I woke up the next morning to a brisk knock on my door. I got up and noticed that someone had slipped a piece of paper under the door.

I picked it up and realized that it was my schedule for the day. I had breakfast in the dining hall at 7 am, a doctors appointment at 9 am, lunch at 11 am, free time at noon, dinner at 5 pm, and I had to be back in my room before 6 pm. What was I supposed to do between 6 and bedtime?

Looking at the clock, I realized that breakfast was in less than 10 minutes. I figured that I might as well take my time getting ready and skip breakfast. I wasn't hungry anyway. The reality of my situation was making my stomach roll.

I picked out my clothes for the day and went into the bathroom. It was amazing having a shower to myself. Before, there were a few stalls with showers in them that all of the girls had to share. There was very little privacy and we had to be quick so that we didn't hold the other girls up.

But now, I took my time and relaxed. I turned the heat up so that steam coated the walls and mirror. The warm water slowly eased my tense muscles while I tried to forget where I was for just a little while.

Finally, I got out of the shower, dressed in a pair of blue jean shorts and a t-shirt, and brushed my teeth. Sitting on the bed, I looked over at the clock. 20 minutes until I was supposed to be at the doctor. Well, now what? Was I supposed to find the doctor's office on my own, or was someone going to show me where it was?

Shrugging my shoulders, I lay back in bed and got myself comfy. Considering that this was the last place on Earth that I wanted to be, I wasn't going to put much effort into following the stupid schedule that they had given me. I'd even be okay with being reassigned to the labor camps for being too difficult. 

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Sighing, I got up and opened the door to reveal a slightly agitated looking Katie. She hardly spared me a glance before turning on her heel and saying, "Come with me."

I closed the door behind me and followed Katie down the hall. It was awkward and quiet, the only sounds being our footsteps until we reached the stairs and she finally spoke up.

"You are not allowed to miss meals, so please do not do it again. And, for future reference, you are expected to arrive at all doctor's appointments at least 15 minutes early."

I hung my head and muttered sorry. Somehow, Katy's anger made me feel guilty, even though I despised everything that she was working for.

Eventually, Katie led me into a small waiting room and gestured for me to sit while she talked to the lady sitting behind the desk. After a few minutes, the lady motioned for me to follow her back into an exam room. 

A doctor who looked about 40 came in soon after, and introduced himself as Dr. Burkes. He poked and prodded at me, took measurements, and drew blood. He even preformed something called a "gynecological exam," which left me feeling uncomfortable and violated.

After everything was done, he looked over his notes, then turned to me and said, "Well, Olivia, we won't have the lab results from your blood test for a little while, but everything looks good. You seem to be a healthy, fertile young woman."

I nodded and he continued.

"I'm going to start you on some prenatal vitamins and folic acid tablets. You will take them once daily before you go to bed. Also, I have been told that you skipped breakfast today. Don't do that. Breakfast is an important part of your health, and when you get pregnant, your child's health. Make sure to stay active. If you are fit before you get pregnant, your child will have less chances of being born with a defect. Every breeder has weekly doctors appointments. Yours have been scheduled for Fridays at 9 am. That is all, I will see you next week."

I walked back to the front desk feeling unsettled. My health had only been talked about in terms of how it affected my ability to produce healthy children. My only worth to these people was my reproductive system.

The front desk lady gave me some pills and told me how to use them, then gave me directions to the cafeteria. The appointment had taken a little over two hours since it was my first and they had to do baseline workups or something, and now I was late to lunch.

I walked down the maze-like hallways, getting lost a couple of times before finally finding the cafeteria. About 70 people sat at round tables throughout the room, and less than 20 of them were men. The women ranged from 16 year olds to about 40 year olds, while the men seemed to go up to around 50 or 60. A dull roar filled the room as they conversed among themselves. 

I slipped in relatively unnoticed, and walked over to the side of the room where I noticed some sort of steam table. Unfortunately, when I approached, the table was empty and an older woman was wiping it down. I frowned. It had been a while since my last meal and I was starting to get pretty hungry.

"You're late," she barked out.

"I know, I'm sorry. I had a doctor's appointment. It's all right though, I'll just come back for dinner."

"No. You have to eat. We saved a bit for the staff, but I guess you can have some. I'll just go heat it up for you," she said before turning and walking back into the kitchen. She came back with a steaming plate of rice, grilled chicken, and some sort of vegetable. Taking the plate, I smiled and thanked her. "Just don't be late again."

Turning around, I scanned the room. There were very few open seats. Considering that I didn't really feel up to meeting a table full of new people, I decided to find a different room to eat lunch in. 

Walking down the hall, I tried a few different doors that were all locked before finding a beautiful courtyard enclosed by the building on all four sides. It was a magnificent garden with a large fountain in the center and a little path winding its way around. The best part was that it was completely empty of people.

I made my way to one of the benches that faced the fountain. Enjoying the fresh air while eating my lunch, I let myself get lost in my thoughts.

Did I want to escape? Chances were, I would get caught immediately and killed. Was that really such a bad thing, though? I would almost rather die than live a life where I was expected to betray my true mate every day. But if I died, then I would never get the chance to meet him, and even though the chances that I would one day find him were slim, I didn't want to give up hope either.

Maybe if I made enough trouble, I would be sent to the labor camps. I might even meet my mate there, and if not, I would at least have my virtue in tact. If I refused to breed, I surely wouldn't be kept in the breeding sector! Unless they would somehow force me to...

