Hours had passed as I thought about what happened yesterday. We are now driving through the streets of TJ. Ronald parked his truck and told me to stay there as he went into a store. I looked around and tried to figure out where we were. I had tried to remember every turn we took and how many blocks we went before each turn. My memory was amazing. All I had to do was see something once to remember it. It was a blessing and a curse. I had graduated top of my class in high school and never had to study once but I also remember every horrible detail of the life my mom and I lived with Ronald.
I thought about getting out of the truck and running away. Something had been bothering me since I woke up this morning. I thought that uneasy feeling would lessen after we crossed the border but it only grew stronger. I knew it was my six sense telling me I was in danger. I couldn't figure out what the danger was yet. I needed more information in order to make a plan.
I thought about running but if I did run, would Ronald chase me? He was supposed to hand me off to Ruby's contact. He might not chase after me but if he did, it would cause a scene. If by any chance Tony's henchmen came around asking questions. A large bald white man with a full beard and mustache and a thick White-Hispanic girl with long dark hair down to below her ass would probably be easy to remember.
I didn't leave a trail going across the border. Being chased by Ronald would defeat the reason I chose Mexico. If I had chosen Canada they would have checked ID's. I chose Mexico because they didn't check every car.
I hated looking over my shoulder. I wanted my mom. I wish my dad was alive. I wish Tony had done things differently. This is not how I thought I would be spending my first year as an adult.
I bet my dad would've protected me from Tony had he been alive. Remembering Ruby's words saying there was still hope for Tony made my heart skip a beat. If he couldn't change then it was better to stay away from him.
My father died when I was three. I don't have very many memories of him since he was always away on active duty on some mission. He would come home for a day or two before he would leave again for what seemed like months. It probably was months but as a child I didn't understand and just knew daddy was always gone which made mommy cry. I felt guilty now knowing he died because he was rushing himself to finish his military service just so he could take us to his clan. I felt guilty for hating him all these years.
Not long after he died our house caught on fire and we moved to California. We lived in Orange County in Florida and moved to Orange County California. Mom had said she did that so if someone from her Clan caught on to where they were maybe the higher ups would become confused when they were told she was in Orange County and think she was still in Florida.
I learned from Ruby that it was my mom's pack who set the house on fire. They thought my mother was inside the house and were trying to flush her out of the house. The strongest members of her clan surrounded the house and watched the doors as well as every window waiting for her to run out to escape the fire.
When Mom didn't come out even after the entire house was engulfed in flames they figured she either succumbed to the smoke before she could get out or that she chose to die then have to return to the Clan.
Mom had found out the her Clan was on to her. She had placed a body with her clothes on in her bed and was watching everything through a camera she had placed across the street. The body had multiple layers of her clothes on to douse it with her scent then leaving her curtains slightly open so anyone looking in could see someone sleeping in the bed.
I don't know how she knew they planned to set the house on fire but she did. I thought about the fact that she seemed to know everything her Clan was up to and came to the conclusion that she must have someone helping her from inside her Clan. That was the only thing that made sense to me.
That night she place lighter fluid throughout the house causing the house to be swallowed by the fire faster then her Clan expected. That gave them no chance to rush in and try to save her when they realized she wasn't coming out.
After we moved to California Ruby's pack got in contact with her again offering protection. They even moved to California as well in order to protect us. Once Mom accepted their offer Ronald had moved into the house she bought.
Mom and Ronald had gotten along great until I turned fourteen. That's when the beatings started. Mom said he slipped and got back into drugs again and that's what caused the huge attitude change. I never smelled drugs on him but I just went with what my mother told me. The truth was he was in a rut brought on by my scent.
Ronald climbed back into the truck handing me an orange soda in a glass bottle. He knew I hated orange soda, but I was so thirsty I didn't care. I guess he didn't have to buy me anything to drink so I accepted it with a thank you.
Ronald continued to dig in the paper brown bag pulling out a beer and a box containing a new cell phone. He plugged the phone into the truck's cigarette lighter and then pulled out a piece of paper from his wallet. The paper he held had a phone number on it. I watched as he punched it into the keypad of the phone.
"Hello, yeah it's Ron. I'm here with the package. Where do you want me to drop it off?" He said into the phone.
Package? What Package? Was he talking about drugs? Was mom telling the truth about him being on drugs? No, think about this. It's not drugs. It has to be something else that he has. Looking around the truck I didn't see anything worth any money. He couldn't sell the truck since he would still need it. That left only one thing worth any money. Me!
