Shivering in an empty, white room was not how I had imagined being naked with Ryken in my head. Dana and Sullivan weren’t there in my head either. Nor was Viking.
And yet, there I was, naked with all four of them. We’d all gone through the doors, been sprayed with that white stuff, and dropped through what felt like a slide into yet another white room.
“Any chance you’re going to tell us what we’re doing in here naked?” Viking boomed out.
There was no answer from the robot voice, just a blue laser light that scanned the room. “De-contamination complete,” the voice finally said. “Please go through to the next stage of orientation.”
Dripping wet, we made our way towards the double doors that opened into another white hallway. Maybe they didn’t know there were other colors?
My hair dripped down my back, the water droplets making streaks over me. I kept my arms wrapped around me. The wolves strode, taller than me and with confidence like we weren’t being subjected to being naked and probably perved at.
Then again, being naked probably came easy to them. It didn’t to me. I was never naked anymore. Not even when I was selling my body. It was easier to keep my clothes on at all times in case I had to run or fight.
Dana and Sullivan went through the hallway first. Then Viking took up the whole space with his giant body. Ryken was next, with me wedged in next to him.
My shoulder brushed his arm as the doors closed behind us and he looked down at where our skin met, then took a slight step away. The rejection stung but I said nothing, showed nothing.
We were trapped in the white hallway for a minute before the side doors opened. One on each side. “Males to the left. Females to the right.”
I followed Dana into another white room with two hospital beds. Three people in head-to-toe white outfits and blue shoe nets came out of a door that was completely blended into the wall.
“A bed each. We’ll begin the cleansing,” a high female voice said.
The cleansing was intense. They washed, scrubbed, shaved, and exfoliated me until my skin was raw, stinging then moisturized smooth again. I had no time to care that Dana was there because she was getting the same treatment.
A woman in white pricked me with a needle that made me want to pass out, then hooked me up to an IV fluids bag. “Is that the drug?” I asked. She shook her head but said nothing.
I squinted but couldn’t read what was on the bag. Stupid eyes. She took a scan of my heart next. “Your doctors are imbeciles,” she murmured. “Your heart has been repaired badly. We will need to keep you constantly monitored. Do you have difficulty exercising?”
I shook my head. “I’ve been running since I was ten. I’m fine.”
She narrowed her eyes on me then shook her head and grabbed my wrist. She clamped a big ugly white bracelet onto it. “Wear this at all times,” she said.
I glanced over at Dana who had been given a sleek little band for her wrist and rolled my eyes. “Why do I need this big one on?”
“Because you need your heart monitored. The wolf doesn’t,” she said as if the statement didn’t make me infuriatingly embarrassed. I couldn’t be a wolf or a human, I had to be a hybrid. And a broken one at that.
Then she handed me a pair of glasses thickly rimmed in clear plastic. “These are for at night. Your room will be kept stocked with contacts for during the day.”
She walked away and I leaned my head back against the headrest of the hospital-type bed that was sitting up. I glanced at the IV bag that was half gone, glaring at it. Dana didn’t need fluid either.
“Permission to complete the internal?” another woman’s voice said.
She was dressed in white but had long gloves on. I tensed up as she laid a crinkling blanket over my lower half. “You want to go in there, you better have a dick.” I heard Dana snap at the woman on the end of her bed with the same gloves.
“It is required to proceed. We must check for any abnormalities that may affect the results of the test.”
I looked at my woman who was waiting for an answer. I gave her a brief nod. My choices were gone. I could’ve said no, but then all of this would have been for nothing.
Because I’d be dead. The scientists didn’t let the failures live. That was well known. I wasn’t dying for my dignity when it was already in tatters.
She lifted my legs and did the internal exam. As she did, I closed my eyes and pretended I was in the tropics, on the beach, basking in the warm sun. It was a better alternative than having my cooch inspected.
I peeled open my eyes when she stopped moving her hands between my legs. She was ticking things off on a clipboard. “You are not at risk of impregnation unless mated. If you mate while you are here, please inform the staff immediately,” the woman said, then got up and left.
All the staff did. “Invasive mother fuckers. I’m going to rip their throats out as soon as I get the chance,” Dana snarled, climbing off the bed.
One of the women came back in then, ignoring Dana and coming over to my bed. She took out my now empty IV line out. “Please use the facilities then get dressed in the provided clothes. Meet the others back in the hall,” she said then left again.
