We all stared. No one spoke a word as we absorbed the implications.
Finally, Pia asked, “Alpha?”
“You think the infected are behind this?” another woman asked.
“This has something to do with the infected?” I asked at the same time. It didn’t make sense. The men who’d captured me were noninfected. Everyone I’d come across since had been the same. If the infected were involved, where were they?
The questions from the others came on top of each other, creating a loud cacophony.
The olive-skinned woman lifted her head, her features tired and worn. Her stress visible on her face. “I don’t know. Maybe. The guys who grabbed me were strong enough to be infected, but why would they come after me? The infected don’t like the city, and I never leave it. Who is their alpha and how would he know about me?”
“Did anybody here go to Mate Match?” Pia asked out of the blue.
We all glanced at her with varying degrees of surprise.
“I did,” Cara said from where she’d sunken onto the floor in front of the door. “My son is infected. I went to several reservations asking for sanctuary, but they don’t allow the noninfected residency unless you’re mated to one of them. They offered to take my son from me, but I refused.”
A chorus of “Me, too” sounded in the room as we all studied each other.
“You think we were kidnapped because we signed with Mate Match?” I asked slowly. I’d wondered but concluded my going there had brought the very attention I’d been seeking to avoid. What if it was something else?
Pia gave a hesitant nod. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“But why would they do something like this?” another woman asked.
The women all began talking loudly at once until a shrill whistle pierced the air. I grabbed my ears as pain shot through my eardrums. The damn noise had been loud enough to make my ears bleed, and unable to help myself, I glared at Pia.
“Sorry,” Pia said to me. Turning to the others, she said, “Look, we’re obviously not getting out of here until they release us. I don’t like it any more than you, but there’s nothing we can do about it. I suggest we eat, hydrate, and rest so we can recover from whatever they gave us. We need to be ready for what comes next.”
The women grumbled but obeyed the authority in her voice. She went to the refrigerator and pulled out several items of food. I joined her and helped to distribute. A woman who identified herself as Monica passed out drinks. We all settled onto our cots and ate. Afterwards, we took turns freshening ourselves in the bathroom in preparation for what came next.
“Now what?” Lydia asked.
“We wait. Take a nap if you need one. If our captors wanted us dead, we would be. Don’t know about you, but as long as death isn’t imminent, I can deal with just about anything else,” Pia said.
As we’d eaten, we’d introduced ourselves and spoken a little about what led us to this place. Like myself, most women were from New Town, though a few were from outlying areas. Now that we’d eaten, the women seemed more relaxed.
“I want my son,” Cara said, her tone belligerent.
I understood her angst. If I had a child that had been taken from me, my mood would make a honey badger appear tame.
“I know, honey, but right now your son needs you to stay strong for him. We’ll get him back,” Pia said.
“How?” Cara demanded. She’d eaten and hydrated while pacing the small room, stopping every few minutes to bang on the door and demand her son.
Pia inhaled a deep, calming breath. “If Mate Match is behind this, they need our agreement. We can refuse to cooperate until they return him to you.”
Several heads nodded as the other women agreed.
Pia’s words stopped Cara in her tracks. She glanced at all of us. “You’d do that for me?”
Pia looked at me. I nodded. The rest of the women chimed their agreements.
“I don’t know what the hell this is about, but no matter what happens, we stick together. There’s strength in numbers,” I said.
Cara still appeared worried, but not as fearful. She pressed a shaky hand to her forehead. “Thank you.”
“Maybe this is some type of strange courtship ritual,” Monica said. “I applied to several matchmaking agencies. Of them all, Mate Match gave out the least information. I expected to be given a website to join to meet potential matches, or you know, to be sent out on dates. The whole “don’t call us, we’ll call you when we have a match” routine was jarring, to say the least.”
“Yeah,” Lydia agreed. “And what was that bit about wanting my panties?”
“Weird, right?” Staci asked.
Everyone settled down onto their cots. Some dozed. Other conversed quietly. I pushed my cot closer to the wall so I could use it as a backrest and forced myself to stillness. My normally high metabolism along with a nervous energy had kicked in. I wanted to move. To fight. To do anything but sit here and wait. Unfortunately, doing so would make me stick out like a sore thumb. Blend, I reminded myself.
My mind gnawed on the problem. If this whole thing was some harebrained scheme of Mate Match, I was unhappy but safe. Unfortunately, Mate Match’s involvement didn’t explain the infected men who’d come after me. What happened when I left here? Had my location been compromised? Would I need to flee? I didn’t know and not knowing made me antsy.
I didn’t like the idea of starting over with nothing. My gun, bag, and every weapon I’d had on me had been taken. I could only imagine what the Mate Match people had thought when they’d seen how well I’d been armed. I didn’t know where I was. Didn’t know how far we’d been taken from New Town, if I could get there again on my own resources, or even if it was safe for me to do so. In short, I had more questions than answers. More information was needed to plan my next move.
As if in answer to prayer, the door opened, and a swanky blonde stepped into the room. I disliked her on site. Her innate arrogance made my hackles rise. The others must have recognized her because several of them crowded around. Only Pia and I remained where we were.
I heard the name Jillian several times and realized this must be her. I’d never seen her before but remembered the conversation I’d overheard in the bathroom. She looked like the scientific type. The kind who put data over people’s feelings and emotions.
