"Matt, this is wrong…" a hesitant female voice said lowly.

"I don't care!" A familiar voice growled. "She's mine."

There was silence for a few moments until the female voice spoke again. "But, Matt, we've already discovered that you're… you're mateless—"

"I have a mate!" He yelled. "She is my mate!"

"You don't even know her name!" the girl argued.

"Ariel," Matt warned. "I suggest you not argue with your alpha."

She growled bitterly. "Brother, Matthew. You are my brother."

"I'm Alpha first." He spat and I heard a door open and close. I tried to open my eyes, but I found that I couldn't. Something cool touched my ankle and clicked. A moment later there was another click, but I still couldn't open my eyes. I forced out a groan, but even that charred my throat. The next thing I knew, warm lips were pressed against my neck and the mattress I was laying on shifted. I tried to growl, but it came out more like a moan, and it encouraged him. His lips traveled up my neck, his warm breath making me shudder in disgust.

"Wake up…" he breathed, proceeding to nibble my ear.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew… I thought, trying to squirm away from him.

Suddenly, I felt his teeth graze my skin at the spot where my neck meets my shoulder. "You're mine…" he growled huskily. Pain shot through me as something broke skin.

A scream bubbled up in my throat, and at the burst of energy, I finally managed to bolt away from him. But something pulled on my ankle before I got too far, but I had gotten away from him. I opened my eyes to find myself chained to the bottom of the bedpost at the opposite end of the bed from him. The grey eyed, blond haired guy from the mall leaned on the bed, his eyes wide. But his mouth—his mouth was what drew my attention. His lips were strained with blood. Pain shot through my neck again and I brought my hand to graze the skin there. I was met with liquid. "What the—?!" I cursed as I pulled my hand back to find blood.

"Calm down," the boy said, licking his lips. "It's just a bite."

"A bite?!" I screeched, making him flinch. "You bit me?!"

I tried crawling away from him, but the chain held me back. I couldn't get off the bed without going towards him. His eyes hardened. "It's a sign of possession. You belong to me."

I laughed humorlessly, putting pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. "I don't belong to anyone but myself."

He smiled, and something struck me about his abnormally sharp teeth. "Sorry, darling, but that's where you're wrong."

I glared at him, scowling. "Where's Haley? Where am I? Who are you and what do you want?"

"I think I'll be asking the questions." The boy said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What?!" I shrieked. He flinched again. "You kidnap me and you're the one asking questions? I don't think so. Who are you?"

"My name is Matthew," he scowled, "and I am Alpha of the Calabrease Pack."

"Pack?" I asked, scoffing.

He growled loudly, the sound emitting from somewhere deep in his stomach. I flinched backward, but kept my expression hard. "Yes, a pack. A wolf pack, to be exact."

"Wolf...?" I asked disbelievingly.

He was about to answer when the door swung open, revealing a blond curly haired girl. Her green eyes widened as she caught sight of me, and she frowned. "You marked her already, Matt?"

"Yes," he snarled, glaring at her. "She is mine. I have a right."

"No you don't." I snapped. "I'm not yours, for the last time!"

The girl smiled a bit, but Matt's eyes darkened as he turned on me. "Quiet! No one was speaking to you."

"No one was speaking to me?" I scoffed. "It's a free country, dude. I can speak whenever and however I please."

"Not in my pack and not under my roof." He hissed. "You will not speak unless spoken to."

"Fat chance." I spat.

He lashed out, and a shooting pain flashed through my cheek. My face burned from his slap, and even more anger burned in my chest. There was a sharp gasp. "Matthew!" The girl yelped.

"Shut up!" He snarled, his upper lip drawn over his teeth. "You will listen to me, do you understand?"

I turned slowly back to him, my jaw clenched tightly. "Fat. Chance."

Matthew stood slowly, his face turning beat red. The girl suddenly grabbed his arm, drawing his attention away from me. "Alpha, there's something that needs to be discussed."

"What is it, Ariel?" he snarled, still obviously heated over our argument.

