A huge thank you to everyone who has voted and commented on the previous chapter. I can tell you they really make my week. I am always open to suggestions, good critics, and bad ones. This story is evolving with every chapter so if there is something you all would like to see or don't like it won't hurt my feeling to adapt it into my story. As always, a huge thank you to both my editors MarieFlower and mordbrand. Please enjoy this next chapter I made it a bit longer to make up for last week's short one.
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"This place is ridiculous. Reminds me of when we lived with my parents." Ben grumbled, sitting on the couch in the same room Sol had left them in a few hours before. It was mid morning now, and the woman who had been put in charge of watching over them had just dropped off a trolley of food for them.
It reminded Dominic of what they had done when he was in the clinic. There was an assortment of foods, but this time they were far more domestic. Mostly meats, like chicken, ribs, steak, and pork, cooked in all kinds of different ways. The abundance of sides were anything from salads, to potatoes done any number of ways, to any variety of chip one could possibly think of. There was even a cooler with drinks and different flavors of ice cream inside.
"You have no idea. You should have seen what they brought me when they had me the first time. I didn't even know lobster could be cooked that many ways." Dominic was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard. Jarod was next to him sharing a plate of home made steak fries and a tub of the coffee ice cream. Garrett was laying on his back at their feet, a large spoon sticking out of his mouth and a carton of vanilla bean balanced on his chest. Samantha was sitting at Ben's feet on the other end of the couch opposite the bed, gnawing on a rib while Penny fed from her breast. When she was done she tossed the bone on the plate she and Ben were sharing and licked her fingers clean.
"Here." Ben dunked a napkin in his water and handed it to her. "Use this."
"Oh, thank you Ben. I never knew these could be so messy." Samantha giggled and scrubbed the wet paper over her face.
"Well then don't try the BBQ wings. Those thing are nothing but mess, and I don't think Penny likes being your bib."
"What?-Oh!" Samantha looked down at her baby and used the napkin to gently dab a spot of sauce from her cheek. Penny cooed happily as Samantha gave her an apology in baby talk.
Dominic relaxed farther against the headboard, smiling lightly at the scene before him. They were not there willingly, and they might be trapped in a den surrounded by werewolves, but at least they were full and relatively safe for the time being. It had been a long time since food like this had been accessible to them, and it was a nice feeling to see everyone eating something other than cheap pasta and canned goods they heated up on the camper stove they found in a dumpster. Usually ice cream was saved for the most special of occasions, and not even all of those times got the sweet treat.
Jarod shoved his spoon into the frozen dessert and sighed. He ran his hand over his short hair and crossed his legs so he could lean forward slightly and grab a chip from Garrett's stash. "I don't know about this place."
Ben held up a finger. He rose up and walked over to the door, opening it and checking the hall. When he was sure no one was standing outside he closed the door again. "Break it down for us. What did you see?"
Jarod bit his lip, eyes jumping around from face to face. His voice was quiet when he started to speak. "Well, first off their security is nothing to sneeze at. They have cameras everywhere, and they aren't that easy to spot if you aren't looking for them. You saw that they have someone verifying people coming in and out with that security box at the entrance gate, but there are at least three more cameras watching both the entrance and exit gate, and that doesn't include the others on the road leading in and out of this place. They know exactly who is coming and going and when. Same for that first gate we came through. I would put down money that if we were to go down any other road we would see the same thing. There is no easy way in or out without getting spotted on their surveillance system.
"Not only that, but there were all kinds of trails in the woods crossing over the main road that I could see while they were driving us here. Knowing what we do about these people, they most likely have patrols in the forest, plus the dozen cameras I spotted on the drive here alone. Not surprising, considering they keep talking about a war ending just yesterday. Our driver was talking to his buddy about it. They weren't pleased at all that Dominic put it in jeopardy."
Dominic could guess how he had done that. "Is there anything else you saw?"
Jarod nodded. "This building is an entirely different beast. It's old, maybe just over a couple hundred years, but it has all the latest in surveillance tech. All of the doors have a camera on them, and on top of that, they are also extra thick. I'm betting its because they have a sheet of metal in the center that adds strength, in case someone tries to breach them. All the entrances and exits are heavily monitored, but from the looks of it the living area we are in isn't nearly as closely watched as the rest of this place. I think those are only really used for defense if they are ever over run and need to locate who is where.
"The layout is another defensive measure. The first portion of the building is the oldest section, and a pretty easy layout. Most likely because it wasn't built with holding off attacking forces in mind, instead its probably used for guests and company. But this entire back area is a rat's nest of a maze. It had to have been done so that if anyone did manage to get in, they would have a hard time navigating."
"This place is a damn fortress." Garrett shoved another spoon full of ice cream into his mouth, staring at the ceiling in thought.
Ben growled under his breath. "Yeah, or just a really nice prison." His hand started rubbing up and down his leg. Dominic could see his pained distant look from across the room.
Jarod bit the inside of his cheek. "That isn't all though. They are organized and they are disciplined. I think these guys are more like wolves than humans when it comes to social order. They have an obvious hierarchy and Sol is on top for sure. Orion is right there with her, but she is most defiantly the leader. What she says goes and no one argues. After that wolf opened Samantha's door, and that all went down, Sol immediately began giving orders and they all fell in line without any pushback. Plus, it took them less than five minutes to clear everyone out of our path and get their people moved out of the rooms in this area so that we could be isolated up here. We are up against a powerful, well funded, organized force, with its own social rules and way of life. There is no way we get out of here unless we get to the city first and even then we would be hard pressed to do anything but run like hell. I don't think we can get out of here."
"Then that's it then? We are stuck for sure?" Samantha whispered.
Dominic's shoulders slouched. "I'm sorry. This is all my fault that you are in this mess. I should have never come back-"
"We told you to come back." Garrett put down his tub of ice cream and propped himself on his elbows. "There was no way any of us were going to let you leave without us. This isn't your fault."
"I should have been more careful though. Taken my time to be sure no one was following me."
Ben shook his head. "You heard what Jarod said, they have all kinds of patrols around here. One of them probably spotted you and told the others where you were. Don't beat yourself up."
Dominic wanted to argue, but he knew it was pointless. They wouldn't let him feel bad for bringing this down on them, so for now he would let it drop. He knew the truth though.