Some asked questions. Others rained curses on her head. Jillian retreated so that her back was to the door and held up her hands. “Ladies, ladies. Calm down. I’ll be happy to answer all of your questions, but I can’t do so as long as you’re yelling at me.”
The women quieted, but the atmosphere remained tense. They were furious and didn’t care who knew.
“I know you ladies want to know why you were brought here,” Jillian began.
“This has something to do with Mate Match. We figured out that part. What I want to know is why were we drugged and kidnapped?” Pia said, her voice angry.
“And why we shouldn’t sue the hell out of your company, not to mention file charges for kidnapping. What you did is illegal,” Monica added.
“You can try if you like but you won’t succeed. Mate Match has an excellent legal staff, and the laws concerning the infected are very lenient. As for your question, Ms. Montgomery, the life of an infected isn’t always easy. The males who selected you as potential mates need to be sure you can handle whatever adversity is thrown your way,” Jillian said.
Bullshit, I thought.
Pia obviously felt the same. Her eyes narrowed. “You’re saying this was a test.”
“Yes,” Jillian said with a smile.
The others muttered and cursed, expressing their displeasure with Jillian’s response.
“You’ll all be happy to know you passed phase one. Now it’s time for phase two,” Jillian said, beaming proudly like we were a bunch of two-year-olds who’d done something particularly clever.
“I’m not doing anything until you give me my son,” Cara said.
Pia crossed the room to stand next to Cara. “That goes for me, too.”
One by one, the rest of us joined them in a show of solidarity.
Jillian appeared nonplused. “But, your son is perfectly safe. He’s being taken care of by our staff and will join you and your mate as soon as this is over.”
“It’s over now,” Cara said, standing her ground. “Count me out. If this is what the infected are like, I want no part of it. We’ll manage on our own.”
“I don’t want to be associated with a man, or a company, that thinks it’s okay to take a child away from its mother. Drugging and kidnapping me was bad enough, but this is unacceptable,” Pia said, crossing her arms over her chest.
The rest of us mimicked her body language.
Jillian’s cheerful demeanor faltered, and her expression became strained. “You can’t do this. It’s a violation of your contract.”
“Sue us,” Monica said, her voice grim.
Jillian glanced from one stony expression to another. Finally, she sighed. “If that’s the way you feel, I’ll have someone take you to your son. Please be aware if you leave now, I’ll have no choice but to cancel your contract.”
Pia and I stepped in front of Cara. “You’re not taking her anywhere. Have him brought here where we can see it. After the events of last night, I’m sure you’ll understand why we don’t trust you,” Pia said, continuing her role as spokesperson.
Jillian actually wrung her hands together and bit her lip. “I don’t know if I can do that. This is above my pay level.”
The cellphone hooked on the waistband of her pants rang. She lifted it and glanced at the screen, answering quickly when she saw who it was. “Sir?”
I tilted my head, straining to hear. I couldn’t distinguish the words on the other end, but the voice was male, and he wasn’t happy.
I glanced around. Usually, I got a buzz when electronics were in the vicinity. A cellphone didn’t give much feedback but multiply the devices and the effect was amplified. Too many and it caused a tinnitus-like ringing in the ears. The sound was enough to drive a person crazy. I’d been aware of the low hum of electronics in use since my head cleared enough to recognize it but thought it was the lights. They were the outdated, industrial fluorescent kind.
“Yes, sir. I understand.” Jillian disconnected the call and glanced at Cara. “Your son is being brought to you. He should be here within the half-hour.”
After casting a suspicious glance around the room that revealed Pia had also realized we were being monitored, she walked over to her cot, sat, and crossed one leg over the other. “How about you explain just what this is all about while we wait.”
One by one, the rest of us also took a seat and turned our attention to Jillian.
Jillian must have believed she was once more in control, because she visibly relaxed. “As I said, phase one was a test to see how you handle adversity. The males to whom you showed the most compatibility are all faction leaders. They had a list of requirements their potential mates need to meet before being considered.”
I straightened in my seat. Leaders were also known as alphas, depending on the clan. No two clans operated exactly the same. Hiram was an alpha. An honorable man who was the leader of a large, powerful clan was exactly the type of mate I needed.
Pia frowned. “I thought you said they determine compatibility by scent?”
“Scent is only part of it. Personality and strength are also important. Some males want a degree of physical attractiveness in their mates. It varies from male to male,” Jillian explained.
“So, one of them could respond to my scent but reject me on the basis of how I look?” Monica asked, the lawyer in her showing.
“Yes,” Jillian said.
“Wait! What? I thought once a match was made, the rest was set in stone?” another one said.
Jillian laughed, appearing genuinely amused. My eyes narrowed. “Where’d you get an idea like that? This isn’t a romance novel. There’s no such thing as fated mates. Just like relationships with the noninfected, you both have to work at it.”
Jillian wasn’t entirely accurate. The infected didn’t believe in fated mates, as in there was only one destined mate for each person, but we believed strongly in chemical attraction. Pheromones told a lot about a potential mate. If the chemical reaction was strong enough, the beast side of the infected’s nature took over and staked a claim. The stronger the reaction, the harder it was to fight.
“What’s phase two?” Pia snapped.
“The Mate Run,” Jillian said.