The Cursed Mate

The morning came with harshness as the lights in the room snapped on brightly. All of the girls gave a loud groan as the light stung at their eyes.

“Girls!” a small, round woman hollered from the door to their room. She was tan with long black hair, her eyes piercing as she stepped inside gripping her clipboard. “Good morning and welcome to White Dawn. I am Marsha, your supervisor.”

The girls all stared at her quietly, their minds still struggling to wake up.

“So...” she started again, adjusting some papers on her clipboard. “Let’s get the questions out of the way. Yes, I am a human. Yes, I have been a slave here since I was about your age. No, they are not going to eat you or rape you or burn you in a sacrifice.”

Elena chuckled, wondering how often Marsha was actually asked that.

“You will be the new group in charge of upkeep of pack grounds. That means you will be spending a lot of time outside in the heat and in the cold and in whatever weather there is.

“It also means if there is an event outside we are in charge. So... let’s get you all some breakfast and get you ready for work.”

She tapped her clipboard and led them further down the corridor. “This is the slave corridor. We are below the packhouse and have our own exterior entrance. You will never enter the packhouse unless you receive permission. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” the girls all answered in unison.

“Down here you have everything you need. We have our dining room, sleeping quarters, the large pack laundry, and maintenance rooms.”

“What about entertainment... like books or movies?” one of the girls chimed from the back.

Marsha chuckled, “You won’t have any need for that. There’s no time down here. You will essentially eat, sleep, and work. Then repeat.”

The girls all groaned, making Marsha turn around quickly.

“I know that Captain Garcia already gave you the obedience speech. Let me make one thing clear. This isn’t summer camp, you aren’t here to make friends or have fun. You are here to work.”

She turned to the side, showing a long scar on her neck.

“Disobedience is not taken lightly and attempting to escape is not taken lightly either. These are powerful creatures that thrive on their titles and their power. Don’t mistake their indifference for actually caring. If you become a problem, they will have no issue making an example out of you.”

She turned back and opened the door to the dining room. “Have your breakfast and meet me here in twenty minutes.”

The girls all walked in quietly, each one pondering the words Marsha had said and slowly filling with fear. They lined up to receive their plates, Elena’s stomach growled as she smelled the food. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was.

As she moved forward in the line, her face dropped as she realized there was only one thing, oatmeal. Nothing else. Just a bowl of oatmeal.

She sat at a table and stared at it sadly. They had been kind and offered a few toppings like brown sugar and some chopped nuts. But that was it.

She huffed before taking a bite. She quickly finished the bowl and made her way back out to wait for Marsha.

That afternoon, Elena stared up at the sky. She didn’t know where they were, but she liked it. It was cool outside but there wasn’t any snow on the ground, which was a nice change from the mountains.

And it was open. Open skies and open plains as far as the eye could see.

She took a deep breath before looking around and getting back to her work raking the dead leaves that had fallen to the ground from the trees surrounding the large building she assumed was the packhouse.

***

From a window on the second floor, Colt’s silver eyes reflected the light outside as he stared down at the small human slaves while they worked.

“Are those the group from up north?” he asked as he continued watching, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair.

“Yes, alpha. They arrived yesterday,” his gamma replied.

“And?”

“And... they seem to be adjusting?” his gamma responded cautiously, not understanding what he wanted.

“Any strong ones? Or are they all sniveling little—”

“Too early to tell. They all seemed upset being sent here. It will take a few weeks to sort them out.”

Colt nodded as he continued watching them. “Keep an eye on them. New slaves always make me uneasy. I don’t want them endangering the pack like the last ones.” His mind drifted to the last group of slaves they had two years ago, the ones that tried to revolt.

There was a lot of unnecessary bloodshed that day.

“Yes, Alpha,” the gamma replied with a bow of the head before leaving the room.

Why did we even take more slaves? We have enough, his wolf, Duke, grumbled.

“We control the largest piece of land in the area. We need the numbers,” Colt replied. “We need our people focusing on other things. The slaves build the numbers and handle the simple everyday tasks the pack shouldn’t have to worry about.”

No... what we need is a Luna... Duke grumbled.

Colt rolled his eyes at his wolf. Their mate had been killed in battle, before he was alpha. They had barely found each other when she died, barely gotten to know each other.

But it still left an emptiness.

And it still left him and his pack vulnerable.