Page 1 of Chosen (The Registry #2)

Chapter

One

JAMIE

I think I’m going to be sick.

Not the kind of sick where it starts with a little itch in the back of your throat. And then escalates to a cough, runny nose, achy body, fever and chills. Nope. This is the kind of sick that comes on suddenly and makes you so nauseous you want to throw up the entire contents of your stomach.

It’s the kind of sick that makes you hyperventilate and causes your chest to burn to the point you can’t breathe and you think you’re going to die.

I wrap my arms around my body in a full hug to hold myself as I grow unsteady on my feet.

My ears refuse to register the words of comfort and sympathy issued by my parents and sister.

I’m sure they’re trying their best to find something to say to calm me down, but they’re too late. Panic has already set in.

I take several steps away from them as they reach out to me. I shake my head vehemently.

“No! Don’t touch me!”

I think if I allow myself to be embraced, I’ll really fall apart, especially when I’ve fought so hard these last few months to hold my sanity intact.

After all I’ve been through, I find myself close to cracking again.

There’s only been two times in my life when I’ve felt this helpless.

The first time was when the Enforcers raided the commune my family and I had lived on peacefully.

No place is perfect, but we had been happy, away from the unjust laws of the superious .

Us homo sapiens made our own rules, some good and some bad, but at least we didn’t live in conditions that basically made us slaves to a system with no real way out.

Oh, the powers that be, believe we’re treated just fine because they pay us wages for the jobs we’re assigned, but said compensation is barely enough for most of us to scrape by.

My parents had taken the risk of fleeing to an off grid commune with me and my sister in hopes for a better life.

And for the most part it was. I had been young when we’d fled so I barely remember what life had been like before then.

But I’d been told how bad things were from the older residents and my parents.

My sister Noah, who is only a couple years older than me, recalled bits and pieces and what she’d told me wasn’t great.

So when the Enforcers came to break up the idyllic life we had and threw us in cages like animals, the sick was strong.

When my sister was taken away, I’d given into it and vomited all over the cramped prison I’d been kept in.

The worst part was sitting in it before the smell got so bad the Enforcers had hosed the cage down.

Despite that, the scent had still lingered.

And now, for the second time, that feeling has returned. Yet this time, it’s much worse because there’s no chance of rescue. I’d sensed, something was wrong the second my family asked to speak with me privately.

My mom’s eyes were red and her nose swollen as if she had been rubbing it excessively. My father had that stoic tight-lipped look he adapts when he’s worried about something. As for my sister, she couldn’t quite meet my eyes.

So now for the second time, I have this sick feeling.

As the silence grips the room in a vice, I take several calming breaths to ease the tension in my body.

No one in the room seems to know what to say so I finally manage to croak out the first words that come to mind. “How long?”

There’s no immediate response so I raise my head and direct my tear-filled gaze toward my sister. For some reason, seeing Noah holding her rounded belly protectively, causes the panic within me to rise.

I clutch my chest and fall to my knees. “How long!” I demand again when the room remains silent.

Noah walks over to me and places her hand on my shoulder. “Maybe we should talk about this when you’ve calmed down.”

I smack her hand away. “For fucks sake, would you answer the damn question? How long do I have before I have to go with that monster?” As the words spill from my lips, so do the tears. They run down my cheeks unheeded and I can’t stop.

“He’ll be here in five days,” Noah finally answers.

That gives me practically no time to get used to my new situation. In the last few months, my life has been nothing but one upheaval after another. Being assigned as a companion had been bad enough. Actually, way worse than I could have possibly imagined.

I’d been forced to do things that makes me so ashamed, I dare not tell anyone about it. I don’t think my family would understand. I thought no assignment could be worse than companion. But I was wrong. I’ve now been assigned the worst possible position there could be.

Breeder.

But not just any breeder. I’ve been matched with the one called The Beast .

Others call him the Savage Sector Leader.

