Chapter 2: Meeting THE Man

Everyone shrieked as the guard turned off the safety and reached for the trigger. The echo of a gunshot pierced her the air. With a shrill cry, Kai fell to her knees with her hands slammed over her ears.

"What the fuck are you doing, Dan?" The guard who had steered the gun away from kai's forehead to a corner of a wall snarled at his colleague. "We have no directive to kill any woman in here."

"How do you propose we explain this mess to him?" Dan queried. "We accidentally abducted the wrong girl. That means there's one more girl out there who fits the boss's description. What if she's the one he's looking for and not any of the women in here? I say we kill this bitch and find the other one." He tried to aim the gun at Kai again but the other guard disarmed him and pointed the gun at Dan instead.

"Calm the fuck down, Danny."

"What are you doing, Scott? We could get in big trouble if the boss finds out about this."

"He already did." Scott announced, jutting his chin towards the door. Sam gasped as the man from earlier stood by the door.

Kai pried her eyes open to stare at the man whose mere presence had caused a sudden hush to fall over the room. The entire cell wing was bathed in his fragrant cologne. He had a mane of curly brown hair bouncing around his ears as he walked forward. Tattoos curled out of his sleeved arms and conspicuously twined around his wrists.

"Alpha." Dan greeted with a low bow. "I'm sorry about this mistake. I'll see to it that it is rectified immediately…" He trailed off when the alpha strode past him to stand before Kai who was still on her knees. She gaped at his glossy shoes, then felt his hand cup her chin and forced it upwards. Their eyes met.

DAMON WAYNE, Kai uttered in her head, recognizing him. Woodbridge's most eligible billionaire bachelor. How unsurprising. Young and single billionaires like Damon Wayne did the shadiest things behind closed doors. She matched the fire in his eyes with a fierce look of her own.

"Alpha, I promise to find the last girl. Please, pardon my mistake. I was just trying to clean up this mess before you...."

"If you wanted to clean up, you would have done so already." Damon quipped, his eyes steadfastly locked on Kai's.

"I would have if Scott hadn't stopped me."

Damon sucked his teeth and let go of Kai's chin. "You know the one thing I hate more than a mistake is an excuse, right, Dan?"

As her circled her, Kai felt him grab the tail of her hair painfully, pulling her to her feet. He crooked a finger and Scott passed the pistol to him. Everyone watched uncomfortably as he slammed Kai's body against his and draped his left hand across her shoulder, just above the swell of her wet boobs.

He smelt really good but Kai didn't care. She writhed against his firm, groping hands.

"Easy, tiger." Damon whispered in her ear. Even his voice made chills run down her spine. He brandished the gun at the cluster of women and smiled deviously when they panicked. "You have two options, sweetheart. You either take this gun and kill Dan for failing to kill you or Dan's going to use the gun to kill any woman of his pick over there."

Cold shivered down Kai's spine. Damon continued. "You only have one choice and one shot. If you shoot Dan and he doesn't die instantly, he gets to shoot you too until one of you dies. Any questions?"

Kai's eyes went blurry as Damon forced the gun in her hand and steered it towards Dan who profusely begged the alpha to pardon him.

"Aim for the head." Damon whispered in her ear. "Gets the job done all the time."

Kai's hand trembled around the gun. A million thoughts floated in her mind. This was definitely a test but she wasn't sure what he wanted. There was no guarantee that he wouldn't kill her or any other woman after she shot Dan. There was also no escaping this hell hole even if she put a gun in Damon's head either. She didn't know what to do.

"I don't have all day!" Damon barked behind her. Her heart galloped when he pulled out a personal gun from his pants and aimed it the other women. "Shall we do a countdown to see who shoots first?" A lady keeled over with a blood-curdling scream as Damon fired. Panic ensued. Kai vibrated with fear, staring with tearful eyes at the bride-to-be.

"Bullet only grazed her leg. That was intentional but the next one will definitely be lodged in her head in a fraction of a second. That, I promise you." Damon told her before aiming at the women again.

"KILL HIM!" Some chanted in tears. "JUST KILL HIM."

Shaking, Kai aimed for Dan again.

"I'LL DO IT!" One of the girls said, stepping up. "I'll shoot him in her place. Please, don't hurt us. You must have brought us here for a reason, right? It makes no sense to kill us like flies." Her voice shook but she kept a brave face. "What if you kill the very woman you're searching for?"

Damon angled his head. "What makes you think I am searching for one woman?"

"I heard the guards. You're wasting time and bullets unnecessarily. Let me kill Dan. In return, you'll spare her life and we can all go back to whatever fucked up reason you had us abducted in the first place."

A small smiled crept into Damon's cheek as he lowered his gun. He always liked women with a little spunk.

"Fine." Damon tucked his gun back in his pocket. "You better get on with it."

As the brave girl headed for Kai, the sound of a gunshot ripped through the air. Dan thudded to the floor with a smoking hole in his head. Everyone gaped at Kai who sank to her feet and threw up on Damon's glossy shoes. She wiped her lips and chucked the gun away. The other girl caught her before she could pass out. Scott hurriedly wiped the alpha's shoes clean while Damon fumed.

"Scott!"

"Yes, alpha."

"Get them all cleaned up and ready in three hours."

"Yes, alpha."

