The Immortal Howl

eight.

"You've got to be kidding me."

I gave Christopher my best smile, showing him all my teeth that hadn't been brushed since yesterday morning. He shook his head and sighed.

Last night I had little to no hope that I'd be found, despite his Beta telling me he'd be here to do his rounds in the morning. Not very often did Alphas care about who'd been jailed unless there was a warrant out for arrest or, even better, a reward.

Too bad I wasn't wild and dangerous.

Fortunately, I sensed him the moment he descended the short flight of steps at the end of the corridor. Unfortunately, I still wasn't able to speak, so I had to wait until he made his way to the end of the cell block where I was oh-so comfortably being held and detained.

"I leave you for one night because of a border issue, and this is what you do?"

Christopher took that same ring of keys off the wall and unlocked my cell. He watched me struggle to get to my feet with my hands still cuffed behind my back, which was a lot more difficult than it should have been, then stared at me with those hooded brown eyes, as if what I'd been through hadn't already been enough. He had the audacity to stand there and wait for me to come to him.

And I couldn't say anything about it.

Just wait until these cuffs are off.

It was heaven when the cheap metal clattered against the floor. I rubbed my sore wrists, the purple ring of bruises having gotten a lot darker. Some spots around my bone had advanced to green and yellow. I winced at how stiff I was. My shoulders felt welded in place.

"My Goddess, finally."

I slapped my lips together until they weren't shriveled enough to fall off anymore. Ris rolled his eyes.

"A couple hours, V. That's all I needed."

"What? It's not like I tried to run away. I didn't resist arrest or anything."

"If I knew I had to babysit you while having to run the pack, I would have postponed my trip to Viribus 'til next weekend."

"Oh, please. As if you knew I was there. I was the souvenir you grabbed on the way out."

He hung the ring back on the nail and walked off in long, slow strides as if expecting I'd just follow.

I did follow. But only because I didn't know my way back.

"You're telling me you didn't check my room once to make sure I didn't escape?"

"I didn't get back 'til three in the morning. Is it so bad of me to assume you were asleep? It's not my fault you refused to sleep in my room."

"You're the one who kidnapped me. Don't pin this on me."

"For fucksake, V. I didn't kidnap you."

"Your Beta did. I thought I was gonna die in there. He didn't let me explain, either."

He peeked back at me. "I don't even wanna know what happened. And Jasper knows who you are now."

I waited at the top of the stairs as he finished whatever he came to do. There were no shouts or screams, nor did I hear any metal on metal through cell doors opening or closing, so I assumed everything went well.

All the snow in this part of the forest had melted away, replaced with a cool layer of dew and light rainfall. I tried to curl and uncurl my toes to warm up my feet, but it did next to nothing in the scheme of things.

I tried hugging myself and rubbing my arms, but that didn't do anything either. By the time Christopher joined me outside, my nose was red and didn't squish in when I pressed on it. It was hard as ice.