ALPHA'S HUMAN MATE.

I turned off the engine of my beat-up 2004 Ford Taurus and got out, letting the door slam shut behind me. My mom had taken a separate car to the ceremony because she had a few errands to run afterward. I marched up to the front door of our little yellow brick house and pushed it open, not surprised to find it unlocked-another forgotten detail in my mom's battle against the lingering effects of chemotherapy. Three months ago, she was declared cancer-free after a long fight with Stage III lymphoma. It felt like a miracle, but the mountain of medical bills overshadowed our joy.

My waitress job, even with overtime, couldn't make a dent in them.

Inside, the first thing I noticed was the stack of thick, white envelopes on the kitchen table. Bills. I flipped through them, each one a reminder of our ongoing struggle. The only silver lining was that now, after marrying Nate, those bills might finally get paid. Maybe then I could consider divorcing him-a thought I hadn't dared to share with anyone. Another secret in a life full of them. Tears welled up as I thought about the lies I had to keep telling. Wiping them away, I reminded myself why I was doing this: for her.

My phone buzzed with a message from Angela, my best friend since elementary school: "Still out with him? Are you two sharing a room tonight?" I blushed and quickly typed back, "NO! I told you, I just met him a month ago. I like to take things slow." Angela thought Nate and I were just dating, blissfully unaware of the truth. She'd been encouraging me to take the next step with him, not knowing we'd be spending plenty of time together in Chile starting tomorrow.

I headed upstairs to change out of my wedding dress, hanging it carefully in the closet. After a couple of hours watching TV, I heard my mom come in. I glanced at the clock: 9:30 PM. She went straight to her room without a word. I wanted to check on her, but something told me she needed space. With an early flight ahead, I decided to get some sleep.

Morning came too quickly. My alarm blared, and after fumbling with it, I finally managed to shut it off. The golden morning light streamed through my blinds as I realized it was already 5:30 AM. Nate would be here in half an hour. I rushed through my morning routine, throwing on a casual outfit and packing a few essentials into my suitcase. Downstairs, my mom was at the kitchen table with her coffee.

"You're up early," she noted. "Big day today, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I mumbled.

"It will be fun! You know I always wanted to go to Chile!"

"Well, you can always go in place of me," I joked half-heartedly.

She laughed. "Oh, come on! You'll love it. Take some pictures for me, will you?"

"Absolutely," I promised. As I reached the door, she asked, "Are you sure you don't want something to eat before you go?"

"No time," I replied, glancing at my phone: 5:55 AM.

Outside, a black limo was parked in front of our driveway. Two men in black suits and sunglasses stood by the door. One of them opened it for me. "Mrs. Evans," he said, and the other took my bag. I muttered a quick thanks and slid into the limo, sinking into the luxurious leather seat. I hadn't experienced anything like this in a long time.

"How about some champagne for my lovely wife?" Nate's smooth voice came from beside me. He was sitting there with his signature crooked half-smile.

I accepted the glass. "Trust me, I'll need a lot of this on this trip," I said sharply.

His smile widened. "Your wish is my command, Angel."

I glared at him, already dreading the journey ahead. "To the airport, shall we?" he asked as the limo pulled away.

---

I pedaled through the dark streets on my brother's old bicycle, the occasional barking of distant dogs and the constant squeak of the pedals breaking the silence. The news was full of reports about people going missing and others being found mutilated, but I wasn't scared to be out at midnight. I wasn't scared of dying. I just wanted to escape.

My brother had left the moment he could, leaving behind a letter filled with resentment for our father. Our family was dysfunctional, but the hope of something better kept me going. It kept me from falling apart and giving in to my demons.

As I approached our driveway, I saw my dad's sedan parked there. I didn't hate him, despite his drinking and the cheap prostitutes he brought home. He wasn't always like this. He ignored me, treated me like I was invisible, and only sought me out when he needed money for booze. He hated me because I looked like her-my mother, who left us when I was a child. My brother had raised me, but even he had abandoned me in the end.

