"Can't these bitches ever just leave us alone?"

"Shut up! What if she hears you and reports us. The council already wants to give us a public punishment to discourage others, don't give them a reason to actually go through with it!"

"I don't give a fuck! These ladies are getting on my nerves! Can't they understand that we aren't looking for wives? They already stalk us constantly whenever we set foot outside, even go as far as to bribe our servants to give us gifts and marriage proposals, now they're straight-up trespassing and stalking!"

"Why is she covered in blood?"

"Maybe she's a pervert who fell out of a tree while trying to look through our window in hopes of seeing some dick."

"Why can't I sense any power from her?"

"I can't either."

"Same."

"She also looks like and has the aura of an adult, so why is she so... small?"

As I came into consciousness my mind started to panic in a desperate need to get up when I heard the voices of several men talking around me. I tried to open my eyes or move, but all I could manage to do was twitch my fingers while pain coursed throughout my body. Everything ached and my head felt like it was hit by a boulder.

"Hey, did she just move?"

"Don't tell me she's pretending to be unconscious."

Whoever spoke followed their words with a nudge to my side with their foot. I moaned in pain from the action and finally mustered up the strength to open my dark brown eyes. My eyes rapidly fluttered open and closed, blinded by the bright, blue sky. Once they adjusted, I was finally able to take in my surroundings through the dirty cracked lenses of my glasses.

"Finally, she's awake!" Someone exclaimed, causing me to jump.

I sat up quickly while my body screamed at me to stay still. My eyes darted around looking at the five men in their late twenties to early thirties who surrounded me. The rise and fall of my chest quickened as my heartbeat spiked.

"What the hell are you doing on our property?" Demanded a man with blonde hair and gold-looking eyes.

"Jax!" The shortest of the five men with brown hair and green eyes scolded.

"What?" The blonde named Jax asked. "I'm just asking what we're all wondering."

I calmed down slightly as I realized he wasn't here, but I was still on high alert because of the unknown men surrounding me.

"S-sorry. I'll leave," I said, looking around not recognizing my surroundings that seem a bit... off.

I remember being in the abandoned building in the woods, so how exactly did I end up here? He was only a few meters away from me. The logical outcome of the situation would be that I would be back there where I couldn't escape from him again. He wouldn't simply let me slip through his grasp. He would do anything to keep me, he's already done so much.

The five men looked at me with confused and shocked faces.

"Am I hearing things, or did she just apologize?" A man with hair as white as snow with odd lavender eyes asked the others.

"No, Zev. I heard that too," the tallest, a black-haired man with cold blue eyes, answered.

"I know what this is!" Jax suddenly exclaimed with a snap. "It's a new tactic. Acting lost and just stumbling onto our property like a lost puppy," he said to the others before turning to me. "Did you really think we're stupid enough to fall for that? What did you think, that we would take pity based on your little act and let you stick around?" He said mockingly.

"Jax!" The brown-haired man shouted again.

"Shut up, Ezra!" Jax shouted back.

The raised voices made me flinch on instinct. I backed away from the angry-looking men until I was stopped by a large tree behind me. An involuntary whimper of fear escaped my throat as I shook in fear. I tried to make myself as small as possible while using my arms to shield my head, waiting for the pain to start. Anger always brought pain.

"What..." The voice of whoever spoke trailed off.

I peaked through my arms to see that the five had even greater shocked expressions. Their eyes were open wider and their lips were parted in surprise.

"Is this another tactic?" Jax asked hesitantly.

"I don't think so," Ezra said. "Can't you smell her fear?"

The last man who had dark violet hair and grey eyes started to approach me. I tried to push myself further into the tree behind me, causing the rough bark to dig into my skin.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, Kitten," he said, pausing with his hands raised in front of him showing he meant no harm.

"What are you doing, Axel?" asked the black-haired man while keeping a close eye on the man approaching me and the shortening distance between us.

"Someone has to calm her down, Cassius," he answered. "We don't want her to panic and go running to the council. What Ez said is true, we don't need to give them a reason to punish us cause they'll take it and run."

"I'm pretty sure your attempt at calming her down is just making things worse," Cassius replied nonchalantly, noticing my breathing was getting more erratic.

I wanted to slap myself for how afraid I was. He isn't here, not everyone is like him. The men in front of me were intimidating, but they hadn't hurt me yet. Maybe I was just being paranoid and jumping to conclusions. The man named Axel did try to help me just now.

Axel looked at me and decided that Cassius was right. He backed away to his original position with his hands still up, while his eyes roamed over my body before looking deeply into my own. He put his hands down and turned to the others.

"She needs to leave. I haven't fed in a while and I'm tempted to slam her against a tree and fuck her," Axel said with a grimace, causing me to tense up in petrifying fear.

Maybe I was wrong about him...

"What the fuck, Axel!" Ezra exclaimed. "Are you trying to give her a heart attack? Cause it looks like you might just have succeeded."

"What? If Jax is right, then she came looking for a good fuck with hopes of marriage. Why should I control what I say just because she's good at acting?"

"Because she reeks of fear which got even stronger the moment you spoke," Ezra answered. "She smells like those abused boys from the whore houses that are there unwillingly. You can't fake a scent of fear that strong while acting."

"Unless you use magic," he retorted in defence.

"None of us can sense any magical power from her," replied Ezra.

"What if she's using magic to hide her magic?" Jax said, joining the argument.

I wasn't focusing on what they were discussing because I was too busy looking around to find an escape route, but my ears perked up when I heard them discussing magic.

Great, I got away from one crazy guy just to run into five.

"This is annoying," Zev started with disinterest and a roll of his eyes. "Let's just get rid of her and be done with this already. This is starting to get boring."

