The disgusting smell of rot, blood, and concrete hit my nose as I struggled awake. I blinked open my eyes to almost complete darkness. As they adjusted to the lighting, I could make out a bench, bars, chains, concrete, more concrete, and — guess what? Even more concrete.

I was curled up in a ball on the cold floor. I was still in my clothes from the day I was taken, but my hair was a complete mess. I could feel deep bruises on my wrists from the rogues man-handling me and I probably had a few broken ribs.

Scarlet? I called inside my head. No response came. I called out a few more times, getting the same result.

"Hello?" I cried out weakly, my voice sounded gravelly and I coughed. Silence met my words but I picked up a slight shuffling on the other side of the dark prison. "Who's there?" I tried again.

"My name is Star." A quiet voice replied after a few moments.

I sighed in relief. I wasn't alone. "Did you just get captured too?"

Her sigh was full of sadness. "No. I've been here for years."

I drew in a sharp breath. "How long was I out?"

"A few days at least." I heard Star shuffle closer. Straining my ears, I picked up that she was in the cell next to me. "I remember seeing them bring you in. You were unconscious, bleeding, and badly bruised."

I cringed. Was it that bad? The only pain I could feel at the moment was homesickness and my broken ribs.

"What's your name?" She asked me after a few moments of silence.

"April."

I could hear the smile in Star's voice. "Pretty."

"Thanks." I whispered. "What do they want with us?"

"I don't really know. They've been torturing me ever since I can remember. I don't remember my birth parents or my pack. I don't even know how old I am." She said sadly.

I gasped. "I'm sorry, that must be hard." My eyes were now fully adjusted to the light and I could see her figure huddled against the wall just on the other side of the silver bars that separated our cells. I realized how tiny she was. There was not an ounce of meat on her bones. Her face was thin and her eyes were dull. She wore dirty brown rags as clothing.

"Did you happen to see my sister out there?"

I shook my head. "I don't really remember seeing anyone while I was in the woods. What does she look like?"

"She has black hair and green eyes. She's super thin from being in this prison for her whole life too."

I sighed sadly, "no, I didn't see her. Did she escape?"

"Oh, no!" She answered, her voice shaking. "They took her out of the cell you're in the morning you came. They said they were finding a place in the woods to leave her to die."

My breath shook, "that's cruel!"

She nodded solemnly, "Get used to it. These people are very cruel wolves. Did you already go to The Room?"

"The Room?" I questioned, confused.

"Oh. Maybe not then. I assumed they would have taken you when you got here."

I shook my head, confused. What was this room she was talking about? Part of me didn't want to find out.

"Is there anyone else in here with us?"

"Yes, a few. One of them is gone at the moment and the others don't talk much."

"What are their names?"

"I'm Meadow." A new voice piped up, making me nearly jump out of my skin.

"And I'm Willow." This voice was closer, directly to my left.

"Do you guys know why they captured us?" I already knew why they chose me; because I'm a fox.

They never got a chance to respond because light flooded in through the opening metal door. Three men walked in the one in front smiled wickedly. "Hello ladies."

I shielded my eyes from the sudden burst of light and grimaced at his words. I heard Willow, Meadow, and Star scoot back as far as they could. The man who spoke walked by my cell. "Ah, it seems the newbie is finally awake!" Grunts of approval came from the other two men. He opened the cell door and grabbed my wrist roughly. I drew in a sharp breath from the sudden pain.

He chuckled, "You are all here because you are different. You're family abandoned you and we are here to take care of you."

I gaped at him. Seriously? That's what he's been telling these girls? Based on our earlier conversation, I knew that none of them believed him.

He pulled me out the door and into the brightly lit hallway. I tried to fight his grip, but I was just too weak compared to him. Scarlet! I called. Help me!

I was dragged down the hallway and we passed a man carrying an unconscious red-headed child. They were going towards the cells, but before I could see who the kid was, the man pushed me into a big room with a couch, and a weird machine that looked like it could belong in a hospital. "What is this?"

He chuckled. "This is The Room." I widened my eyes, remembering Star's words. "For years, we've rescued weres that aren't wolves and we'd like to know how they exist. We've also liked to have you hear just for fun."

Rescued? I growled. He thought he was rescuing me! Does he think I'm an idiot? For fun? I shivered in disgust at what that could mean. So far I'd only seen men in this pack, and so far, the only captives her female.

My heart sped with fear and I thrashed around in the man's grip. "Let me go!"

I was half thrown, half placed on the couch. He strapped my hand down and grabbed the machine I'd spotted. While he fumbled with the needle, I worked on untying my hand.

"Stop it!" He snapped, "I'm doing this to help you!"

I snarled, "no you're not!"

He ignored me and roughly grabbed the arm that wasn't strapped to the couch. "Stop moving, damn it!"

I just wiggled harder. Finally he was able to plunge the needle into my arm and tape it there. With my other hand strapped, there was nothing I could do. He flipped a switch on the machine and suddenly I couldn't move a single limb. I flopped involuntarily onto the couch with a shriek.

"What the hell?"

He shook his head at me. "Ah, you better not use such language in front of the Alpha." I just glared and threw him a cuss word for good measure.

He rolled his eyes and pressed another button. This time, thick liquid flower through the IV and I gasped in discomfort when it entered my system. Not a second later, I became incredibly drowsy. I still couldn't move, and now my eyes started to close.

When everything started to fuzz and The Room became blurry, I barely registered him lifting my head by the hair and whispering loudly in my ear. "Your name is Fern. You've been rescued by your hateful pack. We've saved you."