Danger Zone

5 Years Later

Emma finished off washing the last of the dishes as she heard footsteps approach the door. A quick peek over her shoulder confirmed her suspicions.

"What do you want Damon?" She sighed.

"Awww... Don't be like that Princess. Can't we just get along?"

"Are you going to let us go?"

"Of course not!" Damon scoffed

"Then you have your answer."

Damon paused, considering his next move. "You would be my queen if I let the other girls go?"

Emma studied his face carefully as she dried her hands on a towel. She averted her gaze as she replied. "Don't be ridiculous, you wouldn't let them go because they know your secret. Your version of letting them go is killing them and burying them in the forest."

"Ah see you know me too well my Princess. Don't you see we'd be perfect together?"

"Perfectly dysfunctional..." She rolled her eyes as she turned away to hang up the towel.

She found herself pancaked to the wall as Damon pressed his hard body into hers to keep her in place.

"I wasn't done speaking to you Princess. It's rude to turn your back on a person halfway through a conversation. Now apologize."

"I'm sorry Dam..." She choked as his forearm pressed heavily into her neck "..Uhhh Sir"

"Hmmmm... I'm still not fully convinced. Maybe we need a public punishment to enforce the lesson. But what shall it be..." Damon mused

Emma stared at her toes as she waited for him to announce her punishment. She had endured pretty much everything since she has woken up in an underground cell with a headache the size of Mount Everest and bloodshot eyes that wouldn't stop tearing for days afterward.

The group of men who had kidnapped her, and 30 other girls after her, were using them as guinea pigs to test different torture and interrogation techniques. Emma wasn't sure why but the sadistic fucks seem to enjoy it too.

Damon was partial to starving her. Something about her having to cook and feed all of them but not be able have anything for herself gave the man a hard-on. She knew he avoided the hard physical punishments because he didn't want any permanent damage to mark her skin once she finally accepted him as her mate. It would make Damon look bad in front of the Alpha Council and Damon was all about grooming his mate to be the best arm candy fear and punishment could bring.

"Eddie, bring the Little One out of her cage. It's been a while since I've played with her."

Emma's shock causes her to lift her gaze to his face. Damon catches her eye and winks at her.

"Yes Princess, I think listening to your friends suffer will help your lesson sink in. Now be a good little girl and go back to your cell."

Damon turns to leave the kitchen to join his crew in the dungeon but is halted by one word. "Why?"

"You know why. You cooperate so much better when your precious girls are threatened." He answered annoyed at the stupid question.

"No not that. Why me? What is so special about me that you feel the need to torture me so? It's been years and I haven't given in. I never will. Why don't you just kill me and start over with a new girl? I know you have no trouble killing. You've killed 23 girls without even a blink of the eye. Why won't you just let me go?"

Damon turned around just in time to see Emma hastily dab her eyes with her shirt sleeve and freeze. Damon hates seeing girls cry. It usually adds to the punishment. He slowly approaches her frozen form and takes hold of her face with both hands.

"Because Princess, I am observant. I see how the girls look at you as their leader. I see how despite the fact that you hate the pack, you put care in the food you prepare for us..."

"That's because you would beat me if I burnt the food." She mumbled

"AND" He continued on, glaring at her for interrupting "I see how you are fiercely loyal and protective of those you care about almost to fault...no DEFINITELY to a fault. I may exploit it to achieve my goals, but I value it very much. "

He started to stroke her cheekbones lightly, staring deeply into her watery eyes "I am also just as stubborn as you Princess. With all the fight you put up, I know your submission will be utterly sweet and all for me. You would make a perfect Alpha but I won't turn you until I know I can trust you not to kill me in my sleep." He chuckled lightly as he stepped away again.

"It's not funny. I would do it." She glared at the patronizing expression of humour in his face.

"Yes, Yes, and my men will kill every one of your girls in the process." Damon said dismissively, striding eagerly down the hall towards the dungeon room. "Really Princess, I don't know why we have to have this conversation every time. Besides, I know you too. You would never kill me in my sleep; it's the coward's way out. You would want to look me in the eyes as you cut off my head."

