The Alpha's Caged Pet

Alanis POV

I hear fighting and screaming coming from outside my window. I get out of my bed quickly. I listen to my father and mother screaming as I scramble to look out the window. I know who it is, but I need to see it for myself. If I am going to die tonight, I want to know who the monster is that came calling. I want to look him in the eyes when I die.

I look out and see Alpha Raymond and his pack of wolves running from house to house. He is killing us, all of us. For what, he wants our land. He does not like us, what? There is no reason except that my father and the council refused his offer to combine our packs. Alpha Raymond does not like being told no. He never thought my father would lash out at him and reject his offer.

"Alanis!" My mother calls to me. I can hear fear in her voice as she waits for me to join her to wait for death.

I dash out of my room and run through the kitchen. I pass what remains of my birthday cake on the kitchen table. We celebrated my 18th birthday tonight. I am too young to die. I do not want to die, but it is here for me.

I run to my parents. My father takes his wolf form and rushes out the door to fight with the others. My mother and I hide in a downstairs closet. We huddle together. She holds me so tight I can feel the tears streaming down her face. She knows we will not survive this night.

"Everything will be okay, Alanis," my mother whispers in my ear.

I know it will not be okay. I know my mother is lying to me, but she is trying to calm me. I love her. No one on earth could have a mother as wonderful as her. She is kind, graceful, yet bold. She is the most beautiful person I know.

The door slings open on the closet door where we are hiding. I am afraid to look up. My mother pushes me behind her and darts out of the closet as she slams the door to protect me. I know they saw me. Besides, where would I go if I was the only one left alive after the carnage? No other pack would take in a refuge running from Alpha Raymond.

I hear her screams, and then I see blood rushing under the door of the closet. The door opens, and I look up to see him. It is Alpha Raymond. He grabs me, pulling me out of the closet. His hands are rough, and he smells like the blood of my friends and family. Alpha Raymond throws me onto the floor. He stands over me as I lie next to my dead mother.

"Beg for your life," Alpha Raymond growls at me.

I refuse to beg him for anything, not even my life. I will die here silent. I look at my mother. I reach for her. I want to touch her one more time. I want to feel her skin. The tears well up and begin to slide down my cheek.

"You bastard!" I scream at him.

I lie over my mother's body and sob. She did not deserve this; none of the wolves in this pack deserved this to happen to them. We are a peaceful pack. We do not get involved in other pack's business or feuds, and look where it landed us - Extinct.

"Beg for your life, and I might let you live!" Alpha Raymond screams at me.

I refuse. I will not beg for my life. I look up at him. I am angry. I want to kill him. "Kill me, now!" I scream at him.

Alpha Raymond begins to laugh. His wolves join in laughing at me and my boldness. No one speaks to the Alpha this way, especially not a young woman. What do I have to lose? He is going to kill me anyway.

Alpha Raymond grabs me and begins pulling me out of my house. He drags me over my mother's dead body, and then I see my father. He is alive, and on his knees, wolves are circling him. Our eyes meet, and I watch as the wolves kill my father. They devour him right in front of me. I scream a blood-curdling scream that I am sure the entire pack heard if there are any of us left.

"Put her in my truck. She is coming with me," Alpha Raymond says as he pushes me into another wolf. I fall to the ground.

A young wolf helps me to my feet roughly and grabs my wrists. He pulls me toward the Alpha's truck. I look around to see if anyone else is alive. I see nothing but dead wolves everywhere. Our homes are on fire; this monster destroyed our way of life. Everything about us is either dead or on fire.

I listen to the fire crackle as the young wolf drags me to the Alpha's truck. The young wolf drags me across the field to their trucks and vehicles. They drove here, hid, and then attacked when we all laid down to sleep. They are cowards. They were afraid to attack when we were awake and had a chance to fight them. They wanted to sneak in and kill us in our sleep or burn us alive.

The young wolf grabs a pair of handcuff out of the truck and handcuffs me, then puts me in the bed of the truck. I am the only one they took. What are they going to do with me? Why do they want with me? I am afraid to know the answer to these questions.

I lie down and wait for Alpha Raymond to come to take me away. Maybe he will still kill me so I can be with my parents. After an hour, he finally runs up to the truck. He jumps in the front without a word to me. He drives away laughing and hollering over his victory.

