Chapter 20 - Alanis
They’d been spying on the compound for three days when Alanis made her decision.
Rael wouldn’t like it. Actually, he was likely to try to prevent her if she informed him about what she was about to do.
But sitting in the woods, with the binoculars watching as her old pack conducted their business, while waiting for weeks to collect sufficient evidence, all of it was making her crazy.
Each day they waited meant another day those women in the holding facilities were suffering. Another day that Caldwell Pack profited from their crimes. Another day that they remained unharmed.
And Alanis could wait no more.
“I have got an idea,” she said, putting down her binoculars.
Rael looked at her warily. “Why do I not like this already?”
“Because you know me too well.” She inhaled sharply. Now or never. “We can wait weeks to get evidence and organize a full raid, or we can get inside now and get the information we need to put the whole network out of business in one swoop.”
“You want to infiltrate your pack? As in go undercover?”
“Not want. Need.” Alanis pointed to the compound. “We can see what is happening on the outside. But what is happening on the inside, who they are reporting to, where the money goes, and how the network communicates? We don’t know that. So, we must get an informant inside.”
“And that’s you?” His voice hardened. “Alanis, they tortured you for months, and then you escaped. What makes you think they are not going to kill you on sight?”
“Maybe they won’t.” Alanis had been thinking about this for days, exploring every angle. “If I show up lost, and confused, unable to make a living alone, they might see me as their lost property. Something to retrieve.”
“They will take you as a threat. Somebody who knows how they work, who might have exposed them. They will get rid of you before you become an issue.”
“They won’t because I would give them a reason to keep me alive.
” She’d worked this out carefully. “I will tell them that I did not report them, because I did not have a place to go or people to believe me. I will tell them I have been trying to live in the human world, and I just couldn’t hack it.
I will act desperate, broken, ready to do anything not to be alone anymore. ”
“You are not a good enough actress to pull that off. You are too strong and confident. They will see right through it.”
“All I need to do is position myself as a dumb, helpless woman with nowhere to go. That I would rather be with the pack, even as a piece of inventory, than continue to try to survive alone. People do desperate things when they are tired of fighting.
Rael rose to his feet, pacing the little clearing where they had established their observation spot. “This is crazy. Let us assume they don’t
kill you on the spot, and they accept your story—you will be there with no means of getting in touch with anybody. You will be at their mercy altogether.”
“I have been at their mercy, and I lived through it before; I will live through it again.”
“You were a child then. You didn’t have a choice.” Rael shook his head. “Now you have a choice, you do not need to go through that anymore.”
“But I do.” She stood as well, closing the distance between them. “Each day we wait, more women get hurt. The only way we can bring down the whole operation is to get to know who is at the top. There is a top dog, and I have to find out who that person is.”
“We can get that information in other ways—”
“Not fast enough.” Alanis grabbed his hands. “Rael, I understand that it’s risky. I understand that it’s a lot to ask. But that is what I have been trained to do. The Lumen taught me how to infiltrate, collect intelligence, and survive in a hostile environment. This is literally what I do.”
“The Lumen did not train you to go back to a pack that previously tortured you. God, Alanis, this is not just another mission. This is personal, and I cannot—” his jaw clenched. “I cannot see you go there, while I watch, knowing what they did to you.”
“Then don’t watch,” Alanis said softly. “I just need you to trust that I can handle this.”
“This is not about trust.”
“Yes, it is.” She pulled his hands closer and pressed them to her chest. “I trust you to pull me out of there if you sense anything wrong, and I trust you to believe that I can take anything they dish out. That I am strong enough, intelligent enough, and competent enough to do this.”
Rael growled. “This is fucking insane. If something goes wrong—”
“I will try to make contact with you.”
“Alanis, I don’t—”
She cut him off with a soft kiss. Then pulled away and mumbled against his lips. “Please. Trust me.”
Rael rested his forehead against hers, his chest heaving. “I hate this. I hate everything about this plan.”
“I know.”
“But you are going to do it regardless.”
“I have to.”
He pulled back and gently cradled her face. “We are going to be smart about this. We set up protocols, emergency signals, and extraction plans. And should at any time I suspect that you are in danger—”
“You pull me out.”
“Damn right, I will.” He kissed her hard.
“When this is all over, you and I are having a very important talk about you running into unnecessary risks. Now, you need a cover that is plausible, something that is going to explain why you are in this region. Something that does not automatically make you a suspect.”
Alanis and Rael spent the next two hours planning. Alanis would go in through the east, the opposite side of their surveillance stand.
“They will recognize you. Do not try to hide that. Make use of it.”
“Yeah. But I will spin it into the whole I am tired, desperate, and ready to submit at the price of not being alone anymore.”
“They will put you to the test.”
“I know.” The knots in her stomach twisted with anxiety. “I can handle it.”
“I know you can, and that frightens me.” Rael pulled out his phone. “I’m setting up a dead drop. If you can get a message out—names, locations, any intelligence—you leave it here.” He showed her a location on the map, a hollow tree about half a mile from the compound. “I’ll check it twice daily.”
“And if I need an emergency extraction?”
“Red cloth tied to the eastern fence post. I will be able to see it at our surveillance post, and I will come immediately.”
