Hers From The Start: A Collection of First In Series Reverse Harem

by Laura Greenwood

  Instead of backing away like I should have done, I got right up into Zeke, our faces so close we could have kissed if I'd been so inclined.

  I wasn't.

  "If you come after me again, you'll discover the true wrath of the fae. Don't think your shifting strength will save you from that." My words were loaded with a threat I was sure he knew wasn't idle. Even in this unstable world I wielded a lot of power. More than he could even dream of. Such was the advantage of being a fae. And a powerful one at that.

  "If you say so, Princess."

  A growl which could rival his slipped from me. "I do. Now leave me be."

  This time, I didn't wait for him to finish, but stormed off into the night, leaving the four of them behind and short one Princess. No one would get me that easily.

  Chapter Two

  This was getting ridiculous. All I wanted was to grab a little bit of sleep in the small flat I'd broken into. Though broken was probably too strong a word when the lock had been hanging off the hinges and the owners had probably been dead for years.

  Still, it provided shelter from the weather, and once I'd pulled the sofa across the door, it seemed fairly safe from unwanted visitors.

  Like wolf shifters.

  The thought crept into my mind unbidden. Like it had the other three-hundred-and-forty-two times. Ever so slight exaggeration there. But it wasn't far off. Whether I liked it or not, the wolves had really gotten into my head. I couldn't say I was a fan of that. I thought I'd left the fae's wolf shifter protectors as far behind as I had my own people. I didn't need them, and I didn't need the rest of it either.

  A small scratching noise came from outside the door.

  Sitting bolt upright, I grabbed the knife I'd stored by the bed and got to my feet, not daring to stop and put my boots on. I didn't want my footsteps to alert the other person. If they realised I was awake, they'd either run off, or they'd attack. The first option was fine by me, but I didn't know it'd be the case. And if it was, then I'd never be able to get back to sleep anyway. Pretty much damned either way. At least all of my things were packed away already. It'd be a swift getaway if I needed it to be.

  Creeping forward as quietly as I could, I only stopped when I reached the doorway, where I flattened myself against the wall and prepared to defend myself from whoever was there. I'd learned a lot in my time on earth, and how to protect myself against unwanted people was one of them.

  Of course, I could just use my magic for that. But at first it had seemed like a little bit of a challenge. Could I get by without using it? And then, it became necessity. Nothing screamed Autumn Fae like swirls of bronze magic sparkling in the light and emitting odd little leaves. And nothing said grab-me-now like being fae.

  Something scraped at the door. Almost like a door locking. Uh-oh, that wasn't good. I hadn't even realised there was a lock. Much less a key.

  But what good would locking me in here do? It wouldn't gain them anything as far as I could tell. If they left me long enough, I may even die. Though I wasn't all that sure on that one. I'd never given much thought to my death. As far as I knew, I had another couple of hundred years left in me anyway.

  The scratching was back, but I did my best to ignore it. Instead, I focused on steadying my breathing and trying to work out what the hell was going on. This wasn't what I signed up for when I came here.

  At least it was more exciting than going to class every day. That was something at least. Though I missed my best friend. I wished I knew what happened to Izzy when the world went to shit, but she'd been back at her family home and not on campus.

  The door handle rattled.

  My hand flew to my chest, clutching over where my heart was. This was getting to be too much. I wished the person on the other side would just hurry up and get in here already. Then I could stab the ever-loving shit out of him and have done with it. Or her. I wasn't going to decide whether or not to stab someone based on their gender.

  The door cracked open, hitting the sofa as it did. Which raised a lot of questions. Why did they lock me in only to decide they wanted to be in the room with me? Unless I was wrong about them just locking the door and they were actually unlocking it. Which would mean I slept better than I thought I had. Not that I could decide if that was a good or a bad thing. I think bad won out in that case. I was slacking.

  "Shit," the person muttered.