Emma shrugged as she turned for the basement staircase. "Beggars can't be choosers." She mumbled, hoping he was far enough away to not hear.

Emma was pulled backwards by her hair down the hallway into the dungeon room. "For that comment, you not only get the pleasure of hearing your friend take your punishment, you get to watch it too." Damon growled. "Your insubordination is tiring Princess. I will tolerate it no longer."

******

Emma, arms tied above her head and feet cuffed to the ground, watched helplessly as they dragged the petite blonde into the middle of the room. Little One, or Lil' as the other girls called her, was unceremoniously passed around the room as each man groped her body to their hearts desire. Many of them gazed lustily at Emma as they manhandled the girl, wishing it was her they held. She was the property of their Alpha and therefore was clearly in the "look but don't touch" category. While Emma was grateful, she knew it usually meant the girls took a harsher pounding in her place and therefore she felt extremely guilty that she couldn't share the burden of "entertaining" the warriors.

When the girls made eye contact, Emma mouthed "Sorry" to the poor girl who would have to endure her punishment. Lil' simply smiled and shook her head, instantly absolving Emma of all sins. Lil' winced as one of the men got a little too excited and shifted slightly, digging his claws into her thigh making Emma clench her jaw. Damon put a stop to the revelry with a firm hand on the man's wrist.

"Now Clint, play nicely with the toys. If you break her, it will upset my mate, which will make me very unhappy."

"Sorry Sir. Its' been so long since we've punished Little One. I hope it's a bloody one tonight." Clint said with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

Lil started to shake uncontrollably and Emma shuddered at the intent in his eyes capturing the attention of Damon. Damon turned and sauntered up to Emma, running a hand down her ribcage.

"So Princess, since this is your punishment, what do you think the punishment should be?"

With all eyes on her, Emma hesitated. Did he actually want her to give him an idea or did he want her to defer to him as her mate to choose the punishment. What answer would get her off with a lighter punishment? What game was he playing today?

"Tick tock Princess..."

"What exactly am I being punished for? Knowing my crimes may give me a better idea of an appropriate punishment."

"Let's start with Insubordination and Lack of Proper Etiquette when addressing your mate. Quit stalling."

"Since the crimes are against my mate, I think you should be the one to choose the punishment." She replied hoping that was the answer he was looking for.

Her heart dropped when his mouth tightened and he didn't say anything for a few moments. Then he nodded and smiled warmly. "A wise choice mate. You will make an excellent alpha one of these days."

He turned to the group and announced "20 lashes with the cat o' nine to both the front and back of the Little One for insubordination of my mate. I will personally deliver 20 blows to each cheek of my mate's delectable behind to remind her never to turn her back of me when we are speaking. Both are to be put on rations for the next 2 weeks." The men roared their approval.

Throughout the whole ordeal Emma never broke eye contact with Lil' and neither made a peep despite the blood trailing on the ground towards the drain in the middle of the floor.

******

Back in her cell Emma paced. Damon was right and she hated it. If she decided to misbehave, all he had to do was threaten one of her friends and she'd fall back into line. He had no issues hurting them to hurt her.

He wasn't aware of how attached she was to the other girls until he decided to start testing experimental drugs on Lil'. Emma had attacked one of his men taking advantage of the girl barely breathing on the concrete floor. In her rage she forgot herself and tried to pull him off Lil'. Reflexively he had struck out, leaving 4 bloody claw marks in her right cheek. He would have killed her if the others hadn't pulled him off her. Damon came onto the scene to find 4 men restraining the half shifted man and Emma holding the fragile blonde crying and rocking silently with blood running heavily down her cheek, staining her shirt.

Once calmed the man instantly regretted striking the alpha's possession in anger but the damage was done. Emma would be permanently scarred from the incident. Damon killed the man for his actions and locked Emma in her cell with no food or water for a week in his disgust that he had to kill one of his men because of her. Lil' was treated and recovered from the ordeal. Damon still uses her to test new drugs but now he stays in the house until she recovers to prevent any further incidents.

Damon then tested his theory that Emma cared for the other "toys" by dragging her to every torture and punishment session. While she tried not to react during the sessions, Damon would always receive reports that Emma was found later comforting and hovering protectively over the affected girl. It was clear she felt responsible for the others.

