Page 2 of Dodging Bullets

Growling, he leaned forward, like he wanted to leap to his feet and punish me as usual. Yet, he held himself back. “Do as you aretold!” he yelled, the sound echoing around the room. Shock at his anger had me quickly lifting my veil, letting it fall back until it caught around my shoulders.

Their eyes lingered on my head, which was completely shaven, as was the custom here for unmatched females. Your hair was for your Alpha only, when you were officially mated.

In this case, I was waiting for my mating with Leader Malakai, even though he was sixty and the thought of lying with him made my stomach feel queasy. But I’d like to have hair again, even if that was vain.

The large man on the right side of the table gave a hum of approval, his eyes lighting up with another expression I couldn’t understand, his dark eyes holding secrets that scared me. “Are you sure we can’t convince you to skip the brand thing? It significantly lowers the value of the merchandise.” He had a cadence to his voice I hadn’t ever heard before, and something about his words made me shiver.

Leader Malakai shook his head. He lowered his voice until I doubted the Brothers and Sisters behind me could hear. “Unfortunately, I have to insist. For the optics, you understand.”

I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. “What is going on?” I asked again dumbly. “Leader?”

But Leader Malakai isn’t listening to me. He waved a hand. “Sister Roberta, if you would?”

Whirling on my feet, I looked at the woman who’d all but raised me. I didn’t have a mother, per se, though I knew enough to know that one of the women in the community had physically birthed me. However, everyone was raised by the village, all children being progeny of the community and not a single person. Sister Roberta had been the maternal figure inthe House of Malakai for as long as I could remember, and so I looked at her like a mother.

Which made her betrayal as she grabbed me and shoved me down into a chair all the worse. She was holding a long piece of metal, with a thick red handle and a long black cord. The end of the metal was glowing orange, and suddenly, the wordbrandmade a lot more sense.

I struggled, but more Brothers and Sisters came forward to hold me. Only the elder ones, though, dutiful members of our community.

“Be still, child. It will all be okay,” Sister Roberta murmured, but the guilt in her eyes betrayed her. A hysterical whine burst from my lips as she stepped closer.

“Hold still,” Brother Ned grumbled, holding my chin so tightly that my jaw ached, yanking my head to the side and baring my neck. I screamed as I felt the hot press of the brand against the base of my throat. The scent of burning flesh fogged around me, my nerve endings lighting up with unimaginable pain.

“Izuny be damned,” Sister Roberta cussed, shocking me. “Hold her tighter so she doesn’t burn herself all the way to the muscle.”

And then there were more hands holding me too tightly, the sizzle of skin becoming louder. Finally, the long rod pulled away, and the hands released me quickly, stepping away like my fate might be contagious.

Desperate fingers pulled at the lace veil, and I dragged it up over my head, but the sensation of the scratchy lace on my abused skin made me want to scream again.

Leader Malakai stood, as did the three men with him. The guy on the left had a winning smile, with perfectly straight teeth that gleamed white under the oil-lantern chandelier. At any other time, I’d have even considered him handsome. “Thankyou. If you have any further merchandise you’d like to dispose of, give us a call.”

The guy next to him was like a cornered animal, looking this way and that, like he was expecting an attack from the shadows in the room. The last guy, the one on the right, looked at me with hot eyes that burned against my skin, right along with the brand. They made me want to run away screaming.

I felt nothing now. Except maybe cold. Another part of my brain was aware of the excruciating pain at the base of my throat.

Leader Malakai stopped in front of me. “Please, Leader. I…” I didn’t understand. Even now, I could almost smell the stench of my fear and the negative emotions of the others over the burnt flesh scent.

Leader Malakai held up a hand, and like a well-trained dog, I stopped completely, the words shuddering to a halt in my throat. “Children marked by Melize are no longer welcome in the safety of our walls. You will go with these men, Paloma, and your actions will appease the torment of Izuny, and put us back into his favor.” He shoved me toward the dark-eyed man, who held me tightly in his arms like I might run.

He was right to believe that, because I struggled against his hold. Because the men weren’t just strangers, they were Alphas. Strange Alphas were holding me.

“Please, Leader!” I screamed as the dark-eyed man picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder, like the potatoes I’d hauled up from the storage sheds today.

All the Leaders turned their back on me, and that was it. I no longer existed to them.

I looked up, straining. “Sister!” I yelled at Sister Roberta, and again, guilt flashed across her face, before she dropped her eyes to the ground, unable to look at me.

Taking a door I’d never even seen before, the men carried me down a long, dark hallway.

“Help!” I screamed, until the handsome man who’d thanked Leader Malakai grabbed my ear and pulled me up so I was forced to look at him.

“Quiet!”I felt his words wash over me like an oily coating, and no matter how loud I screamed, no sound passed my lips.

We reached a large metal object, which I’d only seen in one of Leader Malakai’s magazines. A vehicle. They were all meant to be relics of the past, but this shiny black machine didn’t look like a relic.

My breaths felt like they were too big to leave my lungs, and I was panting. I couldn’t breathe. I was going to die.

Stuffing me into the back of the car, the dark-eyed guy stopped in front of me, his hands almost gentle on my cheeks.“Calm.”

---