Page 3

Harlow

Two Weeks Later

Monday Afternoon

D ark Haven Institute was on the edge of the city, secluded in a copse of trees, and looming high into the bright afternoon sky.

The Gothic structure looked like something out of a fantasy novel with its faded stone exterior and gargoyle statues standing sentry by the front stairs and the rooftop, as if protecting the world from the crazy people inside.

Dread settled in my gut as I glanced up to see my grandmother staring down from the window above me.

I knew she wasn’t really there, but it definitely didn’t make me want to go inside.

Monty appeared on the stairs as my court-appointed social worker led me into the building. He gave me a fanged grin that stretched a bit too wide on his terrifying face.

“See you inside, little human,” he promised before popping out of sight. My fingers brushed over the stone statue, and I found myself pausing, my skin tingling as the cold seeped in.

It wasn’t even cold outside. Yet another warning sign to fucking leave.

If only I could.

“This is a fantastic opportunity,” Adam cut in.

My social worker had been trying to sell me on this place for three days now as I waited for a bed to open up. The beta meant well but there was nothing he could say to convince me to be eager to walk inside.

To me, the mix of college courses and inpatient facilities seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. But if it gave me more freedom and something more to do than stare at four cinder block walls, I couldn’t really complain.

Hell, I’d do just about anything to escape that god-awful omega lockdown. The pheromones and whining in there were its own brand of torture.

Normally, I wouldn’t be so optimistic, but after looking at brochures for the first three facilities he showed me, I’d take this one any day.

It definitely beat the old stone basement of that church I thought I’d die in.

The same basement that stole not only my dignity but forced me to run. Maybe at the end of the day I should be grateful for them pushing me to leave early. Who knows if I would have survived beyond that.

If not for the bishop stepping in, I likely wouldn’t ever have seen the light of day again. But I hadn’t escape unscathed. My hallucinations were even worse after I left, and the feeling of paranoia that Grandma and the church were chasing me followed me for years.

But I never considered going back. Even when life got hard.

The cutthroat life of living on the streets and fighting for my daily meals was better than the torture I’d endured there. Sure, I may shiver in the rain, huddled under a freeway, but I didn’t have to be doused in holy water and see my grandma’s hate for me.

Fuck family.

A gambling asshole for a dad. When he’d tried to sell me, I was taken away and given to my grandmother. She was a fucking monster in disguise, far scarier than the ones in my head. And my mom had disappeared when I was little. Grandma promised it was because she couldn’t stand the thought of an abomination as a child. From what Dad had muttered in a drunken stupor, she just left us.

Left me.

“Harlow?” Adam’s voice was sharp, and I had to blink several times to refocus and force myself to follow him inside. For someone who looked like a boy next door with his perfect, blond hair and big, blue eyes, he was a bit rough around the edges. I never trusted anyone who could smile and charm someone one minute, then snap at me the next. “Dr. Vane was kind enough to get you in. Don’t fuck it up.”

“Professional,” I muttered while he pretended to not have heard me. It was nice to be out of jail, but I was so nervous that my filter was completely gone.

The foyer was faded and drafty. It looked like something out of a scary movie with the faded whites and greens. Even the floor here was scuffed to hell.

A reception desk stood just to the right of a large, barred door, a card reader on the wall next to it, meaning we wouldn’t be leaving here without someone knowing. Old habits die hard.

An old woman sat behind the desk, her gray hair pulled in a high ponytail that was tight enough it drew up the sides of her face like a makeshift facelift. She radiated coldness from the shrewd stare to the thin line of her pursed lips. The gray dress was doing nothing for the look.

“Can I help you?” she rasped out. The lady had to smoke six packs a day to earn a voice that marred. I don’t think she could have sounded more bored if she’d tried. If this was the face of Dark Haven... well, I didn’t have high hopes for what I’d find inside that security door.

“Adam Boyer here to see Dr. Vane. I’ve brought Harlow Devoe,” he answered like he wasn’t affected by her demeanor. Then again, he was a social worker, I doubt he saw only nice things and people in his line of work.