  That was foolish. If I hadn't already known someone was there, then I would now. Plus, the voice told me that person was a woman. Despite myself, I let out a relieved breath. Even if I came from a matriarchal race where women had all the power, I still felt more at ease with a female voice on the other side of the door rather than a male one. Which was probably beyond idiotic of me, but I couldn't bring myself to change that.

  "Just let me in!" the woman cried, sounding almost close to tears. I got that. I’d encountered more than one locked door which had reduced me to a sobbing mess over the years.

  I couldn't just leave her out there, could I? Not when she was clearly as distressed as she was. That would be a really evil thing for me to do...

  "One second," I called back, despite knowing it was better if I didn't.

  "Oh, there's someone in there?" the woman replied.

  "Yes, my name's Rhianna." Idiot. Why did I tell her that? What was with me? I knew this wasn't smart. I knew better than to trust anyone. So why was I leaning against the sofa and starting to push it out of the way?

  I grunted as the furniture slid away from the door and allowing it to swing open.

  The woman standing in the doorway wasn't what I expected. In fact, the word woman was probably a little strong. She barely seemed into her teens, with large innocent eyes and the too scrawny appearance which only came from long stints of not eating the right food.

  "Thank you," she blurted, rushing into the room and scouting around it. Her eyes lingered on my backpack, sending tingles of unease through me. I really shouldn't have let her in.

  "What's your name?" I asked.

  Something was wrong with me. I didn't make terrible decisions like this. I just couldn't, it wasn't how I'd stayed alive for so long.

  "Demi," she replied. "Pleased to meet you." She held out her hand and I took it, shaking reluctantly.

  "What brings you here?" The question slipped from me as my eyes began to fuzz over.

  Something was wrong here. More than a little wrong too. It was...

  I started to sway, my vision swimming even more than it had been. Almost like I was drugged. But that couldn't be right. The amount of chemical it would take to drug a fae were through the roof, and I didn't believe there was enough of anything left. The humans gave it a good shot before they were mostly wiped out. Maybe there were some still about, but they were rarer than fae.

  "What is-?" I stopped speaking, not all that sure of my words anymore.

  "It's okay, little fae, you don't need to worry."

  I gulped loudly. The woman's voice had completely changed. As had her demeanour. She stood straighter and projected a lot more confidence. As if she knew what she was walking into and...

  "Working it out, are you? I was told you were smart, but I see now that might not be the case."

  "I’m not not-smart." My cheeks heated as I stumbled over my words, unsure of where I was going with anything. How was she having this much of an effect on me?

  "Really?" She raised an eyebrow.

  I shook my head. This wasn't how my life was going to end, was it? There was still so much more I wanted to see and do. I didn't want to end my days in a dingy old abandoned flat.

  "Say good night, Princess," she sneered.

  My eyes fluttered shut, though I did my best to counteract that. The last thing that went through my head as darkness fell was the wolf shifters who I'd rudely walked away from.

  I hadn't thought I needed them...but maybe I was wrong.

  Chapter Three

  I made another mark on the wall, marking the fourteenth day of my captivity. I w
ondered what delights it had in store for me today. Likely more testing as they tried to work out how to make me use my magic without me being a willing participant.

  Well they were going to find me very uncooperative with that. No way was I giving them what they wanted, even if it meant I'd end up dead. At this rate, that option was seeming more and more likely.

  The door to my cell swung open and I leaped to my feet, trying to make it look like I hadn't been doing anything wrong. Which was ridiculous in a lot of ways. I was already imprisoned. I was already in pain. There wasn't much else they'd really be able to do to me. Even if they wanted to.

  One of the men holding me captive walked in. As far as I knew his name was Ruairidh, but I might have misheard him.

  "We have company for you," he announced, stepping further into the room to allow two of his friends to follow.

  Each of them seemed to be pushing another person in front of them. Both male as far as I could tell. While their heads were covered with course sacks, their bodies were still clothed and held none of the curves women would have.

