Page 38 of Saved By the Wolf

My heart rate skyrocketed when I saw who they were. “Please, don’t do this. You don’t have to listen to him. Let me go. I’m nothing to any of you.”

“That’s not what the boss said. He said you broke his heart when you left. Left a big crater in his chest that he doesn’t know how to fill. He feels betrayed,” the second guy said.

I swallowed, searching for the right words to persuade him. “Dwayne, right? You’re the one who lifted me up when I fell that time getting out of the car? Thank you for that. It proved to me that you’re not like Rich. You don’t have to be like him, either. You can let me go and come with me. Start your life over again.”

Dwayne looked at the man next to him, and there was silence for a second where I hoped—not a lot, but just a smidge—that they would let me out. But that was quickly shattered when the first guy grabbed something off the table and threw it at the bars. It hit with a loud clang before clattering across the floor. They burst into raucous laughter, smacking the table as if they were half-drunk.

I saw that it was a cooked rib bone. How dare they! I shuddered at the thought that they had just been eating and were throwing their food at me.

A groan came from behind me again, and Dwayne noticed it this time too. He lifted the lamp toward the sound, and I turned to see it was another person huddled in a ball, rocking themselves back and forth in the corner.

“Be quiet, old woman!” Dwayne growled. “You’ve been groaning up a storm since you got here. If you’d eat the food we gave you, maybe you’d feel better.”

Another round of raucous laughter ensued, and I imagined they had provided no food for the woman—or they had eaten the food meant for her. I wondered how long she’d been here.

The light dimmed down, and the men continued doing whatever they were doing in the glow of the lamp.

I began shuffling to the woman as soon as they looked away. Something about her felt familiar. Her rocking and groaning guided me forward until I felt the cloth of her dress in my hand.

I screamed as a hand wrapped itself around mine, holding me tight. A couple of rib bones hit the bars again, along with shouts of “Quiet down!”

I willed my heart rate to slow down and kept telling myself it was just an old lady.

“Are you okay?” I whispered, hoping the guards were hard of hearing and would leave us alone for a bit. I leaned forward when she mumbled something. It was hard to catch what she was saying as she kept rocking and speaking barely above a whisper.

I leaned closer until I was sitting right next to her and heard, “I need to change. I need to change. It’s the only way. The only way. Must save family. Family in danger.” Then she’d repeat the mantra again. A closer look at her made me startle. This old lady wasn’t just anyone—it was Miti!

“Miti!” I whispered. “How are you here?”

But she couldn’t or wouldn’t respond to me. She just kept rocking and repeating herself. I lay down where I was and cried at our fate.

Luc

“Bro, you look good,”Jacob said.

“Why are you still here?” I asked, pulling my t-shirt over my head. It was the fifth one I’d tried on, and if not for Jacob, I might have tried on more. But in order to get him to shut his mouth I needed to pick something, so I settled on the solid blue shirt I had just put on.

After last night, I was extra nervous about making a good impression on Jill. Last night was the best night I’d had in a long time. She was my one and only, and I didn’t want to scare her off; there would be nowhere for me to go except after her.

“You’re really going to surprise her?” Jacob asked.

“Why not? It’s just lunch, and we’re not going far. Just to the diner down the street.”

Jacob raised a brow. “You’re taking her out to a diner on your second date?”

“She’s very easygoing, not like you.”

“Still, even I know a diner is not where you would take a date.”

“Leave him alone,” Brandon said, coming into my room. “The boy is in love; let him be.”

“As if you aren’t,” I said, sending him a look. “When are you going to act on it?”

“You know I can’t,” he growled.

“Can’t or won’t?” Jacob said.

Before a fight could break out, I spritzed myself with some cologne and sprayed Brandon as well for the fun of it. He immediately gasped and forgot what he had been doing.