Alpha Prison: A Virgin Wanted

Chapter 2

She didn't know if the scent blocker worked, but she sent a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess that it did. Kristen pushed off the side of the hill and ran, gravel making her feet slip as she tried to put distance between her and the hunters. Her right hand clutched the vial as her arms and legs pumped.

A sharp whistle sounded behind her, and she growled low in her throat. The series of whistles was a hunter signal. They were changing direction. “Hey! She went this way, but her scent is faint. Hurry up, you dumb f***s!” Kristen grinned, holding back a laugh. The suppressant worked, and the hunter was pissed.

An empty train car sat on the track up ahead. Maybe she could hide inside until they moved along. It was risky, but it might work. She moved slowly, trying not to draw any attention, and slid into a freight car. It was full of empty wooden boxes, and she slid behind a stack. The space was small, and she struggled not to disturb the dust too much. She didn’t want to leave any signs that she was there.

Silently, she waited in her crawl space as time moved slowly. The stillness in the freight car left her with her thoughts. Memories surfaced that she tried to keep buried.

She sat on a tree branch behind her house, humming softly. She was watching the road for Ronald. He had promised to come by before dark, but it wasn’t his form that she saw walking down the dirt road to her home. Instead, three men moved in their direction. The sun was just beginning to set, and she couldn’t make out their faces, but she could tell by the way they moved that they were dangerous.

Their steps were confident and fluid like fighters. They had to be warriors or hunters, but there was no reason for them to be here. They lived on the edge of the pack; her mother had kept them apart from the rest of their people for as long as she could remember. That day, she learned why. The men entered their tiny house and Kristen snuck to the back door, wanting to listen in on her mother’s conversation.

Her mom’s sharp cry of pain had made her jump, but she paused, trying to understand what was going on so she could decide how to help. “Where is the apex omega, woman? You can’t protect her forever.” She couldn’t see the men, but she would never forget the sound of the leader’s voice and the laughs of the other two who joined him. “Speak, damn it!” He barked out, and her mother whimpered.

Kristen reached for the doorknob of the back door. She needed to help her mother. A hissing sound rang out, and the smell of burning flesh reached her nose. “Tell me where your daughter is, Tiana, and all the pain stops.” Kristen swallowed hard, her hand shaking as it closed around the knob. She was an omega, yes, but why were they looking for her? She wouldn’t reach maturity for a couple of years. They couldn’t know she would be an apex omega already.

Her mother’s voice cut through her questions. “You will never have my daughter. She is too smart to be found by the likes of you.” The leader growled deeply. Kristen could hear his clothing ripping as he shifted into wolf form. She pushed the door open a few inches and could see her mother bound in silver chains, preventing her from shifting to defend herself. The leader lunged for her throat, shaking her body as life left her.

Kristen choked on a scream as a sound outside snapped her out of her memories. “I’m telling you, she didn’t go this way. Her scent isn’t here.” One of the men was so close that the sound of his boots on the ground outside made her tense. The other was a bit farther away. “Just look in the damn car and see if she’s in there. We’re wasting time.” The first man pushed the freight car door open further. She could imagine him leaning in. “There’s nothing in here, just a bunch of boxes covered in dust!”

She let out a long breath when they finally moved on. She waited fifteen minutes before coming out of her hiding place. It wasn’t until she crawled out that she realized the vile was now crushed in her hand. She tossed it into the grass and, returning to her plan, she stayed in the tree line and followed the train track.

What she didn’t expect was for the track to split in two directions. She eyed her options. If she followed the track on the left, it would take her through empty fields before coming to a large city. It had been her destination. Alpha Keelan was dangerous but fair. He kept a tight rein on the pack there, but that didn’t mean she would be protected. Many packs allowed the hunters to take omegas like her. Their ability to lure high-ranking males was considered too dangerous to the werewolf hierarchy.

Her scent was more potent than that of other omegas. Her ability to control even the strongest wolves was perceived as a threat. They never questioned the omega's desire, or lack thereof, to control someone. So, she turned to the other track.

If she took the one on the right, it would lead her to Elpis Port. Tilting her head back, she looked up into the sky and gauged the time. Was she really considering participating in that ridiculous study? Yeah, she was. Whomever sent her the letter had told the truth. The scent blocker worked. For now they could be trusted, at least a little bit. To be honest, she would be the most likely to be successful if she did. Her pheromones would make it easy, right?

