He pulled her arm and led her out of the cell and down the long hallway back towards the elevator she first came down, hours before.
“See ya later, princess,” she heard Donna yell after her.
***
The elevator stopped and they got out, this time Susie was not blindfolded and what she saw looked very much like what a police station looked like in her world. Desks were lined up in rows on either side of the floor.
The shifter dragged her down to the end of the rows of desks to what looked like a camera and fingerprinting station.
“Stand against the backdrop so we can take your picture,” her guard instructed. Doing as she was told, she first turned left, then right. She was released from her handcuffs and her fingerprints were taken.
Susie had never been arrested before, and the process was unnerving. She knew she had broken the law by entering Undervale illegally, but she had always thought only bad people were arrested, and she didn’t consider herself a bad person.
She was handed her backpack. She quickly looked through it, everything was there except her taser, her wallet with her ID, cash and credit cards. Of course they wouldn’t let her have any of that. At least she had a change of clothes and her photo album. She had packed the photo album hoping that if she found Jason’s father she would be able to show him how amazing the boy was and convince him to help her. She closed the bag, clutching it to her chest she breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She didn’t know what was going to happen but at least she had photos of her baby boy.
“Let’s go,” the guard said pulling her away and taking her back toward the desks. She tried to make eye contact with the other’s around her, but no one would meet her gaze. She wondered what the majority of shifters thought about slavery, and how their kingdom treated those that were different from them. So far each shifter she’d met, except the girl, had treated her like she was less than human. She was cattle, criminal cattle, but every shifter couldn’t feel that way. She hoped Jason’s father didn’t feel that way.
She was directed to sit on a bench against the wall. Her guard cuffed her to the arm of the bench. It looked like she wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.
“Your owner will be here to pick you up soon, don’t try anything,” he said, and she watched as he walked away.
She closed her eyes, using her free hand to rub her temples. She was nervous to see Lord Ashlu again, but anxious to leave this place. Although she didn’t know why. For all she knew, when Ashlu came to get her, he could throw her in some kind of dungeon and she would never see the light of day again.
She was hungry and tired, she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten or slept. She would love a hot shower, a comfy couch, and maybe a movie with popcorn. A romantic comedy, yeah, that would be heaven right now.
“Lot 30-05?” She heard her number and looked up to see a rather handsome young man standing in front of her. His hair was perfectly coiffed, and his hazel eyes looked at her with sympathy. The first kindness she had seen in days, but what seemed like years.
She nodded looking at the man, and couldn’t help as a single tear fell down her cheek. “My name is Suzanne Masters, Susie,” she choked out, as he uncuffed her from the bench.
“I’m Matthew,” he replied. “And Ael…Lord Ashlu send me to collect you.”
“Matthew… that’s a very… um, human name?” She wondered why a human was allowed to pick her up from the station.
He leaned close to her, and softly said, “I am human, I’m Lord Ashlu’s servant. Susie, when we walk out I need you to keep your head and eyes downcast. Do not make direct eye contact with any of the shifters. We have a car outside waiting to take us to the Ashlu den. I am sure you have a ton of questions. Some I can answer for you and some I can’t,” he said. Susie believed him.
“Thank you,” was all she could get out. She finally had an ally.
“Now, let’s go,” he said, lifting her up and walking her out of the station. Susie did have thousands of questions, but as soon as the engine of the car Matthew used to take them back to the Ashlu den roared to life, the doors locked, and she was safe enough to close her eyes, just for a moment.
***
Feeling the warmth of the setting sun through the glass window, Susie blinked awake. Thoughts raced through her head, as she remembered everything that had happened and where she was. She let out a small scream and gripped the door handle of the car tightly. How long had she been asleep? Where was she?
“It’s ok Susie, you are safe,” a disembodied voice said.
Her eyes focused on the human she had met at the station, Matthew. He was calmly trying to reassure her. It took her a moment, but she caught her breath. She was safe, and she was not going to be killed. That was all that mattered. Once she fully woke up, she was able to see her surroundings a little more clearly.
