"What's the next move, when you don't know what the game is?"
-Bridge of Spies

Penn

The air was cold as I trudged shirtless through the woods. I didn't feel it. I didn't feel the cold or the pain from the arrows that had ripped through my flesh. I was numb.

Nothing is going right. The hunters have been attacking more vigorously than ever. My pack is suffering. My Alice is gone.

My warriors dragged along behind me, another battle fought. I couldn't tell if we had won or lost. So many warriors had fallen, but just as many hunters fell. If things kept going like this my pack would seize to exist. And I refuse to let that happen. I will not let my pack down.

I made it through the tree line and into the neighborhood. The air held traces of mint and cherry blossoms. Great, now my mind was playing tricks on me, trying to convince me that my Alice was here.

The faint thumping of a heartbeat reached my ears. But it wasn't the rapid beating of a werewolf pulse. No, this was human.

My attention snapped to my home. And there she stood, blue hair being swept by the winter breeze. My beautiful Alice stood in front of my home and her eyes were on me.

I heard the quiet whisper of my name on her lips and it broke me out of my trace. I started forward. I wanted to hold her in my arms, I'd been going crazy without her. When she ran away I thought that she hated me. That she was afraid. Does this mean that she is back for good?

A shadow-cloaked figure came up silently behind her on the porch. Alice didn't notice.

Fear consumed me. Fear for my Alice, her life and her safety. The shadowed figure lifted a rock in the air. I began to run.

The rock came down hard and fast onto her head. Alice looked dazed for a moment and then she collapsed. Falling to the ground like a petal from a rose.

I kept running towards her. I had to save her. But I was too far away. It seemed like the faster I ran the further the house seemed to drift away.

The shadowed figure lifted my Alice from the snow covered ground and cast me a wicked smirk before dashing off into the forest. Towards the field where the battle just took place. My Alice hung limp on his shoulder.

~~~

Alice

I was cold. So cold. I didn't want to open my eyes. I desperately wished that I was at home. That I was with Penn. But I knew better.

I pried my eyes open, only to be met with darkness. My head was killing me. I sat up slowly, feeling my bones creek and groan in protest. My entire body felt like it had been run over with a truck. What the hell happened.

The last thing I remember is Penn running towards me with panic in his eyes. What happened to him?  What happened to me?

I sat alone in the shadows, trying desperately to see something, anything. Carefully clawing my way to one side I reached a wall and used it to help me stand on shaking legs. My coat and shoes had been removed. Why?

I traced my hand down the wall and counted my steps, trying to make out the dimensions of the room. It was fairly large. There were stairs at one end of the room but all the other walls were bare.

I contemplated going up the stairs, but I knew whoever brought me here would probably not be waiting for me with a mug of hot chocolate and a hug. Instead, I made my way to a corner. I slid down the wall, hiding myself behind what felt like a bunch of cardboard boxes. I felt around the boxes and the concrete floor surrounding me. I found what felt like a simple plank of wood. It wasn't much. But anything might help me get out of here.

I hope Penn knows where I am. I hope he's coming for me. Or that someone is coming for me. This isn't my first kidnapping. I cowered in the corner and prayed to a God I didn't believe in that it would be my last.

~~~

I don't know how much time had passed. There were no windows in this basement, not even a crack in the foundation to give me a guess as to what the hour was. I was trapped in darkness, somewhere on the border between night and day.

No one had come down to check on me. And for that I was grateful. Whoever they were I didn't want them anywhere near me.

I curled my limbs tighter into myself, desperately attempting to stay warm in this frigid prison. I hated to play the damsel in distress but this would be a great time for someone, anyone to come rescue me.

The unmistakable click of a lock echoed throughout the room. The rotting wood door at the top of the stairs is harshly pulled open, the joints creaking in protest. A small sliver of light shone down from the open doorway. Thunderous footsteps pounded down the steps, coming to an abrupt halt at the foot of the stairs.

"Now where could the little girl be, huh?" My eyes nearly sprung from my skull. It was him. He who made me love him and then broke me. He who violated me and then walked away blameless.

Sawyer.

"Listen baby, just come on out and we can have fun like we used to. I know I've missed it," I could hear the sneer in his voice. An involuntary shudder seized me as his footsteps made their way around the barren room.

"My sources tell me that you've been spending a little too much time with that little alpha of yours." My breath caught in my throat. He knew about Penn. How the hell could he know? And most importantly, why did he care?

"Tell you what cupcake, if you tell me how to bring down the alpha, I will let you go." He made it sound so simple. As if my freedom was so easily earned from him. But I still didn't understand why he wanted Penn.

"You're wondering why I want your precious wolf," he spat the word at me, "aren't you? I know you baby, don't forget that," his steps continued across the room, moving with a swift vengeance.

"Well since I know how curious you get, I'll tell you. Those filthy mutts killed my father." The breath rushed from my lungs, I didn't expect that. "That's right baby. Your boyfriends father killed my dad. He was the most skilled hunter we had, and those dogs stole him from us, from me." It wasn't hard to hear the disgust in his voice.

"Do you know what it's like to lose your father?" Yes. "To watch everything come crumbling down," Yes, "and feel completely helpless, useless?" Yes.

"They stole my father from me. Now, I'm going to slaughter them," Swayers voice turned into a deadly hiss. "I'm going to break them, one by one, starting with their precious alpha."

I bit down hard on my tongue to stop the stream of curse words that I longed to spit his way. The plank of wood I had found earlier was clenched tightly in my hands. Small splinters of the rough wood embedded themselves into the skin of my palms but at that moment I couldn't find it in myself to care.

This man had violated, beaten, and broken me. He caused my parents to abandon me. He stole everything from me. But he would not take Penn.

"But maybe before I slice up the big bad wolf I'll start with his little bitch of mate," he spat onto the dusty basement floor.

"So come out little bitch," he chuckled humorlessly in the darkness that engulfed us both, "and let the games begin."