I remembered the night she left vividly. She had dressed up, kissed my forehead, and got into a big black car, never to return. My father had never been the same since. Our house had all its windows nailed shut because he had a paranoid obsession about wolves coming after him. He used to be the sweetest dad, telling us stories about wolves hiding in plain sight and taking us out for ice cream. Now, those memories seemed like fairy tales.

Inside, the air was thick with the smell of beer and cigarettes. I walked past a naked prostitute on the carpet and his equally naked, dirty friend. Just a little longer, I told myself. I would be eighteen in a month and then I could leave.

In the kitchen, I found nothing but an empty pizza box. My stomach growled. They had eaten everything, even the cereal. Reluctantly, I decided to order something to eat, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise.

Upstairs, I found my room trashed. Panic set in as I searched for the money I had hidden. It was gone. He had taken my only hope. Tears streamed down my face as I stomped downstairs.

"You stole my money, you bastard!" I yelled, dumping a bucket of water on him and his buddies.

"What the hell!" he shouted, sitting up. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Where is it?" I demanded.

"What?"

"My money, where is my money?"

The woman scrambled to dress and ran out. My father glared at me, pulling on his pants. "You have some nerve hiding money from me," he growled, grabbing my hair and pushing me to the floor. "You little conniving bitch!" He kicked me in the stomach. "See what you made me do?" he cried, his anger turning to tears. "Why did you leave me? Because he had money?" He wasn't talking to me anymore.

I crawled back to my room, hearing him smash things downstairs. Why didn't Henry take me with him? Even under a bridge, I'd have been better off with him. I cried myself to sleep, the pain from his kick a constant reminder.

The sound of crushing woke me. My father's painful cries had me rushing downstairs. The living room was a mess, filled with men I had never seen before. "Please, I'll pay up. I don't have the money right now. I will soon, I promise," my father sobbed.

"Where's Cain?" a husky voice demanded.

"I don't know, I swear. I don't know!" my father pleaded.

"You were his business partner."

"That son of a bitch betrayed me. I've not heard from him since!"

Who was Cain? The men continued to beat my father. "Take him to the house. I'll deal with him later," the voice ordered.

"What about the girl?" the man I hit with a bottle asked.

"Take her too. Her father owes $500,000. She'll have to pay it back," he laughed.

"I'm not paying for anything!" I screamed, making them laugh. How could I ever pay back such a huge amount? I didn't care if they killed my father. "Got a lot of mouth there, haven't we?" the boss said. The intoxicating scent of him hit me, overpowering the smell of the carpet. I breathed it in hungrily, seeking the comfort it brought. But before I could relish it, the man pinning me down pinched my neck hard, and everything went black.

"Wake up!" a stern voice commanded, pulling me from my sleep. I looked up to see a woman in a maid's uniform glaring down at me, accompanied by a girl my age with her hair tied in a tight, crisp bun. The girl looked at me like I owed her money. As I took in my surroundings, I realized I was in a dormitory with a dozen beds, each with a trunk at its foot.

"Where am I? Where is my father?" I asked, panic rising in my chest.

"From today onwards, you belong to the Alpha. You'll have to work to pay off your father's debt. Get up and follow me!" the maid ordered, turning to leave. I hurried to my feet and trailed behind her and the other girl. After winding through several corridors, we reached the bathrooms, a row of tubs and showers with blow dryers and hair straighteners lined up against the walls.

Three more maids waited for us there, one holding a bucket and another with a hose. The maid who brought me nodded, and the woman with empty hands began stripping me. I tried to resist, but her strength was overwhelming. What was she, an Amazon? She shoved me into a shower stall, and a powerful jet of water hit me, knocking me to the ground. I screamed for them to stop, but they only giggled. The water felt like it was drowning me, and I struggled to breathe. After what felt like an eternity, they finally stopped. I coughed up water, only to be doused in soapy water and scrubbed raw by the woman with the bucket. Another blast of water hit me, and when it was over, I was left trembling and humiliated.

