CHAPTER 2: TRAPPED

The floor was a good six feet away from Shirley. It's probably preparing her for where she's about to be buried. "Hey, Cali!" The voice called again from a distance behind her. She tried to twist herself towards the voice, but it quickly proved useless. "Come see what I've found." The joy in his voice was unmistakable. A second voice joins in. "This better be worth my time, Garland, or I'm telling commander you keep messing around." This guy had an accent-- one Shirley couldn't tell. But then again, she had a limited number of interactions. She made a mental note to remember both their names. In her next life, she'd find and kill them. "Who's this, Garland?" Cali asked, coming in front of her and peering up at her. "The rogue wolf, that's who." Garland declared proudly. What? What? All the alarms in Shirley's head went off. "No, no, no. You've got me mistaken. I swear I'm no rogue." She struggled to explain, but being put upside down wasn't exactly helping issues "Shut it bitch!" Cali warned sinisterly. " Good job, Gerald. Now we can get that promotion we spoke about." They both smiled dreamingly at the possibility "What? Are you even listening? I'm no rogue. I can't even shift!" Shirley tried again. Maybe now they'd understand, but this only made them laugh. "Cut her down. We're heading to the Palace's Courtroom." Cali said happily, and before she could think, she was cut loose. She slammed onto the ground forcefully, making her lose her breath momentarily. The two men quickly tie her up. "I swear to you both, I am no rogue. I can't shift forms; this is my first night out of my father's house. You must know him. He's the......." She tried to explain frantically but received a hot, blinding slap across her cheek. "You will shut the fuck up and stop trying to lie your way out of all your crimes," Garland said before spitting at her in disgust. Shirley felt all the blood on her face drain, and a new sense of dread overcame her being. She was finished. Her life was over just when she felt it had only begun. "Tie her mouth and keep her shut," Cali instructed. "No, no, wait.....waiiiiiiiittt!" She begged, but that too fell on deaf ears as they quickly bound her mouth with dirty and disgusting little clothing, tearing her cheeks with it. Was this indeed her fate? Garland grabbed her by the rope used to bind her wrists together before lifting her onto his shoulder. "Can't believe we finally got her." Garland started after a while when he was sure he had managed to tame her struggle. "Didn't expect her to be this small and weak, seeing as she took down six men alone." Cali pointed out in what seemed like awe. Shirley wished she could take the compliment but wasn't the rogue. She tried to explain this again, but her effort was useless as her bound mouth wouldn't allow for as little as a word. She was finished She couldn't even escape without getting caught. She was weak and useless. An embarrassment to her family's legacy. Holding back bitter tears, she decided it was probably best she died here. After all, she had not even known where she was going from home. Maybe it was best she died now. She would no longer be rejected and mistreated by the entire world. So, closing her eyes as the world began to brighten up with the morning sun, she decided to accept her impendent fate. Shirley doesn't know how long it will take, but they soon arrive at the king's palace. She's tied and dragged to the Royal Courtroom for judgment, where she bows her head in shame and hurt. She never even got the chance to live her life. She hadn't even been allowed to escape and find a better life somewhere. She lets her black flowing hair cover her face from the prying eyes of the small crowd. This rogue wolf became quite popular, and when people heard she had finally been captured, they quickly came to watch her execution. Shirley sadly realized that she was no longer in her district but in the Alpha King's district. No one knew her here. She had never ventured so far in her life, but instead of feeling accomplished, she felt a massive sense of injustice and sadness. "What do you say is her crime?" A loud booming voice sounds in the large accident room "She's the rogue wolf, my Lord," Garland said proudly. "And do you have anything to prove this accusation?" Another voice asks with the same authority. "Yes, my Lord," Garland declared. This didn't surprise Shirley, as they had already planned to lie that they had caught her in the act. Garland would narrate the story, and Cali would affirm it. Just the way they had planned it, they executed and the crowd began to curse and yell at her for crimes she knew nothing about Shirley hid behind her hair, waiting for it all to be over. "What do you have to say for yourself, young woman." Shirley remained quiet, her eyes glued to the cold earth. The earth had always been that way to her. Cold and wicked. She had accepted her fate. Death was better than bondage. "I have nothing to say for myself." She finally said in a quiet voice. They all heard her as their Wolf heightened their hearing. "Therefore, with the necessary proof and a standing witness, I, at this moment......." The voice ends just then. "Alpha". It sounded more or less a gasp of shock. That managed to spike Shirley's attention, and she lifted her head to see what had gotten the once noisy crowd silent. Her eyes immediately land on the Alpha King, and her emotions spiral out of control. A feeling of relief washes away her fears. Her heart is calmed immediately, and hope overcomes her being. But that's quickly overcome by a feeling of dread, anger, pain, anxiety, and pain, and all of them come at her at once. The feeling is so unbearable that it becomes impossible to breathe, and just before her eyes close in welcome of the darkness that promises to comfort her, she hears the word "mate" leave the Alpha's lips.