No! I couldn't think like that! This would work. It had to work.

When I was done eating, I returned my plate to the kitchen and went back up to my room. It was free time, and I still didn't feel like socializing with the other breeders. The fact that they were all probably ecstatic to be here just irritated me to no end. I could be spending this time exploring the building and finding a way to escape, but I still wasn't sure that I was willing to die just to escape.

Instead, I searched the room for something to occupy myself with. There really wasn't much in here other than clothes and furniture, but I did find a notepad and some pens in the desk drawer. I would have to find out where those girls that I saw yesterday had gotten their books.

For almost an hour, I doodled scenes from my favorite books. Eventually, I just ended up taking a long nap. The stress of this whole ordeal was making me feel exhausted.

Hours later, a sound woke me up and I looked over at the clock on my bedside table. 7:30. Damn, I missed another meal. I hoped that no one would gripe at me. Wow, I really must have been tired.

A knock sounded at the door, and I realized that that must have been what woke me up. Who was knocking at my door, and what could they possibly want? Then, I remembered that Katie had told me that my breeding partner would arrive at my room sometime after dinner. Shit, this was it!

Well, I wasn't about to answer the door. I just had to stick to my plan and not comply with the breeding and they would surely transfer me.

When I heard the door being unlocked, I sat up in bed. The door swung open and footsteps approached, then there was a boy standing in front of my bed.

He was about my age, and quite frankly looked adorable. There was a cocky air about him, his unruly blonde hair sticking out in tufts in every direction. His features were handsome, yet boyish, and his eyes shone in a mischievous way. He was maybe five inches taller than me, and his body was lean yet muscular.

"Why didn't you answer the door for me?" He questioned. Then his eyes scanned my body, taking in my rumpled appearance from my recent nap. A crooked grin graced his face. "Did I wake you up?"

I didn't answer him, just staring with wide eyes. I felt paralyzed with fear. Would I have the guts to stand up to him?

"My name is Ashton, and I am your assigned breeding partner. It's great to meet you," he smiled and began moving closer to me. 

I scrambled back on the bed until my back was against the headboard and gasped out, "Stop! Don't come near me!"

Ashton froze, and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It was really quite cute, but I couldn't let myself get distracted by his charm.

"But how are we supposed to do our jobs if I can't come near you?" He seemed genuinely confused. I guess he hadn't run into this problem with any of the other girls. No surprise there, I guess. Most women in our pack would kill to be breeders.

"That's the point. I don't want to mate with you."

"Why not?" He seemed a little hurt, as if I had just insulted him. I didn't answer, and just stayed where I was.

Ashton took in my words, the fear in my voice, and my body curled up against the headboard, as far away from him as I could get, and his eyes softened.

"Do you trust me?" he asked gently?

"You are a complete stranger who was sent to my room to mate with me. No, I do not trust you," I spat out.

Part of me hated the way Ashton cringed at my words, not liking the fact that I had hurt his feelings. I wasn't just going to lay back and let some stranger take what wasn't his, though. And I sure as hell wasn't going to have children just so that they could grow up to practically be slaves to the most corrupt pack in the world.

"Please, I promise that you can trust me," Ashton pleaded. I knew that I had no reason to believe this guy, but looking into his bright blue eyes that shone in a kind and genuine manner, I was tempted to just go along with whatever he wanted.

Suddenly, he crawled over the bed toward me and stuck his face in my neck, making my body stiffen. Every instinct I had told me to push him away, but the fear coursing through my veins prevented me from moving. Oh my god, what was he going to do?

Ashton lifted his lips to my ear and whispered, "I promise that I won't force you to have intercourse with me."

My eyes widened and I jerked my head around to look him in the eyes. "Really?" I whispered, confused. What possible motivation could he have to let me off the hook?

"Really," he said, flashing me a smile, "but we have to at least pretend, or else we will both get in trouble." Pretend? That was strange. What did he want to do, jump on the bed and make moaning noises? Besides, I didn't want to pretend. The whole point was to make it clear that I wasn't going to comply with the breeding so that I would be reassigned.

I shook my head and said, "I don't want to pretend, can you please just leave?"

"I'm sorry, but that's not an option. They'll know that we didn't do our jobs and we'd both be punished."

"How would they even know whether or not we did it?" I asked.

"They're watching us. Do you see that thing on the ceiling?" Ashton whispered and motioned his head toward the ceiling in the corner of the room. I looked and saw a strange dark and slightly reflective dome looking thing. How had I not noticed that before? "Behind the glass is a camera. They can see everything we do."

I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach. Who were "they?" Why were they watching people mate? Damn, that's creepy.

"So we have to at least pretend to do our jobs, and we have to make it look real. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't want to be reassigned. They'll either put me in the army or the labor sector, and I like my life here just fine."

That gave me pause. I hadn't thought about how this would affect him. This boy was a complete stranger, but so far he had been nothing but kind. It wasn't fair for me to force Ashton to give up his comfortable life for a hard and dangerous one just because I had some romanticized notion that I would someday find my mate.

Besides, Ashton had said that he wouldn't force me to do anything. It would all be fake. That wasn't so bad, right?

Could I give up just a little piece of myself to keep this boy that I didn't even know safe?

With shaking hands, I looked up at Ashton and breathed out, "Okay."

He grinned a breathtaking smile, then leaned down and kissed me.