"Lester," Cassius called into the air.

I let out a shocked yelp as an older-looking gentleman dressed like a butler with greying hair and wire-rimmed glasses appeared out of thin air.

"Master Cassius," he said, bowing his head in respect towards the man who called for him.

"Please properly escort this... lady from our property," Cassius said, gesturing towards me with a dismissive hand.

"Yes, Master Cassius," he replied giving a slight nod.

Lester turned towards me and scanned his eyes that flashed with disgust over me. If I hadn't been intently focused on every little move he was making, I wouldn't even have noticed it. His expression was full of false respect that could easily be distinguished from the real respect he showed to the five men.

"Miss, please follow me," he said, motioning me in the direction the men were standing in with his hand.

I sat still contemplating my next move. If I stayed, I would have to deal with six grown-ass men, which included one that stated he wanted to fuck me. If I leave with Lester, then it would be only him I would need to fight off if he planned to attack or harm me in any way. The only problem was, to leave with him I'd have to walk past the men. The five men hadn't done anything to harm me...yet. They seemed a little crazy with their talk of magic and the man, Axel, who spoke of wanting to fuck me against the tree didn't say it as a threat or that he was going to do it. He said that I need to leave so he wasn't tempted.

I can't let my fear of him control me.

Having no reason so far to confirm that they had ill intent towards me, I slowly stood up. Lester led the way towards the men who were watching me with varying emotions ranging from anger and disgust to pity or indifference. I hunched my shoulders and wrap my arms around myself to make me feel safer. My actions seemed to make most of their eyes flash with curiosity as they parted to let Lester and me through.

Lester led the way as we walked through the wooded area. I scanned my surroundings and realized what the small things that made me think the environment was a bit odd were. The trees were larger than what I've seen in most wooded areas and the colours were off by the tiniest bit. The clear, sunny sky that's normally a pure light blue shade had the smallest bit of purple mixed into it. The colour of the grass that was green had a slightly more blue hue to it than yellow. The bark of the trees was also more vibrant with a redder shade. The differences were unnoticeable unless someone directed their focus towards them.

I was so engrossed in observing my surroundings that I didn't notice that Lester had come to a stop and turned to look at me. I noticed only when I crashed into him. I stepped back rubbing my nose as my eyes watered from the impact of hitting his chest. He looked down at me with a scowl before replacing it with a small, fake smile.

"Miss, I have prepared a ride for you," he said gesturing to a black car that was on the paved road in front of us. "Timothy will take you home."

A ginger-haired boy that seems around my age, which if my math was correct was 25 or 26, stepped out of the car. The black car resembled a Rolls Royce but I could tell it wasn't because it had a different emblem that I couldn't recognize. He slightly bowed his head towards me before opening the back door and gesturing for me to enter.

"Thank you," I said to Lester, resulting in a confused look cutting through his barely masked disdain before I hesitantly got into the car.

"Where to, Miss?" Timothy asked after getting in the driver's seat.

The question stumped me. I had no idea where I was at the moment and I have no home.

"Miss?" He asked again while I struggled to come up with an answer.

"Umm, where am I?" I decided to ask him.

"You're at the Lords Cassius, Axel, Zev, Jaxon, and Ezra's estate," he answered.

"Lords?" I asked confused. Since when were there lords in Canada? "Um, I don't know who they are. I'm asking what city I'm in."

He furrowed his brows and looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally speaking.

"You don't know who they are?" He asked.

"Ah, no."

"Oh," he simply answered, shocked. "Well, we're in the wooded areas on the outskirts of Qora.'

Qora? Where the hell was that? I'd never heard of a place named Qora before.

"Can you just drop me off on the main streets of the city?" I asked after some thought.

I wasn't comfortable being in such a secluded place where it would be easier for someone to harm me. Crowded places provided a sense of security because they made people think twice before doing something when they're surrounded by others. If he found me again it would make it harder for him to take me if there are so many witnesses.

"Yes, Miss."

Timothy drove us in silence. I looked out the window watching as the trees blurred past us. We were on a windy road that was surrounded by tall trees on both sides. We passed the occasional large house along the way that was kilometres apart from the next. After about half an hour buildings became more frequent. When we entered the busier, more populated area the sight made me widen my eyes in awe.

My surroundings made me feel as though I had stepped back in time, yet into the future at the same time. Either could work as I took in my surroundings. The buildings surrounding us were a mixture of older-looking buildings mixed with more modern ones. The streets were made of cobblestone and were lined with shops and stalls with vendors of all kinds selling food and various knick-knacks. There were people all over the place dressed in many different forms of clothing. Some women donned Victorian-style dresses, while others wore simple shirts with pants or skirts. Some men wore suits while some barely had their private parts covered with a thin strip of cloth. Some men were walking around in their birthday suits, causing me to look away as heat flooded my cheeks.

It got even stranger because most of the women were nearly as tall as the men who towered at least 6 feet tall, a great contrast to the difference between the height of the sexes that I had witnessed in public when I used to be free years ago. What shocked me the most by far was that some of the women had leashes in their hands, but instead of being attached to their pets, they were attached to collars fastened around the necks of men.

One woman, in particular, left me shocked and gasping in horror, causing Timothy to look at me strangely. She had two men on leashes that were completely naked. Their bodies were thin and malnourished and I could see various wounds and scars that marred their skin. The woman had their leashes in one hand while the other had a stick, the kind some horse riders used on their horses to make them move. The woman was beating the smaller man of the two with an angry expression distorting her face while he lay curled in a ball on the street, trying to protect himself from the lashes she was administering. No one tried to stop her and help him, they continued on their way like nothing was happening.

"We're here, Miss," Timothy said, drawing me from the disturbing scene.

Where the fuck am I?