I shivered as the cold from the stone floor went right to my bones. It's been weeks or maybe even months, since I last saw Xavier and my family. I kind of lost track of time as the days went by. No sunlight was let into the cell area so I couldn't even tell if it's night or day at the moment.

From my time of being here, I learned that Star's sister is named Ivy and she was sent out to the woods to die because they had no more use for her anymore. Apparently, she'd been in this cell for around eleven years.

I also learned that Ivy is a cat shifter and Star probably is one too. She won't know until she shifts and there isn't a certain time when non-wolves are supposed to shift.

Willow told me she shifted when she turned twelve and was sixteen years old right now. She said she was a Bengal Tiger, which I thought was really cool.

When I woke up after being in The Room for the first time, I met a new girl. She was placed in the cell to the right of Star. I had remembered Star saying one of them wasn't there when I woke up the first day. The girl — who later told me her name was Kalama — had fire-orange hair and was incredibly malnourished, just like the rest of them. I already had a soft spot for her; she reminded me of May. Enough that it brought me to tears sometimes.

Kalama's animal interested me the most. She was a Phoenix! As in the mythical orange bird. I never imagined it was possible for people to be mythical shifters. It truly amazed me.

Star told me there was a certain chemical floating in the air, similar to Wolf's Bane for wolves, that prevented us from shifting in the prison. That's why none of them have been able to escape, and why I can't reach Scarlet.

I missed Scarlet. She was my best friend and suddenly, just like that, she's gone. Possibly forever.

I wanted to cry. I had to stop myself because I wanted to be optimistic and I was the oldest girl there; I had to be strong for them.

The door swung open suddenly and I shrunk back to the wall, as did the other girls. I didn't recognize the man and that meant one of us was going to The Room. I shivered in disgust, and that shiver turned to fear when he called out, "Fern!"

After I woke up from being paralyzed on that couch, everyone started calling me Fern. Well, the rogues did. The girls knew my name from before I was brainwashed and still called me April. They called me Fern whenever a rogue was present, though.

I've figured out that whatever they pumped inside me that first time was supposed to make me forget. But for some reason, it didn't. Scarlet must be incredibly strong, because the other hostages went by their given names and couldn't remember much from their pack.

But I remembered everything.

I shrieked as the man grabbed my arm and pulled me through the hallway. I squeezed my eyes shut and let him drag me, knowing what was coming.

The first time was just a memory swipe. Every time after that was abuse. It made me sad that this is what these girls have gone through for years before I was here. And what I'll be going through for the years to come.

I was weak now, and I knew if they gave me another memory swipe, I would forget everything. My muscles have wilted away to nothing, and my stomach had become the size of a peanut. Any food they gave us — which wasn't much — I ended up throwing back up. I'd lost so much weight I was surprised I could even stand at this point.

The man barged through the door and slammed it shut behind us. He threw me on the couch and I whimpered through my nose.

One thing I've taught myself over the weeks is how to make myself pass out. It came in handy whenever I went to The Room because I couldn't handle being awake through that. I also think Scarlet was somehow behind this ability. I couldn't talk to her, couldn't feel her, but I knew she wasn't gone forever. She was strong, she had to be the one helping me through this.

So, I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes shut, and willed myself to pass out. The last thing I heard was the man's belt buckle.

🐾🐾🐾

When I woke, I was back in the cell. I held the fresh wave of tears back and sat up, ignoring the pain I felt everywhere.

The metal door suddenly swung open, snapping me from my thoughts. The Alpha rogue stepped in, his eyes sweeping over the prison. "Alright," he announced. "I have decided who will be my Luna."

What.

"I have been thinking about this for the past few weeks as I tested each one of you."

Is. Happening.

"I knew a long time ago it wasn't that cat girl. So I left her hanging from a tree, she's probably dead by now." A muffled sob escaped Star. Lucky for her, the Alpha ignored it.

This guy was officially a sick psychopath, I decided. There are two twelve year olds and a six year old here. One of them might be Luna? I shuddered. Wasn't it enough that they were abused every week by his pack?

"Whoever I pick will be free from your cell and get the luxuries of being my Luna, my mate." I grimaced at his words. If it's me, I was going to die. "The others will be killed." Well, if it's not me I'll die literally. Still, I'd rather die than become his Luna.

"I have picked the strongest one of you all. The one who fought hard, but soon learned when to keep her mouth shut." Horrified, I thought for a moment it might be Kalama. Please not her, please not her!

"I have chosen dear Fern to be my mate." Wait what. I felt relieved for a second when he didn't say Kallie's name, but my relief turned to horror when I realized it was me. Oh no.

The Alpha walked to my cell and unlocked it, swinging it open. He gently grabbed my hand and started leading me to the door. He turned around to give the order to kill the others when a black wolf leaped out of nowhere, knocking the Alpha down. The wolf looked at me and I stood rigid with shock and fright. I relaxed a moment later; even after all these weeks, there was no way I could forget those piercing blue eyes. Xavier was here.