***

When kai's eyes fluttered open, she was back in her cell, surrounded by her cellmates. Her head throbbed. As she sat up, she noticed everyone was a lot calmer than before which was ironical given everything they had just witnessed.

"Are you okay?" She asked the bride-to-be.

"I'm fine. It was just a flesh wound."

"Why did you kill Dan all of a sudden?" Sam asked with a scowl. "You couldn't bring yourself to do it when he was brandishing a gun at us or even when he actually shot Lara so where did you suddenly get the courage after Jessy offered to do it"

Everyone stared at Kai, including Jessy who didn't look pleased also.

"Were you trying to get his attention?" Someone asked, rising. "The name is Tyla by the way." She crouched in front of Kai. "We all saw him. He's Damon Wayne, the youngest billionaire and sexiest man alive. If you do have a hole between your legs, I bet something wet seeped out when his hands were all over you. Were you trying to get on his radar, Ms. Twenty-four from Snow Lake, Bairmington?"

Kai shoved at Tyla and gave her accusers a searing look. "Perhaps if you all had been paying more attention to Dan and not fantasizing about your abductor, you would have noticed Dan wanted to snatch the gun from my hand and kill Jessy before she could kill him." She stared around the room. "Did no one see Dan reach for the gun in my hand or were you all having sexual day dreams about the man who snatched you from your families to play Russian roulette with your lives in here?"

"I saw him." The bride, Lara, said. "She saved Jessy's life."

"Thanks." Jessy mumbled. Kai retreated to her corner of the wall for some much-needed solitude. She couldn't believe them. How could they think such shameless thoughts? Damon was a cold-hearted killer from every indication. Did they really think he lacked women in his bed? That couldn't be the reason he had abducted them.

Sam scooted over.

"Back off!" Kai growled at her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see Dan and didn't know what else to think. Look, I just want to know if you have any theories as to why Damon Wayne would abduct women of a certain description. It's very important to him for some reason. I think he plans to go after the lady who was supposed to be in your place. Any ideas?"

Kai shrugged. "I've got nothing. I guess we'll have to wait and find out."

"They called him alpha." Jessy stated, leaning forward. "I can't decipher if it's just to stroke his male ego or something more."

Kai went to peek to see if any guard was in sight. Seeing no one, she called out for her sister.

"She's not there. The other two cells were cleared out. I think the girls are having their baths. Damon ordered us to be cleaned up." Sam informed her. "We will be going soon."

"Why aren't they back?"

"I hope it's because they've been given better accommodation like a room with a soft bed."

Her humor was lost on Kai who stared worriedly. Just as Sam had said, Kai and her cellmates were soon escorted to a massive room to have their baths. There were bathtubs and showers with fragrant shower gels. The sink was lined with all types of hair and skin care products. Most of the girls laughed and played as they enjoyed their bubble baths and showers.

"I wonder why he wants us all cleaned up and smelling nice." One winked at her new friend.

"I hope he invites me to his bed. I won't mind. It's like my mafia book fantasies are coming true." The second girl giggled as she dried her hair. Kai toweled her body and ignored Tyla who was putting on a deep shade of red lipstick. The ladies were crammed around the mirror, touching up their faces with makeup.

"What?" One asked when she saw the look on Kai's face. "He wouldn't leave these products here if he didn't want us to use them, would he?"

After they were all dressed in T-shirts and jeans left by the guards, the girls grumbled as they were escorted to their cells once more. It didn't perk their mood that it had been cleaned.

"He's got a whole palatial mansion out there. Why does he keep us locked in here like dogs?" Lara complained. Kai was glad Cleo looked calm when she passed. Her sister had even made new friends in her cell.

"What's this?" Someone from Cleo's cell asked. "It says Luna 12. Hey, everyone, check your pockets." When they all checked their pockets, they found a paper with the words Luna and a number printed on them.

"Luna?" Sam wondered. "What's that?"

"Luna." Jessy repeated. "They called him alpha, now we all have cards with Luna written on them." She sighed as her audience failed to catch her drift. "Does no one else read good paranormal romance novels about werewolves? Jeez. Okay. Werewolves are humans who can shift into a wolf form. Don't worry, they're mythical creatures. An alpha (mostly males but can be female) is the leader of a pack of werewolves. A Luna is his female consort or wife if you will. Do we get it now?"

Someone leaned on the bars from the third cell. "That's disturbing. Why would Damon Wayne abduct seventy-five of us to play this silly game of jostling for the role of his Luna. I thought billionaires didn't have that much time on their hands to indulge in silly fantasies."

"They don't." Sam answered before staring nervously at Jessy. "You don't think the rumors in Woodbridge are true, right? The animal attacks that have killed a bunch of people? Are we sure werewolves are truly a myth? Damon can't be…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the statement. "No." She shook her head, laughing hysterically. "He can't be. He must be a sick fan of lycanthropy and wishes to abuse his wealth by forcing us to indulge in his fantasy."

Everyone processed their thoughts silently. Sam recalled Damon's glowing eyes and shuddered. Could it have been the light or something worse.

"Hey, Jessy?"

"Yeah?"

"Do werewolves, especially alphas, typically have glowing yellow eyes"

"Yeah. Why?"

Sam met Kai's eyes. "I think I saw Damon's eyes glowing just before we got splashed with water." An eerie silence followed her outburst. The door to the cell block swung open, startling everyone. When they turned, Damon was at the door.