I lay in the back of the truck. The ride is horrible. It is hard to tolerate the bumps and banging of being in the bed of the truck. I think he is hitting every rock and pothole he can find on purpose just to hurt me. A few stones sling into the back, and I cover my face.

We finally arrive at the pack house. I wait for Alpha Raymond or someone to pull me out of the truck. Maybe they will forget about me. I can hear them laughing, talking, and definitely drinking. The same young wolf that put me in the truck comes to retrieve me.

The young wolf grabs my handcuffs and pulls me out of the truck onto the ground hard. I grunt but do not give him the pleasure of a scream or a word of pain. I do not even look up as he pulls me to my feet. I keep my head low and my eyes on the ground.

The young wolf takes me into the pack house and throws me at the Alpha's feet. Alpha Raymond puts his boot on my head and kicks me hard. I do not make a sound. Screw him and this twisted game he is playing with me.

"Cage her in the basement. Death is too good for a young woman with a mouth so fierce. She needs to learn some manners, and I am just the wolf to teach her a few," Alpha Raymond growls.

The young wolf pulls me by my hair to my feet. He grabs my handcuffs and drags me through the house to the basement door. He opens the door. It is dark, and it smells as we go down the stairs.

The young wolf turns on a small light. It barely illuminates the basement. He takes my handcuffs off and pushes me into a large metal cage. There is a small mat to sleep on, a sink, and a toilet. Alpha Raymond has done this before. The mat is bloody and smells, but I have no choice but to lay on it.

"Get comfortable, little wolf. You will never see the light of day again," The young wolf says as he leaves me alone in the cage.

I curl up on the mat and let out a cry. My parents are gone. My family and my pack are all dead. I am trapped in a cage for Alpha Raymond to decide how I live and when I die.

Two years later

I have been in this basement, trapped in this cage, for so long. I am not sure how long it has been since I saw the light of day. I think it has been about two years, but time is hard to keep up with down here. I close my eyes to sleep, and then open my eyes in the morning so a wolf can throw food at me and refill my water bowl. I am like a dog that no one wants around. They keep me around to torture my soul.

Ashton, the young wolf that locked me in here, occasionally brings me extra food. I have always been thin, but being in this cage for so long with little food has made me a frail skinny version of my former self. He has been kind to me. Not kind enough to let me out, even though I have begged him to kill me and get it over with for me.

My mind and body cannot take much more of living in this basement, alone and afraid. I am thankful that Alpha Raymond has never come down here. He probably has forgotten I am done here. I am his prisoner for as long as he wants to keep me, and there is nothing I can do about it.

I lay down on my mat to go to sleep. Ashton brought me a piece of cake earlier from a celebration. The wolves and Alpha Raymond are celebrating again. I am sure they murdered someone innocent or did something horrible to celebrate. At least I got a piece of cake out of the deal.

I curl up and eat my cake on my mat. I leave a few crumbs for the little mouse that is down here with me. He is a prisoner too. At least he can crawl out of here and leave, not me; I am stuck. I think of my mother and my father as I do every night when I close my eyes. I cannot remember what she smelled like, but I can remember her voice. I hear her voice as I drift off to sleep.

I wake to a loud noise upstairs. Something is happening up there. There are screams and fighting. I curl up tighter into the most miniature ball I can make myself. I pull the old blanket over me and begin to cry. I do not know what is happening, but I know it is terrible. The screams and fighting get louder, and then it just stops. It is silent. Someone probably got drunk and pissed Alpha Raymond off.

I hear footsteps and then talking. Maybe the party got out of hand. The door opens, and someone is coming down the steps. I look to see someone I have never seen before. She walks toward my cage and looks at me like she is sad for me.

"What is your name?" she asks.

I hang my head and look to the ground. She is not scary, but I do not understand what is going on, and I am afraid to answer her. She opens my cage. What is she doing? Why is she coming close to me? Will she hurt me? I back as far away as I can.

"Come with me," she says. She extends her hand for me to come with her.

I back up to the back of my cage. I am terrified. I look up to see others coming down-several wolves in their wolf form and some as men. I scream, even though I do not know why I am screaming. The man comes close to my cage. He closes it back and locks it.

"I am Alpha Sebastian. What is your name?" he asks calmly.

"I ... I ... I ... I am Alanis, daughter of Merril and Mary," I answer.

Alpha Sebastian looks at the woman who tried to let me out of my cage. He touches her shoulder and then looks back at me. Does he know who I am? Did he know my parents or is this a cruel trick?