"Okay, Have the money ready. I need all of it now. I won't be coming back here." He said with an evil grin spreading across his face as he peeked over at me. "I'll be there soon. It shouldn't take longer than two hours. It's a little after 6:00 now so expect me there by 8:00."
Ronald started up the truck again inputting coordinates into his GPS on the dashboard. From the look of the location that came up it was out in the middle of nowhere. There was what looked like a dirt road about half a mile from where we were going.
The fear from the highway overtook me again. Something wasn't right. As Ronald started to pull out onto the street I just had to speak up. I didn't like the grin he gave me while he was talking on the phone.
"Where are we going and what are we doing?" I asked as I studied his face for clues. I had been around Ronald enough to know what little movements and actions showed how he was feeling or if he was telling the truth or not.
"Why don't you try to guess." He told me as he looked over at me. There was a hint of that wicked smile again.
"Wherever we're going I can see you don't trust them. If you don't trust them, why are we going to meet them?" I said, I was hoping it was enough to rattle him into giving me more information.
"I need the money honey. Trust me I wouldn't be going anywhere near these people if I didn't." Ronald replied with a shift of his hip and a tap of his pointer finger on the steering wheel. He was telling the truth so far. "Ruby didn't give me any money when we left. All the money I had was spent on the bills. What I have left isn't enough to allow me to get on my feet. At most I'll have enough to get a hotel for a week or two before it runs out so I'll need money to start my new life."
"Can't we get money some other way? Doesn't have to be through these people, right? Plus can't you do it after you drop me off at the contacts?" I said with the most hopeful look on my face I could pull off. He had something planned for me and I wouldn't like it.
Ronald turned to me and lifted an eyebrow. "So, you're saying you'll help me make money? After everything that's happened." he asked, a look of amusement creeping onto his face.
"Yeah, I would." I replied. Just the thought of helping this man turned my stomach but if it got me out of whatever he was planning, I'd at least lead him on. "If you don't trust them why should I?"
"Good, then just sit tight and behave yourself. I have a plan to make enough money to get me started for my new life. This is on the way so it's just a pit stop, it wont take long I promise. Once I'm done then I'll take you to the contacts." Ronald said with that evil smile on his face again.
Everything in me was screaming danger. That six sense I had telling me I was in trouble is ringing loud and clear right now. I needed to make a plan. I knew by saying I would help him make money I had walked into a trap.
I had already figured out he wanted to sell me but for what reason? Either because I was a wolf or because I was a female Alpha. The last reason was because I was a woman. My money was on me being a woman. So most likely he was going to sell me to human traffickers. No way was I going to let that happen!
It would take two hours to get to the location on the GPS. By the time we got there it would be getting dark. If it took two hours by car how long would it take by foot to get back to the city? Maybe a day. It was too hot to be walking in the desert sun in July. I would have to walk at night to make use of the cold night air. I still had my jacket which I was grateful for now.
I looked at the GPS and studied the layout of the desert and the roads. When I run away I would need to stay off the roads since Ronald and the human trafficker's would be driving up and down the roads looking for me.
Once I felt that I had it memorized and could make my way back to the city I began to look around the truck. I needed a possible weapon in case I ran into wild animals or people who could harm me and I couldn't use that aura thing I used yesterday. That explosive power was gone and I had a feeling Ronald knew that.
There was a hunting knife in the side of the door on Ronald's side. I couldn't take that cause Ronald would stop me and there was nothing on my side. I guess no weapon. There was the rest of my orange soda and half a bottle of water on the floor of my side of the truck. I'll need that. It would probably take more then a day to walk back to the city and I would need water. Last thing was my way out. I leaned down on the window and pretended my hair got caught on the lock to the door and pulled up the lock. I turned to peek at Ronald only to see a fist headed straight for my face. I turned my head to try to get out of the way but wasn't fast enough. His fist caught me on my left temple and everything started to turn dark.
"Oh no you don't you little tramp. You're my meal ticket. You can only blame yourself for choosing me to bring you." Ronald laughed as I passed out.
* * * *
The smell of body odor, ash, and sour beer washed over me. I feel two hands rubbing up my thighs. One of them travels up the side of my waist and up over my right breast. While the other one is slowly moving up my inner thigh to my female parts. Then it hits me that Ronald is touching me and my eyes snap open.
Ronald has my passenger door open while leaning over me. I raise my hand to hit him but I'm too dizzy from the hit he landed on me to put any speed or power behind it, and he catches it. I'm not done though so I go for another swing with my other hand. I know it won't connect but at least he won't be touching me anymore. Sure enough he catches that one too. My head is pounding and I'm dizzy. I'm pretty sure I've got a concussion.
