Rejected Mates

Chapter 11

Linda sat in the SUV, hugging her knees to her chest, and chewing at her fingernails. She was scared. Part of her was actually relieved that she was removed from the situation with Adam, and hopeful that she would never see him again. But fear of the unknown dominated her mind. She had never heard of the pack she was being sent to and was convinced it was going to be a prison. If the Luna were correct, and it was primarily filled with rogues and violent criminals, it would only make sense to be a prison. She wondered if she would be allowed to keep her phone and if she would be able to call her parents, at least to let them know that she was alive. It felt like hours that they sat there, parked on the side of a desolate dirt road, waiting for whoever it was she would be handed off to.

Finally, a truck could be seen coming their way. It pulled behind it a trailer of sorts. Once it got closer, Linda was able to see that it appeared similar to a horse trailer, with divided compartments. Probably to keep the prisoners separated was all she could think.

Her car door was opened, and she was instructed to get out and led over to the individuals from the newly arrived truck.

"Okay, let's fill out the quick intake form," the man standing in front of her began casually, almost as if she were simply getting ready to board an airplane for vacation.

"Name?" he asked.

"Linda, Melinda, or Mel," she stuttered out, thinking maybe it was time to change her name again. Melinda had been a spoiled brat, and things hadn't turned out as well as Linda. So, maybe she could become someone else again and decided on Mel at the spur of the moment.

"Well, which is it?" the man asked her.

"Mel, Mel Harris," she replied with conviction.

"Okay, Mel," he replied pointedly. "We've got your charges included in your transfer paperwork, is there anything you'd like to say on your behalf, to be included in your file for the alpha?"

"No," she replied simply.

"Alright, let's get going then, just the backpack?" he asked, seeing no other luggage or items.

"Yeah, just this," she replied, as he signed a document and handed it to the men from the West Hills Pack. It felt like a receipt, and as if she had just been sold off like cattle. The men took their paperwork and left.

"Let's go," the man directed, indicating an open door into the trailer that was hitched to the back of the truck. Another man had opened the door and was standing there waiting to close it after she had entered. She stepped inside and was surprised at the interior. It wasn't nearly as terrifying as she had imagined it would be. It was a small space, but there was a comfortable seat and the door even had a window so she could see outside. It was not a large window that someone could fit through, but it was a window nonetheless.

She had expected that they would be leaving once she had been handed off and secured into her compartment, but they didn't go anywhere. After about an hour, she could see a truck arrive and park where the SUV had been. It was like a police vehicle, with the back compartment separated by bars, and the men who got out were armed. She watched as they wrestled with a large man, obviously a very strong werewolf, and practically dragged him out of the back seat.

It appeared that their intake conversation was much lengthier than hers had been, and there was a lot of yelling and cursing before the new detainee was led to his own compartment. She could feel the entire trailer shake as he was forced into his spot and the door slammed closed behind him.

It was another fifteen minutes later that yet another vehicle approached. Mel, as she was now referring to herself, wondered how many prisoners would be part of this process, before they were finally taken to the pack. It was getting dark, but she was able to see that this new addition wasn't nearly as ominous as the one before him. He was shackled just as the other man, something she was glad nobody had deemed necessary for her, but he seemed pretty harmless, and getting him into his compartment seemed to be almost as quick and simple as it had been for Melinda.

* * * * *

"How many are coming in today?" Jared asked Colt, his beta who was seated across from him. They were sitting in Jared's office, going through the preparations for the day. They were also joined by the head of staff, Kira, who oversaw the placement of all the transfers, based on where they would best fit into the pack.

"We've got three," Colt replied. "One from the Green Meadow Pack, one from the West Hills Pack, and one from the Salt River Pack."

"Okay, let's go through their charges. Green Meadow first, who do we have," Jared instructed.

"This one could be rough, his name is Morris, and he's been in and out of the human prison system. Human jails haven't been able to hold him. Most recently, he was brought up on charges of stalking and assault, but his lawyer was able to get him cut loose on a technicality. Alpha Ryan from Green Meadow had him watched because he was concerned, and rightly so. Apparently, the guy started stalking the lawyer and even attacked her. Ryan's guys stepped in and prevented any casualties, but Ryan doesn't want him around and knows the humans won't be able to deal with him appropriately."

"Okay, Kira, let the guards in cell block A know to expect him," Jared spoke decisively. "I'm going to want to have a face-to-face with him before we even consider letting him roam around freely."

"Yes, sir," Kira replied, making notes on the pages in front of her.

"Who's next?" Jared asked.

"We've got Mel, coming in from the West Hills Pack. She was apparently sleeping with the alpha, and the Luna wants her gone," Colt replied, reading the information from his chart.

"I won't need to see her in person," Jared said with disgust. "Put her in with the cleaning crew, Kira. Have her handle th bathrooms."

"That might be a bit of a waste," Kira spoke up. "She's apparently pretty good with numbers and could be useful in the office."

"No," Jared replied forcefully. "We'll see if she can earn her way up the list, but I detest those who overstep the mate bond. Sleeping with an alpha earns her bathroom duty."

"Yes, sir," Kira replied without argument.

"Lastly, we've got Ricky coming in from the Salt River. Apparently, he beat the Beta with a..." Colt began, pausing as he continued to read through his information. "He beat the Beta with a book."

"What was the book?" Jared couldn't help himself from asking.

"Doesn't say," Colt replied with a smirk. "The details are actually pretty slim. Beat up the beta, and might have even killed him if the alpha hadn't interfered. But they didn't provide details on what started the fight."

"Okay, I'll need to speak with him too, face to face," Jared said. "Kira, let's put him in block C, if he almost took out a beta, we can expect him to be pretty strong and I don't want to take any chances."

"Yes, sir," Kira replied, finishing her notes.

"We'll go by the book, keep each of them separated through the orientation, I'll accept them into the pack and mind-link with each of them, and let them know what to expect, then you can have them each taken to their new homes as arranged."

"Sounds good," replied Colt as he and Kira got up to leave the alpha's office.

Once alone in his office, Jared began to take notes on what he planned to say to each of the newcomers. He had learned through trial and error, that he accept them into the pack and be able to mind-link with them, without even being in the room. Having the alpha reach out through the mind-link soon upon their arrival seemed to have a forceful effect. He felt better able to gauge their personalities and if they were going to cause trouble, when it was just a conversation in the mind, without external interference.

Then, as he planned with the two men coming in that day, he would meet with them in person, once they were behind bars and reiterate the expectation that would be laid out for behavior within the pack, and how they could begin to earn their freedom from behind bars.

Transfer days were alwaysrough, and anything could happen. It was part of the job, and exactly whatJared had signed up for, but it wasn't easy. He was always afraid thatsomething might go wrong, and whenever it did, he often found himself spiraling.That routinely led him to drinking and spending the night with a random humanwoman.