Dangerous Territory

Twelve

The more she looked at the little screen, the angrier she got.

The tiny growl she accidently let slip wasn't helping her case and now Jon was looking at her more closely, his eyes swivelling to her every two minutes.

Mattheus hadn't acknowledged her for the last two days, paying more attention to fiddling with his nose ring than reacting to anything she bothered to say.

She really wanted to take off one of her heels and aim it at the monitor however she knew it would not only result in getting her fired, but she would probably rip her too-tight pencil skirt attempting to bend over while she was at it.

Guards had entered Auden's cell around ten minutes ago, and upon return, he had collapsed miserably on the bed and hadn't moved since.

Tanya coughed behind her to get her attention, gesturing to the notebook she held in her hand, "mark that down." She instructed, peering over her shoulder from an unreasonable distance.

Malandra did as she was told, scribbling down the needed information on the A5 pad.

"Okay, it's time to get him from his cell." Tanya remarked, "I'll go alone this time, you can wait in Zoe's room if you're more comfortable with that."

Mala didn't want to cause a scene by protesting so she said, "that's fine," and followed the woman out of the room and to Zoe's office.

Zoe blinked in surprise as she entered, "I didn't know you were Joan's replacement."

She looked at the woman, who although had her hair pulled into a tight bun rather than free flowing, was undeniably the blonde 'tour guide' that she'd had on the first visit to Irongate.

Why would they use the prison psychiatrist to chaperon them around? She wondered.

"That's me."

She motioned to the chair in the corner of the room, "well, feel free to take a seat, Miss Bates."

Not long later, she heard footsteps from around the room, the chord vibrating in her chest. She was glad that neither blondie, nor Tanya were shifters because there was no hiding the thrashing of her heart.

Inhaling and exhaling slowly, she waited patiently for the door to open, anticipation flooding her.

As the door opened, his scent was the first thing to reach her. It instantly grounded her, giving her a reason to pull herself together.

Then the door swung shut and she finally saw him in the flesh.

He froze in place, eyes instantly connecting with hers.

She almost said his name but then she noticed the way his face twisted.

He looked... put out.

Her heart gave a violent lurch and she pressed a palm against her breast, wincing as rejection shot through the bond.

His eyes flicked down to her pulse before shooting to Zoe.

"What is she doing here?"

Gripping the arms of the seat, she tried her hardest not to panic but the corners of her vision were going black and her throat was closing up. It was all happening way too quickly, the siren of rejection blaring in her mind over and over again as her body reacted to his inferred denial. Any minute now she would start hyperventilating, clasping her throat and gasping for air and-

"She's Joan's replacement." Zoe replied.

She was going to shift.

She was going to tear out his throat.