Chapter Three: The Houses

Slowly, his vision started to return, his mind a mess from the throbbing pain. He didn't know what was happening- so he tried to move his body, however, he was restricted by the rope tied to his body. He began to panic because of the situation, he tried blinking his eyes to get rid of the darkness, belatedly realizing that his eyes were covered by some cloth.

He slowly began to hyperventilate- he tried to move his limbs to loosen the ropes while feeling his surroundings to find some clues as to where he is right now.

He began to hear noises around him, it was quiet except for the voices coming from above him. He tried to listen to their conversation while trying to move around the place.

The hunters were waiting inside an enclosed space hidden inside one of those abandoned houses outside the town.

"Where is he? The product is here already. Though we agreed to meet at this time already." Connor asked.

Product? ...Are they talking about me? Shit.. are they gonna sell me? He started to become more agitated. He hastened his movements to attempt to loosen the bindings.

"Relax, he'll be here. He told us he's meeting with a very important customer today. Seems like he's caught up for a moment." Simon answered

"A VIP? Who's this person? Is it from Montfort? They're fairly new but they're on the rise right now. It'll be our lucky day if that'll be our buyer." Brian exclaimed.

"..No, My guess will be someone from one of those origin houses." Suddenly the surroundings instantly quieted. All of them were shocked by his statement.

"Fucking no way! You jokin'? Those houses?? Holy shit! Did we just hit some kind of a billion prized lottery??" Jed was the first one to react.

"Fucking quiet will you. It's just a guess… he was being fucking fussy the last time we talked. It was my first time seeing him that high strung- you know he was never like this to any of his customers." Simon thought.

"And here I thought that those houses were legends since we never saw them- we just knew them based on stories and rumors." Connor chimed.

"Well yeah I can be wrong... but I know I heard him mutter "Progenitor house" so I assume it's those." He replied

Jed sprang up from his seat "I hope it is them! Hahaha! So which house is it? Beaufort? Silva? Canossa? The Dadiani? Or Vincenc? I'm curious about Silva- heard that it's an all-female house."

He froze for a moment. 'Progenitor? Never heard of that.'

Damian wasn't interested in history so he never knew what those are. His focus shifted to their conversation; his movement gradually ceased. He wanted to learn more about what they were talking about...

Simon sighed "He didn't mention which house it'll be but if ever it's one of those houses… but my bet will be Silva- high chance they'll be interested in our catch since it's a male."

"...Could be them. Or maybe the Canossa house could benefit from using a Lycan body. They're quite rare nowadays." Brian chipped in.

There was a pause. All of them were thinking about which house would be willing to purchase their catch.

Brian sighed "Hahh…. Regardless, our priority first would be Ramon, he's the middleman, yet he still ain't here."

Simon stared at brian "He wouldn't bail on us. He's just late."

Suddenly, they heard a noise outside. They all stared at each other outside; unsure of what to do.

Simon stood and walked towards the cage. "Jed, go check if it's our guy. Be careful." He lifted the cloth covering the cage. He glanced at Damian's leg where the wound was. "Also, we shouldn't forget our main problem, with that injury, forget about walking- he'll probably lose his leg."

After hearing what he said, Damian was dumbfounded. He instantly tried to move his legs, but not only couldn't move, but he also couldn't feel his leg at all. He didn't even notice that he was already breathing and trembling hard.

Simon noticed his movements. "Oh he's awake, hey brian, the anesthesia you gave wasn't enough for him."

"I was being careful, alright. I don't want him to suffer from an overdose. Less is better." He took another bottle and an injection from his pocket; started filling up the injection. "Hey, can you open the cage and hold him real tight?"

Simon opened the cage and dragged the person outside. Damian started struggling intensely against the people holding him.

Connor laughed while holding Damian. "Feisty alright even with the drugs, hopefully, his healthy body will compensate for his missing limb."

Tears and snot rain down his face, he tried to resist with all his might against those hunters. 'NO! Fuck! Fuck! I don't want to be a prisoner! I need to escape!'

He screamed through the cloth, and at the same time, tried kicking those people away.

"Fuck! He's wilder than I thought. We should knock him out again." Connor suggested, he grabs a metal pipe by his side.

Simon stopped him."Don't, you'll break his skull. Brian, inject the drug quickly." He held down his head tightly.

Brian swiftly plunged the needle into his neck and inserted the drug in the vein. "Done."

The drug worked right away, in seconds, his vision started to fade and his control over his body started to slip away. 'No no no...s-shit…' His eyes started to close and his movement ceased.

They changed the bandage on his legs and put him back in the cage. Then the door opened, Jed appeared from the doorway. "He's here!" .