Alpha Temptation: Sanmere Shifters Romance Collection

by Lola Gabriel

  Ellery nodded. She had had blood tests done just before she lost her job, which Kiefer had claimed responsibility for. As crazy as all of this sounded, it was starting to make a strange sort of sense, and Ellery found herself starting to believe it. Was it really any weirder than the mind control thing?

  “I had blood tests right before I lost my job. I mean, right before Keifer made me lose my job.” Ellery thought for a moment. “You said everyone you’ve spoken to here. How many others have there been?”

  “I’ve been here for three months,” Lisa said. “And over that time, there have been six other women who have been turned into shifters. And then, of course, there’s Ava, who got brought here about a month after me. And now there’s you.”

  “And no one has ever come up with an escape plan?” Ellery asked.

  “Oh, believe me, we’ve come up with plans. We’ve tried so many different things, and none of them have worked,” Ava said.

  “So, what happens now? We just sit here and wait to be turned into a wolf and then spend the rest of our lives getting repeatedly raped?”

  “It’s worse than that,” Lisa said quietly. “Shifters are immortal. So it’s not so much the rest of your life as it is the rest of eternity.”

  “Shit,” Ellery breathed. “Guys, there has to be some way out of here.”

  “Well, if you come up with something we haven’t already tried, we’re sure as hell up for it,” Ava said.

  “And in the meantime, what happens? Are we just left in here to rot?”

  “We get showered once a week. But don’t think that’s a chance for escape. It’s not a shower in the typical sense. We get stripped off and hosed down in here. We get fed and given water. The pack alpha doesn’t want to risk us dying of malnutrition before he’s ready for us,” Lisa explained.

  “Great,” Ellery said.

  “Look, it’s not the Ritz, but it’s not so bad as long as you follow orders,” Ava said.

  Ellery nodded her head, although she wasn’t convinced there was anything about this experience that could be described as not so bad.

  “What about the other women? The ones who have been turned. Can’t they help us?” Ellery asked.

  “No,” Lisa said. “They’re watched closely. We tried that and it resulted in a couple of them ending up dead.”

  “I thought you said they were immortal,” Ellery said.

  “They are technically, but they can still be killed. Beheading works. As do silver bullets. Or there’s this metal, Ure. That can kill a shifter. Anyway, the women who tried to help us were beheaded in front of us, so trying that again is out. They do sneak down when they can, though, and give us extra food, or things they have managed to get a hold of,” Lisa said.

  Ellery fell quiet, trying to process all of the information she had been given. She knew she had to suspend her disbelief and accept that there were things in this world that she had never even considered, but it was still hard to do, and the fact that she was somehow mixed up in it all made her head hurt.

  Immortality was a big thing. It was something Ellery had always thought of as a curse rather than a blessing, and that was in the shows she watched now and again. The guilty pleasure kind where teenagers fell in love with vampires and werewolves, and turned into them for eternal love. Even that seemed like a mistake to Ellery. Like one day, those girls would wake up and realize they could never put down roots because they’d be found out. They could never get too close to anyone because they knew they would lose them eventually.

  This was even worse. The sheer horror of being made immortal and then spending eternity locked away, mated to a man you despised. And even without meeting this alpha guy, Ellery knew she would despise him. How could she not when she knew what he was capable of? The thought made Ellery’s head spin and her stomach clench.

  She felt her old thoughts resurfacing. The ones where she took her own life and no longer had to live with the horrors of the world she lived in. She could do it. She could bite through the veins on her wrists. It might take her a while to bleed out, but it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

  The thoughts didn’t hold the appeal Ellery had believed they would. She was stronger now. She wanted to live. But not like this. She would find a way to get out of here. She had to.

  “Are you alright? You’ve gone quiet,” Ava said, her voice gentle and caring.

  “I’ve been better,” Ellery said, forcing a smile. “I’m just trying to process all of this.”

  She thought for a moment longer.

  “I’m assuming you’ve tried breaking through the chains somehow?”