Sector 10 is one of the coldest regions, where the work is grueling and apparently people are experimented on.

Since forcefully being taken from the compound, I’d heard ‘at least we’re not on sector 10’.

Sector 2 is bad enough in my opinion after what I’d endured but to know there are worse sectors makes my stomach plummet to my feet. How will I survive so brutal a man?

“Mom, Dad, could you please give us a minute?” Noah asks through the haze of my misery.

“Okay, but we’ll be here if you need us, Jamie,” my mother replies.

My father leads her out of the room after shooting me a sympathetic smile. I know it’s not their fault that I’ve landed in this predicament but I can’t stop the resentment from bubbling within me. And I hate myself for it.

I want my family to be happy, yet I can’t shake this shroud of doom that squeezes my heart so tightly, I want to scream and never stop.

Noah drops to her knees at my side and attempts to put her arms around me, but I flinch away from her touch. I used to love hugs and affection but now being touched makes me feel…unclean.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, when I see lines of sadness etched in my sister’s face.

She sighs and folds her hands in her lap but she stays close. “It’s okay. I empathize with how you feel right now.”

I steal a glance at her protruding belly. “I seriously doubt that. You can’t possibly know how I feel when you’ve openly admitted to loving the man who did that to you.” Again, I glare at her stomach. “The way you allow him to lay his hands on you and how happy you seem about it makes me cringe.”

Noah doesn’t reply immediately and I turn my head away so I don’t see the hurt I’ve probably inflicted on her. Part of me knows she had no choice being assigned as breeder to the Sector 2 Leader. But the other half of me resents her for willingly becoming his bride.

That was a choice.

Shortly after my parents and I were reassigned to the Sector 2 Leader’s Manor, Noah had informed us that she and Lord Magnus were to be wed.

My parents seemed concerned at first until Noah assured them that this was what she wanted.

After that I couldn’t see her in the same light.

Where was the person who never had a kind word to say about any superious , and ranted about the injustice of the homo sapien plight?

After all that, how could she tie herself to the enemy for the rest of her life when she had the opportunity to be free of him after giving him a child?

It’s my understanding that breeders are given land and enough credits to live off of, in comfort for the remainder of their days after producing an heir for their master.

But no, not Noah. She declined the settlement she would have received for providing the Sector Leader an heir.

She didn’t even have a grand ceremony that was her due, considering the status of her husband.

Instead, Noah and Lord Magnus had a quiet wedding ceremony with a few witnesses, my parents and myself included.

Noah explained she that she didn’t want a huge event while she was pregnant and Magnus didn’t want to wait to legally make her his bride which is why they opted for something quick and small.

Apparently, they planned to have the big ceremony with all the other Sector Leaders and their dignitaries after the baby is born, and Noah has fully recovered.

I want to be happy for her because she seems content with her situation.

I’ve noticed the way her face lights up when Magnus is around and the secret smile that curves her lips when she cradles her belly.

But every time I see them together a deep feeling of betrayal seeps into my soul that I just can’t shake.

Maybe there are things Noah sees in the Sector 2 Leader that I don’t but as far as I’m concerned, he’s responsible for keeping my family oppressed.

And while this deep resentment festers within me, I say nothing because ultimately, I don’t want to hurt Noah.

I just don’t understand how this has come to be.

Was there some kind of brainwashing program involved?

When the silence stretches to the point of awkwardness, I finally look at my sister. Her head is bowed, and her eyes are swimming in tears. I’ve hurt her and a wave of guilt swipes at my heart. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” I mumble.

She shrugs. “There’s no need to apologize.

It’s how you feel. Don’t mind me, these pregnancy hormones are causing havoc on my emotions.

I cry over the slightest thing. This morning, I cried because my eggs were a tad undercooked.

And the funny thing is, if we were living back on the commune, or in our old home, I would have devoured them.

I’ve become so spoiled and I feel bad because I know there are many people in far worse positions than I am. ”