken for. One of the women belonged to Nolan’s second in command, the second belonged to Nolan himself, and the last had mated to an inmate here prior to both Thane’s and Nolan’s arrival.

  There weren’t any guards around this evening, of course. They rarely patrolled on foot these days. It had taken six murdered guards for the prison heads to realize that the inmates were becoming too violent to restrain. This wasn’t a regular prison yard—it was a highly secured barricade for non-human inmates, better known as shifters. Occasionally, they’d throw in a few humans, but statistics showed that shifters outnumbered the humans here five to one.

  Despite the lack of patrol, those in charge of Area S2 had a couple new ways to keep the inmates in check. One way was eavesdropping via remote video. The other and most effective way was through an ankle bracelet used for tracking and monitoring vitals.

  Thane, and almost everyone held here knew that no one gave a fuck whether they were healthy or dead. Everyone here—feral shifters and humans alike, both innocents and the deranged—were labeled a menace to society according to shifter law.

  Thane shifted his attention back to the center of the action. There were a dozen inmates hanging around along the perimeters of the cage watching the fighting, probably betting amongst themselves for marked stones. After the fighting rounds, the victor took all. The winnings consisted of what was collected at the gates as entry fees, plus first dibs at whatever was on the trucks.

  Marked stones were like money and used to barter with in the absence of anything else of value. Although Thane had collected more than two dozen stones over the last few months, he’d never used them during a drop. He bartered when he could, and only when needed. Just last week, he’d bought a used flint from one of the inmates for three stones so he could make a fire. Sometimes he bartered with the rope he made from the thick vine that could only be found on the most treacherous side of the mountain—the side that all inmates avoided. And other times, he bartered with a bundle of fresh fish. The human inmates were most interested in the fish. One bundle took him twenty minutes to fetch, but could take some of the humans here a few hours or more to catch, even with a fishing rod.

  Aside from the two humans fighting in the cage and the two dead wolves just outside of it, there were three more inmates waiting for their round. Half of them were probably the same ones that participated in the cage fighting every twenty-nine days—assuming they hadn’t lost their lives during the last drop. It was a deadly game. The rules were simple: tap out and walk away with nothing, or fight to the death. Someone would remain standing as the sole victor.

  Thane also observed active trading between the inmates as they huddled in small groups of three or four examining the offerings. The cleverest inmates bartered before the supply drop. The most cunning inmates pillaged, murdered, and looted others for a quick gain in the days right after the drop.

  What piqued Thane’s curiosity was seeing the newbie wolf in the ring among Zsecar Nolan’s runners. Two runners surrounded the newbie, who had his head down and his gaze to the ground. The newbie would likely accept Zsecar Nolan’s mark. If he didn’t, he would be forced to fight or be bullied for the duration of his sentence if he didn’t escape or die. The first step to accepting Nolan as leader was submission, and it appeared the newcomer had just succumbed by the way he stood as if his every move were being controlled.

  As much as Zsecar Nolan wanted to be an Alpha, his chance of leading a true Pack was taken away from him when he was thrown inside Area S2’s barricades. From what Thane had heard, Nolan had assumed the leadership rather quickly after killing the previous leader.

  A quick wind flowed under Thane’s nostrils. Some brambles rustled behind him, but when he turned his head to check, not a soul was in sight. He took in the familiar scent of another male close by, however. Thane couldn’t see this new visitor yet, but he could certainly smell him...and the smell was familiar. It was David.

  Thane smirked. “When will you learn that sneaking up on a wolf isn’t a good thing, human?”

  David’s scent grew stronger until the six-foot-two ex-SEAL was perched beside Thane near the boulder. “Who said I was sneakin’ up, wolf?”

  David was just three inches shorter than Thane, but the Texan was built like a rock. Like Thane, he refused to submit to Zsecar Nolan, and with David’s level of training, he’d managed to take care of himself, stay in hiding, and keep out of trouble. Throughout his time here, Thane had observed several survival tactics that David had used to make it on his own in this place where wolves outnumbered humans. He respected David.

  “You missed the first two fights,” Thane said.

  “Well, I can’t get down on all fours and run as fast as you.” David snorted. “I smelled the carnage from a mile away. You thinkin’ ‘bout joinin’ the Pack this time around?”

  Thane snorted in reply. “You thinking about turning yourself in and submitting?”

  “Naw. I ain’t no bitch, and I ain’t gonna never be one.” David dug in his sack and pulled out what looked like dried jerky on a stick. He settled back on the rock and took a bite off one and handed Thane the other.

