When the Stars Align

Chapter 2

      Diana looked up from her position at the back of the cage to survey the room. There wasn't much light in the room besides one old lightbulb that would flicker indicating its promise of darkness soon. Her sight landed on the other side of the room where a monkey shifter lay unconscious, his hands chained together with a lead chain attached to the cage. She couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of guilt that coursed through her whole being. It was her fault that he ended up in the Hunter's possession. If only she didn't make it obvious that she was uncomfortable at the gala the other night. Maybe then he wouldn't have taken notice of her and approached her when the client left her at the table alone. The monkey shifter had introduced himself as Jackson and was a new business associate to one of the many wealthy business owners attending the party. All he was doing was checking to see if she was okay since she didn't participate much and had come off as extremely uncomfortable to her companion. 

      She tried everything in her to get him to leave her alone and not draw attention from the few other Hunters attending but unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. They were there not only to make sure she wouldn't try running again but also to be on the lookout for possibly another rare shifter. She tried to dissuade him from staying and to leave as soon as possible with a friend but he wouldn't listen and kept trying to get her to admit what was making her so uncomfortable. She finally was going to tell him the truth in hopes of saving him, but it was already too late when her client and one of the hunters came over to the table. The hunter handed Jackson a glass of champagne as the client dragged Diana out of the gala. Mere moments later Jackson was being carried out by the hunters and was whisked back to the compound. They had drugged his drink to make it seem he was drunk as he was slowly losing his balance and consciousness.

      Diana herself was drugged by the client by injecting some serum into her neck. She woke up, shifted back into her cheetah form, and was in her cage with the muzzle strapped on again. She was the size of an adolescent, half the size of an adult cheetah. Diana didn't understand why she never grew any bigger like she was supposed to and wondered if there was something wrong with her. Not like the Hunters cared, on the contrary, they loved it as she couldn't overpower them and was sold as a nightly exotic pet escort quite often. Of course, the public didn't know the difference between whether she was a shifter or not since she had never been a part of any coalition or pack. Whatever the Hunters would make her drink before leaving always left her natural scent smelling like a normal animal than the undertone musk indicating a shifter.

      The door at the top of the stairway suddenly slammed open, snapping Diana back to her senses. Tucking herself in the furthest part of her cage in hopes of not being the primary attention of whatever Hunter was descending the stairs was all she could do at this point. The other shifters that were conscious copied her in their own cages. The third commander Emmett along with first captain Ashley came down holding six food bowls and water bowls.

      "Hurry up and eat," Ashley sneered as she tossed the food bowl down while Emmet carefully sat the water bowl down. Diana investigated what was in the food bowl only to find some type of raw meat in it. This only meant one thing, she was going to be working tonight. Usually, she got only wet dog food unless she needed the extra energy to work.

      "Hurry up, pet! Your master is waiting for you!" Emmett said in a patronizing tone. She slowly started to eat the delicious meat till there was nothing left. It wasn't enough to get her full but she did feel a bit more energized. Noticing she was done, Ashley yanked the chain leash off the wall and approached her cage. Diana knew it was pointless to fight so she just sat in front of the door. She didn't want to chance a punishment before getting to her Master for the night. Who knew whether or not they'd do more harm or not. Best to just keep being a docile kitty and act until the perfect opportunity.

      She had a father somewhere out there looking for her, she knew he was still looking for her, she just knew. She used to have a close friend also even if they never found out each other's names. Even after all this time, she doubts the person really remembers her or even cares that she hasn't been able to write to them. They were just pen pals after all.

      See, the thing was that she was just so lonely and wanted someone close to her age to speak to and had found out in the shifter King's army they had a boot camp for adolescents to train. They often come from bad backgrounds and are given a purpose in life again. They encourage the pen pal service to create new strong bonds across the world.

      At first, she was apprehensive yet her father encouraged her after she told him about it. She didn't really believe that someone would want to write letters to a preteen but she really wanted a friend that was a shifter like her and she also wanted to let them know that there were shifters supporting them even from far away. With the help of her father, she finally decided to take the chance and wrote a letter with the reality that she would probably never receive a response back. Her father explained it to her as she was writing a letter to a soldier letting them know that she was supporting them and that they had a friend out there even if they never would meet. Her father set up a little P.O. Box for her and she even decorated it with some drawings since she had a passion for art. She didn't have the courage to put her name on it, fearing rejection since she was barely 9 years old when she wrote the first letter and that they would think she was silly for writing them letters at such a young age but she hoped that at least she could put a smile on their face, that would be enough for her.

      She certainly was surprised when she received a letter back a week later. There was no name on it but there were various handwritings from multiple people in the letter and many compliments on her drawings with requests for more drawings and letters. It made her day when she read it over and over and she couldn't wait to write to them again. And that's how it began, she wrote to these shifters, and weeks turned into months which turned into years of her pen-palling these shifters about anything and everything, just various thoughts and random things that were happening and multiple drawings that she created. She never gave away personal information because she never felt confident enough and thankfully they never pushed for it. Well, they did ask a couple of times but they didn't push after she told them that she was a girl and she lived in the United States. That was enough for everyone and they told her they were from the United States and it was multiple male best friends writing to her but they considered each other a family.

      Diana was brought back to her surroundings when a harsh kick sent her flying to the floor. She curled in on herself as it hurt like hell. A hand gripped the back scruff and had her dangling in the air in front of Ashley.

      "You just never learn, do you? When told a command you OBEY!" Ashley taunted then raised the chain leash and whipped her midsection five times. There was nothing Diana could do to protect herself. She could feel one of her ribs be broken from the onslaught of whippings. Black Dots started to cloud over her vision and just when she was going to succumb to the darkness, she was dropped like a sack of potatoes.

      "Pathetic, I don't understand how you can be our prized pet. Whatever, Ashley get her cleaned up and set up in room 2. Don't fuck her up anymore tonight. If she passes out from internal bleeding or pain, the boss will be super pissed missing out on money over you not being able to control yourself," Emmet commented while sending Ashely a challenging glare.

      "I won't do anything more, tonight. Can't have the pussy cat out of service," Ashley said with a wicked gleam in her eyes. With a last chuckle escaping, she attached the chain lead to the muzzle and started yanking Diana to get her moving forward.