I sighed and rubbed my arm, nausea turning at the feeling of the IV in my arm. I did feel better though. Clean and refreshed. My skin was new and smooth, and my hair was completely gone from my body. Except for the hair on my head.
I went to the bathroom first and pulled on the plain white panties, the white linen pants, and the white cotton bra. Then the tight white V-neck. Essentially, they were scrubs. White scrubs that made it look like I was heading into a psych ward.
I was starting to think I’d be safer in one of those. I left the bathroom and went into the hallway to wait for the others. Ryken was there, leaning against the wall, holding his arms across himself. He was wearing white scrubs too except he pulled his off much better than I did.
His shirt was tight, the kind of tight that made his arms look bulkier and outlined every ab ripple. Damn, I did need that psych eval after all. He sniffed the air and then smirked, his eyes holding mine.
“The hybrid is a whore. Who would’ve guessed?” he snickered, hostility dripping from his voice.
“Your favorite, right? How does whore taste, Alpha Ryken? I’m sure you’ve had your fair share,” I taunted back.
He stepped forward, towering over me. “Open your legs and I’ll let you know.”
His body close to mine was not good for my self-control. My stomach churned as my heart raced.
“This whore has taste. And willpower. So no, Alpha, I’m going to keep my whoring legs closed until the scientists tell me otherwise,” I retorted, looking up at him.
He grinned at that and pressed me against the wall, his body flush against mine. “I’m not your Alpha.” He leaned down, his words brushing my ear. “If I ~was~, I’d punish you for being so damn disrespectful every time you open that mouth.”
I snickered breathily, my blood pumping, rushing in my ear. “How will I suck your cock like a good little bitch if I’m not allowed to open my mouth?”
He tensed, his body shuddering against me. A growl rumbled from his chest.
“Alpha,” Viking cut in as he entered the hallway. “She’s a hybrid. Your father will cut your cock off and put it on his wall with your head if you keep playing with her.”
Ryken gave me one last scathing look before shoving away from me just as Sullivan and Dana emerged in their scrubs.
Once we were all there, a set of double doors at the end of the hall swung open to reveal a small hatch to some kind of transport cart. We all climbed in and strapped into the harnesses.
I sunk into the final seat between the wall and Ryken. I purposely brushed against him as I sat down, loving the flare of his nostrils and clench of his fists when I did.
The second the cart door clicked into place, mechanical arms reached out from the wall and grabbed each of our faces.
“What the fuck?” Dana screamed.
“No fucking way!” Sullivan growled.
I tried to squirm out, but we were locked in tight. The harnesses were electronically keeping us there.
The arms pulled our heads into position, each one of us bending our necks, looking down at our laps, our wrists locked in by cuffs on the wall.
Growling filled the cart as the wolves started to lose their shit.
“We will now administer the tracking device. This will monitor your vitals as we move you to a secure location for the summer. It will remain in your neck until the summer is over. Please remain still or it will hurt worse,” a voice said through a speaker at the top of the square.
I tried to relax, holding in position.
I should’ve guessed they’d have a tracking system. It made sense.
I got jabbed first. It stung like a bitch for a few seconds and then it was over.
My wristband lit up and started glowing with blue lines. It tracked my heartbeat. And my vitals appeared on it a second later.
Once I had done it, the wolves calmed down. They took the tracking chip too, trying to act like they hadn’t just been having an epic meltdown about it.
“A secret location? Alpha this-” Dana started until Ryken pinned her with a glare.
“Is expected,” he interrupted sternly. She eyed him with concern then nodded once.
Something was going on there and I was going to find out what but before I could ask any questions, the cart moved.
Fast.
I was pinned to the wall as it moved. I had no idea where, the room was completely closed in. In the next minute, every single one of the wolves was growling, whining, and shaking in the small space. I backed up into the wall as much as the harness would let me, my eyes wide as I watched them all.
Red eyes, teeth gnashing, bodies shuddering.
Then it hit me too. A searing pain erupted in my brain. I gritted my teeth, holding in the cry as my eyes burned.
“What’s happening?” I breathed out, the throb in my brain making my eyes clench shut.
“They’re stopping our ability to shift, and they’ve cut our link to our pack,” Ryken growled, turning to me. I opened my eyes to meet his bright red ones.
“They’re isolating us,” I realized.
Coming here, I had been nervous that I wouldn’t stack up to the pureblood wolves with their strength, their shifting, their connection to the pack. But now they were cut off from all those things, just like me.
I looked at Ryken with a wicked taunt in my eyes. “Looks like the playing field has just been leveled.”