  “You’re always prepared, aren’t you?” Thane accepted, taking a bite of the dry meat. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he needed to hunt...and soon. Wolves needed protein in raw form to live, and the man-made jerky wouldn’t be enough.

  “I might not be participatin’, but I damn sure won’t miss the rest of the show,” David
replied.

  “You get a kick out of men killing each other?” Thane questioned.

  “I get a kick outta men squanderin’ around for material things that will be broke or useless in less than a month. Same time next month, they’ll be back fightin’ for and about the same shit. Much like how the real world works, eh?”

  Thane had to admit that there was some sense to what David had said. Apparently, he could learn a few things from the human. After all, David had survived these barricades a lot longer than he had. Thane glanced briefly at David. The human had grown his hair long, just as Thane had. He had also grown a beard, probably to weather the elements in case of a storm. Wind and thunderstorms were treacherous in this region. Even the native inhabitants of Area S2—deer, elk, and bears—took cover to avoid being stuck out in the middle of one. David wasn’t a shifter, so quick adaptation to the elements took time.

  “I’m still puzzled by how the real world operates, but I guess you can say that,” Thane replied. “Thank you for the jerky, by the way.” Thane dug into his own sack and handed David a closed round disk filled with water and a directional mechanism.

  “What’s this for?” David turned it around in his palm inspecting it.

  “It’s a compass. I made it from some scraps I found lying around.”

  “Hmmm. You wolves are quite handy.”

  Like Thane, David was a felon. From what Thane had been told, David had had no idea he’d killed a shifter until he was tried and sentenced by a shifter judge and thrown into this shifter hell-hole. The act was committed in self-defense, or so David had said.

  David was one of the smarter ones. Although Thane held no loyalties with anyone within the barricades, he sensed that David wasn’t a threat to him. Sort of like himself. If trouble didn’t converge on him, he didn’t dish any out. Both he and David were just trying to stay alive among criminals, the deranged, and a pack of angry wolves.

  “You see that newbie runnin’ ‘round here the last few days?” David asked.

  Thane nodded toward the fighting cage. “He’s in the ring.”

  David leaned forward a bit and narrowed his eyes against the setting sun. “Damn. I keep forgettin’ you have the eyesight of a hawk. Looks like Nolan and his runners caught up to him, huh?”

  Thane shrugged. “Or he could have gone willingly. Believe it or not, the majority of shifters don’t enjoy being without a Pack.”

  David turned his curious eyes on him. “Then what’s your excuse?”

  Thane heard a rumbling off in the distance, some shuffling of the leaves, and then saw a swaying in the trees. As he glanced to the right, he could see the dust lifting up to meet the backdrop of the setting sun.

  “It’s a long story and now’s not a good time. Here come the trucks. Hopefully they brought body bags for the dead and medical aid for the injured this time.”

  Thane and David settled back against the rock, eager to witness the savages fight over whatever scraps the trucks had brought.

  Chapter 4

  KALENA’S HANDS WERE BLISTERED from fighting against the ropes, but she’d try to earn her freedom until every ounce of strength left her. Her knees ached from kneeling on the hard metal floor of the truck or van or whatever she was being transported in. Her damp and heavy lashes brushed against her blindfold. Even with the blindfold, she could tell it was pitch black inside. Through touch and scent, she had realized hours ago that old boxes and potato sacks surrounded her in the back of the vehicle.

  Kalena had no idea how she’d gotten in the truck. The only thing she could recall clearly was falling onto the floor of the lab and then waking up inside a moving vehicle. She had no knowledge of how much time had passed between her being taken from the lab and her coming to, but they had been driving for several painful hours. It reminded her of the long seven-hour trips she took to visit her hometown in Florida.

  She swallowed several times, trying to sooth her scratchy throat. Of course, she’d refused the water and roll of bread her kidnappers had offered her. Would they really try to keep her alive, or had the bread and water been poisoned?

  As the vehicle moved along with her inside, the boxes slid and jerked about, causing dust to float up to her nose. She was cornered between a few of them, and the claustrophobic area she was confined to made her feel like she was part of the cargo.

  She sneezed and prayed that they’d stop soon. The last two times, they’d opened the door, and she was able to welcome the fresh air as a result of it, but they’d never let her out.

  Why had they taken her hostage?

  Kalena lifted herself to her knees again, then raised her bound wrists and thumped her fists against the metal wall.

