Lioness: The Hunt

Chapter Four

We were put in the back of a truck inside a human cage with steel bars. I looked to Laura with so much sadness in her eyes. She was scared and lost, worried about what is to come. "Ember, I am so sorry I got you dragged into this." She basically whispered out. "I do not blame you, I blame them, so do not be sorry because it is them at fault not you. Go ahead and get some rest you will need your strength. We will talk more later but for now I know your heart is aching and you are scared but trust me I will watch over you, sleep, rest, I am here with you." She did not argue or question me she did as I asked and curled up against me and fell asleep.

It was about three hours later we finally stopped. "Laura, wake up. I believe we are here." She wiped her eyes that were now puffy from crying just hours before. "I am scared Ember." Her voice was a mere whisper. "I know, honestly me to. We have to be strong right now." She nodded and the men came around to unload our cage with us inside. There was a cover thrown over the cage to keep us from being able to plan our way ahead of time. We did not go very far when they sat the cage down harshly. They then removed the blanket from the cage. Sun peering in caused me to squint but when my eyes adjusted, I gasped at the sight before me.

There were five other cages with two women shifters a piece inside the cages together. So, including us that would make twelve women involved in this hunt and by the looks on most of their faces, they did not want to be. Then Alpha A-hole had some words for us. "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming." Not like we had a choice. I looked around and saw that there was a total of eleven men, twelve including a-hole. "This is our prizes of this year's hunt. All the men here are Gamma's, Beta's, and a few Alphas; including myself." As he said the words, he looked directly at me. His eyes were dark with lust, and I knew right then who he was going to be after. The thought made my insides bubble in disgust.

"With this, gentlemen, please go ahead and take a good look at the prizes before I go over the rules for this mating hunt." All the men began circling the cages, sniffing us catching our scents, some with low horny growls. There were a few with there eyes on Laura and I wanted to rip their throat out, but I could not let them know I was going to protect her with my life, I promised the Clary's and I meant it. 

"Now, for the rules. The women participants will get a three-hour head start. Once the three hours are up the men who are participating will then be able to go on the hunt for whoever they choose. Now this is where things will be different this year." This caught everyone's attention. I was not familiar with this hunt, but I noticed the change in the women and men giving their full attention to Alpha a-hole. "Normally you would have to track down your choice and get her to the finish line by the end of the twenty-four hours. This year once you have found who you have chosen you can mark and mate them right there or bring them to the finish line. The choice is yours." The women gasped and some began to cry. That's when I realized they would be forced to mate with whoever got to them first.

This was ridiculous forcing women to be a part of this, this was basically rape. Why would anyone condone this. The men walked away laughing and high fiving. This was despicable. As they went back to their warm house and beds, we would be forced to sleep in our cages which was to weaken us knowing it would be hard for the women to sleep due to being afraid. There were two women in long gray dresses that brought us all meals. The meal included a small bowl of chili soup, a full pack of crackers and a bottle of water, for each of us. 

Thankfully I was wearing sweats with pockets. I put the pack of crackers in my pocket. "Listen ladies, try not to drink all your water save it for the run. Save as many crackers as you can as well. We need to keep our strength. Also, for tonight I know you all are scared of sleeping I understand why. You need to try your hardest. They are going to wait for the hunt, so they are not going to harm us now. We need to keep our strength up we can do this together." They all looked at me some with fear in their eyes, some with no hope at all. They all nodded and began eating, I noticed they saved most of their water and crackers for the run.

They all finally fell asleep, and I was the only one awake. I was not awake out of fear but trying to think of a strategy for tomorrow. Then I heard it a man humming. I looked and saw a shadow of a man approaching. The humming was getting closer and that is when I realized the song he was singing. My heart began racing and mind racing, I could not believe what I was hearing. "Long time no see, my kitty." My head snapped and looked the man directly in the eyes. The deep goldish brown eyes I have been running from this entire time, now looking directly back at me. "All these months now I finally found you." I gulped in fear wishing I could crawl in a hole and never come out. "Until we meet again kitty."

As my mind raced at what I just encountered I heard Laura stirring beside me. "Ember, your still awake." I tried to hide the fear in my voice, "Yes, just strategizing. Go back to sleep I will join in a moment." She did not question she quickly curled up on her hoodie and fell back asleep. As I looked out into the darkness where he had disappeared into the night, I knew that tomorrow it was more than just the men I would have worry about. Somewhere out there he would be lurking, waiting for me. I swallowed my fear and curled up in the corner remembering I need to save strength as well and forced myself into a light sleep.