The Safe Haven

Capture

Between hunger and lack of sleep, the travel was a blur.
They had put on collars that both tracked and electrocuted us if we stepped out of line.

Before I knew it, we were inside the facility. We were all stripped of our clothes and put into light gray, scratchy cotton scrubs. After that, we were placed in a spacious room. The only furniture was a line of bunk beds, enough for all of us. Everything in the room was white, the walls, frames of the beds, and sheets. Well, there was the dirty cement floor.

Everyone was quiet. So quiet.

"Dad?" Ursa looked up at me. I knelt to her height.
"Yes, Ursa?"
"What are they going to do with us?"
Panic raised from the question.
"I don't know," I sighed. "I do know that we need rest."

I quickly inspected the beds to ensure our pack's safety. Once I deemed them safe, I sat down on one of the bottom bunks.
"So we get torn from our home, dragged to this God-forsaken place, and now we're supposed to sleep?" Ukraine growled.
"We walked for days straight with less than 5 hours of sleep combined. I believe we should rest so we can regain our strength and not tear each other's throats out," I batted off my brother's resentful tone.
Everyone was dirty, cold, and sore. Beaten down from the grueling journey.

Finland lead Estonia to a bed and gestured her to lay down, which she happily did.
Soon, everyone gave into the overwhelming tiredness and settled down into the twin-sized beds. The bed was barely able to contain me, even with a leg swung over one side.
"I can feel you standing over me, little one," I mumbled.
"I don't wanna sleep by myself. I'm scared," she whimpered. I shuffled over and patted the empty space next to me. She didn't hesitate to crawl into bed and clung onto me. I put my arms around my daughter, being careful not to crush her.
I wasn't going to lie to her and say that "Everything is okay" and "There's no reason to be scared." She's smart enough to see through those lies anyway.
Despite the fluorescent lights blaring, we all quickly fell asleep.

"Wakie, wakie!"
Most of us sprang out of our beds filled with aggression.
"Woe woe woe." China held out his hands. "What is with all if this hostility? I gave all of you a place to lay your weary heads and now you want to kill me?"

"I've wanted to kill you for a long time," I growled.

"Aww. Too bad." He clapped his hands.
"Anyways! Have some, not poisoned, food and after that we'll start interviewing you bunch," the red man said with pep.
"... interviewing?" Kaz questioned.
"Oh, yes. Just some general Q and A to see what your life was like, childhood, the highs and lows of life, and what makes you tick. The generals," the cheer in his voice was eerie.
We all looked at each other and by the time our glance made it back to the door, the man was gone and some beige sludge and sad-looking fruits and vegetables replaced his spot.
No one trusted the food, but our empty wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Mom," Canada lined up a question, "could you make this not repulsive?"
"I'm sorry, son. I have a gift for baking, but that has a limit." She looked resentfully at the food.
Slowly, hunger got the best of us and we started to dine on the questionable food.

A short woman appeared through the door and said, "Mr. Alpha, you're up first." I only glared.
"Sir, please come willingly right now before I am forced to electrocute your entire pack," she sounded bored like this was a normal occurrence.
Probably is.

I stood up from my place on the floor, pat my daughter on the head and give Raine a weary look before letting the small woman lead me away.
We went through, stiff, unidentifiable halls that all looked the exact same except for the occasional blood spatter.
We entered a room. It had white walls and concrete floor.
So unique.

In the middle of the room, it looked like to be an electric chair, an IV stand, and a table piled up with vials.

"What the hell?" I muttered.

"Please take a seat, sir," her high-pitched voice hurt my ears.
I did as she demanded of me.
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"Good question," her demeanor changed from one of boredom to excitement. "So." The small brunette restrained my wrists and legs to the chair. "Don't fret! This is just for precaution, for me and yourself." She patted my arm and started to work on the liquids. "To answer your question, I'm going to put an IV filled with some stuff that will make you remember the highs and lows of your life. 'Core memories,' if you will. Then I'm going to put little tab things on your forehead and that'll transmit your memories to a little TV that I can see them in. It's all harmless and side-effect free if that puts your mind at ease."

She filled the IV and put the tabs on my head.
"This will hurt for a second, then you'll feel pretty tired, okay?"
She didn't wait for my response before sticking the needle in my arm, just as she said, I was out.

"Russ!" my friend cried out before exploding into giggles. We tumbled down the hill in a pile of glee.
"You are so mean!" the boy with stars and stripes exclaimed.

… Stars..? I don't remember this.

I shrugged it off and gave him a quick squeeze. He's my best friend. My only friend. He's told me that he can't stay long and I've offered to let him join my pack, but he is scared. I don't blame him.
"Tomorrow same place, same time?" I asked.
"Yeah!"

He never came.

Oh. That's why I couldn't remember. I blocked out my first heartbreak.

"Russia!" my sister let out an agonizing scream. I jumped on the back of the bear that was attacking Bela. She scurried away, leaving behind a heavy blood trail. The bear eventually shook me and I took off. The grizzly chased me till I found a ledge in the ground and a sharpened stick. I turned into my human form, planted the stick in the ground, and took cover.
The bear fell right onto the stick, impaling its heart.

I was a smart kid.

"Dad?"
"Russia," he croaked out. "You're ready."
"Ready for what?" my voice cracked as my father laid in front of me, bleeding out because of my stupidity.
"To be the Alpha." He smiled
"No no no, dad, I- I can't!" Tears ran down my face.
"I know you can. Please, Russia, end this suffering. Take my place."
As much as I was hesitant, I was more obedient.

Memories of my siblings being happy flashed before my eyes. I love all of them.

Stars put the necklace around his neck. Yes! "Come here so I can give you a hug," he giggled. I wrapped him in the tightest hug his weak frame could handle. I cuddled with my Stars all night and he moved into my house the next morning. P
And we kissed.

Easley of our top five kisses.

Memories of him flashed in my eyes, just like my siblings, but in more detail.
His facial expressions that I could analyze for hours.
His tones of voice. The whispering, whimpering, purring. The bored, sassy, joyful, mischievous tones, and everything in between. I could listen to his voice forever.
His worshipable body. His scars he told me all about.  How smooth it was. I would love him no matter what body he was in though. He was always perfect.

I put my arms around my mate and held our daughter.
Ursa.
I kissed the side of America's face.
"We made that. We made a baby!" I whisper-yelled.
I felt Stars laugh.
"I'm going to love her till the day I die," Stars promised.

That day was too soon.

__________

One of my scars turned black for 5 days... turns out I had glass lodged in it from the accident I was in 6 months ago and pulled out a hunk of glass out of my arm with tweezers.
:)