  “It’s impossible,” Lisa said. “We’ve tried breaking through them. We’ve tried chipping the rings out of the concrete. One girl even snapped her own ankle to try and force it through the cuff. It didn’t work. They just set her ankle and she was in a cast for a while.”

  “And presumably the chains don’t stretch far enough for us to reach the door?” Ellery said.

  “No. Or the shelves, not that there’s anything on them. See the toilet?” Ava said.

  Ellery hadn’t noticed a toilet and she looked around for one. She still couldn’t see one. Ava laughed softly.

  “More accurately, the hole in the ground with the toilet paper roll beside it,” she said.

  Ellery looked around again and she saw the toilet paper roll. She cringed at the thought of having to use the toilet in front of the other women, but really, that was the least of her worries right now. She nodded her head.

  “That’s as far as we can go in any direction,” Ava said.

  Ellery did a quick calculation. They could move in roughly a circle with a six-feet radius. It didn’t take them even close to anything that might be of use. Unless she found a way to use a toilet paper roll as a weapon, it was back to the drawing board.

  “There has to be…” Ellery started.

  She was cut off by Ava frantically shushing her.

  “Someone’s coming,” Ava whispered.

  Ellery listened and realized Ava was right. She could hear the large door at the front of the warehouse rolling up. She peered out as the door opened. The bright sun hurt her eyes and she squinted, but she forced herself to keep looking. For what, she wasn’t sure, but she thought any information she could gather might be useful. She didn’t glean much before the large door started to roll back into place. She saw a narrow road, and then another big warehouse opposite. She could see from a quick glance at the other warehouse with its walls and missing windows that screaming for help wasn’t going to do any good. The place was abandoned.

  She stopped thinking of escape for a moment as two large, muscle-clad men walked toward the three women. Each of them wore identical mean-spirited grins on their faces, and Ellery knew this was going to mean trouble.

  3

  Ellery shrank back as the two men approached them. They looked at each other and smirked, and then smiled maliciously at Ellery.

  “Fresh meat,” one of them commented.

  “No need to be afraid, little one,” the other man said. “As long as you do what we say, we’ll have a fine time together.”

  Ellery bit her tongue. Telling these men what she thought of that idea seemed like a bad plan. The kind that might get her beaten up or worse. Ava and Lisa looked a little nervous, but they smiled and greeted the men like old friends. Ellery learned the red-headed man was Clive and the other one was Simon. She wondered absently if Ava and Lisa were just playing along, pretending to be friendly with the men, or if they were so institutionalized that they really believed the men were on their side somehow.

  “Let’s start with you, Ava,” Simon said.

  “Wait. Before we get started, fresh meat, what’s your name?” Clive demanded.

  Ellery looked at him, her chin in the air, refusing to answer him.

  “Oh, we’ve got us a rebellious one. I do love breaking their spirits,” Simon said.

  He moved closer to Ellery, a fist raised. Sh
e still refused to answer him.

  “Her name is Ellery,” Lisa blurted out.

  Simon lowered his fist and backed away from Ellery.

  “You get a free pass this time. Watch and learn how to behave and you might avoid the fist altogether. But keep up with that fucking regal shit and you’ll learn what happens to people who disobey us,” Simon warned Ellery.

  Ellery turned her attention to Clive, who had stepped closer to Ava. He had a small slice of ham in his fingers. He waved it in front of Ava’s face and then backed away from her.

  “Come and get it,” he smiled.

  Ava went to stand up and Clive tutted and shook his head.

  “You know that’s not how we do it. Now fetch, little doggy,” he said in a sing-song voice that set Ellery’s nerves on edge.

  She could barely stand to watch as Ava crawled on all fours toward Clive. He stood just out of reach of her chains. Ellery saw then that the two women had been right. The length of the chain was nowhere near long enough for them to get to the shelves or the door.

  Ava stretched out her hand toward the piece of ham, but Clive shook his head. A little reluctantly, Ava brought her hand back to the ground and stretched out her neck.