She picked up the phone without any word of acknowledgement. This lady was not the person that should be greeting vulnerable patients.

Going inpatient wasn’t easy, especially those appointed to be here by the court. Did that mean they saw us as nothing more than criminals?

“Adam Boyer with a new patient drop-off,” she said into the phone. Her tone was more pleasant but no less intense.

“Take the elevator to the fifth floor,” she said as she stood and swiped a card through the reader, opening the gated door. It creaked loudly like the metal was rusted from years of disuse.

Everything about this building felt like a big red flag but I had very few choices, and I’d heard enough stories of state-run facilities that I was willing to give Dark Haven a real shot.

Adam was quiet as we found the elevators and walked in. The faded bronze of the doors reflected the interior back at us, and I had to forcibly ignore the figures standing around us.

They aren’t really there.

But to me they are, and as much as I’ve tried to perfect ignoring them, they’re terrifying.

The shadows were faceless and never spoke. Instead, they just lurked in the corner, watching me, as if waiting for something. It was unsettling.

The elevator dinged as the floors passed one by one. Each floor that went by had my hands shaking a bit harder. Something about this place felt wrong, but I couldn’t place what it was. All I knew was that I wanted to get the fuck out of here already.

Where the fuck is Monty?!

“Here we are,” Adam said unnecessarily as the doors slid open, revealing a long hallway. Between the sage-green walls and black and white checkered floors, it looked like we’d gone back decades in the time it took to get from the lobby up to this floor.

For a place advertising to make our lives better, it was dark and dreary. The barred windows were dingy and unkempt so what sunlight managed to filter in didn’t make it any prettier.

Our footsteps echoed in the eerily quiet hallway, but he didn’t bother to fill the silence with any words of encouragement or advice.

Where are the other patients?

A tall, handsome alpha stood halfway down the hall. There was a friendly smile on his face, but I knew better than to gauge someone by their greeting. His name badge on the white lab coat read Dr. Elias Vane. Underneath, he wore a button-up shirt and tie and pressed slacks. His hair was auburn and combed back, a trimmed goatee on his face. He looked to be in his early forties, and if he weren’t a psychiatrist I might have thought he was cute.

Though his scent ruined it all. He smelled like a perfume aisle, strange floral scents that didn’t fit together at all. I bit back a shudder and tried to not breathe in too deeply.

“Welcome, you must be Harlow Devoe. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand, and when I didn’t shake it, he let it fall back to his side, smile not faltering, even as Adam made an annoyed sound beside me. “Don’t worry, we all warm up differently. Thank you, Adam, I’ll take it from here.”

“I just have papers I need you to sign,” Adam said as he held out his paperwork. Dr. Vane signed it quickly and waited until the man was on the elevator and disappearing behind the doors before turning to me again.

“Now, shall we get acquainted?” he asked me. Still, his act hadn’t dropped, so I merely nodded and followed him inside.

“Sure,” I forced out. He hummed but said nothing more as he gestured to a couch off to the side. I sat down and let out a surprised squeak as he sat right next to me, so close our legs were touching. A sinking feeling filled me, and I adjusted the skirt—I was forced to wear—farther down my legs as if that could hide me from his view.

“You can relax, Harlow. We’re all friends here,” he chastised. It came off as a friendly joke, but his predatory gaze made my skin fucking crawl. “Now that you’re enrolled and have crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s, we have a chance to get to know each other.”

“Oh,” was all I managed to get out. I didn’t bother to say that I hadn’t even chosen classes or anything yet. My inner radar was telling me to run, but I’d effectively signed my life away for the next few years.

“I think we can be friends, don’t you? I’d hate for your experience here to be negative. Dark Haven can be... life changing,” he said in a deeper tone than he had used before. The lust-filled husk had ice running through my veins and the shadows in the room filling nearly every open space. His scent swelled in the air, alpha pheromones making my stomach turn.

I was trapped here now and my breaths were coming out in ragged puffs as my head swam.