"There's been talk," she said, lowering her voice. "About the Ames Pack."

"Why?" he asked.

She glanced at me and frowned. "There are rumors that they're about to attack."

"Why?" he repeated.

"They're a strong pack, Matthew!" She cried. "If they attacked… we'd be doomed!"

He scowled. "We'd hold our own."

"The elders are insisting we discuss it." She said, pulling him towards the door.

"Fine," he grumbled, and followed her out the door.

As soon as the door closed, I was pulling at the chain around my ankle, but all I accomplished was splitting the skin. The lock was what looked like a handcuff but the chain was longer than normal and connected to the bedpost. An idea sparked as I studied the lock and I reached up to feel through my hair. I pulled out a bobby pin and proceeded to pick the lock.

Click! The cuff popped open and I was able to slide it off my ankle. I hopped up and ran to the window… only to be met with trees. I groaned, suddenly glad that I had put on my tennis shoes on after the game. I pulled open the window, surprised to find it unlocked. I pulled out the screen and set myself up on the sill. Fortunately, I was only on the first floor, but, looking up, I found that there were at least two other floors above.

"Check on her, will you?" someone mumbled in a mocking tone. "Oh, yea, sure Alpha. I'll do whatever you say—ah, shot."

I glanced over my shoulder to find a ginger in the doorway; his expression was priceless. It was a mix of anger and disbelief. "See ya, sucker!" I called before jumping down. I took off as soon as my feet touched the ground, running as fast as I could through the forest.

"Alpha!" the boy called behind me. "Alpha, she's escaping!"

To my surprise, there was a howl behind me. A real, echoing animal howl. A scream built in the throat, but I swallowed it and sped up. Something darted into my pathway and I skidded to a halt, my breathing ragged in my own ears. A small, dark red wolf gazed up at me, its green eyes wide in shock. I stood there for a second, both of us astonished at the other's presence. The wolf broke eye contact and glanced behind me. With one last look, it darted into the bushes.

Something collided into my back and sent me face planting into the pine needles. Two pressure points on my back kept me from getting up, and a loud growl echoed in my ears. I opened my eyes and glanced to see what was on top of me. I inhaled sharply at the sight of a pitch black wolf—with light grey eyes. The wolf bared its teeth, snarling down at me before a light enveloped it. I blinked, shielding my eyes from the brightness, and when I opened my eyes, there he was, holding me down with his knee pressed into my lower back.

Matthew breathed out irritably, rubbing his hand over his face. "I thought I told you escaping was no use."

"You-you…!" I stuttered, trying to crawl away from him. I guess he wasn't kidding about wolf pack.

He took my wrists and pinned them behind me, growling, "You are going to be the death of me, girl."

"Good!" I hollered, still trying to squirm away from him. Something tightened around my hands and I was harshly pulled to my feet.

"Get off me!" I yelled as loud as I could, screaming in case some sane person was around to hear. "Let me go, you crazy lunatic!"

"Lunatic?" he chuckled, turning me around and pushing me back towards where I had come. My mind drifted back to that red wolf, and those intelligent green eyes. "Quite the vocabulary, little human."

I struggled against him, fear coursing through me at the memory of him shifting from a wolf. "Just let me go! I have nothing you want!"

He pulled me back into his chest, and I surrendered with a gasp. "You do," he whispered in my ear. "What is your name?"

"My name?" I spat, tugging away from him. I didn't get too far though; he still had my chains in hand.

"Yes," he growled. "Your name."

"Suck my—"

"Matthew!" a young boy ran up to us, but stopped as soon as he saw me. "Alpha, we have a problem—oh, you've found her."

"Of course I did!" Matthew roared. "She is my mate."

"I ain't anyone's mate!" I yelled back, even though I didn't know of the word's meaning. "You're mateless—"

I was shoved toughly on the ground, and with no way to stop myself, my face landed with the leaves.

"Shut up," Matthew growled deeply. "I forbid you to ever speak of that again."