When he confronted her about that fact, she tried to shrug it off, claiming that she doesn't risk getting too close to any others less one of the men break their "toys" by playing too rough or he kills them himself because he grows tired of them.

Damon's response was to grab Peaches around the neck and slowly squeeze. He informed her that he won't let go until she admits she cares for the others and feels responsible for them. She capitulated only after she saw how the show was affecting Peaches' twin sister Cream.

The smug bastard's last words echo in her head every day "Just remember: good mates are left alone to run free, bad mates get to watch their friends die slow painful tortuous deaths."

She now has free reign of the house during the day but she is expected to cook and clean for the pack. Damon knows she won't run away because that would put her friends at risk. At night she is locked in her cell with the other 7 girls in the basement. They spend the night talking about insubstantial things or telling stories to chase away their fears of being kept prisoner by 15 monsters that they wished were still mythical.

"You ok B?" A voice called from the cell to the left of her pulling her from her thoughts.

Peaches, or Lena was kidnapped with her twin sister Alice, or Cream, when they were hiking with their boyfriends. They were looking for a quiet location for some afternoon delight when they came upon the group of men Damon calls his "recruiters". The recruiters killed the 2 men and took off with the girls when it was made obvious that the girls had no qualms about bisexuality...or incest.

"Yeah Lena, I'm good. I'll be sore but it's nothing compared to Lil's injuries. Lil' how are you feeling?"

"It's just blood B. I'll live so long as they don't want to play with me in the next few days and reopen the wounds."

Awkward silence met that statement. They never gave the injured girls enough time to heal. That's why they've "broken" 23 toys in the past 5 years and had to replace them with new girls. This batch of girls was the fourth or fifth she had seen and Emma was proud they lasted longer than others. Most toys lasted 6 months to a year before they had to be replaced.

Peaches & Cream have lasted a year and a half because of their novelty. Lil' reached the 2 year mark a couple of weeks ago. Doc, or Betty, is a necessity for the pack when they have big fights. She's a trauma surgeon who has been here for a year. Deuce and Ange have been here a year as well but they are so traumatized by their experience that they are on the verge of being replaced. The others try to talk to them but both have become so paranoid of others that they have stopped responding in general, though every so often you can hear Ange humming. They just sit in their cells staring at the wall for hours on end. Damon could leave their doors unlocked and wide open and neither girl would even notice let alone consider making a run for it. Pure and simple, they were broken and on the verge of being replaced.

Suzy is only 1 month in and is still in denial. Emma's learned that its better they come out of that stage on their own, it can't be forced. The only time she intrudes is when they stick around in the anger stage. Being angry in this environment can get you killed. Emma is the only one who can get away with openly defying orders because only the alpha can order her death and most of the time he is more amused by her antics than angry or annoyed.

Emma has considered endless times to run and get help; she even has an escape plan. However, she knows if she leaves them to fend for themselves, they will die. 5 years is a lot of time to perfect your interrogation techniques.

Exhausted, Emma crouches down and leans against the wall. Due to her sore bottom, she can't sit to sleep. All of the girls slept propped up against the wall to avoid falling asleep in one of the stagnant pools of water in their cells. Emma learned in the beginning that it's quite easy to drown in 3 inches of water so she learned to sleep in a seated position. Crouching will be very uncomfortable and very awkward but there is no way she was going to lay down to sleep.

Emma fell asleep with a plea to an unresponsive god to save them.

******

Peter lowered his infrared binoculars and cursed. After witnessing the horrifying show of what he assumed was a small child being whipped, he knew he had to do something, and fast.

"Damn!" He thought. "How could I have been so ignorant of the fact that I had rogues setting up shop in my territory?"

"Everyone prepare to move when the scouts return to the house at 23:20."He sent out to his warriors. While he waited for the 15 minutes to pass, he checked his ammunition and gently cleaned his knives, mentally preparing for the bloodbath that will ensue later that night.