What did I do?

His hand landed on my thigh, the skin buzzing angrily underneath as my panic rose. He ignored my erratic breathing like this wasn’t quickly turning into a nightmare. He continued to slide his hand up my leg, pushing my skirt up inch by inch.

Day one in this place and I was already ready to escape. But then again, I never signed up to be assaulted by the man who was supposed to oversee this program.

“No,” I said. “Don’t touch me.” I tried to shove his hand away and glared up at him. My panic was rising but he was unrelenting, not giving an inch. Dread filled my stomach, and I started flailing, doing anything I could to get away.

His grip tightened, all amusement now gone. “Now, remember, I’m the one who assigns your room. Picks your activities and therapy, including experimental ones. Hell, when you leave this room, I give the recommendations, Harlow. I’d hate for you to make the wrong choice here.”

He wasn’t using an alpha’s barked command. No, he wanted me to let him do this. The sick fuck must get off on control.

Where the fuck was Monty? Why was he allowing this to go on?

The shadows thickened around us, forcing me to focus on the man above me. He was no longer handsome but twisted. His eyes were full of anticipation, and I knew at that moment this was common practice for him.

“Does anyone else know you’re as sick as we are?” I grit out through my locked jaw.

His hand gripped my throat, squeezing until my vision wavered. Spit sprayed my face as he bit out his warning.

“Watch what you say to me, Harlow. I’m your master here.”

What an odd choice of words.

For once I didn’t stay away from the shadows, I welcomed them to wrap around me, silencing everything happening to me in the office.

I was calm, watching the shadows swirl around me until a sharp yell cut through the shadows, chasing them away.

The asshole was panting now as he loomed over me, giving me a look that was full of annoyance. This was nothing more than a power play to him, something to hold against me and use to keep my compliance.

He stepped back, looking disgusted before giving me a wave to dismiss me.

With a deep breath, I fixed myself and stood on shaking legs. There was a sharp ache with every movement, and I glared at the vile man who was using his position to abuse his patients. If he was capable of this, I shuddered to think of what else he got away with here.

“Where’s my room?” It was a miracle that my words came out even and strong.

His fake charm was back in place as he smiled back like he hadn’t just crossed several lines.

“I’ve got your welcome packet here, now that we’ve got the welcoming out of the way.” A cold shiver racked through me as his charmed words slithered out of him like the snake he was. “I think you can handle it from here. Your monthly stipend and the rules are in there.” He sat down and haphazardly shoved a folder my way. I grabbed it and stalked out of the room. The cocky bastard didn’t even bother to lock the door. “Oh, and Harlow?”

“What?” I bit out through the tears as I turned back to face him, knowing if I didn’t, it would only get worse for me. But internally, I was plotting his death and my escape.

No one got to make me feel this way and get away with it. Not anymore. And as twisted as it was, I was just as angry at Monty for leaving me here alone.

He’d promised I wouldn’t be.

“This welcoming can be a one-time thing, or I can use it as punishment. Your choice. I suggest you keep your mouth shut and follow your orders with precision and care. This place can either make or break you. Either way, no one would believe you over me. And if you try to run? I’ll find you. I have many friends with endless resources. There’s nowhere you can go that I won’t eventually find. Take the elevator to the third floor, the nurse will be waiting.”

Welcome to Dark Haven, where we own you, body and mind.

I’d traded one hell for another. What the fuck did I do in my past life to deserve this kind of bullshit?

The small space of the elevator had me ready to curl into a ball, but this ride felt much quicker than the previous one, with the door sliding open to reveal a nurse. Her lips pursed as she raked her eyes over me, and the pity in them told me she knew exactly what had happened.

The beta snapped out of it in an instant and dialed the cordless phone in her hand the moment I stepped off.

“She’s here, Dr. Vane,” she reported before ending the call. The smile she turned to me was professional. “Welcome, Harlow. I’m Nurse Drew. I’m the head nurse of this floor. Let’s go meet the others.”

I just hoped they were nothing like the people I’d met so far.