Of all the degrading, dehumanizing experiences Lucky had experienced over the course of her stay on the Las Vegas Strip, this took the cake, ate it too, and threw it back up. She was in a metal cage, handcuffed to the bars, naked, covered with gold glitter, and trying to look bored. She wasn't bored at all, her heart was pounding, the thought of freedom making her mind drool like a dog smelling a steak. Or a wolf, smelling her prey.
There were ten men sitting around the table, playing poker in a tournament that would end with the winner getting Lucky. Hilarious.
The fat, greasy, human trafficking fuckheads stood near the door to the large private room, stuffed into black suits, looking pleased with themselves. They had no idea that their reign of terror over the little girl they stole from her innocence was coming to an end, a bloody, violent end.
Players paid an entry fee of 5 million to enter the tournament. There were 10 players, meaning 50 million dollars in cash filled multiple large burlap bags guarded by two extra men, who were younger and slightly less greasy than their bosses. The absence of grease did not make them any less reprehensible, they knew what was happening. Unfortunately for them, they were dead men walking. Although they weren't walking, they were pretty much just standing there, ready to protect the burlap bags that were valued so much more than the life of the beautiful woman in the cage.
These assholes had some truly fucked up priorities. The world would be a better place without them.
Lucky watched as the game began, all of the men with their poker faces on, only breaking them to stare at her, no doubt imagining the fun times they would have together. They had paid for a chance to own her for a week, to stay in her suite, to satisfy whatever sick need required that they purchase the opportunity to do so. They needed a woman who would do as they said.
Lucky had to wear a shock collar during all of her work encounters. If she stepped out of line or tried to refuse, they had the remote control. The collar was set to give extremely painful shocks, as high as could be given without killing her. She only had to be shocked a handful of times before she learned that it was better to obey, to choose the lesser of two painful options.
These sick, horrible people. She hated them. She hated them for staring at her body, which was supposed to belong to her, and seeing it as something to use however they wanted. She hated them for refusing to see that they were hurting her, who had done them no wrong, mercilessly tormenting her, getting joy from her pain.
Nyah had woken her from her weakened, submissive state. She had started to feel like she deserved what was happening to her, something her captors had told her so many times. They said she had been born with a beauty that only bad women had, that if she were allowed to remain free she would only bring pain to everyone she met. They told her she had been born so evil, her parents had abandoned her. They told her the Smiths had told them to take her, because they had seen the evil in her and were disgusted by her. She had started to believe them, because why else would she have to endure this? Surely an innocent girl would never be thrown in to this horrible life. It made no sense.
Nyah had come to her and told her the men were so very wrong, that she deserved nothing that they had done to her. They were the evil ones, not her. That none of it was her fault. Nyah didn't know what had happened to her parents, she had not been awake then, she hadn't woken up until Lucky was ten. She hadn't spoken to her then, usually werewolves didn't hear their wolves or transform until their bodies and brains had fully developed.
Nyah had seen the Smiths through Lucky's eyes and told her that there was no way they would ever want her gone. They had loved her as their own. Lucky missed them so much, and hated that she had ever doubted them. That she had doubted herself. She had lost hope, until her wolf had finally been able to break through and allow her to find it again.
She felt the rage begin to boil inside of her. The hatred in her heart began to pump faster and faster through her body. She glared at the two punk ass bitches who claimed to own her. They thought they had broken her, that her soul was as dead as they would soon be. But Lucky never truly broke, and her soul was very much alive. Now it wanted to live.
Something primal stirred from its slumber and craved the blood of prey. The men didn't notice to low growl that began emanating from the woman in the cage. They didn't notice as her hands grew razor sharp claws.
"It's show time," Nyah said, as Lucky transformed almost instantly, growing so large that the cage broke apart completely.
It took several seconds before someone noticed that the caged naked woman in the corner was gone, replaced by a horse sized black wolf with glowing golden eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. "All the better to kill you with,"
Lucky silently spoke to Nyah. They both laughed. They laughed even harder as Nyah shook her fur and glitter flew out around her.
