• I woke up next to Sunni at about 8:00 in the morning. She was still asleep, so I tried not to wake her up. Only about half of the others were awake. I moved to the other side of the small cage to the food and noticed something different about it. It seemed like it was lightly glowing. I assumed it just had something to do with the lighting, so I went ahead and ate it, cautiously. It tasted pretty good to me, so I ate half of it, saving the other half for Sunni.

    She woke up a few hours later. I asked her if she slept ok. She replied, "No, not really, actually. I couldn’t stop thinking about our escape! It needs to happen as soon as possible, or the man will find out and kill us!" "Do you really think he’s that evil? We’re just animals!" I say. She nods. "During our first day in the kennel- the day you howled and we first met- I saw him kill an innocent puppy hybrid just because it wanted more food and kept whining."

    I gasp and hear one of the other animals yell, "The Professor is out! It will soon be time for an escape plan meeting! Morganna, Dragonne, and Sunshyne will be bringing around keys and unlocking you as fast as they can! Please be patient! Also, we will be electing a female leader for us. If you would like to speak to me, my name is Lord Onyx, you can just let one of the key-givers know. That will conclude this announcement." There was only one thing I could think about at that moment. They were electing a female leader to be alongside Lord Onyx, the black, gold-tinted, handsome wolf? Something good might come from being in hell after all.

    A few minutes later, a white wolf with turquoise markings appears outside our cage with an oddly-shaped key. It looked like some type of Chinese symbol. I ask, "If we have the keys, why don’t we just escape? And who are you? How did you get Onyx to choose you to become a key-giver? Or did you have to ask?" She just laughs and says, "Well it’s nice to meet you, too! I’m Sunshyne. I became a key-giver because I was pretty close to Onyx’s cage when he first thought up of the escape plan and wanted to help him. I wouldn’t usually want to help some random dude, but Onyx was different. He was just so irresistible! The same thing happened with Dragonne and Morganna. Who could resist Onyx, seriously? As for your other question, I’m not sure why we don’t just leave right now. I would leave myself, but not without Onyx!" Then it hit me. I surely wasn’t going to be the extremely lucky one to end up with Onyx.

    I couldn’t stop staring at Onyx while everyone gathered for the meeting. I let Sunni ride on my back because she had just woken up and was very tired and she was so small that I thought she might be stepped on and crushed if I put her down. "Greetings, fellow crosslings! As you all are probably aware, we are here to elect a new female leader and to discuss our escape plan! Now, if you would like to run for the female leader to work alongside me, please come here. Pretty much all of the other girls and I stepped forward. He gave an irresistible smile and continued, "Now, since there are so many volunteers, I will pick out 10 of about all 50 girls for you all to vote for. I will choose from the top three girls that get the most votes. The leader must also be a wolf... And male," He said staring at a guy that had come up. Hey, I’m a wolf! And female! Maybe I do have a chance!

    About 10 of the girls (and the male) that were up there and weren’t wolves left the line of the girls desperate to be with Onyx. I got butterflies in my stomach as he walked down the line, eliminating the wolves that had a pelt that was too bright, was too small, or looked too much like she was swooning over him. I tried really hard not to show how much I was crazy about him. I wasn’t worried about being bright, because I was one of the darkest-colored wolves there, and I definitely wasn’t worried about being too small. I was the second or third tallest there.

    It worked! I was nearly perfect! I can’t believe I actually have a chance! Oh, I should have made more friends over the years! Then they could vote for me! I guess I’ll just hope for the best! "Congratulations, ladies, you’ve made it to the top ten!" Onyx told us. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like you to vote for the one of these ladies that you would like to see working with me the most! The wolves’ names in order from left to right are Morganna, Sookie, Faeye, Luxiia, Claere (Faeye’s twin), Sunshyne, Aurodine, Radiance, Tayla, and Kylei." I was up against some serious competition! How could I win?

    "Now, each of these ladies will be able to say one sentence to try and get votes. We will go in the order I said their names in," said Onyx. "Strong, brave, confident and positive" were the most common words used. The only totally different sentences were Claere’s, Aurodine’s, and mine. Claere’s was, "I’m so pretty, I’ll be able to control anyone easily!" Seriously, that was her sentence? Aurodine’s was brilliant, though. It was, "I’m not here to brag about myself, so all I’ll say is that I try to be a good person, so a phrase to describe me would be that I’m hoping y’all can take my word for it." I’m not sure why, but I think that sounded perfect. Mine was too simple. It was just, "Well, what’s not to love about me?" What’s wrong with me?!

    Most of the others voted for either me or Aurodine, which was surprising. I couldn’t believe I made it to the top three! Aurodine had the most, then me, then Sunshyne. I felt bad for all the girls that weren’t in the top three because just because they were born short or colorful doesn’t mean that they are a bad "crossling" as Onyx puts it. Now it was time for Onyx to choose. I felt like I was about to puke. The room went completely silent until we heard the noise of a door. "The Professor is back!" We ran as fast and as silently as we possibly could back to our cages. The slower crosslings that wouldn’t be able to make it to their cage just hid. Luckily, only one of us didn’t make it. I looked closely to try and see who it was, but I couldn’t tell from afar while The Professor took them away. I heard Sunni whisper to me, "Sunshyne."