"You do what we tell you to do, when we tell you to," he said, in an icy whisper that was much more terrifying than his yell.
Effie pulled the blanket more tightly around her.
"Oh," he said, "you don't want me to see you naked? Better get used to that, fuck toy. You've got one function now, and it requires you to be naked. Now…eat!"
She hesitated, and he snapped his hand down, grabbed her blankets, and ripped them off in the space of one heartbeat. Her nakedness revealed to him, he grinned wide.
"I can't fuck you yet," he said, "don't worry. I haven't earned it, but once I earn it, I'm going to. I like the look of you."
Effie got up, grabbed the tray, and put it on her bed, pretending it was a table.
"Sit on the floor and eat," he said. "We ain't gonna clean the bed if you spill food on it."
He grabbed the tray and slammed it onto the bed, spilling rice and gravy all over the sheets.
"Oops," he said, "your fault, so we're not cleaning it. Now get on the floor."
Effie looked up at him defiantly. "Or what?"
He squeezed her neck and flung her from the bed to the ground. The choking squeeze was fire burning her neck, and when Jack threw her to the ground, the breath was knocked hard from her lungs. She tried to gasp for breath, but the hot tendrils of pain flaring from his meaty fingers made breathing impossible. Her vision blackened, and her heart slammed through her chest. Just before she passed out, she felt his massive hand release her throat. She sucked in air in a raspy breath, refilling her burning lungs. She rolled over and got up on her knees, head down and hair draping across the hard floor. Tears filled her eyes as she gasped for air, and her neck still burned with pain.
"Doggy style," the man said, looking down at her. "That's how I'm gonna fuck you."
He laughed to himself as he walked out and slammed the door.
Effie choked back her tears and took a few bites of the tasteless rice broth.
They were going to sterilize her. And defile her. The reality of those facts finally started to set in. Abel would move the earth to save her, she knew that, but could he save her in time? She had to know how long she had.
Effie ate what she could, then pressed herself up into the corner, her back to the wall. She thought and thought, trying to think of some way out, but she had no information. She didn't know what chances there might be to get away, didn't know when they'd take her out of this room, how many guards there were. She knew nothing. She just had to wait, but she couldn't stop thinking and fretting; there was nothing else to do in this empty room.
She thought of Abel, and of the life she thought she had stepped into just hours ago. They had just acted on their love for each other, and she could only imagine that Abel would soon propose to her. Bears mate for life. Effie desperately wanted that life, but it had been snatched away from her just as it began. If they sterilized her before Abel rescued her, she'd never be able to give him beautiful babies, and they'd never have the life together they both had wanted. She needed to get out now, even if that meant taking big risks.
The door swung open, and Jack was back, teeth and all. She tried to imagine what kind of animal he was, maybe a hyena or some other scavenger.
"Shower time," he shouted at Effie. "Get up."
He moved toward her, and she felt residual burning all around her neck. Effie jolted to her feet before he could touch her.
"Good," he said, "you're learning. Follow the other toys to the shower."
As soon as he said it, Effie noticed other naked women walking passed her open door. The man grunted and left, and Effie followed the other women out. All of the women were curvy like her, and their eyes widened slightly when they saw Effie, but quickly they looked away before Effie could speak to them. They all looked straight ahead and walked down the hall. Since none of them spoke, Effie didn't either. She simply observed.
She noticed scars on each woman's side, and it hit her then that they had all been sterilized already. They'd all been used. Effie looked back, and a woman with dark brown eyes and strawberry blonde hair was looking down at Effie's unscarred body. The woman looked quickly away when Effie caught her, but Effie understood. Either they pitied her for what would happen to her, to what she'd lose. Or they envied her for what she still had: for what had not yet been taken from her.
They reached a double door that was already swung open, and Effie heard the rushing water. She so badly wanted a shower, even if meant being herded in like a line of cattle. She was covered in sweat and dirt from Iosef flying her for God knows how far. More importantly, this showed her that they would be brought to the showers, and that she'd be surrounded by other captives with a small amount of guards present. She saw one man standing in the corner of the room, watching the women showering. There were only about a dozen showerheads, all in one big tiled room with multiple drains, and there were at least twenty women. Some showered while the others waited, all standing naked and scarred.
Twenty women, one guard.
Effie stood and waited with the others, and still no one spoke or even made eye contact with each other. Effie turned her head toward the woman who had been behind her.
"I'm Effie," she whispered, barely audible.
"Caitlyn," the woman said, eyes wide and terrified. Caitlyn darted her eyes toward the guard in the corner, then bit her lips shut.
Effie had one more question, and as she opened her mouth she heard a loud crack fill the room, and then a terrible pain whipped across her back, from her shoulder blades to her bottom. The pain spread rapidly through her body, and tears filled her eyes as she screamed. She spun around, arms raised to shield herself, and she saw the guard grinning at her, belt raised in his hand. He had golden blonde hair and icy blue eyes. He'd look beautiful, had he not just whipped her. The pain throbbed across her back, and she shuddered, biting her lip to stop from crying more.