“Matthew, where are we?” Susie asked, astounded by the beauty outside of the car window. There were fields of high corn and wheat on one side turning amber and gold in the day’s waning light. She wondered how long she had been asleep. It had been early afternoon when Matthew had taken her from the station. That meant they had been driving for over 7 hours?
Turning from the wheat and corn to the other side of the road Susie saw what looked like a sloping rocky hill down to a large body water, either a lake or ocean. She tried to roll down the window to get a better look, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Child locks, sorry, can’t be too careful,” Matthew said, with a sheepish grin. “We are on Ashlu lands, that water you see,” he added, pointing. “That’s what you and I know of as Lake Ontario. And all those farm fields, those are run by the Ashlu pack. Ashlu’s are a peaceful shifter clan, and they grow the food used for all of Undervale. It’s kind of a feudal system, but much more fair to the farmer.”
“You say they are peaceful? I was hoping Lord Ashlu would be able to help me.”
“They’re peaceful, but you were bought for a purpose. Lord Ashlu bought you specifically for breeding. He is kind but dangerous. I wouldn’t push him,” Matthew warned. Dangerous? Susie thought, wondering how he would be dangerous, and why.
“Oh, you seem ok with being a slave? You have access to a car, none of the shifters seemed to mess with you. How come you don’t just escape? We can go together, right now—we could be half-way to Canada or back to the States before anyone realized we were gone,” she pleaded.
The realization of her fate as a breeder for a shifter clan was settling in, and her goal to find Jason’s father temporarily left her mind. She had been through too much. Fear took over. If she could convince this handsome human to flee, she would be home.
“Not gonna happen, sister. I’ve no desire to escape. I also have no desire to incur the lord’s wrath if I show up to the den without you,” he said. Susie swore she heard mirth in his tone. She must have been wrong about Matthew, he must be like Donna. Wanting so desperately to be a shifter or at least accepted by them. She would have to be careful with him.
“Besides,” he added, turning the car up a long deep drive that looked to Susie like it would hit a dead-end at a large cliff in the distance. “We’re home.”
Home, hah! she thought. This wasn’t home, this was a prison.
“I need you to put this on your ankle,” Matthew explained after he had parked the car, handing her an ankle bracelet. “Lord Ashlu was very clear, you have full access to den, and the immediate gardens surrounding the beach and cliff. Nowhere else. You are not to leave. It is not safe for you to do so. Being a part of the Ashlu clan offers you some level of respect among the shifters but not enough to keep you wholly safe.” Another new experience for Susie, being treated like a complete invalid, or worse a prisoner.
As they walked into the grand entrance to what appeared to Susie to be a vast cave system, she was a bit struck by the beauty of the foyer. She looked wide-eyed at the ornate carved wooden wolves that were placed on either side of large mahogany doors. She wished she were t
aller. She yearned to reach out and run her hands along their smooth surfaces. Once they entered the den Susie was relieved to see richly tiled floors and modern furniture. Animal pelts hung from the stone walls, deer, mink, and bear. There was an entry table positioned in the center of the foyer, with what looked to Susie like an ornate Native American vase or pottery piece placed on it. Inside the vase were dried husks of corn accented with sunflowers. A tribute to harvest? There were a series of hallways that branched out from the main foyer like branches of a tree. Each hallway had fine hardwood flooring and portraits of what Susie thought must be ancestors hung from all of the walls. Regal looking men and women, all in frontier dress. Thank god, she thought, it’s not a real cave. It’s civilized.
“Come on, Susie, let me show you to your room. It can get a little bit confusing in the den, just remember your right and left turns, and you should be ok. There are mostly shifter servants in the house, but they should be kind to you if you get lost. You can always just ask for directions. Be warned, no one will want to talk about the human world or your past here. Everything is about the pack and what is best for the pack, so it’s best not to try their patience. They may not be noble by they are Ashlu just the same. And now so are you,” Matthew reminded her as he led her down a hallway.
