Alpha Elijah

Chapter 4

I held little Ryan on my hip as we all walked through the pack house to the rooms at the back of the building. The rooms had obvious locks on the outside of them but, inside the rooms, they were well furnished. The rooms had two beds each, a small table, a lamp, two chairs, a stack of paper with some pens and pencils and a window each, although the window did have bars to stop us escaping.

"This is where you will stay until we can assign you jobs or positions within the pack." The Beta announced to the group of shocked and confused faces. "Due to policy, we require you to remain in the pack for one year to help protect the privacy of those that live here and the security of the pack as a whole."

"After that year you will be free to go, should you desire to." Elias announced, and a wave of relief washed over me as I saw others in the crowd visibly relax. "You will be free to remain here, as many others before you have. Anyone over the age of first shift will be required to take part in mandatory training unless you already have a specialist training or position.

"We have taken into consideration family members and you will be put into appropriate rooms together until other accommodation is assigned." He said, and you could see many of the women around me begin to get worried again, wondering if their family was still alive in another of the cell blocks and those waiting to see their mate again (those who's mates were still alive).

"This is a reminder that these accommodations are not permanent and we hope to have you all out of here within a month." Beta James finished, much to my pleasure. 

We all stood and waited as names and room numbers were called. We were apparently the first group to be processed into rooms, so many would still have to wait for the cells to be cleared out to know if any of their other family members were still alive, but you could see sparks of hope as some were assigned with bigger rooms.

As they were getting to the end of the list of names for my group, more footsteps began to echo through the corridor, signalling the arrival of the next cell block. 

"Zeta Nysa, for now could you please enter the office at the end of the corridor so we can discuss placement." Beta James announced, and I turned my head back towards him before nodding. 

Just as I was getting ready to head down the corridor, I saw a familiar mop of hair walk around the corner with his father in tow. Anger in me raged, knowing my former lover had known about the situation and impending invasion far in advance of my return to England. His nose was bloodied (something that must have happened recently), so he did not notice my scent as I slipped out of his view and stormed my way to the office after handing over the child to one of the remaining women.

The corridor was wide with hard wood flooring that was ruined by the vibrant yellow of the walls. As I walked past, I peaked in the rooms noticing all had at least one double bed, a bedside cupboard, a lamp, a TV and a bathroom. At least they seemed comfortable, as comfortable as they could with iron bars blocking the windows.

The office featured two brown plush leather chairs, a hard oak table and a professional looking desktop computer. I walked around the desk to see several family portraits of Beta James smiling with various other similar looking people. There was no pictures of his parents but one with his two siblings, plus one more that I hadn't met yet as well as another featuring who I could only assume was his mate and two children.

He had a wide smile visible in all of the pictures and I could tell that family meant a lot to this man. It made me feel lonely. The only person that I had attempted to consider as family in several centuries was down the corridor being glared at by his pack-mates as he nursed a bloody nose.

"So..." A voice said, snapping me out of my self pity. "I assume you do not want to be placed with Beta Cameron and his son?" Beta James asked, stepping into the room.