  “Who’s a good little doggy?” Clive taunted her.

  Ava pretended to pant and shook her ass like she was wagging her tail.

  “Beg,” Clive commanded.

  Ava sat up on her knees, holding her hands out in front of her like a dog’s paws. She panted again, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Ellery had already seen enough and she had a feeling the two men were only just getting started.

  “Good girl,” Clive grinned.

  He threw the piece of ham onto the ground beside Ava. She snatched it up and pushed it into her mouth, chewing quickly. They had said they got fed, but judging by this, Ellery thought that they were kept pretty hungry, likely only getting enough food on a daily basis to not die of starvation.

  Clive turned his attention to Lisa, looking away from Ava in disgust as she shoveled the ham into her mouth.

  “On your feet,” he commanded.

  Lisa got to her feet with no further prompting. She looked eager to please Clive and her willingness to go along with these goons made Ellery feel sick to her stomach.

  “Dance for me,” Clive commanded, showing Lisa a piece of ham similar to that which he had given to Ava.

  Instantly, Lisa began swaying and moving her arms around above her head. She even hummed a tune. Clive watched in amusement for a few minutes.

  “Not bad. Back on the ground,” he commanded.

  Lisa did as he said. He went to throw her the scrap of ham, but Simon stopped him.

  “My boot is a little dirty,” he said, pointing to a tiny speck of dust on the toe.

  “Oh, well, we can’t have that, can we?” Clive said.

  Simon beckoned to Lisa.

  “Clean it.”

  Lisa reached out and wiped at the boot with the end of one finger.

  “With your tongue,” Clive grinned.

  It was clear to Ellery that the two goons had already worked out all of this before they came into the warehouse. It sounded scripted, but the lack of spontaneity didn’t seem to hamper their enthusiasm. They were both clearly enjoying themselves here.

  Ellery looked away as Lisa leaned forward and began to lick Simon’s boot. The humiliation was too much for her to stand. Her eyes moved around the warehouse, frantically searching for anything she had missed that could aid their escape. She saw nothing. There was nothing there to see.

  “Don’t look so sad, Ellery. We haven’t forgotten about you,” Clive said, forcing Ellery to look back in their direction.

  Lisa was munching on her slice of ham now and the two men were approaching Ellery. They towered over her, looking down on her. She had already decided she wasn’t going to be their next performing seal. She had too much self-respect for that. Maybe she would be hungry enough to perform one day, but this wasn’t the day for it.

  “Stand up,” Clive said.

  Ellery went to shake her head but decided against it. She felt at a disadvantage sitting on the ground, and maybe being on a more equal level with these two would make her feel stronger. She got up, staring defiantly at Clive. He smiled at her, a cold smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

  He reached out and went to stroke her hair. She took a quick step back, avoiding his touch. Clive sneered and turned to Simon.

  “She thinks she’s too good for us,” Clive said.

  “Let’s teach her a lesson,” Simon replied.

  “I’m going to give her one more chance first,” Clive said. “You hear that?”

  He didn’t wait for a response. He reached for Ellery’s hair again, and again, she jumped back out of his reach. Clive shook his head like he wasn’t enjoying this in the slightest. He motioned to Simon, who moved around behind Ellery. Ellery made an angry sound as Simon grabbed her by the upper arms and held her in place. She tried to throw him off, but he was too strong for her. She stopped struggling when she saw Clive’s expression. He was enjoying her fruitless efforts a little bit too much.

  He reached out for her again, but this time, he didn’t go for her hair. He grabbed her left breast and kneaded it roughly. He twisted it hard and Ellery cried out in pain. Clive grinned at her. He released her breast and spat in her face. The globule landed on Ellery’s cheek. She could feel the warmth of it as it dribbled slowly toward her jaw. She could smell the sickly sweet smell of it, and it took all of her self-control not to gag.