The head maid stood before me. "What is your name?" she demanded.

I hesitated, but another spray of water, this time so strong it snapped my head back, forced me to speak. "Phil Ivan," I choked out.

"Alright, Phil. I'm Ms. Astrid, one of the head servants here. You will refer to me as such. Nina here will show you around," she said, walking away with the other maids who had tormented me.

Nina handed me a light purple dress with a white apron, black shoes, and socks, identical to her own uniform. "Get up and follow me," she instructed, leading me to the area with mirrors and blow dryers. I looked at my reflection, my face red from the harsh water, a bruise forming where my father had kicked me. My hair had shrunk into tight curls. Didn't they know you don't wet a black woman's hair?

"You have a nice curvy body," Nina commented as she blow-dried my hair. "Just be careful not to attract the males' attention. They can claim whoever they want." Was this some kind of sex trade place?

"Hurry up and get dressed. This place isn't that bad if you follow the rules and keep your head down. Whatever life you had, forget it. Whatever dreams and hopes you had, forget them all. You now belong to the Alpha," Nina said, her words chilling me as I applied lotion to my body.

"Alpha? Is that the name of the guy who runs this place? What kind of stupid name is that?" I muttered.

"Avoid those who wear different uniforms from ours. The head servants don't take kindly to our kind," Nina continued.

"What do you mean 'our kind'?" I asked, confused.

"Humans. We're like rodents to them, so just keep your head low," she warned.

"Humans? Aren't we all human?" I asked, incredulous.

"No, the servants in black and white are werewolves. We humans wear purple."

"You can't be serious," I laughed. "Are you going to tell me vampires are real too?"

Nina nodded. "Believe it or not, just listen to me," she insisted, combing my hair into a slick back ponytail and tucking it into a bun.

I brushed my teeth at the sink, then we headed back to the dormitory. Nina handed me a key. "This is for your trunk. You'll find clothes, pajamas, another uniform, and other necessities in it. Your bed is number 12, same as on your keychain. Mine is bed number 11, right next to yours," she said, giving me a bagel. "Here. If you miss meals, you don't eat, so make sure to be on time. We eat after everyone else has finished."

"What is this, a Nazi concentration camp?" I muttered, looking around the room. The tiny, high windows were impossible to reach, and the heavy trunks were unmovable. I quickly ate the bagel, having been hungry since yesterday.

Nina led me to the bustling kitchen, where I struggled to keep my dress from riding up. "I'll get you another one," she promised as we reached the sinks to wash vegetables. I couldn't believe they thought I'd be okay with this. I had to find a way to escape. I wasn't paying for money I didn't borrow.

When it was finally time for lunch, Nina told me the Alpha wasn't around, but other males were. "Nina and the new girl, we're short of hands," a black woman said. I felt a bit relieved seeing another person of color, but something was off about her and the other servants. They seemed human but carried a different air around them. Maybe it was the series of events from last night until now, but Nina's nonsense was starting to sound true.

She squeezed my hand to reassure me as we pushed carts behind Ms. Astrid and four other servants into a large dining hall. Nina and I were in charge of beverages. The cart even had wine-who drinks wine for breakfast? The dining hall was filled with men and women, the latter dressed like high-end escorts. Was this a brothel? I had to get out of here.

Ms. Astrid cleared her throat, snapping me out of my thoughts. I grabbed a pitcher of orange juice and filled a woman's glass. A man next to her slapped my ass and laughed. "She must be new," he said, looking at me with lust.

I grabbed a fork and stabbed him in the arm with all my strength. "Bitch!" he yelled, grabbing me by the neck and lifting me off the ground.

"Kevin, put her down if you want to keep your head," another man ordered. I clawed at Kevin's arm, gasping for air. He finally let go, throwing me to the floor.

