Lacking Humanity|Crescent Moon

Chapter Twenty-Three

* * *

Sage's fists clenched to the point of her knuckles turning white, and her breath turned ragged in the cool air of this confined and enclosed section of the Packhouse.

It felt all too familiar to her.

Continuing her steps forward, she looked down at the given wolves that were imprisoned, each fueling her memories and subjecting her to another pound of suffering.

Until she stopped at the cell that held Kelly, whose own cries continued to echo throughout.

Sage touched the bars, though silver, still didn't prove to cause her any pain. It was then that the she-wolf peeked her head up as she scoffed a greeting to her visitor.

"Come down here to finish me off?" She snickered, her matted hair turned into a rat's nest after being man-handled by the Beta.

Course, her screams and threats to those walking free up above were met with brutal silence. There would be no tantrum loud enough for Remus to return to her, not until he figures out a solution for Ms.Synders.

"No cage," Sage whispers. Of all the possibilities that Kelly had thought through in terms of an escape, she took this newcomer's words by surprise. Especially when the Alpha's mate had broken the door and held it open.

Kelly didn't hesitate to scramble to her feet and almost collided with Sage. And it hardly took a moment to realize why the young she-wolf had done what she did.

Ms.Snyder had been in there for only a single solid day, in comparison to Sage's entire life.

Goddess, she couldn't understand how the black-haired girl standing in front of her even managed to seem so confident in this daunting little basement.

"Thank you." Kelly returned, and a smile appeared on Sage's face. Almost immediately had one formed on her own face as well. Perhaps she had misunderstood the female.

The female was silent, calculating.

However, it wasn't hard to figure out that she wanted to let everyone out with the way she eyed those sitting in their cells. Or serving a reduced sentence like normal humans would do, but Remus usually followed it with community service.

The rest of those imprisoned were members of the pack awaiting trial within the following week for breaking pack rules.

But usually, this is where they would hold Rogues in the off chance they were captured in an attack.

"No, they're bad. They're being punished." As far as Sage was concerned, nobody belonged down here. Although her eyes wavered in wanting to help them out of the cells, she grabbed hold of Kelly's hand and led her out of the basement and back up the stairs.

Ms.Snyders had little to no plan, and right now, it had almost instantly failed as Remus had been looking for Sage for the past few minutes.

And the second he saw the look of sheer disappointment and anger, his wolf began to howl and plead over their bond with an apology. Though it didn't seem to phase any bit of Sage's expression.

She was more than angry at this point. She was fuming mad.

As the dinner guests continued towards them, it was obvious what was happening.

"Sage, what—What are you doing?" Liam asked, confused as all hell as to why she would want to be near the she-wolf that challenged her just a few days ago.

"No cage." Remus' shoulders sagged as he realized what he had done wrong, his problem once again.

He didn't necessarily connect two and two together on how Sage would feel about someone or anyone being locked away in a basement.