Page 8 of Out of Peril

When they came for us, I knew we weren't going to be sitting in holding for long. Tranquilizer guns were pointed at me and the kids as the door was opened and a large tub of water was pushed inside.

They had learned that their drugs didn't work on me. So we all knew it was an empty threat when he shouted at us.

“Strip and toss out your clothes. Clean yourself and the kids or else we're coming in to get them once and for all.”

A roar escaped me, causing them to stumble back, one into the other.

Ignoring them, I turned to the kids.

“It's time already?” Dante asked.

I nodded. “Afraid so.”

“What if we get bought by different collections and they separate us?” Maya asked after having stripped out of her clothes.

I carefully lifted her into the tub.

“I'm not going to let that happen. They'll have to take us all.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

I helped her wash up and get out quickly. A towel was thrown inside for me to wrap her warmly into.

Dante was next as he dove right in. That boy loved his baths, though I had to remind him that I still needed a turn, too.

I hated standing there naked and vulnerable like that, but I didn’t want to project my own fears and discomfort onto the kids. That wasn't right. So I kept it to myself, relief setting in only after Dante was done and I was sliding under the water.

Years of being trapped and used as a lab rat still haunted me. They had always been watching, just as I knew the men were watching me now.

Shuddering, I rinsed the soap from my hair and climbed out to await my own towel. The man held it up and snickered.

I refused to beg for it. Instead, Dante came to my rescue.

“Here Lindsey. I'm done.”

The man scoffed and held up the gun once more.

The three of us backed into the corner, well aware of the routine, and watched two others rush in and pull the tub away before clean clothes were tossed inside and the door locked once more.

“I love purple!” Maya shrieked as she held up a pretty purple dress and twirled around with it.

If she was still in her old pup cage, she wouldn't have been able to do that. Hell, she wouldn't even be able to stand.

The kids had far more space and advantages in here with me.

My crate was larger than most and reinforced with a much stronger metal. In my previous Collections, they found they couldn't contain me in a smaller cage. My beast was too large and strong. One shift and I was free. But somehow, my current master had realized my weakness. It had been his idea to put the kids in with me at first. He'd soon learned the error in his decision because there was no way in hell or on Earth that I was going to allow them to remove them from me now. And he damn well knew it.

I picked up my own frock from the pile. They'd been getting skimpier with each auction. I hadn't sold at the last three auctions, which meant that he hadn't been able to sell either of the kids as well. But for some reason he seemed very optimistic about this one.

As he made his rounds for inspection, he stopped to stare at me just as I finished dressing, if you could even call it that.

“You are such a pretty little thing, Lindsey. It's a disgusting shame what you are. Such beauty wasted on a hideous beast.”

I didn't react. I wanted to, but I felt the truth of his words sting my heart.

I was a hideous beast.

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