by Charlie Tran
The thin hallway was littered with multiple doors to the right and left, each with a number on it in no specific order, until the very end of it led to another doorway. A curtain of deep red beads hung across it exposing only a single beautifully decorated handle like a heart with silver plating. Vik pushed the beads aside and rapped his knuckles against the wood until a muffled voice called out from beyond the barrier.
Shit. Who was back there? Was this going to be it for me? Once I entered this room, was there no going back?
It didn't matter. Vik grabbed the small chain between my two wrists and tugged me through after gently pushing the door open I started to gag and cough almost immediately, the air thick with a too sweet smelling smoke floating close to the top of the ceiling.
This room was much more massive than the hallways we had traversed through, and in the center of it was a familiar face, the metal end piece of a hookah pipe in his mouth as his eyes lazily focused on the two wolves, Vik and I, entering into his space.
“Interesting.” He grinned, leaning off the array of pillows that were scattered around the center of the floor.
“Leon.” Vik bowed his head for a moment before standing confidently with his chest puffed out. I tried to duck back behind him out of instinct to get out of the way of Leon, who now approached, but Vik held tightly onto the chain, not letting me go anywhere.
“So. What is this? A gift?” He laughed, and the few other wolves in the room seemed not to care what was happening. They were just enjoying the sheesha, casually blowing smoke rings toward the ceiling.
“In a way. You wanted the life of that stupid pack, and I brought one of them to you.”
“Oh. So, you did the kidnapping and want to give me the honor of killing him? How sweet of you.” Leon sniffled, rubbing at his nose for a moment and sizing me up.
“Very well, put him down.”
Before I could even decipher what he meant by that, Vik had released his hold on me and shoved me to the floor. I fell to my knees and would have fallen to the floor face first had Leon not grabbed onto the collar of my shirt.
Vik backed off then, moving away from me until his own back was against the left wall of the room, watching as Leon lowered himself down, putting his face uncomfortably close to mine.
“Do you know what a pain in my ass your pack has been to me since that night at Club Mega?” he asked. I wasn't sure if he really wanted an answer or not, so I turned my head downward, only for him to grab hold of my chin, forcing me to stare up into his eyes.
“Do you?!” he said louder, that eerie smile never leaving his face.
“You attacked Forest first. We were defending ourselves,” I mumbled, afraid and defiant all at once.
“It wouldn't have happened if he had just taken a little hit. Proved he wasn't a snitch. But he couldn't even do that for us.”
“And now what? You wanna kill me instead? Over some stupid revenge?” I tried to stop myself from shaking, but I couldn't it. I was totally at their mercy, and from what I knew of them, there was none to be had.
“You're pretty feisty.” Leon shoved my face away as though disgusted, standing up tall and tucking his hands into his pinstriped slacks, his head tilting to the side as though he was thinking of what my demise should be.
“Uh, you should know...” Vik began to speak, taking a small step forward, “that his pack killed Evan. And Declan. That's what this one told me anyway.”
Leon's brows lifted in surprise, but his face didn't display any anger or upset at the news. Instead, his grin grew even wider as he looked at me with mild shock.
“Is this true?”
I nodded, scared to take my eyes off him should he decide to strike me down then and there.
“Well, that is interesting. Not only do you owe me for Felix, who your pack mate-Alfie, was it?-struck down. Now, my only connection into the police is gone.”
That's all he cared about? Not Declan?
“I should take out another life on your pack for that. But... I think a bit of mercy can be given in this circumstance.”
“W-what?” I asked, confused. Frightened.
“Your kin did me a favor with that. Fuckin' Declan, thinking he knew what to do, trying to take out my business just because we've been havin' to lay low lately. The drug game is so hard.” He feigned sadness, raising a hand to press against his forehead dramatically.
“But it's not like we weren't bringing in even more money here. This little slice of paradise where any shifter can get a fix. And now, he's not here to shove his muddied boot in my face for me to lick. You hear that boys?” Leon looked over his shoulders to the other carefree wolves, now turning their heads to stare at him with a smirk.
“Looks like I'm leading things now. The world is my oyster and all that. Vik, you brought me some good news. Wanna be the one to rip his throat out? You deserve that much.” His fangs glowed strangely under the black lights of the room, and I quickly set my eyes onto Vik. His eyes were wide and he looked unsure of himself.
Vik wasn't an outright killer, right?
“I... uh...” he stammered, locking eyes with me.
“Or, maybe we can do something else with him instead. His death would be so satisfying. But we can always use more... workers. How about it?”
Leon squatted low in front of me, ignoring the others as he barely spoke above a whisper.
“How about you work here?” he said, extending both hands out to grab hold of my face, turning it this way and that, judging my appearance with a satisfied smile, “Someone as pretty as you could bring in a lot of money. Your life or your service? Sounds like an easy choice, no?”
I nodded as he released me, too scared to say anything. I watched him gesture towards another wolf with a come-hither motion.
“Put him in the cages in the back with the rest of those sorry sacks of shit. And let him work with Glenn. I think he's doing well enough to show this pup the ropes.”
I was suddenly lifted off of my feet, throwing me off balancing and causing me to lean into the strange wolf as he led me away from Vik and Leon. Back out into the hallway.
To the cages.