"That was just a warning shot," he said. "Do it again, and you'll be doubled over from pain."
Caitlyn grabbed Effie by the shoulders and turned her away from the guard. All the women were staring straight ahead, and soon those in the shower stepped out and grabbed towels from a bin.
The double doors swung open, and a new guard entered.
"Keep an eye on this fresh one," Blue Eyes said, "she's trouble. I gave her a warning already, so feel free to go to town on her if you need to."
"Got it," the new guy said. He was huge, nearly filling the double doors with his wide shoulders. He had to hunch down to get through, and his arms were like barrels. It seemed a miracle his legs could support his weight, thick as they were. Was he a bull?
The blonde guard put his belt back on, shot a glare at Effie, and left.
As soon as the doors shut, all the women turned and stared at the doors, as if something would happen. The big guard just leaned back into the wall and crossed his arms. Something had shifted dramatically with the first guard's exit, but Effie didn't know what.
"He's gone," the big guard said. "Whispers." He leaned back into the wall, eyes fluttering shut as if napping.
Caitlyn grabbed Effie and hugged her. "Derrick lets us talk. He's not very strict."
Caitlyn led Effie into the shower, and the water hit her. She jumped away from the water, eyes bulging. It was almost ice cold.
"Jesus!" Effie screeched.
"You'll get used to it. Just shower fast at first."
Effie tried. Taking ice cold blasts for a few seconds at a time, and scrubbing herself down before stepping back into the water.
Caitlyn and the others all stood under the frigid water with no signs of discomfort.
"How long have you been here? Are you from Oakgate?"
"No," Caitlyn said. "I'm from Willow Falls. I think Tessie and Laura are from Oakgate though. It's...not as bad here as you'd think. Some of the shifters are awful, but others can be nice. You might even enjoy yourself sometimes. Just don't cross the wrong ones."
Effie would not resign herself to this life.
She was meant to be with Abel.
"Caitlyn," Effie said, "how long do I have?" Effie looked down at Caitlyn's scar.
"They'll probably do it tomorrow. I'm sorry. It could be worse though. Imagine if they didn't...if they forced us to have kids and took them away."
"Do they ever let us outside? I heard something about exercising," Effie said. "When they let us out, how many are guarding us?"
Caitlyn put her hand over Effie's mouth and hissed a shush sound. "Effie, Derrick lets us talk, but you can't say that kind of thing. It doesn't matter how many guards you can see, these are shifters. Even if you get away, they are faster than you, and they can track you. It will be easier for you to adjust here if you just accept this and leave these kinds of ideas alone."
Effie stepped into the icy water one last time and rinsed off the final suds. She toweled herself off, and she didn't feel like speaking anymore. She needed to stay positive, and she couldn't let Caitlyn's resignation bring her down.
Derrick gave them all a warning look, and they became silent once again. He opened the doors, and they started to shuffle out. Before each woman stepped through the doorway, she threw her wet towel into a bin, then walked naked back down the hallway. Effie was nearly the last one out, and just before she stepped outside, Derrick grabbed her and pushed her against the wall.
God. It was going to happen to her even before she was sterilized. It was too late. His green eyes burned into her, and his face got closer and closer. If he was going to force himself onto her, that was bad enough, did he really have to kiss her too? He was so close she could see every thick hair of stubble on his cheeks, and then he stopped, just an inch from her face.
Effie's heart thumped, and she shivered, but not from the cold shower.
"There's only one guard when you're outside for morning exercise," Derrick said. "And they're going to sterilize you soon. But if you do what I say, I can give you a fair chance to get out of here before anyone touches you. We got a deal?"
He spoke low, in barely a whisper, but his voice was like thick gravel in her ears. He didn't touch her, even though she was so naked and vulnerable before him. Shifters could hear so well, so he had to be this close.
"What?" Effie asked. What he said made so little sense that it was the only thing she could think to ask.
"I'm going to drug the guard," Derrick said. "As soon as he passes out, you get all the women to scatter like the wind."
"Why?" Effie asked. "Why do you care about us?"
"I don't," Derrick said. "We are wasting so much energy, time and money to hold you here. I don't think shifters should touch human women. It's fucked up. We're supposed to be all about keeping ourselves pure, but these bastards have lost their way. I'm going to fix it."
"Why risk helping us?" Effie didn't trust him. It sounded like some kind of trap. If she agreed to his deal, maybe he'd punish her.
"Like I said, they'll have to send a lot of shifters out to hunt you all down. I've got a lot of shifters on my side, but we need to split our enemies up. You're just a diversion."
A diversion. Scatter like the wind. There were over twenty women. How many guards were there? How many were working with Iosef, and how many with Derrick?
