The women will stay in the first cabin, the men in the second." Brutus said.

In compliance with the Alpha prince's words, we'd been cleaned, clothed and fed although I'd thrown up everything I'd eaten.

Now we were in the middle of a lavish green forest. There were four cabins here and more were under construction.

I looked at the other prisoners. I didn't recognize anyone from my coven. Were they all dead? A lot of us had survived the jump into the treacherous sea but it had been three years of starvation and thirst and disease so...

Brutus led the women into the first cabin while Inigo led the men away to the second.

This all seemed to be real. The interior was sparse but cozy and had all the necessities.

" There are three rooms in every cabin." Brutus said.

Three rooms? With me, we were four. Then I remembered that they'd planned for only six. I was only a last minute addition.

" You." He barked at me." Come with me."

I immediately followed and I hated myself for it. The truth was that now that I was out, now that death and starvation didn't loom at me, I was... desperate to maintain this.

I hated myself even more for feeling like this.

He pointed at a ladder that led up to what seemed to be an attic.

" You sleep there."

I nodded. When he said nothing else, I glanced up at him. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. It wasn't with hate or revulsion... it was with lust.

" You're a pretty little thing, aren't you?" He said, his eyes fixated on my breast.

I knew that if he dared come near me, I would hurt him in any way that I could. I would rather be burned and staked at the same time than be touched by a Werewolf.

Luckily, a woman walked in. She'd followed us to the cabin but hadn't said a word. She had only observed.

" Brutus?" She said with a knowing smile. " That would be all thank you. I want to speak to them."

Brutus grunted in reply and made his way out of the corridor.

The woman frowned at me.

" Are you alright?" She asked." He didn't-?"

I shook my head.

She relaxed.

" Good. You're not to be abused here. If he tries anything, let me know Immediately." She said. " Come on, let's meet the others." She stretched out her hand.

I refused her outstretched hand and followed wordlessly.

〰️〰️〰️

My name is Aspen." The woman said. She was young with short cropped brown hair. " I am a Gamma in the royal pack and I have been assigned to look after you all."

Look after us? I glanced at the people seated around me. It seemed they hadn't chosen anyone over twenty-five. We all sat in the females' cabin with somber looks on our faces.

" Why don't you all introduce yourselves." Aspen said. Her smile was a little too loud, her voice a little too perky. I understood why. She was trying to make up for our somberness.

She pointed at a young man with short blond hair and dove grey eyes. I'd found my eyes getting drawn to him repeatedly.

" You go first." She said.

" I'm..." He paused to think.

Names. What use did they have in a cell? I struggled to remember what my mother called me.

" Cay..." He began slowly. " Cay... Cayden. I'm Cayden."

" Good." Aspen looked pleased.

I listened as the others introduced themselves. There was a Finn and a Czar. Among the women, Willow, Sierra and Milah.

" Well." Aspen looked at me expectantly.

" Devenity." I said. Up until that moment, I'd been unable to remember my name. Then all of a sudden, it came to me.

Aspen beamed.

" Excellent. Now listen to me. You can't leave this clearing. Not for any reason. There are guards posted around the forest to ensure of this. Do not forget, you are all still under probation."

" So you're just going to leave us here?" Czar asked. He was like me; dark skinned with bright blue eyes.

Aspen nodded.

" This is only for a month and every week, we will bring you food supplies and a healer to check on your health. In the meantime, you can take up any activity to while away time. Poetry, painting, writing. Just try to find yourselves again."

Milah asked,

" What about sorcery?"

Somehow, the already quiet room became even more quiet.

" Not sorcery. You have my assurance that we will slowly ease you back into practicing magic but for now, it is highly forbidden."

So we were being given freedom but at the same time, being restrained from who we were. I'd known we would never really be free under these wolves. This just confirmed it.

Aspen got up to leave.

" Please get your minds set on joining Aradia. It is thriving and so should you." She walked to the door, the turned and said, " Welcome to your new lives."

More like new prison.

〰️〰️〰️

No one seemed to want to linger around and talk and so we all retired to our separate rooms. I climbed the steady ladder that led up to mine.

There was a feather bed and that surprised me. This was a luxury that so many people couldn't afford. In the tiny trunk, there were a bunch of mismatched clothes and undergarments. There was a chamber pot, a mirror and a wooden chair by the tiny window and nothing else.

I sat on the chair and looked towards the woods. There were people out there, hidden, watching, waiting for me to make a mistake so they could throw me back into the cell.

But I wouldn't give them that joy. I had a chance at life and I realized I had a purpose.

Vengeance.

reading.