Chapter Four
After what felt like hours, the truck came to a stop. Looking around, Ember could see humans everywhere. All of different shapes and sizes. They were all wearing very fancy and expensive looking clothing, most of them had their hair tied back in intricate ponytails, some sported hats, and others wore suits. Just then, Piper yelped as a human pup grabbed her tail through the bars of the cage. Piper nuzzled closer to Ember as she let out a warning growl, making the human pup back away.
"Stop that!" Jason yelled as he poked Embee through the cage with a sharp stick. Her ears flattened against her head while she tried to move away from his harsh jabbing. Jason sighed loudly before unlocking the cage and grabbing hold of Ember's chain, pulling her out of the cage and off the bed of the truck. This time, Embee landed on her paws. Looking around, she noticed a small crowd starting to form around them. Jason ignored them as he pulled Ember along, soon followed by Travis, Piper and the remaining wolves in the back of the truck.
They were led into a large building that smelled of humans, alcohol, sweat and other animals. Ember wrinkled her nose at the smell, letting out another growl. Jason led the way to a room in the back where they were met by a man in a silly looking hat. "Greeting Jason, where's Levi?" "He's coming, bringing in two of our newest pups." "Wonderful! Y'all always bring in such beautiful specimens, can't wait to see what all y'all brought this year." The man said, a wide grin on his face. The man then looked down at Ember after noticing the chain in Jason's hand. "And who's this?"
"This is Ember, got her when she was just a pup. Surprised no one's bought her yet. I'm hoping she'll be sold by the end of the day." Jason explained. Levi then walked over with Piper and Travis who instantly hid under Ember when they approached. "And the two pups? Are they her's?" "God no, we haven't bred her yet. The two pups belonged to a lady who sold them to us. Quite a story behind it actually but I'll tell you about it later. The two pups just seem to like her." Levi replied.
"She's got good motherly instincts. Would make for a good breeder. Lots of people are here in search of breeders, she might just sell." Ember shivered at his words, this is the second time they've talked about force breeding her. It made her feel sick and violated. "I do hope so, any wolf left by the end of the day, we'll be killing. We need more room back at the shop and all the ones we've brought are the ones that we couldn't sell." "Well all the wolves you've brought seem to be in good shape, maybe a little underweight but other than that, they're beautiful. I do have high doubts for the female pup though. She's injured.." The man trailed off.
"That's unfortunate, she's got pretty fur but such a big mouth. Her brother, on the other hand, hasn't said a word since we got him." Ember glared at Levi. '𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱?' "Is he mute?" The strange man asked while kneeling down to get a better look at Travis.
"He's a bit small.." He said while moving his hands towards the tiny pup. Travis let out a growl, not liking the man getting closer to him. "Shut it." Levi said while yanking on the chain attached to the collar around Travis's neck. The man continued and managed to pick Travis up despite him backing away and growling. Travis turned his head and snapped at the man's hand, though unable to actually bite him due to the muzzle, the man dropped Travis and quickly pulled his hands back.
"You damn mongrel!" The man spat out. Levi kicked Travis in the side, making him whimper. Ember let out a half growl before Jason harshly stepped on her tail to shut her up. "I thought you trained them better." The man said while glaring at Levi and Jason. "We did teach them. The puppies are new and Ember just won't break. Even with her mother being killed right in front of her. She usually behaves just fine but lately she's been acting up when it comes to those two mutts." Levi stated coldly as he crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes never leaving Ember.
"That won't be an issue in the future. Ember will definitely sell today and I have a friend in need of some new bait dogs and the two mongrels would do nicely." The man Smirked. "How much are you willing to pay for them?" "Six hundred each." "I'll have to think about it. I'll let you know at the end of the auction. We'll just keep them in the back room until then." The man simply nodded before leaving the room.
"What's a bait dog..?" Piper asked, her voice wavering, tears threatening to fall. "Shut up!" Jason said while kicking Piper in the side. Piper let out a small scream as she fell to the floor. Ember took a step forward, wanting to comfort Piper but Jason quickly yanked her back by the chains and forced her to the ground. "I'd watch what you're doing bitch. " Jason snarled as he pushed his foot into her stomach.
Ember curled in upon herself, trying to shield herself from the blows that were continuously landing on her body. She didn't even hear the door open again, nor did she notice the man had walked back into the room. "Auctions are about to start." "Right, that's enough Jason. Don't want to injure her too much. Now let's go." Levi said while grabbing the chains attached to Piper and Travis.
They locked them up in cages and one by one they started bringing a wolf up front then shortly after, they'd bring them back and lock them up. Soon enough it was Ember's turn. Levi unlocked her cage and she slowly rose to her feet. Levi reached inside and grabbed the chain attached to her collar. Pulling her out of the cage, he led her out of the room and into a much bigger room.
This room was much larger than any other that she's seen. It was filled with people, all sitting on chairs. Each one held a paper containing different numbers. '𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮..?' Ember thought to herself as she was led to the back of the podium. She was so focused on the room and the people that she didn't realize all the other wolves were following them.