"I see what you're thinking," he said, eyes wide and bullish. “The panthers aren’t in charge anymore. They were at first, but we’re split more down ideological lines now…it doesn’t matter what kind of animal you are. And I’ve got enough on my side.” He huffed a loud breath, and it landed hot on her face. “A lot of you are going to get caught, and only some will escape. I can't promise they won't kill some of you, and frankly, I don't care. If one of my enemies brings you back here alive, I'll kill them, and then I'll cast you right back out into the woods. Free to go.”
She had decided she needed to take risks, so this was it. Now or never.
"Deal," she said. "Can you give me another chance to talk to the women?"
"No," he said. "You're going outside first thing in the morning. That’s the next time you’ll see them. Convince them fast, because that’s when I’m drugging the guard."
Derrick pressed the door open and for her, and he grabbed her shoulder just before she stepped out, squeezed, and pulled her right back to her. It had been a trap. He was going to punish her now. How could she have been so stupid? To think of all the women here, he'd ask her to do this. It had been so far beyond too good to be true, and she had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
She looked up at him with trembling lips and pleading eyes.
"Your towel," he said. "you can't leave here with your towel on."
"Oh," she said, heart still slamming against her chest, blood rushing up her face in thick waves of relief. "Jesus. I thought you were going to—"
"Don't get me wrong," he said, ripping the towel off her and throwing it into the bin. "I'm not your friend, and I don't care if someone else kills you. You're a tool, and if you don't do what I need you to, I will kill you myself."
Derrick didn't so much as look at her body. His dark eyes locked onto her own, and they never strayed. She believed him now: he was disgusted by human women, and he wanted nothing to do with them. This wasn't too good to be true. Derrick hated her just as much as Iosef, but just in a different way. He didn't want to defile her, he just wanted to discard her.
Effie gulped, stood up straight, and walked out.
She remembered the way back to her room, and had she not just been given an out, she would have used this chance to look around the area without any guards present. Given Derrick's deal, though, it wasn't worth the risk. Effie walked directly back toward her room, but she turned a corner and nearly crashed into Jack. His eyes were wide, and he had a cackling smile plastered across his face. She stepped back to put some distance between herself and Jack, but after just one step, she stopped. She stood tall and defiant. She knew he could smell fear or weakness, and she was not afraid. He couldn't touch her yet, and she'd be gone in mere hours.
"Are you lost?" he asked.
"No," Effie said. You're blocking the way to my room though."
"Your room?" he said, laughing. "You're not going to your room!"
She said nothing, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of her confusion.
He waited a few moments, then continued speaking despite her silence. "I've taken a liking to you, see, and I've been doing a real good job here, so they've given me first dibs on you. I called in some favors with Dr. Tanner and convinced him to sterilize you tonight. I heard you've fucked a bear shifter before, but once you've been with a jackal, you'll never go back."
He grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder. She tried to push herself off and run, but he held her secure with his superhuman strength. He giggled as he walked her through various winding and dimly lit corridors, until finally he kicked in a swinging door and plopped her onto the ground.
She was in an operating room, and a white-coated man with a foxy grin greeted her with leering eyes.
"Ah," Dr. Tanner said, "I see why you were so eager now, Jack.”
Jack grunted and stuck his chest out.
"Lay down on the table, dear," Dr. Tanner said.
Effie turned to run, but Jack grabbed her, lifted her into the air, and slammed her onto the table. The air was crushed from her lungs, and while she gasped to breathe, Dr. Tanner pulled belts from the operating table across her body and fastened them tight. She struggled against him as he fastened, but soon there were five or six holding her down completely, only her stomach was unfastened.
"I want you to do it with no anesthetic," Jack said, "a nice little appetizer to what I'm gonna do to her."
"She may pass out if I do that," Dr. Tanner said, "I'd recommend at least a local anesthetic."
"Passed out is fine," Jack said, "won't stop me from doing what I'm gonna do to her."
Effie wished she could pass out now. That she'd wake up in Abel's strong arms. Wished she'd awake from this nightmare with Abel beside her, and that they'd smile at eac
h other as the sun rose, then maybe they'd cook breakfast together. Or he'd cook for her while she slept in.
Then an icy cold covered her stomach, and she was jolted back to her waking nightmare.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked.
"It's like an ultrasound, but not quite," Dr. Tanner said. "Iosef said she had been seeing a bear shifter, and that they'd had sex at least once."
"Wasn't that like, last night?” Jack said, “Ultrasound ain't gonna see shit."
Dr. Tanner smiled. "That's why I said 'like an ultrasound.' A woman as fertile as this, with a strong shifter seed, this test can detect a pregnancy within hours of conception, and—ah, here we are! See? She's pregnant!"
Dr. Tanner pointed to a screen that Effie couldn't see, and Jack scratched his head.
Unbearable Curves (The Grizzly Next Door 1) Page 10