"What the fuck is that?" A tall man in a black suit finally shouted, and then all hell broke loose. Nyah lunged forward, claws extended, and with one swipe she cut two of the men in half. She made quick work of the ten men at the table, slicing her way through them in seconds. They didn't stand a chance. Blood squirted from severed arteries, screams quickly cut off. She turned towards the guards who stood by the bags of money. One of them had pulled out his gun. She leaped towards him as a shot rang out, it missed her and the bullet shattered a crystal chandelier. He didn't get a chance to shoot again. Nyah sliced his arm off with one set of claws, then decapitated him with the other. The other guard had started to reach for his gun. She bit off his head and spit it out. Then, she turned and faced the men who were responsible for the nights of rape, torture, pain, and fear she had lived through. Both men had pissed themselves, and held their hands up in surrender.
A low, terrifying sound came from the black wolf as she approached them. She considered killing them slowly, she would have enjoyed watching them suffer. But that would just delay her freedom, and she was so close now. So she pounced, severing their heads quickly with her claws. She was now the only one left alive in the room, and no alarms had sounded, no phone calls had been made. She had killed all of them in under a minute.
She took a burlap sack of money into her large mouth, figuring it contained enough money for her to start a new life. She burst through the doors, into an empty hallway. She looked for the exit sign that would guide her to the stairs. Spotting it, she sprinted towards it with the bag in her mouth. Leaping down the empty stairways, floor after floor, until she was ready to exit the building.
She used her paw to push the handle down, and shoved through the door, barely fitting her large body through the space. Apparently this was an emergency exit. An alarm began to blare. Shit! She had to get out of here.
Ignoring the screams of people who saw a huge black wolf, covered in blood and carrying a burlap sack emerge from the side door of the hotel, Nyah did what she had been longing to do for so long now. She ran. She ran past the screaming people who scattered in different directions, running for their lives. She stopped at a large fountain to jump in and wash off the blood, staining the water red as people watched in horror, not sure of what they were seeing. She jumped back out, shook out her fur, giving the onlookers what they would describe later as an apologetic look. She picked up the bag and took off, putting Las Vegas farther and farther behind her. She ran into the desert, until there were no more lights other than the light from the moon, full and bright, watching her from above.
She ran for hours, finally stopping at a river, where she drank so much water she was surprised the river didn't dry up completely.
Exhausted, still panting, she made her way to a nearby rock formation, finding a good hiding spot created by several large boulders. She had just dragged the burlap bag into her resting spot when she heard a soft whining sound behind her. Whipping around with a growl, hackles raised, she met the eyes of another huge wolf.
Before her stood a magnificent black wolf, a wolf like herself but slightly larger, this one with with silver eyes. The wolf lowered his head, looking up at her, which Nyah recognized as a sign that he was trying to show peaceful
intentions.
Instead of being afraid, she felt strangely drawn to the other wolf. They slowly approached each other, cautiously, scenting each other, and to her surprise Nyah heard a voice inside her head. It was a deep male voice, and it said "Mate?" Nyah knew what this meant, and she wasn't sure if she should take off running again or jump
for joy. Lucky had no idea, they hadn't gotten to this yet in her wolf education. Her instincts confirmed that this wolf was, indeed, her mate. She marveled at the odds, but then again the Moon Goddess made sure everything happened when it did for a reason, being the master of fate that she was.
Perhaps sensing the hesitation of the human half, he shifted into a tall, handsome man. He was stunningly beautiful, with messy black hair and blue eyes flecked with silver. He grinned from ear to ear, cautiously reaching a hand out to stroke her fur. Nyah purred in response, nuzzling the man with her nose. He smelled wonderful, and his aura radiated pure love. So different than all of the other men Nyah had encountered in her life with Lucky.
Could she trust him? Nyah felt Lucky's wariness, her fear.
"He won't hurt us, Lucky. He is here to help." She told the frightened woman. "Why don't you come out and meet him? I promise, he won't hurt us. I will protect us."
"You must be insane," Lucky told Nyah. But she couldn't deny that there was something about this man, who was clearly a werewolf like she was, that made her feel safe. She shifted back into her human form, and he asked, "is it okay if I give you a hug? I promise not to hurt you, I just want to hug you because I can tell you need one." He sounded so sincere.
Lucky replied "sure," and when he hugged her to him, she threw her arms around him, burying her head in his chest, loving the way every place their skin touched buzzed with a pleasant, electric sensation. She felt better than she had felt in such a long time, what was it about this man that made her feel like she had known him forever? She didn't even know his name!
"Who are you? My name is Lucky," she never wanted him to go away.
"I am your Mate!" He said, looking at her quizzically, "don't you feel the bond?" Bond? Lucky looked into his eyes, smiled, and fainted into blackness.