She blindly followed, noticing a pretty young girl polishing the wood tables. She smiled, the girl smiled back then quickly averted her eyes. Susie was left wondering if she would be deposited in a servants quarters or worse, some kind of cell. Matthew had a ring of keys on his belt as if he were some kind of jailer. She didn’t want to be locked up again, but he had said she had the run of the den and the gardens, so she didn’t think it would be under lock and key, wouldn’t the ankle bracelet be enough?
He led her to the last door in the hallway, another tall wooden door with ornate carvings similar to the front door of the den. This one, however, had hummingbirds, robins and bluejays carved among scenes of flowers and meadows on it. Matthew opened the door with one of his many keys and stepped aside to allow Susie to enter. She clutched her backpack, stunned at the soft beauty of the room. In the center of the room was a tall canopy bed with sheets, quilts, and pillows all done in a muted red and gold color scheme. There was golden tulle streaming down from the bannisters giving the bed a royal feel, like something out of a long-ago fairy tale. To the left of the bed, there was a stone hearth and a fireplace with a low burning fire going, making the room just the right temperature, taking the cool early autumn chill out of the air.
Matthew walked over and stoked the fire slightly sending crackling ash up through the chimney. There was a private washroom, and a table that was laden with late summer fruits and breads. Susie’s stomach growled, loudly. When had she last eaten?
“I figured you would be hungry,” Matthew said, laughing a bit. “I’ll leave you to it. Servants usually take their meals in the kitchens, as will you. The third hallway to the right at the foyer. Feel free to stay in your room tonight. We will see you at breakfast,” he said, closing the door behind himself as he left her alone.
Susie wasted no time, she tossed her backpack onto the bed and making her way to the table. She had been fed while at the jail, but it was just gruel. A giant bowl of white slop that she assumed was made of some sort of corn. The spread in front of her was much different, enticing. She sat in awe of the plentiful fruits and cheeses the Ashlu’s had laid out for her. There were apples, peaches, and even some berries, oh, and the bread. Immediately feeling better not having been deposited in a cell, she started to feel more like herself. A plan was what she needed. First, she would eat, then she would figure out how to find Jason’s father, and then she would get home to her family.
Chapter 10
“She’s settled in then?” Aelnoth asked Matthew from behind his desk in the study.
“She is, I put her in a guest room. I’m sure you can see which one online with her tracking anklet,” Matthew replied, pointing to the computer on Aelnoth’s desk, which was already blinking with the woman’s location.
“Yeah, I see it. She hasn’t left the room at all,” Aelnoth said.
“She was starving and overtired, Noth. She is probably passed out. Her name is Susie by the way. Short for Suzanne. She started to tell me she needed help, but I refused to let her talk about it,” Matthew said, picking up a pile of plates and coffee cups discarded at the end of Aelnoth’s desk. “I see you’ve been holed up here all day. Maybe you should go out for a run, work off some of that steam I can see pouring out of your ears.”
“I’m fine. I wonder what kind of help she needs?” he said, getting up and pacing back and forth across the office. He needed to develop a plan with regard to his new acquisition. He hated the idea of owning a human, and if she needed help he wanted to be of any service he could. He couldn’t just let her leave Undervale. He was sure by now word of his stunt at the auction blocks had made it all through court. It would be noticed if she were to go missing. Yet, he didn’t feel right about keeping her against her will. He certainly wasn’t going to take her to bed or use her for breeding, that wasn’t even a consideration. Although he was sure his mother delighted at the idea. Somehow he needed to get the woman to trust him, to help keep up the façade, at least until the Harvest Festival when some other scandal or gossip would help the auction fade out of everyone’s recent memory. Then he could help her get whatever it was she needed that brought her here.
He ran his hands through his dark chestnut hair, added to his worry was the Alards, there was sure to be some kind of retribution for Aelnoth taking what Tylan considered his. Like his mother said, without an heir, his little stunt could embolden Lady Catori Alard to make a move at court against his pack.