"Alanis, this is my sister Julian. She wants to help you out of this cage tonight, but if you are afraid, it can wait. I will leave it unlocked for you, and if you want, you may come out on your own," Alpha Sebastian says.

I shake my head. "He will kill me if I leave this cage," I say with a tremble in my voice.

"Alpha Raymond and his wolves are dead. Their reign of terror is over. He will never hurt anyone again," Alpha Sebastian says.

I take a deep breath and go to my knees. He is dead. He is dead! I begin to cry. I cannot stop crying. "He killed my parents!" I yell.

"We know, we know of your pack and what happened to them, but we did not know you were still alive," Alpha Sebastian says.

"He has kept me down here since that night, locked in here," I say.

Alpha Sebastian and his sister, Julian, gasps, looking at one another in disbelief. "You have been down here for two years?" Sebastian asks me.

I shake my head, yes. Tears roll down my dirty face. I look at my hands, filthy. I am filthy. They know my father, and they are seeing me look like this. I am embarrassed. The daughter of a council member should not look like this. I close my eyes in disgrace for what I am now.

Julian opens the door to my cage. "I could help you out of here, and we could get you cleaned up if you like?" Julian asks me.

"Are you going to hurt me? Are you going to take me somewhere and lock me in another cage?" I ask.

"No, my sweet wolf. You are safe, and please let me help you," Julian says to me.

"I ... I .... I am afraid. I am sorry. I am just so afraid," I cry.

Alpha Sebastian stops Julian. "Give her time; she will come out before we leave to go home," Alpha Sebastian says.

"Where will I go? I have no one. My... My... family is all dead. What will happen to me?" my voice trembles as I ask.

"We will protect you, Alanis. You are under my protection now and I take care of my people," Alpha Sebastian says.

"Thank you. I am afraid," I say. For the first, I admit that being down here in this basement, I am afraid. I am so scared of living without my parents or being the girl in the cage. I have no idea who I am anymore. The words sting my soul. I have said I am afraid before but this time they mean something more, I mean the words. I am afraid of what is outside this cage.

The wolves start going up the stairs. Alpha Sebastian follows them. Julian stays with me. She finds something to sit on and takes a seat outside my cage.

"I will stay here with you," Julian says softly.

I look at her, and she is so beautiful. I cannot imagine what I look like to her. I have been hosed off with cold water weekly. I have not had a bath or a good meal in so long. I cannot remember when Ashton brought me clothes last. Julian sits with me for hours. Why is she so concerned for me? I should leave this cage. I can leave this cage.

"Julian, I would like to leave this cage and clean myself up," I say softly.

Julian stands up from her seat. She opens the cage and reaches in to take my hands. "You do not want to touch me. I am filthy," I say as I pull back from her. I do not want to get her dirty.

"I can wash my hands, shower, and change my clothes. Nothing is more important than you right now. Let me help you, little wolf," Julian says.

Julian helps me to the stairs. I start to climb them, but it is difficult for me after being in my cage for so long. It hurts as I make my way up a few steps. I scream out. "ARGH!" My knees buckle and I begin to cry. The pain is so fierce. I feel like I am falling.

"Sebastian," Julian calls up the steps.

Alpha Sebastian rushes to his sister's aide. He scoops me up before I can protest and carries me up the stairs. He takes me to the first bathroom he comes to and sets me down in the tub. "I insist that Julian help you bathe, okay. I do not want you to get hurt," Alpha Sebastian says.

"Yes, Sir," I say.

Julian comes into the bathroom as Alpha Sebastian leaves. She helps me undress and turns on the water. The water that runs over me turns black as it goes down the drain. I cry as I watch the water. The nightmare is over. It is finally over.

"Let it out, I cannot imagine how you are feeling, little wolf," Julian says as she helps me scrub the dirt off of my body.

Julian POV

Alanis is terrified but trying so hard to be brave. She has been through so much. She needs to let it out so she can move on with her life. I will help her. Alanis will be my priority. I want to see her get past this horrible event in her life and grow into a beautiful young woman.

I cannot imagine having parts of my life stripped from me. How would I feel if everything was taken from me and shoved into a cage? They left her down there to die. Barely any food or clean water and hosing her down with cold water. What kind of monster does that? They kill her parents and then treated her like an animal, for what?