Two choices stood before her, and she had a very short window of time to choose. Run with no end goal. Or go to prison and get paid to hide. The prison, with its guarantee of food and a warm bed, was tempting. A life on the run wasn’t much of a life. She was tired of running. Tired of having an empty belly half the time. Tired of sleeping in stinky closets and on the cold ground.

Another realization struck her. The goal of the experiment was to return the inmates to their packs. If she went, she could find Ronald. She wasn’t naive enough to think they would be placed together, but she could help the woman who was assigned to him. Once he was released he could help keep her safe. She had to believe he was still the person she remembered from her childhood. That boy, well man now, would do anything to protect her. That was it, this was her best option.

She looked between the two options. She could hear the running of a creek nearby and smell the mud. Another smell caught her attention as well. Wolves. The hunters had passed through there. If she didn’t make the right choice, they could be waiting up ahead. The rumble of a train sounded in the distance. The track was set to send the train to Elpis Port, and that made up her mind.

She would hop the train and ride it to the next town. Kristen found the perfect spot to catch the train. The train approached with a deafening roar, and she tensed. Jumping at just the right moment was important. The engine passed, and cars followed.

Kristen waited patiently, watching the sparks that flew from the rails. As the last car began to pass, she jumped, grabbed the rail, and pulled herself onto the car. She slid along the outside until she found an opening and waited inside.

When the train took the track to the right, she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. “Well, looks like I’m going to prison.” She made herself comfortable and took a nap. If she was going to earn that $100,000, she needed to be at her best.

The squealing of the train brakes woke her from her sleep. She tossed her bag over her shoulder and hopped off before anyone noticed her. The port was easy to find, and the group headed to the prison was even easier to locate. There was a group of about fifty young women. Some talked among themselves, and others stood quietly watching. As long as she had the scent blocker, they wouldn’t know what kind of omega she was. “You can do this,” she assured herself.

A middle-aged man wearing a black polo shirt with “Alpha Prison” embroidered on the chest and black tactical pants approached. “Good evening, ladies,” he called out. “My name is Daniel Armstrong, and I will be your escort this evening. A boat will be arriving shortly to take you to the island. Once we arrive there, you will be briefed and sent to your study partners.” His dark brown eyes ran over the group, assessing them. Kristen wondered how they looked in his eyes. She wondered how she looked in his eyes.

Many of the women looked well cared for, unlike her, but she didn’t mind. It would allow them to underestimate her. It wasn’t a competition, as far as she knew, but she still didn’t want to reveal too much. A strong wind began to blow, causing goosebumps to rise on her arms, and some of the women moved closer together.

A large white boat appeared on the horizon, and Kristen shifted from one foot to the other in anticipation. “Ah, here is our boat now. Please form a line and have your ID ready. I will mark who is present as everyone boards.” She stepped into the back of the line and took out the ID that had been provided in her envelope. “Oh, and ladies, if you haven’t taken the scent blocker yet, now is the time to do so.” The line moved slowly, and she wondered how late it would be when they finally found their beds. She wasn’t tired thanks to her nap, but she was a little worried about her choice and needed some time to think.

She stepped up to Daniel, “Name,” he asked, and she hesitated. “Uh, Kris. Kris Lauren.” She offered him her ID, and he looked it over before tapping the screen of a tablet he held. “Excellent, Miss Lauren. Go ahead and board.”

Kristen took a seat, ignoring the other women, and watched the sky as the stars came out. She was a little disappointed when the island came into sight. The prison was a large concrete building with a high tower and surrounded by a fence. She had expected it to be further from the mainland, but it didn’t really matter. Daniel stood, “Okay, ladies, first thing to remember is never touch the fence. It’s covered in silver. We will exit the boat and wait for the outer gate to open.

Kristen kept her eyes on the prison building as she followed the crowd off the boat and into the gate. She had a gut feeling that something big was going to happen here. She just didn’t know if it was good or bad. The gate rattled as it closed behind them, and a guard stepped out of the control room, followed by an inmate in a white prison uniform. The inmate was short and unremarkable looking, standing just feet from her, but his gaze held a questioning look. “Omega?”