Dominic raised his head and listened again. He heard the whisper of a scream as he got out of the shower. It tugged at his brain as he got dressed quickly. He went outside and looked in that direction. He smelled Ellen, but he wasn't sure if it was her scream. His ears had been full of water at the time. He caught movement in the corner of his eye. Lord Rousseau was looking in the same direction. The calm in his shining eyes was unsettling. He held Veronica by her wrist lifted nearly off of her feet. He looked down at the squealing woman and dropped her to the ground. He turned and nodded in Dominic's direction. He knew that the new man had heard her too. He wasn't going crazy. He summoned James with a simple bark and the three went for the sound. He went first to the stable, which had horses. He looked for a missing horse. She'd have taken that one. He tried to think of where she would have gone. Louis. The minute the Rousseau entered the house, Louis had become uneasy. The relinquishment of power was a relief for Dom. For the other alpha, it had been painful. Rousseau had dropped Louis to submit with a single glance. The fear had shown everyone who was the one true alpha. Dominic had simply dropped to his knees and allowed the brush of the large man to acknowledge the position above. Louis snarled and snapped his teeth in challenge even though he was face down before him. The southern wolf had made sure he was a shadow after that. Rousseau tapped idly at the empty stall door. The new name plate still had the plastic protective film on it. Brunei. The short round mutt of a horse that Ellen had been so proud to buy. He should have known. He followed his larger leader. The red head went directly to the mare. She chewed grass in the field. She'd strolled back after Ellen was taken. The horse held no scent not even Ellen's rich prime smell. They'd wiped the horse down. The bigger Rousseau walked slowly toward the east path.
"I've lost the scent," Dominic admitted. "Where are you going?"
"I haven't," the alpha softly replied. "The girl's just been here."
"Cousin," James whispered, "you can't think that you smell her when she's probably far down the road by now."
"I know who has her and where they'll go. I don't need to smell her. I hear her."
***
I felt my fingers along the kennel to find a way to get out. I managed to turn over my identification tag. They'd labeled me as a vicious dog. No one would get close enough for me to moan my cry for help. A moan was all I could manage with the hard thing they'd strapped to my mouth. I curled up in the fur coat they'd put in with me. At least I wouldn't freeze. The flight was quick. There must have been something to make me sleep in the water. The next thing I noticed was when I was carried out to another vehicle. The sky was so bright, I decided to sleep some more. I heard Louis as he ordered someone to let me out and bathe me. I licked my chapped lips. They'd removed that awful gag. I was not to be mistreated. I was a breeder, whatever the hell that was. Like with horses and cattle? The breeders got the best of everything, because they were popping out the next generation. So I've got the better characteristics to breed. Oh, this was bad. I tried to spring out of the cage and run for cover, but my legs wouldn't work. They cramped up and I was dragged back into a dark dirt floored room.
"Hold on, bitch. Nobody's gonna hurt you. I'm just gonna get you some clothes, 'kay?"
I turned around to see a pretty little light skinned black girl. She pointed me toward a spout high up in the corner of the room.
"Just stand on the stones and I'll turn on the water. Wow, you sure are tall. You're almost as tall as our Stella. Your a prime, aren't you? That's why King Louis spent so much time away from the beds."
I shook my head as she let the coldest water known to man to drop down.
"Stella's been waiting for Louis to accept her invitation to rule. If you're his on the side, you'll get more than most of us. Just play it like you like him a little and it's all gravy."
The shorter girl made sure my face and twat were clean before giving me a towel to dry with. She seemed disappointed to not find semen. She gripped my breasts hard enough to make me yelp.
"Oh, I get it. You're coming out of heat soon. I'll get you some pads when you need them. How long's your cycle?"
I massaged my abnormally heavy painful breasts and croaked, "a few days." It was about time for my period, unless I was pregnant.
"Huh, that's short. Not much of a human line in you. We'll just keep you clean until the heat comes around again."
If I was pregnant, who was the father? I was dressed and taken to a small room. A slight white man with very blond hair came in and sat down next to me. He looked in my eyes and said, "You're in Louisiana, now. No your not pregnant. No. I'm not an alpha, so I won't be doing that. I know I can read your thoughts. That's why I'm here. Relax. Stop bombarding me with thoughts. Really! Why don't you try to speak. That's why I was sent. To assess your voice."
"I was gagged and stored in a box," I rattled out slowly.
"Yes, Louis can be a bit over zealous. You wouldn't have come quietly. Who is coming for you?"
"Nobody. They probably don't know I'm gone."
"Dominic, Ryan, James, and...Rousseau? No, it has to be James Rousseau. Your mind is funny," he smiled.
"Okay," I let him hear. My voice was getting better, but I needed to learn to shut him out of my head fast.
"Don't struggle. I've done this for years." His confidence made me sick. Think about something else. I thought of Brunei and our rides together.
"You won't be doing that anymore. The king is sure to keep you indoors. The place we live in is very large. You may never see the light of day."
I took in a deep breath and willed away the gnawing in my stomach. The mind reader doubled over and then straightened quickly. He looked me up and down and moved away.
"Don't do that. I could have guessed you'd be hungry, but..."
"This is enough. You haven't given me anything new. Who is he, Ellen," Louis commanded.
"Rousseau. His name is Rousseau," was all I knew.
"That's all she knows, you're lordship. Red hair....?"
Louis looked at me with a curious look. He did have the oddest color I'd ever seen. The richest of reds with a hint of brown to make me think of coagulated blood. Like that chocolaty blood pudding Ryan had given me that first time.
"Get her ready for Stella." He made no effort to hide his anger. I hadn't gotten to know him the way I should have. It worked well for me. If I didn't know, this guy couldn't hurt my chances of getting away. The scrawny guy left and I was oiled on all of the visible parts of my body. I was then subjected to a series of women combing out my braids. They commented on how thick and tangled it was. I responded with a request to do it myself. They proceeded to drag every bobby pin and decorative hair clip out of my head. My head buzzed with the pain. They gave me two simple ponytails, which made me feel like I was three or something. I was then shoved into a circle of men. They escorted me to a large hall. The marble tile along the walls made me wonder how old the place was. The guards parted to show me a seated woman. Her thin frame was draped with an oversized shirt and a skirt that covered her toes. She seemed to be older than me, but I couldn't say by how much.
"Your name," slid dismissively through her lips.
I wasn't sure if I was allowed to speak. A nudge by one of the guards told me it would be to my advantage.
"My name is Ellen Beauvais Franklin."
"Beauvais, I can place. You have cousins here. Franklin, I'm not sure."
"I...was married."
"You are of Louis' pack, now. As he is, so you will be."
I looked her directly in her eyes and said, "No."
"What did you say?"
"I said no."
Her mouth curled up into a menacing smile. She stood over me and reached out her hand. I moved away by instinct. She forced the issue and squeezed my cheeks as she pulled me forward.