  I began to tremble. There was a chance this could end up going very badly for me. But I would have to admit it was pretty genius on their parts. Instead of their tests getting my magic out of me, they were just going to force me to defend myself with it.

  Briefly, I considered just letting it happen, an act of defiance unlike any other I made. Problem was, my survival instinct was screaming at me. I didn't think my magic would let me get into that situation, even if I wanted it to.

  "I hope you enjoy," Ruairidh sneered.

  The sacks were whipped off the men's head and I gasped slightly, recognising two of the wolves who'd found me along with Zeke. Inwardly, I relaxed slightly, though I wasn't sure why. I didn't know these men. They could really hurt me. Something inside me doubted that, though. It wanted me to trust them. To put my life, and my body, in their hands.

  There were only a few things an urge like that could mean, and I wasn't convinced I wanted to face any of them. Certainly not in this situation.

  The one on the left, the smaller one, held a finger to his lips.

  I refrained from answering. I didn't want to give away that I actually knew who the man was, that'd completely destroy whatever totally weird plan they had lined up.

  Ruairidh left the cell, slamming the metal door shut and taking his friends with him.

  I shifted my gaze between the two wolves, waiting for one of them to do or say something so I'd know how to react.

  "We need to make it look like we're doing what they want," the smaller wolf pointed out.

  I ran the bottom of my shirt through my hands, hoping he didn't mean what I thought he meant.

  "I-"

  "We won't hurt you, Rhianna."

  "How am I to know that?" I hissed. "I don't know you. I don't even know your names."

  The two men exchanged looks, as if they hadn't been prepared for this. More fool them if I was honest. My arguments should have been expected. I hadn't exactly made things easy for them two weeks ago when they came across me.

  "I'm Jacob," the one on the right offered.

  "Mika," the smaller on added.

  "Great, right. So basic pleasantries out of the way...why should I trust you?" I put my hands on my hips and fixed them both with a stern glare. But really, I just wanted to know the answer. Maybe it would explain the odd feeling inside me. Part of me really did want to trust them, even if I didn't know why.

  "What does your gut say?" Mika asked.

  "That you're big scary wolves," I threw at him.

  "And other than that?"

  I frowned, not wanting to accept what he was getting at. If I didn't think it, then it wouldn't be true and my body could just pipe down and accept it wasn't going anywhere with the wolves.

  "That you're men and I'm in a vulnerable position."

  Jacob laughed. "We all know you have more power than we do."

  "I disagree. I just have different power," I pointed out.

  "Are we seriously standing here debating who has more power?" Mika demanded. "Can we not just get on with it?"

  "Not until you tell me what it is," I demanded. "I'm not just going to take whatever you have planned lying down."

  "We can do it standing up?" Jacob grinned impishly, only earning him an elbow in the ribs from an unimpressed looking Mika.

  I tried not to let my frown slip and reveal the grin I was hiding beneath. I liked him. His surprisingly upbeat attitude was something I hadn't realised I needed. But in the current age, I could see why I did. The joviality was something I missed from the world before.

  "We have a plan to get you out of here," Mika supplied instead. "But it didn't involve standing around talking enough for the guards to get suspicious." He gave us both a look that would make most people quiver in fear. There seemed to be a surprisingly commanding voice for a wolf so small. He definitely wasn't the alpha though. Zeke had that vibe all over him.

  "Right, fine, what do you want me to do?" I sighed dramatically, hoping it wouldn't be too bad.

  "Take your clothes off and lay down on the floor," Jacob said, a serious look crossing his face.

  "No fucking way," I protested.

  "We're not going to do anything," he tried.

  "I don't care, I'm not doing anything like that."

  "Rhianna..."

  "What?" I shouted, my voice rising way beyond what it should do. We'd been so quiet up until now. No suspicion had been raised. And then I went and blew it.

  "Alright then, change of plan." Mika seemed more frustrated than angry, luckily.

  "Do you have one?"

  "Nope, Zeke thought you'd be more willing to work with us after two weeks here," he replied.