I tried to pull out that aura from yesterday but doing so caused my head to feel like it's splitting open. With a hiss I stop trying and my head returns back to the normal pounding headache I had before. I try again only to have the same thing happen. I try to push the aura out pushing past the pain but stop as my vision starts to go dark. I stop just before I lose consciousness.
"Aren't you feisty. Since we're early I thought I'll enjoy myself. Your mother always kept me from you. She even took beating to keep me from touching you whenever I went into a rut." Ronald said letting his eyes travel down my body. "With your scent I went into a rut quite often. But dear old mommy's not here now, is she? Who cares that we're two different species? Fucking is fucking, right? Now that I don't have a mate bond anymore I don't have to worry about Ruby sensing me with another woman." A disgusting smile creeps onto his face. God how long has he fantasized about me I think with a gag.
"Fight all you want. That's just foreplay for me." Ronald laughs. "The only difference here is I loved your mother but not you so I wont be as gentle as I would have been with your mother. Plus it's not like it's your first time. I could smell the Alpha on you when ever you came home from your dates with Tony. The only way you could have his scent on you like that is if you were fucking him."
"That's none of your business you bastard." I hissed at him.
"I was jealous of Tony. I wanted to mix my scent with yours since the first time I caught a whiff of your scent. There's something about your scent that drives me nuts. Oh and if you think I'm going to believe you've been awakened, think again. You probably couldn't pull that power out if you tried right now." Ronald said leaning in to take a deep breath in of my scent finishing off with a lick on my throat.
"Fuck you, you disgusting pig!" I scream as I spit in his face. His face turns a bright shade of red as he backhands me. My face stings as he makes contact with my cheek. The force of the hit made my head spin and my already pounding headache turned up a notch. He was right though. I had been trying to use that stupid aura thing since I opened my eyes but it wasn't coming. I couldn't think straight and couldn't focus. All it did was make me feel like I would pass out again. I couldn't have that happen. How could I fight back if I was unconscious?
There was a sound of a low growl coming from somewhere in the darkness. Both of us freeze and look out the open passenger door. Ronald listens for a couple seconds and sniffs the air. He shrugs his shoulders, turning his dirty gaze back to me.
"Well, where were we?" He says as he puts both my arms together in one of his large hands and pins them on the head rest of my seat. With his free hand he starts to grab my jeans button. I head butt him and then bring my knee up to meet his head connecting with the front of his face. He howls in pain as he brings his head up. There's blood pouring out of his nose which I've broken once again. His nose is now dripping blood all over my shirt.
With a loud growl he uses his free hand to grab my throat. I start to thrash about as I struggle to get air into my lungs, the power behind his grip is enough to snap my neck. As he tightens his grip even more I hear cracks coming from my neck.
Time seems to slow when suddenly all I can think about is Tony and how I wanted to see him again. Why is it he pops into my head when I'm about to die. Even with how he treated me I guess I still love him. Maybe he was my mate. Or maybe I'm just one of those stupid females who can't seem to let go of their first love.
As my eye sight starts to fade into darkness another growl, this time much louder and closer causes Ronald to release my hands and throat. He turns around scanning the darkness surrounding the truck and takes two steps toward the black desert. I gasp for air coughing as my eyes come back into focus. I reach for the door of the truck and slam it closed quickly locking it. Ronald turns around and tries to open the door.
The sound of boots crunching on the desert ground causes both of us to look up in the direction it's coming from. Four Hispanic men step out into the headlights of the truck, three carrying high powered rifles and another man who seems to have come out of nowhere, steps up in front of Ronald glaring down at him.
"What do we have here?" says one of the men in front of the truck. He is a Hispanic man with dark wavy hair down to his shoulders, dark skin, and dark eyes. He's wearing an all-black suit. "I'm Juan, we spoke on the phone. My associate Roman will be taking the package from you." Juan says as he waves his hand to the man next to Ronald.
Roman just grunts as he looks at Ronald still glaring at him. Roman is at least four inches taller than Ronald and twice the size of him in the muscle department with his white T-shirt clinging to his chest showcasing his muscles and his sexy v-shaped torso. Just the right amount of muscle. He had on a pair of straight leg dark blue jeans and black combat boots. He stopped glaring at Ronald and looked at me. My heart skipped a beat looking into those beautiful green eyes. He had short black hair cut to look like he was in some kind of armed forces. His skin color wasn't like those in front of the truck. It was tanned but not a dark tan. He was Hispanic just like the men in the front of the truck. As he looked at me, I almost saw remorse in his eyes but also what seemed like excitement.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get her out of the truck." Juan said, folding his arms across his chest and cocking his head to the side.