Lola’s pov,
Lola woke up from the sound of women chattering. They all sounded so excited and happy. The last thing she remembered was that man biting into her neck like she was some kind of snack. She kept her eyes closed for a bit and tried to listen to what these women were talking about.
“I am so happy Dan is my mate. I acted like I didn’t want him, and he loved it! They like to feel in charge you know. So, I pretended to be super scared, and it made him want me even more,” A voice said.
Another voice responded, “I know Gavin could not keep his hands off me. He could not control himself, so he took me right there against the tree. I said no but I kind of liked it.”
Lola was wondering what kind of imbeciles they locked her up with. Talking about rape and encouraging Alpha male behavior like it was something good. A third voice joined the women, “You guys are proper insane you know. You can’t really be this shallow that your only wish is to be used by your mate.”
“Ow shut up Fenna. You are just jealous because you ended up with some low-omega wolf that spends his time with his nose buried in a book. I doubt you will get any hot sex from him.”
The third voice snorted, “Whatever you say, Deborah. I am sure I would rather have some low-ranked nerd than a mate who will hit me if I speak my mind.”
Lola was glad there was at least one person in there that was not completely insane. She decided she heard enough of this bullshit, and it was time to open her eyes. She sat up from the bed and saw that she was locked up in a cabin with about 50 other females. Three of them were sitting next to her bed and immediately stood up when she woke. A blond, slim female with a beautiful face smiled at her with the fakest smile she had ever seen. So, she assumed that was Deborah. Deborah squealed, “Girls! She woke up!”
All the women now got up and tried to get closer to the bed she was sitting on. They were all staring at Lola with anticipation, and she was wondering what the fuck was going on? Deborah stared at her for a while and then asked, “So? Aren’t you overjoyed?”
Lola looked at her confused, “Overjoyed about what exactly?”
Deborah playfully slapped her knee, “Ow come on I know you are not from here, but you must be so thrilled you got mated with the Alpha of the Grey Oak pack! I mean it has been every girl’s dream for the last 5 years to get chosen by him.”
Lola looked at her dryly, “Wow your lives must suck ass then if that is the ultimate dream here.”
A girl with short black hair, blue eyes, and glasses chuckled and said, “Oh I like you. Hard to find someone with a brain around here. My name is Fenna.” She held out her hand and Lola shook it.
“Lola.”
Deborah coughed and looked at them annoyed, “I don’t think you understand. You got mated with the Alpha of the Grey Oak Clan. Which is not only the biggest clan but also the leading clan.”
Lola started to get annoyed as well now, “Well I don’t want him, so you take him if you like him that much.”
All the women gasped and Deborah her face went pale, “You should not say such things! One cannot say no to Noah Grey.”
Fenna scraped her throat, “Well technically she could. It is werewolf law that at the mating ceremony which takes place a month after the hunt, both parties can deny the mate bond.”
Deborah growled, “You and I both know it doesn’t work that way in real life Fenna!”
Another woman quickly avoided an argument by saying, “But why would you want to deny Noah Grey? I mean he is so handsome. I would not mind laying my hands on those abs.”
The other women quickly added in, and they all started to talk enthusiastically about how dreamy Noah grey was and how lucky Lola was to get chosen.
The chattering immediately stopped though when spoken of the devil, Noah Grey walked in. He did not look at any of the women, his eyes were fixated on Lola. “Everyone get out, I want to speak to my mate,” he said.
They all ran out of the cabin as fast as possible like a bunch of trained puppy dogs. Fenna gave Lola one last look and gave a thumbs up behind Noah’s back before closing the door behind her.
Noah was wearing black sweatpants and a grey shirt and even though he was not naked this time she could still see all his muscles through his shirt. He seemed a bit less feral than the last time she saw him. He walked to her and brushed her hair to the side to look at her neck, “Are you okay? Does it still hurt?”
She slapped his hand away, “Don’t even think about touching me! You always bite women when you meet them? Is it like the special Noah introduction?”
She could see the confusion in his eyes like he wasn’t sure whether he should be annoyed or amused by her comment. He took a step back to give her some space, but his eyes were locked on hers.
“So apparently you know who I am. How come I do not know who you are? Where do you come from?”
Lola took a deep breath, and her mind went back to what happened a couple of weeks ago.
Lola’s pov,
Lola slammed the door of her foster parent’s house and walked into the street. They could never just leave her alone. She had only been with them for 3 months and they thought they could tell her what to do. They thought bible study would be an effective way for her to get in line. Lola knew that they would give up on her eventually anyway, they always did. Luckily, it was not much longer now because in a week she would finally turn twenty-one. Which meant she could finally decide for herself what she wanted to do.