  "So you left me for two weeks just to make me more compliant?" I crossed my arms and pushed my chest up. As annoyed as I was, I didn't miss the lingering looks the two of them gave me.

  "No," Mika protested, dragging his eyes back up to my face. "We came as soon as we figured it out. It just took us a little while."

  "Good to know. I'll add useless to the list of things I know about you."

  His cheeks flamed bright red and I almost regretted my words. Almost, but not quite.

  "How do they even have electricity here?" Jacob asked, breaking the tension.

  "I assume they have a witch doing it. Though they can't be doing much else with their time if they're keeping this up." I shrugged. I didn't know any of that for sure, but it was the conclusion I'd come to on day three when the lights still hadn't gone out.

  "Useful," Mika muttered.

  "Hardly. It must be draining them like crazy," I pointed out. No one had indefinite magic. It was tiring to cast, especially on the scale this witch seemed to be doing.

  "But if we took the witch out..."

  "Then they'd likely have to scramble to make any kind of move. They'll have grown complacent from having it," I suggested.

  "Okay. So maybe we should plan to take out the witch," Mika mused.

  "And how do you plan to do that? A good old-fashioned head ripping off?"

  "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" Jacob questioned with a shrug.

  My mouth fell open. He couldn't be serious? Could he? That was just barbaric.

  "Somehow I think not," I corrected. "Let's leave the head ripping for emergencies."

  "You sure know how to ruin a wolf's day." Jacob gave me a cheeky grin, though I still wasn't completely convinced he was joking.

  "Right, so can we get going?" Mika asked.

  "Wait, your actual plan is to knock out the witch?"

  "Do you have a better one?" He raised an eyebrow as he tapped his foot impatiently.

  I thought for a moment, desperately trying to come up with something, and unsurprisingly coming up with nothing. If I had, then I'd have been out of here by now. To be honest, the fact they even had electricity was intimidating. Especially that they had enough to power the experiments they had been.

  "N
o," I admitted reluctantly. But the moment I did, I would be demanding we changed course.

  "Then let's go."

  "And how do you propose we get through the locked door?"

  "That's on you, Princess."

  "Oh no, I'm not giving them what they want."

  "Rhianna..." Mika started.

  "Please?" Jacob tried. "If you don't, then we're all likely going to end up dead."

  "I..."

  "Please," he repeated. "We don't need you to use much. Just enough to unlock the door."

  "And then after that?"

  "The need may arise again," Mika answered, the honesty shining through his words. "But only because we have to."

  Why was I being so stubborn on this? I knew using my magic was likely the only way, and yet I was being super awkward about it. Putting all of our lives in danger in the process. Selfishness was my middle name today apparently.

  "Fine."

  I didn't wait for them to respond and strode over to the door, pulling the magic which was already lingering close to the surface forward. It had wanted to come out and play almost every day for the past two weeks. Wanting to protect me and make my escape, but I'd kept it bottled.

  I might need more than a door to burn off the excess magic building inside me.

  "Stand back," I instructed, pushing up my sadly torn sleeves. I wished I still had my backpack. Without it, I had no clothes other than the ones I was wearing. And no other supplies either. I was going to be completely dependent on the wolves when I got out of here. The most annoying thing about that was the part of me which actually seemed to want them. Deep down, I seemed to like it.

  Bronze light emanated from my fingertips, spreading around me and giving me a warm glow.

  A commotion started on the other side of the door, causing dread to flow through me.

  "I hope you're ready for a fight," I muttered to the two wolves.

  "As ready as you are," Mika responded.

  I heard the tell-tale sounds of clothing being dropped to the floor. It seemed they were going to take my head ripping comment seriously. I wasn't sure what to make of that. On the one hand, I knew it was going to be necessary for our survival. On the other hand, I really didn't like the idea of people dying. I knew that was odd, given what the people here had done to me, but I couldn't change what I stood for just because of things that happened to me.