If the only repercussion was the Ashlu name and standing with the King, Aelnoth couldn’t have cared less. However, tradition states that when one clan rises above another in status they take over the lands and responsibilities of the lesser pack. That he would not abide. He’d seen how the Alard’s take care of their lands and pack, and he would not allow his pack or the Ashlu lands to suffer under their rule.
“Noth, where did you go?” Matthew stood staring at him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Um, nowhere, what? Sorry, you were saying?”
“I was saying, the woman, Susie, she didn’t tell me what kind of help she needed, but she may be in shock. You may want to handle her lightly for the next few days. I asked her to have breakfast with the servants tomorrow,” Matthew said.
“Good, that’s good. I will try and speak with her in the afternoon.”
“Noth, are you really planning to force her into sex for breeding?” Matthew asked. Aelnoth knew his friend well, and the last thing Matthew wanted was to insult him. He asked mostly out of curiosity, and partly out of disgust. Instead of putting the human at ease, he decided to torture him just a bit for even considering it.
“Matthew, why wouldn’t I? I can do with my servants, as I please can’t I?” he responded, pretending to be offended by the question.
Matthew took a step toward the door and pointing a used fork at the shifter, scoffed. “She asked me to help her escape, you know. Said we could’ve just stayed in the car and kept driving. I thought about it. We would’ve been halfway to Canada before you noticed we were even gone.”
“Why didn’t you?” Aelnoth asked, genuinely curious.
“You may be a real asshole, my lord, but you’re not a monster. The woman isn’t the normal type of human who crosses illegally. She isn’t running from something. She came to Undervale for a reason. I think we both know you aren’t going to bed her, at least not against her will, but you’ll help her,” he said. “Who knows maybe she’ll take to me, and I’ll end up with a woman of my own?”
Aelnoth growled at Matthew, his eyes flashing yellow. He knew the Matthew was kidding but he didn’t like it. His wolf didn’t like the insinuation that another man would take her to bed. Whoever Susie was, she was not a woman who would be pas
sed around, or treated lightly. Not under his roof.
“Slow down, boss. I was kidding. She’s all yours,” Matthew replied, quickly ducking out the door and closing it behind him.
“She belongs to no man, she’ll make her own choices…” Aelnoth called after him. Why did he keep reacting this way toward this woman? He had only shared a few words with her. He didn’t know what she wanted, but he was compelled to give it to her.
He needed to clear his head. Settling back down at his desk, he turned to look at the computer screen in front of him. Susie’s ankle bracelet locator was blinking in a rhythm that looked to Aelnoth as if she were pacing in her room. Couldn’t say he blamed her, she had been through an intense ordeal. He was pretty sure if their situations were reversed he would also be unable to settle down. Hell, just thinking about the last day, and he couldn’t sleep either.
He was enraptured by the blinking light on the screen. Forcing himself to turn away, he looked out the small round window high up on his office wall. He wondered what type of help she needed. The moon was high in the sky, still full. His wolf called to him. He longed to run through the forests and hunt, yet there was a strong pull toward the woman. Looking back at the screen again, he saw she had left her room and was wandering the halls. He admired her investigative nature. She hadn’t even been in his home for five hours and under the cover of darkness, she was exploring. He longed to know more about her, and what she was doing in Undervale.
It was late, most of the household was asleep. Maybe if he reached out to Susie and spoke to her, he could get her out of his head. Getting up from his desk, he decided he would go to her. He could control himself, and they would have their introduction tonight.
Chapter 11
Even after gorging herself on the food that was provided Susie was too keyed up to sleep. Matthew had had someone lay out night clothes for her, and she appreciated the gesture. She showered and pulled on the long silken night dress. It was pretty, and a bit see-through, but elegant and well-made. Susie wondered who it belonged to. Possibly the lady of the house? She didn’t remember if Matthew said Lord Ashlu was married. Do shifters marry like humans? she wondered.
One Night One Secret Page 5
