Fated To The Enemy

The Facility Part One

The ship finally docked, and I immediately pushed myself upright to test my legs. They were still weak, but they would hold me. I scanned the container one last time for anything I could use as a weapon, but there was nothing. That was fine. I’d just go with it.

I rolled my shoulders and flexed my fingers, waiting patiently for the door to open. Whatever was waiting for me outside, I would deal with it when the time came. Let them come. I wasn’t going quietly.

The drugs were still dulling my senses, but they weren’t hitting me quite as hard as before. My thoughts were clearer, my reactions faster, and for the first time in days, I felt like I had some control over my own body.

Raven was still there, just barely. A faint presence stirred somewhere deep inside me before disappearing again, but at least she hadn’t completely abandoned me.

The sound of locks being pulled back snapped my attention toward the door. It opened, revealing three men standing outside. None of which were Maddox.

“Move.”

I glared at them, and said nothing. The man closest to me grabbed my arm, and I reacted on instinct. I twisted hard, drove my elbow into his ribs, then caught him across the jaw before he could get a proper grip. He stumbled backward.

I smiled despite myself.

The other two grabbed me before I could do anything else, but that didn’t stop me from fighting. I twisted and kicked, trying to wrench myself free as they dragged me out of the container, my boots scraping against the metal floor.

The second I stepped onto the dock, a wall of unfamiliar scents hit me. Not just wolves. There were feline scents, something reptilian, something sharp and earthy that I couldn’t place, along with others that were unmistakably human.

What the hell was this place?

They pushed me through a set of heavy metal doors, and I stopped dead. Before me cells lined both sides of the corridor, one after another. Some held men, others held women, and they weren’t all wolves.

A woman sat against the wall of one cell, her wrists bound behind her back and a gag secured across her mouth. Her eyes followed me as I passed. In the next cell, a man with golden eyes was chained to the floor, his expression filled with barely contained fury. Further down, someone with scales running along the side of his neck snarled behind his gag.

Then I saw a woman with pointed ears and dark hair staring at me through the bars.

There were witches, shifters, different species and different ages. They were all locked up. Some were restrained with chains, others had their hands bound, while a few were being dragged from their cells by guards, fighting every step of the way. They were being moved around like cargo.

My stomach turned as I looked from one cell to the next. “What is this place?”

No one answered.

We kept moving, and I caught sight of another corridor branching off to the side, packed with even more cells. There had to be dozens of them. Maybe more.

Whatever this place was, it wasn’t permanent. I could see that much from the way people were brought in, held for a while, and then moved on. Some were dragged from their cells while others were taken through different corridors and loaded onto vehicles. They were being transferred somewhere else, and I had no idea where.

Whatever was waiting for me at the end of that journey, I had no intention of going quietly.

A door opened ahead of us, and an older man stepped through. He was dressed well enough that he looked completely out of place among the guards and steel walls. His eyes landed on me and stayed there, slowly taking me in.

“Well,” he said. “I see why Maddox was so reluctant to hand her over.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Who the hell are you?”

He smiled, clearly pleased with himself. “The man who runs this facility.”

I held his gaze, refusing to be intimidated. His expression hardened as he stepped closer.

“You’d do well to watch how you speak to me,” he said. “You may be of alpha blood, but you are still a prisoner in my facility, and I won’t tolerate disrespect.”

I smiled coldly. “Then I guess you’re going to have a problem.”

His gaze travelled over me again, and something about the way he looked at me made my skin crawl.

“An alpha, I see,” he said.

One of the guards nodded. “Daughter of an alpha.”

His interest sharpened. “And you’re taking her where?”

The guard glanced at him. “I'm not at liberty to say, Sir.”

The man’s expression hardened.

“Where is Maddox.”

“He's coming," the guard replied.

The facility owner looked back at me. “I’d like to make him an offer.”

I laughed. “I’m standing right here.”

He ignored me.

“How much?”

The guard hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“Then find out.”

Footsteps sounded behind us, and Maddox appeared at the end of the corridor, his gaze moving from me to the facility owner.

“What's going on here, why is the package not being transported?”

The man stepped forward. “I want her.”

Maddox’s expression didn’t change. “She’s not for sale.”

“Everything is for sale.”

“Not this.”

“I’ll double whatever you’re being paid.”

“No.”

“Triple.”

Maddox didn’t even blink. “I have a job to do.”

The man’s jaw tightened. “You’d walk away from that kind of money?”

“Yes.”

Maddox stepped closer, his voice leaving no room for argument. “She’s being transferred. That’s all you need to know.”

The facility owner stared at him for several seconds before finally stepping aside. Then, I was dragged farther down the corridor, but I kept looking at the cells and the faces watching me as I passed.

One man caught my eye.

He was covered in bruises, his wrists shackled to the wall. He looked at me for a long moment, and then his eyes widened.

I couldn’t tell why. But. before I could figure it out, one of the guards yanked me forward and I stumbled.

“Keep moving.”

I turned my head for one last look, the man’s gaze was still fixed on me. There was something about him...