Not that she knew what she was going to do. She had no education or skills because she always had a problem with following rules. For as long as she could remember she tried to fight regimes. At least she was talented at bringing out the worst in people. She drove many workers at the orphanage, foster families, and teachers nuts. But whatever happened at least she would be free. She would rather be homeless than live by other people’s rules. Besides, she could always crash with one of her old hookups. She kept walking until she reached the park which was completely abandoned at this hour. She sat down on a bench and closed her eyes for a second to enjoy the quiet and fresh air.
When she opened them again, she jumped up because a man was suddenly sitting next to her. Which was strange because she had not heard him at all. The man took off his hat and looked at her, “Good evening, Lola.”
“How do you know my name?”
He smiled at her, “We have been studying you for a while to see if you would be the right fit.”
A chill went through her spine when he said they had been studying her, “The right fit for what?”
“For a social experiment with a reward of 1 million dollars for participants.”
He handed her a card with an address, “If you are interested come to this address in a week on your birthday.”
Lola looked at the card and wanted to ask him what kind of experiment but when she looked up the man was gone. She looked left and right but there was no trace of the man. “Mm strange,” she thought.
She stuck the card in her pocket and decided to walk home. There was no way she was going to go there next week. “We have been watching you?” Hell nah, that was just way too creepy.”
The rest of the week Lola tried to focus on her plans for after her birthday but for some reason, she couldn’t get the million dollars reward out of her head. If she did that experiment, she would never have to worry again. She could be free and live her life the way she wanted to. She googled the address and that led her to a science building about an hour away. So, she thought, “It seems that he was not lying about it being a social experiment. Oh, what the hell I should just go. I can at least listen to what the experiment is about and if I don’t like it, I will just leave.”
A week later Lola stepped out of the bus in front of the science building. The doors were locked but at the entrance hung a camera. After a few minutes, the doors automatically opened for her. She walked into some kind of waiting room where 3 other people were already waiting. A tall guy with blond hair and the most symmetrical face she had ever seen. A woman with chocolate-colored skin and fascinating enough bright blue eyes. And a man with dark hair and dark eyes. The blonde guy smiled at her, while the woman seemed shy and looked away quickly.
The man with dark eyes gave her a charming smolder and walked towards her. “They said we were waiting for one more person, but I have to say you are definitely worth waiting for.”
His eyes went over her body with approval, and he kissed her hand, “My name is Dante. Nice to meet you.”
Lola looked at him amused; he was her usual type. Charming, mysterious, and full of red flags, “Lola.”
The blond man also stood up and shook her hand, “I am Elias. Don’t be too impressed by Dante he used the same flirting technique on me.”
Lola laughed and Elias pointed at the other woman, “This is Idalia.”
“Hi,” she said with a shy smile.
Lola sat down and looked at the others, “So anyone know a bit more about this experiment?”
Dante shook his head, “Nope just here for the million-dollar reward. Don’t really care about the experiment.”
Elias looked at the door, “I just hope they don’t let us wait much longer because I want to go celebrate my birthday.”
Lola stared at him, “It is also my birthday.”
“Mine too!“ Dante and Idalia said at the same time.
They all stared at each other because that did not seem like it was a coincidence. No one said anything until an attractive woman in a tight suit walked in. She had beautiful long red hair and full lips. The suit showed off her curvy body and Lola saw both men staring at her with desire. The woman smiled and said, “Hi everyone, my name is Feline. We are ready for you now so if you would please follow me?”
She walked towards one of the doors her hips swaying with every step. Lola quickly walked after her and the rest followed. They went into a room with some chairs and a beamer. They all sat down, and Feline turned off the lights and put the beamer on. On the screen, Lola saw images of wolves, blood, trees, and a witch symbol of a star. She really started to wonder what kind of weird experiment this was going to be.
Feline scraped her throat, “So I am guessing you are all wondering what this experiment is all about. For you to understand I have to tell you some history first. Thousands of years ago humans were not the only species that lived on earth. There were also werewolves, vampires, fae, and witches. These creatures believed themselves to be superior to the human race and wanted to enslave them. Humans learned of their plans and war broke out. Thanks to science the human race was able to survive while the other species went extinct.”
Dante interrupted her, “Sorry but what is this? You want us to know the history of a potential fairytale story or something?”
Feline looked at him dead serious, “No this happened in real life, Dante. Those creatures existed.”
“Why have I never heard of it then if you say it’s only been a few thousand years ago?” Lola asked.
“Because the generation that survived decided it would be better if humankind forgot they ever existed. Humans have always been attracted to any kind of superiority or magic, so it is better if we do not know there is something greater possible than ourselves.”
Lola looked at Dante and she saw in his eyes that he shared the same thoughts as her. That woman belonged in a psychiatric hospital because she was clearly delusional.
Elias put his hand on Lola her shoulder, “Just let her continue. Can’t be any harm in that.”
