#####Chapter 3:Betrayal And Loss

A dull ache throbbed in Issa’s eyes as she opened them. Every muscle in her body screamed. She tried to shift her limb, and it was like there was fire on it. Her head pounded frantically. She groaned, making a weak sound that barely escaped her sore throat.

Slowly, her eyelids fluttered open, heavy and hesitant. Her vision was blurry. She wasn't in her car. She wasn't anywhere familiar. Her wrist was painfully tied with a strong, harsh leather thong to a wooden post dug into the ground. Then the image of what had happened flashed in. She looked around, and nobody was there.

Where was she? Her mind questioned. Hurry up and get out of here, her mind screamed. She had to get away now, before whatever it is came back.

Without thinking, a desperate instinct kicked in. Issa pulled and tugged at her bound wrist, her entire body straining against the leather. It clung to her skin, causing raw bruises, but she pulled harder. The wooden post groaned, and the earth surrounding it slightly shifted. Just a few more inches. She had to try. And she will be completely free.

"Foolish human."

A low growl cut in. Issa froze, her blood immediately turning to ice. A massive shadow fell over her. She slowly lifted her head. The silhouette was standing over her at the entrance of the tent. It was the same intimidating figure who had pulled her from her car. His eyes... and everything screamed inhumane.

"Did you really think that would work?" he sneered, in a mocking tone. "You're not going anywhere."

He moved with a sudden speed. Before Issa could even flinch, his large, powerful hand shot out and clamped around her bound wrist. He didn't bother to loosen the bound on her arm.

With a single, brutal pull, he ripped the post from the ground, causing Issa to fall backward onto the ground in a heavy thud. Her head snapped back, hitting the rough ground. Pain exploded throughout her spine and abdomen. She cried out, a sharp sound.

"Please! Don't! What are you?" Issa shrieked, her voice raw with terror, scrambling backward on the ground, eyes now wide with horror as she looked at him, truly seeing the golden light in his inhuman gaze, the rough, animalistic power radiating from him.

This was no man. This was a nightmare made manifest.

"Stay away! Please, I beg you!"

Then, a new wave of pain, a different and more terrifying one, ripped through her lower abdomen. A sharp, excruciating cramp, followed by a sudden gush of something warm between her legs. Fear swallowed the physical agony she was feeling.

No. Not this. Not now.

The man stood over her, his intimidating golden eyes gleaming. He clearly saw the tremor that ran through her. He also saw the sudden clenching of her body. But he didn't care.

"Get up," he snarled, nudging her with his foot, the half end of the broken post still dangling from her wrist. "If you don't work here, there's no food for you.”

Issa lay there, tears streaming down her face.

“No!!!!!” she screamed.

She wasn't crying for the fall and certainly not just from fear of the creature she was seeing. The tears now were for the undeniable, agonizing truth unfolding within her.

"My baby," she choked out, a raw, guttural sob tearing from her throat, her voice barely a whisper against the growing misery. Her hand subconsciously went in-between her thighs, only to discover the wet stickiness there confirming her fear.

"No... please... my baby..."

The tiny life she celebrated just days ago was gone. Flushed away by the brutal reality of this place and the violence of this monster and his kind. Her last hope for anything good, anything human, had been damaged. She was utterly broken.

---

Issa had barely survived the first few days after losing the baby. She was subjected to physical pain, chilling emptiness, and constant back-breaking labor. She’d been forced to carry heavy timber and serve meals of tasteless gruel to her captors. Her body ached constantly. Her mind went numb, shielding her from the rising despair.

She had constantly thought of Marcus. Did he look for her? Would she have been safer if she had not left? Maybe her baby would have been safe if she had just endured?

Somehow she hated herself for leaving. She blamed herself every passing day. A child she had sought for all the years of her marriage, she had lost like some picnic candy.

She saw the other captives, and it seemed like those monsters were specialized in kidnapping humans. Over the weeks she had learned that they were werewolves. The same werewolves she read in fiction and folklore. It was a reality she wanted to desperately wake up from.

Amongst the captives were women, and a few others were men. They rarely spoke to each other. Issa learned to be invisible, to keep her head down, to never draw attention. Especially because she hadn't gotten over the grief of betrayal and loss.

“Gather up all young ladies,” a voice growled.

All the captive young women immediately sectioned themselves. They were led into a large, open clearing. The air reeked of raw energy, filled with anticipation from the werewolf pack members surrounding them.

A large, burly guard with a heavy scar on his face, and his golden predator eyes, stepped forward. "Listen up, humans!" His voice boomed, cutting through the silence of the night.

"This is a great honor for you little ones. Tonight, you serve the Alphas. Do not speak. Do not resist. Do not make any sound unless you have been ordered to. Any deviation from these laws will be met with immediate, painful consequences. Understood?"

A few terrified nods rippled through the huddled women. No one dared to speak.

"Good," the guard grunted. "Now, strip."