******

Emma woke up to the sound of one of the men entering Ange's cell. This was followed by the sound of clothes rustling and a sigh of relief. The men used Ange and Deuce more or less like receptacles for their cum when they didn't want to fight with one of the others. It disgusted her that they held the girls in such low regard. She couldn't see who it was because the only way she could see outside her cell was through the food slot in the cell door. The sound of Ange's light whimpering added to Emma's guilt. She wished she could do something without endangering their lives.

She leaned back against the concrete wall and reviewed her memorized list of faces and names of each of the men who were part of this pack. She had promised herself on day 1 that she was going to kill every one of them when she got free and that was one promise she wasn't going to renege on.

The house shook as an explosion blew out all the windows. Even with her ears ringing, she could hear the shouts of many men enter the house and the sound of gunfire. They were saved!

The man in the cell also deduced the meaning of the attack and swiftly snapped Ange's neck like a toothpick before moving onto Deuce's cell.

"Oh crap he's going to kill us all!" Emma thought frantically.

She heard footsteps descending the stairs and hoped they would make it in time before the man killed Deuce too.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!" Cried the man at the foot of the stairs, pointing his semi-automatic at the man in the cell.

With a growl the man broke Deuce's neck then leapt at the gunman, shifting into a 9 foot wolfman. Flashes of light and gunfire was all Emma could process as the wolf fell to the ground riddled with holes, eyes wide open. Emma felt grim satisfaction in seeing Eddie dying in a pool of his own blood and feces. "One down, 14 to go" was all she could think as she watched the light fade from his eyes.

She looked up and made eye contact with Doc who was in the cell across from hers, seeing the horror and pity in her eyes. Doc took her Hippocratic Oath way too seriously. Eddie deserved to die a painful death after what he had put all of them through. It was his idea to test interrogation techniques on them in the first place.

Her view was blocked by a pair of large muscle legs, clad in cargo pants as he fumbled with the keys to the lock. Holy crap he was bigger than Dante! She scurried back into the far corner, suddenly wary of the man's intentions. He opened the door and she could see the pity and...shame he felt as he looked at her.

"My name is Peter. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help. Those men are dead, you can come out, it's safe."

Emma remained frozen on the other side of the room. When Peter took a step towards her, she whimpered and tried to press herself further into the wall, wincing as her bruised ass made contact with the cold concrete.

Peter backed away slowly and walked out of her cell. "I'm going to let the others out. You can come out whenever you're ready."

Emma was shocked and a little confused. He respected her personal space; he didn't force her to do anything. Is he for real? Are we really safe now? With that thought, Emma let a little bit of her guard down and slowly approached the open cell door, expecting Peter to slam it shut at any moment as a joke.

As she looked out, she could see Peter opening their cell doors and talking softly to each girl, trying to coax them out. She could tell he was trying not to be intimidating but it was lost on the other girls due to his enormous size.

******

By the time Peter reached the last cell, others had joined him in trying to get the girls to leave their cells. When he opened her cell, he took an audible breath. She was fast asleep but still covered in blood. This must be the child they had whipped. His gasp had drawn the attention of the others and they gathered outside her door, trying to get a glimpse of the thing that had shocked their alpha.

Dan caught a whiff of a heavenly scent, lilies and peanut butter, and recognized the scent of his mate. His eyes shifted and he growled "Mine!" as he tried to push through the crowd that stood around her cell. Once he saw the state that she was in he let out an agonized howl, startling Lil' awake. Seeing the large group of men crowded outside her cell she screamed and started to babble "You promised. You promised. You promised..."

Dan ran up and took her in his arms "It's ok Little One, you're safe now. I won't let anybody hurt you."

With the mention of her nickname, her babbling became incoherent and she started shrieking, struggling fiercely to get away out of his grasp.

At Lil's screams, Emma lost it. She dropped a shoulder through the group of men, many who had backed away covering their ears to ward off the shrieking, and tackled Dan to the ground. The shock of being tackled caused Dan to let go of Lil'.

"Run Lil'!" Emma yells as she tries to hold down the man on the floor.

Without hesitation, Lil takes off running for the stairway only to be caught around the waist by Peter. "Dammit Dan, you idiot! Shhh it's ok....SOMEONE GET THE TRANQS....shhhh" He says as he tries to sooth the struggling girl.