Feline gave him a grateful look, “Thank you, Elias. I know it all sounds crazy. Anyway, recently there have been a lot of incidents that make us suspect that those species still exist somewhere. What we need from you is to find out if they do. You will look for them for a year and whether you find them or not after that year each of you will receive a million dollars.”
“And how exactly should four people find those magical creatures? You seem to have a lot of money and science at your disposal why do you need us?” Lola asked.
Feline smiled at her again, but Lola saw she saw also balling her fists so that smile was not sincere, “Good question Lola. All four of you have been carefully selected because of your DNA. After the war, we made sure to collect DNA from the creatures we just talked about. Each of you is a perfect match with one of the species. We will insert this DNA into you so that it will be easier for you to find these creatures if they exist.”
Feline walked to the door and opened it, “I will give you some time to think. I will be back in 10 minutes and then I expect an answer.”
She closed the door behind her, and Lola looked at the other 3 in shock.
Lola’s pov,
“You guys can’t really believe this bullshit?” Dante asked the rest.
Idalia looked at the screen dreamy, “I don’t know I always hoped that magic existed.”
Elias replied, “I don’t know if I believe it, but I am always in for an adventure, especially one where I get to travel and get a million dollars as a reward.”
“I do not believe it but what if it is true? Don’t you all think they are being a bit secretive? Like those incidents that indicate that these species still exist. What kind of incidents? Besides that, what happens when you get inserted with the DNA? Will you actually become a vampire or whatever?” Lola blurted out.
Elias stared at her, “You really don’t trust people, do you?”
Dante gave him a warning look, “She is just being smart. It is good to ask questions. Just ask them when she comes back, Lola. As for me, I do not believe it for one bit so I will say yes because sounds like an easy way to earn a million dollars. Just look for something that doesn’t exist and get some placebo injected.”
What if they insert something else like poison? Lola thought but then again how would that benefit the scientists? There probably was not some secret subplot because what would they have to gain from a poor orphan like her? So, either they were insane, and she would have earned a million dollars the easy way, or what they said was actually true.
Before she could say anything, else Feline came back into the room. “I hope you all made up your minds. This will be the only chance we offer. Is there someone who likes to leave?”
They all looked at each other but no one spoke up and said that they did not want to participate. Feline clapped her hands, “Lovely then let’s begin. Follow me.”
They all followed her out of the room into a hall with different colored doors. A bunch of employees approached them and led them all to a different door. “Wait, we are not doing the experiment together?” Lola asked.
“No, you all have separate journeys to take. You will see each other again in a year.”
Lola stared at the others, and she was surprised she actually felt sad to leave the others. She usually did not get attached to people but somehow, she felt connected to the three people she just met. They all exchanged a last glance before they got pushed into separate rooms.
It was a small room with just a chair and a tv. The employee helped her into the chair and started preparing some fluids. “What incidents were they talking about that indicated that these species still exist?” Lola asked.
The employee did not even look at her, “That is classified information.”
He pointed at the screen which showed a map, “So Lola. Your DNA had a unique resemblance to werewolf DNA. The DNA will give you the ability to transform into a werewolf. All we know about werewolves is that they used to live in packs and have a strict hierarchy inside these packs. Basically, Alpha and Luna are the highest, then beta and omega is the lowest. As far as we know they could transform whenever they want, and the status of the moon had no influence. They lived in rural areas far away from civilization, preferably forest areas. We suggest you start looking at the biggest forest right here; the Tongass forest. We will give you money and food for the journey. Lastly, you will get a silver ring that you need to wear. When we want to contact you, this ring will light up. When it does, make sure you find a private place and answer by just stating your name.”
He prepped the syringe and walked to her. Lola her head was spinning, and she wanted to ask so much more but he already stuck the syringe into her arm. She felt a little pinch and a cool liquid enter her arm. The employee put a bandage on, gave her the ring and her backpack.
“Everything you need is in there. When you walk out of the other door you will be outside. It can take a few hours before the serum works. Good luck.”
Lola stared at him with an open mouth and said annoyed, “Wait that’s it?”
He did not even listen anymore and just left the room, so Lola picked up the bag, put the ring on her finger, and walked through the other door. Lola stood still for a moment when she felt the sun shining on her face. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth. She did not feel anything yet, but they said it could take a while. She waited outside for a while hoping she would see Elias, Idalia, or Dante. Unfortunately, she never did so she started to walk to the bus. Her first vehicle on the way to Tongass forest.
It took her a week to get to the forest, then she walked the tourist route for a week before she decided to go off the path. That had been 6 days ago. She was now lost, hungry and still she felt normal. Not even the tiniest sign of turning into a werewolf. She just had a hysterical outburst of laughter because she fell for the delusions of some lunatic organization. Instead of becoming a millionaire, she would die here all alone from starvation looking for something that did not exist.