  “Where are you taking me? I have a family, and they will be looking for me,” she shouted. Although the cloth around her mouth had loosened during her struggles, the pitch of her voice was still muffled behind it.

  She recognized the scraping sound of a partition being opened above her, and then the familiar gruff voice of one of the men flowed through. “You’ll know soon enough, spy. Until then, shut up before I come tape your lips together.”

  “You bastards! I’m not a spy. You’ve got the wrong person.”

  The man slammed the partition shut, and she heard them talking and laughing behind it.

  From what she’d gathered, there were three men riding with her and the cargo. She could tell from the distinctive voices. With each stop they made, they’d check to make sure that the rope around her wrists and ankles was secure before perching on the back of the vehicle to rest, eat, and smoke smelly cigars. When they lifted the cloth from her lips to offer her food and water, she would refuse and scream. They seemed to be unfazed by her screams. Punching them only resulted in the rope being tugged tighter around her wrists. It also seemed that crying out for help was useless. They must have been out in the middle of nowhere because no one ever came to her assistance.

  Suddenly, the vehicle lurched forward and then came to an abrupt halt, knocking Kalena off balance. She shifted her weight to her back and her spine slammed against the inside wall. The engine sputtered as the truck remained in the parked position. A moment of rocking, and a door being opened indicated that the men had made another pit stop. Or maybe they’d reached their destination. After all, the grumpy one had said she’d find out where they were taking her soon.

  What would they do with her? Had they driven her out all this way to take her life, hack her up into little pieces, and bury all the evidence of the crime? Her heart twisted and skipped a couple beats as her mind went wild with all the possibilities.

  Outside the truck, something dragged and clanked against the ground. It almost sounded like heavy chain scraping a rough surface. The truck jolted forward again and about a minute passed before she heard a loud thud.

  It frustrated Kalena that she could not see, or knew nothing about what was going on just a couple feet away from her. The vehicle stopped again, and this time, it seemed as if all of the men exited the truck.

  She balled her hands into fists and held her breath.

  The men conversed on the outside of the truck. The sound of racket and fuss rang out nearby. Shouting was followed by a loud uproar. The noise outside couldn’t have been from just one person, or even the three that had been with her. It was a crowd.

  Oh, dear God...

  What had she gotten herself into?

  The locks banged near the far end of the truck and the door was jerked open. A gust of wind pushed against her. Heavy footsteps pounded as metal and boxes were dragged against the floor.

  They were removing the cargo.

  One of the three men grabbed her roughly by the forearm. He tugged at the ties at the back of her head and tore off the blindfold and the scratchy cloth covering her mouth.

  Kalena screamed and fought against him.

  “Go on and scream all you want out here. It’s a shame you’re so pretty.” He cackled in her face, his breath giving off a putrid stench. “But all t
raitors must pay for their crimes.”

  “I haven’t committed any crimes.”

  He scoffed and thrust her forward toward the edge of the truck.

  The first thing Kalena noticed when she caught her first glimpse of the outside was mountains that seemed to go on for miles and stood high above the clouds. This wasn’t a coveted moment, but it was a breathtaking sight the way the moonlight highlighted the forest-dense horizon. From her position in the truck, she couldn’t see anything else, and she was uncertain if she should move. Because her wrists were still bound, it didn’t appear that she was free to go.

  On the ground, one of the men held a walkie-talkie up to his mouth. “Ve are here. Ze cargo arrived intact.” He spoke in accented and broken English.

  Static came through on the other end. “Make the drop quickly. Don’t engage the inmates. The ratio of wolf to man is high, and you don’t want to be anywhere near them after dispersing the food and supplies.”

  “And ze gurl?”

  There was a pause as Kalena’s heart beat rapidly against her breastbone.

  “Tracy Murphy has just become Inmate #301. Apply the tracker. Leave her.”

  “No!” Kalena yelled. She wasn’t Tracy. These scoundrels thought she was her friend. Inmate? Was this a prison? What had Tracy done? She turned to the guy who’d removed the blindfold. “There’s been a mistake. Where is my due process?”

  “You commit crime against shifter.” He sneered in his thick accent, dropping a set of glistening fangs. “Break ze laws, pay ze price.”

  Kalena stumbled backward at the knowledge that this man was a shifter. She’d been blindfolded since the moment she could hear them, and nothing about their voices told her that they weren’t human.

  Shit.

  For the most part, she tried to steer clear of shifters. The ones she’d encountered in her twenty-five years had been nothing but trouble. But what if there were more of them out here?