"Forbid me?" I spat out a mouthful of leaves. "Yea right. You're mate—"

He landed a sharp kick to my abdomen, cutting off my words abruptly. "You are my mate, girl, and I am the alpha. You will listen to me or face great punishment."

"Punishment?" I laughed, though my ribs felt aflame. "I can take anything you throw."

"What is your name?" he asked, ignoring my comment.

"Go to—" The toe of his shoe landed right in the soft of my stomach, and I bit back a scream of pain.

"Colby," he said, speaking to the boy who was watching us with wide eyes. "Take her to my room upstairs and chain her to the bedpost. I've got work to do."

"Y-yes sir." He stuttered, and Matt yanked me up again. Pain flashed through my side, but I wouldn't complain. I wouldn't give him that. The boy, Colby, grabbed my arm gently, but firm enough so I couldn't bolt. There was a flash of light, and the wolf that was Matt darted off.

"Did he hurt you?" Colby asked, leading me towards the house. I winced with every step as a new flash of pain shot through me.

"No," I lied, but I'm sure the painful expression on my face told him otherwise.

He shook his head disapprovingly. "I can get the pack doctor to look at it. I just don't understand…"

"Understand what?" I asked harshly, flinching at the pain. "That your so-called alpha kidnapped me and is holding me hostage to be his 'mate'?"

"No," he shook his head again. "Mates… they're supposed to love each other, but… I don't see that bond between you two."

"Love?" I spat, laughing. "I ain't anyone's mate."

"Ethically, he shouldn't be able to lay a hand on you, and if he did, he'd be feeling very guilty." He said, confused.

"That didn't seem very guilty to me."

"Yes…" he said, lost in thought. "Something's been off about him lately."

"What do you mean?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well, ever since his father died and he had to take over the pack he's been very… dominant. All he could talk about was finding a mate, but we've all come to the conclusion that he's one of the rare few who don't possess one, and then he brings you home…"

"He kidnapped me from my home!" I exclaimed. "He killed my best friend…"

Colby shot me a look as we entered the house. "He did what?"

I looked up at him with sad eyes, my physical pain forgotten as the emotion returned. "He killed my best friend, Haley, when he took me."

"She was human?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

He blinked. "It's against our law to kill an innocent human…"

I looked up hopefully. "Could he get arrested?"

"No," he shook his head and furrowed his eyebrows. "He could get killed and have the pack dismembered…"

"Even better…" I thought, and then realized I had said it out loud.

As we started up the step, his golden eyes hardened. "No," he growled. "I won't let that happen."

He forced me inside a room and shoved me on the floor beside a double bed. "Sit," he snarled.

I scowled at him, but I had no choice. He kneeled next to me and I heard one of the cuffs unlock. I tried to stand, but he pulled me back down into the post. The cuff locked around my wrist again and I realized he had chained me to the post, only this time I couldn't move.

"Let me go!" I screamed loud enough for everyone in the house to hear. With no answer and no reactions from Colby, I began to just scream at the top of my lungs.

"Shut up!" Colby growled.

I took a deep breath and screamed again, even though my throat stung.

"Shut her up!" yelled a voice from downstairs.

Colby frowned and dug through the dressers across from the bed he pulled out a pair of socks and started to approach me. Reading his actions, I turned away from him and continued to scream. With inhuman speed, he took my chin in his hand, turned me towards him and stuck the sock in my mouth.

My screams muffled and I shook my head from side to side. Colby simply stood and left the room. An idea stuck in my head and I positioned my shoulder underneath he bed with my hands and the chain on the ground, I pushed up and pulled my hands toward my back. Groaning with effort and ignoring the pains in my shoulder and side, I continued to push up. Finally, the chain slipped under the bed and I released it, dropping it slowly to the ground.

I slide my hands underneath myself until they were in front of me. I pulled the sock out of my mouth and threw it across the room. I tried digging in my hair for another bobby pin, but I couldn't reach the back of my head. Giving up, I got to my feet and slowly slipped out and into the hallway.

Review Please!

~Anni12