“How long can I stay?”
“Three days at most,” he said firmly. “Then, I’m hauling you out with or without the information.”
“Three days is more than enough”
She hoped she was right.
***
The following day, Alanis was getting ready to be an infiltrator.
She wore old clothing, which was an indication of a person who had led a rough life. She messed up her hair, smeared her face and arms with dirt.
Rael stared at her, looking grim. “Last chance to change your mind.”
“No.” She checked herself in the car’s mirror one more time. “How do I look?”
“Like you have gone through hell. Which I guess is the point.”
“Exactly.” She locked eyes with him. “I will be fine, Rael.”
“Don’t make promises you might not be able to keep.”
“Then I will give another promise.” She took his hand. “I will do all I can to get back to you. To live through this.”
Rael pulled her tightly into his arms. “Remember, three days. Not a day longer.”
“I know.”
Then she pulled away, squared her shoulders, and went into the woods.
The hike through the western edge took an hour or so. Alanis took the time to get into character, to recall how desperate and scared she was when she ran away at sixteen. She needed to embody who she was back then again. But only long enough to obtain what they needed.
The compound came into view through the trees. Alanis inhaled deeply. She approached the guard posts, walking clumsily.
She had gone as far as twenty feet when someone shouted.
“Stop right there!”
Alanis paused and put her hands up in the air. “Please—I’m lost. I have been walking for days. I-I need help.”
Two sentinels came out of the woods, both with weapons. One of them was an older one, whom she vaguely remembered. He stared at her face for a while, then his eyes widened.
“Holy shit. It’s her. It’s the Hester girl.”
The other guard, who looked younger, seemed to be perplexed. “Who?”
“The one who ran and put us all in deep shit all those years ago.” The older one aimed his gun at her. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I didn’t know where to go,” Alanis said, making her voice tremble and sound scared. “I have been trying to live out there, but I can no longer do it. I am fed up with running, fed up with being on my own. I just—I just want to come home.”
“Home?” He scoffed. “You think you can run away from this pack and just come back at your convenience?”
“I know there will be repercussions. But I would rather deal with that than be alone and struggling. Please, just take me to Alpha Gavin. Have him decide what to do with me.”
The guards looked at each other. Then the older one pulled out a radio.
“We have a situation at the western end of the line. You might want to see this.”
Gavin Caldwell came out ten minutes later, with Dominique and three other members of the pack, whom Alanis recognized.
Gavin looked older, with gray streaking through his hair, but his brown eyes were as cold as she recalled.
“Alanis Hester,” he sneered. “I never thought I would see you again. I thought you were dead out there in the human world.”
“I did almost die,” Alanis replied, sounding weak. “Several times. Turns out it is almost as bad as being shiftless in a pack.”
“So you came back on your hands and knees.” Dominique moved forward, her smile sharp. “You realized you wanted to be here after eight years of running?”
“Yeah, I don’t buy it,” Gavin chuckled darkly. “But fuck it if I let you run away again.” He nodded to the guards. “Bind her and take her away.”
“Wait,” Dominique raised her hand. “We must check something out.” She took a step closer to Alanis, with a calculating expression. “You’ve been out there for eight years. Living rough, you said. Did you ever... strike any deals to live? Exchange anything for food or a home?”
Alanis knew what she was trying to ask. It was disgusting to see that she was still the same. “No. I never—I couldn’t. The thought of letting them do that to me, it sickened me. So I just... I remained a virgin.”
She watched the interest form in Dominique’s eyes. “Fantastic,” she smirked.
Gavin gestured to one of the guards. “Take her to the quarters of the Alpha. She will be there until we are prepared to move her. It is for better protection.”
“You are not the Alpha anymore?” Alanis asked before she could help herself.
“I am still the Alpha of this pack. But we have grown and expanded,” he smiled proudly.
“There is more than one operation; more than one territory. I see to all of them, but each one has its leader.” He nodded to the young man who came forward.
“This is Derek, the Alpha here at this facility. You will report directly to him.”
Derek stepped forward. Alanis fought the urge to recoil as recognition slammed into her.
She knew that face. She knew those sleazy blue eyes. That was Derek Hester. Her distant cousin. The man who had bullied her ruthlessly since she was ten years old until the day she escaped. The one who had enjoyed the “training” sessions and had offered to be among her evaluators.
He also told her on the evening before her sixteenth birthday that he was looking forward to buying her for himself.
“Well, well, well,” Derek smiled broadly
“Hello, cousin. It’s been a long time.”
“Hello, Derek,” she spat, narrowing her eyes.
“Oh, this will be good. This will be fun.” He walked closer.
“You and me, back to spending quality time with each other. Just like we did in the old days. But this time, I am the boss. And you,” he grabbed her chin roughly.
“You belong to me. Until we sell you off at least. Or maybe I could buy you.”
Alanis didn’t flinch or pull away. This was the price of acquiring the information that they required. She could deal with Derek Hester.
“Take her in,” Gavin said. “Make sure she is secured. We will talk about the time of the auction later.”
Derek grabbed Alanis by the arm tightly, pulling her to the main building in the compound. Just three days, she thought.
She only needed to endure three days, and then she would destroy them.