"Are you okay?" Nina rushed to my side.

"Touch me again and I'll end you, asshole!" I spat.

"Shut up!" Ms. Astrid yelled, grabbing my hair and slapping me across the face. My vision blurred, and my cheek stung. "Enough! The Alpha wishes to speak to her," another man said.

Nina helped me up and we followed the man to a set of large double doors. "Chris!" the man called, and a voice told us to enter.

"Are we going to see the man called Alpha?" I whispered to Nina, ignoring the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

"No, he is the Alpha. The one who runs everything here. The man who owns you."

"You mean like the Alpha of a wolf pack?" I asked, and Nina nodded.

The man cleared his throat, and I realized we were already inside a study filled with the same intoxicating scent from last night. I couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Leave us!" the husky voice commanded. The others left, and I found myself alone with the man who had ordered my capture. When I finally looked up at him, I couldn't help but gasp.

His lustrous dark brown hair framed a face etched with a serious expression, eyebrows sloping downward, and lips drawn into a hard line. His prominent jaw curved gracefully, and the strength of his neck showed in the twining cords of muscle that shaped his abdomen, strong arms, and a firm chest. He was an Adonis among the men I had seen in this place, who paled in comparison.

The tapping of his lean, slender fingers on the table drew my gaze back to his face. He had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen-golden like honey with gray flecks. The intensity of his gaze almost made my knees give out. Normally, I'm indifferent to handsome men, but I knew the blush spreading across my face was a dead giveaway of how flustered I was.

"Had enough?" he asked, snapping me back to reality.

"I don't know if you've been told, but from now on, you are my property. Your father owes me $500,000, which you'll have to work to pay off," he said, his voice sending a tingle down my spine.

"I don't care how much that motherf**ker owes you. I'm in no position to pay his debt. I don't give a f**k. You've kidnapped me and are holding me against my will. Let me go, and I won't report you to the police."

He looked down, amused, and stood up. "Here, your father clearly stated that if he failed to pay, I could take whatever I wanted-namely, you. You're still a minor and you turn eighteen in a month. Even then, you still belong to me. You signed here that you'll repay your father's debt after you turn eighteen to the last penny."

"The hell, are you talking about? Do you hear yourself? This is not 1872. Slavery is illegal. I know my rights," I said, scanning the damn papers. There was indeed a part where I pledged to work off my father's debt after I turned eighteen.

"This is illegal. This is against the law," I said, throwing the papers at him.

He only laughed. "Here, princess, I'm the law. My word is law. Now, that's it. Get back to work," he said as the doors opened and the head servant Astrid walked in.

"Hey, I'm not done here!" I yelled, but I was pulled away.

"Your behavior today was insolent, and I'm going to teach you a lesson," Astrid said.

"Let go of me!" I tried to yank my hand away, but her fingers extended into claws that ripped through my skin. I watched in horror as her teeth elongated and her eyes glowed. The hair on my skin stood on end; I had never been so scared in my life, the dread you feel in the presence of a predator.

She dragged me down the stairs, through the kitchen, to the back of the house. The other servants clustered around as I was shoved into a cage with a large dog-no, it was a wolf.

"Please, get me out of here!" I screamed, reaching for one of them.

"You don't turn your back on a predator, little girl!" Ms. Astrid yelled, an evil grin on her face.

I could hear it growling behind me. When I turned, it was a meter away. My legs gave out, and I fell to my knees, wishing the ground would swallow me whole.

I pressed myself against the bars, trying to become invisible. The beast's growling continued, its saliva spraying all over me. It got closer, and I could feel it's hot, moist breath on my face. I prayed to any god who might be listening to save me. The pressure was too much, and a warm liquid poured between my legs, soaking my uniform.

The growling stopped, and all I heard was laughter around me. I opened my eyes to see the wolf shift into a human-a woman, the one who had hosed me down. Nina had been right. My breath became shallow, and I passed out.