When she came to, she was laying face down on her thin bed. She shifted, and cried out. Her back burned. There was the noise of someone shifting behind her, and she groaned. Tears ran down her face as she forced herself to sit up.

"You're awake." Alistair was leaning against the doorframe.

Alex closed her eyes, grinding her teeth as she attempted to shift into a more comfortable position. Her shirt hung by only a few threads around her shoulders, and she crossed her arms embarrassedly, and then winced.

Alistair sighed dramatically, uncrossing his arms and approaching. He noted how the beta flinched away, and he bit his lip thoughtfully."Now, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with you." He stopped in front of her bed, eyes traveling over her. "You're going to take a long time to heal, and even then I don't know what I'm going to do. No alpha's gonna want to see a back like that. Meg really did a number on you."

Memories came back, and Alex trembled. She buried her head in her arms, trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears.

"I'm beginning to think might be forced to sell you." Alistair's lips twisted down into a thin frown. "I have no one to breed you with, and, honestly, it's either Meg or you. Only one can stay, and she's far more important." With that, Alistair walked out of the room. He locked the door behind her. "Anyways, you'll be gone pretty quick."

Alex slowly laid herself back on her bed, shaking. Once again, she was to be sold. Balthazar was dead, her children were owned, and Dean was two states away. She wished Meg had killed her.

...

She refused to move from her bed. And no one made her do otherwise. She was brought a small meal, but they remained untouched. Alistair himself brought her a new shirt. Unlike the alpha who brought her food, however, Alistair didn't leave until she had done as he asked.

When he left, Alex fell back on the bed. She was going to be sold. At an auction, undoubtably. She trembled at the thought of being at another action house.

...

The door opened. Alex didn't move.

"Hello, love."

Alex looked up at the familiar voice, a small whimper pulled from her lips at the stinging pain.

Crowley stepped into the room. "You ready to come home?"

"Dean?" Alex forced herself to sit, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. She warily watched Alistair step into the small cell with them.

"Maybe." Crowley approached and held out his hand. "We'll see if he wants you back. Last I heard, he was looking for a new mate."

Alex closed her eyes. She reached out and took the alpha's hand, pulling herself to her feet, wincing painfully.

Crowley frowned, and immediately spun her around, lifting up the back of her shirt. For a second he just stared. "You didn't tell me she was injured," he finally snapped at Alistair. "In a condition like this, I should be getting her much cheaper."

Alistair smirked, crossing his arms. "You want her or not, Fergus?"

Crowley grumbled obscenities under his breath. "I'll take her." He firmly led Alex out of her cell. "Come on, darling. We'll get you stitched up."

Alex obediently followed Crowley away.

...

In four hours, she was back at Crowley's, standing in a darkened room. Crowley circled around, eyes flickering over her. Finally he spoke. "Let me see that back of yours." He stopped behind her and gently helped her out of the thin shirt, clicking his tongue. "Damn. I . . . We're going to have to get that sewn up, darling. How'd this happen?"

Alex shook her head, eyes closed. Crowley didn't rebuke her for not responding. Instead, he told her to stay put, and left the room. Alex sat down on a bench, head in her hands. The cool, damp air soothed her back ever so slightly, making the pain only a bit more bearable.

...

Finally, the door reopened. "Wow." Alex didn't recognize the voice, but the shock in it was unmistakable. "That's . . . that's something. Breeding mill, you say?"

Crowley voiced his agreement. "Think you can stitch her up, doc?"

"I can try."

Alex weakly scented the air. Alpha. She kept her gaze locked on the far wall.

The new alpha circled around to stand in front of Alex. "I'm Dr. Franklin," he began, placing his bag on the floor before pawing through it. He pulled out a bottle of some liquid and some gauze. "Now, I'm going to need to examine your back, okay Alex, but I'm going to numb the area up first." He soundlessly moved behind her, and Alex gasped slightly as the cold liquid touched her back. However, as it seeped into her wounds, the pain faded immensely. It was still there, but now it was manageable.

Dr. Franklin waited a few seconds before he began, gently probing the wounds which covered most of her back. It took a few minutes, but he gradually made sense of the expanse of shredded skin, cleaning dried blood away. By the time he had finished, it looked much cleaner, if not better. He returned to her front. "Now Alex, there's a few deep cuts that I'm worried about, and I think it would be best if I sewed them up. I'm going to have to take you to my clinic though." He looked over at Crowley. "Is that okay?"

Crowley nodded curtly. "That should be fine. I want her healed."

Dr. Franklin gently pulled Alex's shirt back over her head and helped her to her feet. "We'll go straight there. Would you like to accompany us?"

Crowley shook his head. "I have work to do." He watched them leave uneasily, unsure how he felt about seeing the wounded beta leave. He brushed the feeling off with a blink of his eyes. He had other matters to deal with.

...

A few hours later, Alex was laying on her stomach, eyes closed and breathing shallow. She was with Dr. Franklin, who had been given a shot that had numbed most of her back when they had arrived. Now, there was no pain; the only thing she could feel was the slight tug on the skin as it was pulled tight by the sutures. One particularly nasty cut curled from her shoulder, down her side, and finally settled down around her hipbone. Alex shifted slightly as that section of skin was pinched, letting out a low hiss.

"You okay?" Dr. Franklin asked, pausing.

"S'all good," Alex slurred, closing her eyes.

The doctor returned to his work.

...

It was that night. Alex was brought back to Crowley's, although the exact details were a little fuzzy. She had been given something for the pain, but now she was pretty sure she wasn't thinking as straight as she normally did.

She looked over at Dr. Franklin, who was handing Crowley a prescription of pain medications. They exchanged a few words, none of which Alex paid any attention to, and then Dr. Franklin was gone. Alex looked over her shoulder just in time to see him disappear out the front door.

Crowley looked over at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Not sure." Alex turned her attention back to him. "A little dizzy. Light-headed. Almost like this is a dream."

The alpha grunted. "Yeah. You'll feel better in the morning." He guided her farther into his building, and then, up a flight of stairs. "I had a room prepared," he explained. "I've been thinking, and I decided that once you've healed up enough, I'll give you back to Lucifer, if he wants you. If not, Dean can have you."

Alex's mind locked onto the name Dean. Dean. What she wouldn't give to be with him now. "Why not give me to Dean first?" Alex whispered. She felt a tug on her wrist, and turned to see that Crowley has stopped before a door.

He shrugged. "Would you prefer if I gave you to Dean? You're not his mate anymore." He opened the door, leading her into a bedroom. "At least with Lucifer, you'd have the twins."

The twins. Alex's heart wrung at the thought of her sons. She'd finally get to see them. She unsteadily walked over to the bed and sat down, eyes closed.

Crowley studied her, then opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. "You need to rest," he finally said. "If there's anything you need, just give a shout." he stepped out of the room. "The alphas will give you what you want." And with that, he was gone.