Alpha's Caged Mate
years
Dav
arily caught in the fuzzy in-between state of dreaming and the waking world, Ava felt
s to flare. As she shifted on her rock-hard cot, the aching in her back wrenched reluctant groans from her perpetually parched throat
eryone she’d ever known and loved had turned their backs on her and left her to rot, alone and forgotten. Then, she recalled her dream
banged her cell door with a bato
put pressure on her bruised ribs, determined to catch her breath and compose herself before making her way to the d
ly put a target on her back when she’d first gotten here. It hadn’t taken her too long to realize that pride wouldn’t get her far among the prisoners. It had taken her even less time to realize th
rescue. That had been her first le
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
nk. Rough hands yanked her across the cold concrete floor and, before h
that taunted her was deep for a fem
them off-balance. As the shadowy figure crashed to the ground, Ava was on them. She rolled to
e.” Ava
nto the attacker’s face one, two, three t
isty!” Another
med the person attacking her was
pped. Ava gasped, her body going rigid and allowing the attacker to drag her off of
d to the ground. Suddenly, a couple of attackers seemed to
?” She gasped, her voice
. “You still think you’re better than
cated shoulder, grinding the abuse
ry was a cue for the mob, the peltin
ely to protect herself. Whenever she kicked, there was someone there to hold her down. Whenever she opened
p, that’s how every Wolf was raised. The lone wolf seldom survives. Now, Ava was the lone wolf against a rabid mob. Ava
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
hese past three agonizingly slow years. After she’d been jumped, she’d gon
ns in the prison, the gang beatings ended after that night. Ava sus
d female stormed up to Ava, grasping her by a bruised wrist and pulled her out of the cell. In the hallway, she was shoved to the
the surface at the crass reminder of three nights ago,
on’t need a mob for thing
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
e of her connection to Mia, her Wolf. Different from the usu
yla, sweet Layla, gasping for air that couldn’t qui
the kindest soul Ava had ever met in her life, the only prisoner who never caused or attracted trouble. She’d taken Ava under her wing
into a smile. She whispered something Ava couldn’t quite c
sobbing not just for the loss of another friend, but for the soul w
yla’s last wish, even if Ava couldn’t hear her, she knew w
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
have e
le walked down the line of women, examining them closely. When she came to Ava at the end of the
follow the line of girls out of a set of metal do
the moon cradled by a sea of stars overhead. They were outside! For the first time in three years, Ava could see the
nd of an engine revving to life. Ava was hefted bodily into the air, ribs screaming, and thrown into what could only be the back of a van. Her protests joined the other women’s as