What kind of sick gratification did that get from doing this to her? Two years of her life have been robbed from her, two long years in that cage. This poor girl is going to need a lot of help. I want to make sure she has everything she needs to readjust to her life. Our pack can provide her with a home, but she will need so much more from us.

"Thank you," Alanis says as I scrub her back. The filth is unbelievable.

"You are so welcome, little wolf," I say to her.

Alanis looks back at me. "Why do you call me little wolf?" she asks.

"I am sorry. You are the same age as my sister, and I always called her little wolf," I answer.

"Is she with you?" Alanis asks. I stop scrubbing her for a moment. I let her enjoy the warm water for a moment.

"No, she was killed by Alpha Raymond about six months ago when he attacked the wolfpack where she and her husband were living. Alpha Sebastian has hunted him ever since," I answer her.

Alanis begins to shake and cry. "I am so sorry that happened to her. There have been times I wished he would have just killed me, but I guess I should be grateful to be alive," Alanis cries out.

"You are entitled to feel any way you chose. It is your right after everything he put you through, Alanis," I say.

I start back scrubbing her. We finally get all of the dirt off of her. I help her wash her hair, but it is matted and breaking in so many places. "Alanis, we will have to cut your hair, sweetie," I say.

Alanis nods her head. "If it has to be done, then it has to be done," she says. I know she does not want to cut her hair. No young woman wants to lose their long hair, but this is not salvageable.

"I can do it for you. I will try to save as much of it as I can, little wolf," I say to her.

Alanis smiles back at me. She is at ease. Someone cares for her and is looking out for her for the first time in a long time. I grab a towel and wrap it around her.

"When we get back to our pack house, I have much better soaps and products for you to use. I have tons of clothes I can share with you," I say.

"I do not want to be a burden to you, Julian," Alanis says.

I hug her, wrapping my arms around her and holding her tight. She takes a deep breath. It has been a long time since she has had a human touch from someone.

"I do not mind sharing with you. I have plenty of room in my house and plenty of everything to share with you. My brother, Alpha Sebastian, will ensure your safety," I say.

"I have nothing to put on for tonight, Julian," Alanis says.

"Hold tight, I will be right back," I say to her.

I step out of the bathroom, and right on time, Liam, my brother's second in command, comes into the house with my bag of personal belongings.

"Thank you, Liam," I say as I take the bag from him.

I go into the bathroom. Alanis is standing there, wrapped in the towel, looking in the mirror at her hair. I sit my bag down on the sink. I dig through it until I find a pair of pants and a shirt. I hand these to her to put on for the night.

"They might be a little bit big, but you can put some weight on soon enough," I say.

She takes the clothes from me and begins to dress slowly. My clothes are too big on her. I am thin, but she is way too thin. I will have to get some weight on her and get her healthy again.

"Come on. I will see if I can find some scissors to trim up your hair," I say.

Alanis follows me out of the bathroom. The wolves and Alpha Sebastian are waiting for us. They have cleaned up the bodies, so she does not have to see them. I do not think she even noticed when we brought her up, but it might have been too much to look at after everything she has been through here.

"How do you feel?" Alpha Sebastian asks her.

She looks up at him slowly. "I feel cleaner," Alanis says.

"I need some scissors. Look around and see if you can find something," I say.

"Can it wait until we get back home? I thought we would go ahead and get on the road since she is moving around. If not, we can wait a while," Alpha Sebastian says.

"I think I am okay to ride. I am sorry I did not come straight out of the cage. I did not know what you wanted from me," Alanis says.

Alpha Sebastian puts one hand on each shoulder. "We are going to help you, Alanis, and that is all we want to do, just help," he says.

Alanis shakes her head. She looks back at me and smiles. I think she will be okay after a few days. This girl is stronger than she looks. I take a bandana out of my bag and wrap it around her head.

"There that will cover your hair until we get back to the pack house," I say.

"Thank you," Alanis says. She looks down at her fingernails. They are ragged but clean. I wonder how she feels right now. I take her hand as we leave the house. She is leaving all of this behind her. The horror, the terror of being locked away, we will mend you little wolf, that I can promise you.

I help her into my car. Liam sends Raul to ride with us, just in case we run into any trouble or if I need him to drive. I put my bag back into my trunk. She looks back at the pack house she has been trapped in for so long and then looks at me. Broken, but strong she will survive all of this.