Tara thought the scariest place she could wake up in would be a warehouse with the gang. Waking up in the cells of the Shifter Council stronghold was much scarier.
The cells at least had soft beds and a working toilet. A single recessed light provided the only illumination in the small six foot by six foot cell. She could hear growling, snarling, and crying from the other cells, but didn't bother venturing to the door to peek out. The environment smelled nearly as sterile as a hospital. She wondered if they used the same type of cleaners.
Aside from the bed and toilet, the only other item in her cell was a tray of food.
She sat on the floor and ate it, not wanting to be hungry if she needed to fight later. Tara honestly had no idea what to expect or why she had been locked up.
It probably had to do with her gang. They most likely had done something they needed to see if she was a part of or not. She had no problem informing them that she had absolutely nothing to do with the idiots.
“Let me out!” Sam bellowed. “Let me out!”
Tara rolled her eyes. What an idiot. Yelling would get him no where. Most likely, there weren't even any guards down here. The last time she had been at the stronghold, she'd been given a tour and she knew that there was only one door in and out of the cells and two guards were stationed on the outside, so they didn't have to listen to the prisoners.
“Give it a rest, you moron,” she snapped at Sam after the tenth time he yelled. “No one down here is going to help you.”
“Tara,” he snarled. “What did you do?”
“Me?” she scoffed. “What did you morons do? I haven't done anything wrong. They must have brought me here thinking I was involved in whatever idiotic thing your gang did.”
“You know where we are?” he asked.
“This is the Shifter Council's stronghold. They keep prisoners here until they bring you up for your trial,” she explained.
“Shifter Council? What's that?” he asked.
She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “How did you guys get turned into werewolves?”
“We found a werewolf and convinced him to turn us,” he replied as thought it were so simple.
“Did you kill that werewolf?” she asked.
“Maybe,” he admitted.
“Did you ask him anything about what being a shifter entails before you killed him?” She already knew the answer, but she asked anyway.
“No.”
“You fucking idiot,” she said with a sigh.
“What?” Sam asked.
“There are rules. Lots of rules. You probably broke one and now are here to get punished for it.”
She'd better not get taken down with them. She didn't have anything to do with their stupid shenanigans.
“What type of punishment?” Paul asked.
“Depends on how bad your indiscretion was. At the very least you might have to pay a fine. At the most extreme, they'll kill you.”
“They can't kill us,” Sam snarled.
She laughed, leaned against the cold wall, and shook her head. “This isn't the human world. You don't get human rights here. The shifters will kill any who threaten their security. If you did anything that could expose us to the humans, you're dead for sure.”
They didn't respond and she didn't want to give them anymore lessons. Laying on the bed, she stared up at the ceiling.
Where was Alex? Would he know what had happened to her? Would he think she just left him and was ignoring him?
She didn't know how long it had been since she was taken. It could have been hours or days.
“Any idea how long we've been here?” she called out.
“A couple days at least,” Paul answered.
Great. Either she would need to get Alex a gift, or she might need to find a new boyfriend.
Boyfriend? When had she started thinking of him as her boyfriend? They didn't even know each other.
She sighed and closed her eyes. There was too much going on. She just had to pray she could get out of this unscathed.
“Tara,” Alex whispered.
She sat up and stared in disbelief at him standing outside her cell.
“Alex? What are you doing here? How did you find me?” she asked.
“Come here,” he ordered her.
She obeyed, walking to the bars and gripping them. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to ask you something,” he whispered and reached through the bars to slip his hand around her waist. He slid his hand beneath her shirt so he could touch her skin.
“What?” she asked, arching into the bars, trying to get closer to him.
His nail cut into her lower back, deep enough to draw blood. She hissed and stared at him. He pulled his hand up to his mouth and licked her blood off his nail. “Will you be my mate?”
She gaped at him. His mate? She had just started considering him her boyfriend and suddenly he wanted to be mates.
“I don't understand. Where is this coming from?” she asked him nervously.
“I know you can feel the connection between us,” he whispered and kissed her lips softly, making her body thrum.
She thought it had just been her lust.
“I know this is soon,” Alex whispered, “but it may also be the only way to save you.”
“What do you mean? Save me from what?” she asked him.
“Alex!” a deep voice called. “It's time!”
“Coming!” Alex called back. He looked at her, his nostrils flared and eyes wide. “Just...think about it. I'll give you another chance to answer later. I know it's soon, but I don't want to lose you.”
Lose her? What was he talking about? She clenched her jaw as he moved out of her field of vision.
He left, before she could ask him what he meant.
That was weird.