  He watched her for a moment, and then his hand darted out, slapping her clean cheek. It stung where his palm connected with her and Ellery stumbled to the side. Simon released her as she stumbled and she fell to the hard ground. Before she could push herself back up, Clive pulled his foot back and kicked her in the stomach. The air rushed out of her, replaced by an intense pain that brought tears to Ellery’s eyes.

  “Sit up,” Clive commanded.

  Ellery pushed herself up, ignoring the pain in her stomach and the smarting heat on her face. She reached up with one hand and wiped the spit from her face.

  “Lick my boots clean,” Clive demanded.

  “Not a fucking chance,” Ellery said.

  Clive leaned down and smacked her face again, a back-handed hit that wasn’t quite a punch, but was more than a slap. Ellery felt her skin splitting open and a thin trickle of warm blood running from her cheekbone.

  “How much worse do we have to make it before you will behave?” Simon asked.

  Ellery decided it was time to play her ace. The thought had come into her mind while Clive was tormenting her, and somehow, she knew it was true.

  “How much worse are you allowed to make it?” she said with a shrug of her shoulders, attempting to appear casual.

  “What did you say?” Clive demanded.

  “You heard me,” Ellery snapped. “I know why we’re here. And I have a feeling your boss won’t appreciate damaged goods. I mean, sure, you can slap me around a little, make yourself feel powerful, but you can’t do any real damage. Because around here, the only person with any real power is your pack’s alpha.” She paused and looked the men up and down in turn. “And something tells me that’s neither of you.”

  Clive and Simon looked shocked for a moment, but they quickly regained their composure. Ellery felt fear in her stomach as they grinned at each other. Clive even snorted out a laugh.

  “You can see why Alex has a thing for this one, can’t you?” he said.

  Simon nodded and then turned to Ellery.

  “Let me tell you something, Ellery. Alex, our pack leader, will be taking his next mate at the end of the month.” Ellery quickly did the math. Five days from now. “He has certainly taken a shine to you, and I think once we tell him how feisty you are, it’ll seal the deal. So you’re right. There’s not a lot we can do to you.”

  Ellery grinned, but her joy didn’t last for very long.

  “So here’s the de
al,” Clive said with another sickly and cold smile. “You do as we say, or we’ll take it out on your friends there. And it’s going to be at least another month before either of them is needed. So believe me when I say we can do a whole lot of damage to them.”

  It all clicked into place for Ellery then. Why Ava and Lisa were so obedient. It was about more than a scrap of meat. They had obviously already learned that their disobedience had consequences for other people. Ellery was willing to risk a beating, but she wasn’t willing to risk one of them taking a beating for her defiance, and it seemed the other two women both felt the same way.

  “Do you understand?” Clive said.

  Ellery nodded wordlessly.

  “Good,” Clive said. “Now clean my fucking boots, or tell me which of them is getting punished.”

  Ellery didn’t dare hesitate. She dropped to her knees and leaned forward. She licked Clive’s boot. The leather tasted musty and dry. She resisted the urge to retch as hot tears of shame and revulsion poured down her cheeks. Clive stood in place for a few moments and then he stepped back, signaling the boot cleaning was over.

  “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” he said. “We’ll be back later with your meal. I don’t expect any more of this nonsense, Ellery. Is that clear?”

  Ellery nodded. The two men turned on their heels and stormed away. Without looking back once, they lifted the roller door and left, driving it back into place.

  “Ellery…” Ava started.

  “Don’t,” Ellery sniffed. “Just… just don’t.”

  She wasn’t ready to face anyone, not after the humiliation she had suffered through. She lay on her side, her back to the other two women, and drew her knees up to her chest. She closed her eyes, ignoring the silent tears that ran from her face and formed a tiny wet patch on the ground beneath her cheek.

  Ellery must have fallen asleep somewhere through her despair, because she jumped awake when she heard the smaller door beside the roller door rattling open. She pushed herself up from the ground, wincing at the pain in her body. The cut on her cheek stung and she could feel dried blood coating the skin beneath it. There was a dull ache in her stomach where she had been kicked, and her hip was hurting again where it had been pressed against the cold, hard ground.