6
Lucas
I was stretched out on the couch with the television droning on in the background as Forest and Jason sat snuggled up together on the sectional sofa. Forest lay his head against Jason's shoulder as the redhead held him tightly against his chest. It was almost so adorable that it made me puke. I sat up on my elbows, watching Jude as he started to pace back and forth while bouncing Willow.
Now, in my experience, Jude was no babysitter. Until Willow had come into the picture, I'd never even seen him willingly interact with a child. But now that Forest had popped out a new pack mate of ours, he was playing father almost as much as Jason was. And still they wouldn't let me hold the little tyke, scared that I was going to end up doing something that would get him hurt. Jerks. I wasn't that stupid.
But that was the facade I was expected to play.
I huffed, falling back onto the couch again, annoyed with myself.
“What's wrong with you? Need some attention now that Silver isn't here to give you any?” Jude smirked, chuckling to himself as he gently pinched Willow's massive cheeks. The young pup laughed a bit at his action, his claws somewhat extended as he took playful swipes toward Jude's softly pinching fingers.
“It's not like there's any attention to spare.” I directed my pout at him, only for Jude to turn his back to me, still busy playing with the pup.
“Wow, jealous of a baby?” I heard Jason say slyly. I shot him a glare from the side of my eye and received a mocking laugh in response while Forest ignored all of us.
“No! I just wanna know where Silver's at. Everyone is all buddied up here, and I don't have anyone.”
“Alfie's awake. Why don't you go bore him with your stories tomorrow when we all head down there? Maybe Silver will be back by the time we return.”
“But I want to know where he's at now. He's
not here and not at the hospital, so where could he be? Maybe I should text him again.”
“Wow, that's desperate. You said yourself that you both were arguing when you got there. He was probably just hiding away until you left so he wouldn't have to look at your face.” Jude grinned, flashing his extended canines in my direction. I shook my head at him and flopped over onto my stomach with my phone in hand.
“That doesn't mean I can't worry about him,” I muttered.
“You're smothering him. Give him some space. Trust me, I know Silver better than all of you.” Forest sighed as he leaned off of Jason, reaching for the remote control to turn the volume up to drown out our conversation. As he grabbed it, I noticed the sparkling of Forest's ring and could feel something tense up inside myself.
He was a part of my pack, so of course I'd feel happy for him no matter what. But deep down, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. He had found someone who'd care about him so much that he'd sacrifice anything to keep him and their baby safe. But Jason was an Alpha in his own right, even if not the Alpha of our pack.
Was that what I needed to be to Silver? Or did he even want that from me? He was always pushing me away and turning me down whenever I'd try to do anything even remotely intimate with him anymore. Especially these last couple of weeks. Was I just not what he wanted anymore?
My thoughts were pissing me off even more. I rolled off of the couch, landing on my feet and walking away from everyone else.
“What, did we hurt your feelings?” Jude continued to tease as he sat the cooing baby down with his parents. My Alpha started to follow behind me while I passed the kitchen and walked toward the room that Silver and I had been sharing.
“No one can hurt my feelings.” I forced a laugh, glancing back toward Jude from over my shoulder as I pushed a bit of hair out of my eyes. I opened the door, not shutting it behind me in Jude's face should he take offense to it. I was staying in his house after all. I was at least respectful enough to not be slamming doors like Jason.
“Okay, sure. But why don't you tell me what's really up with you?” My Alpha leaned against the threshold of the door, coolly pocketing a hand into his jeans while using the other to support him against the door frame.
“You know what's up,” I huffed, standing in front of the bed and allowing myself to just fall back onto it, staring up at the popcorn texture on the ceiling. “I'm worried.”
“But I just told you not to be. So stop it.”
“I can't help it. Why would he have gone down those stairs anyway? They weren't for anyone but the staff members and for emergencies. The nurses said so.”
“Who knows? If Silver was in any danger, we'd know. Plus, thanks to your help last night, we were able to really fuck with the leaders of the Grey Brotherhood. They're probably far too busy scrambling among their ranks and trying to keep control of what they have left to be doing any fishy shit right now.”
“It's just not sitting well with me. My gut is saying that something is wrong.”
“And my gut tells me you're overreacting. Listen, if Silver isn't back here in a couple of days-you know how he likes to take off-we'll go looking for him. We'll file a missing person’s report.”
“Like the cops have ever been of any help to us.” I wrinkled my nose in disgust, thinking of all the bullshit those bastards put us through for some lame handouts from Declan.
“Then we'll go looking ourselves. How about that, sound good? And until then, you can just chill out and relax and learn how to hold a baby before you accidentally drop Willow on his head. We don't need him turning out like you.” He laughed.
“Fine. I'll agree to that. But I already know how to hold a baby. Now get outta my room.” I smiled at him. Jude leaned off of the door, shutting it behind him and leaving me to my thoughts.
Silver. Where are you?
7
Silver
The room was foul, and the smells that wafted in the air made me want to cover my nose, but I didn't. As disgusted as I was, I felt like it would shame the others who were around. The cage that they had me stay the night in was one of many scattered throughout the back of the main building of this Gilded Heart. The wooden shelter seemed to have been built haphazardly, as evidenced by the dripping of rain that came through the structure all night long. The wood was rotting, its musty stench mixing with the scent of bodily excrement. There was nowhere else to go to the restroom here, and with each of us locked in our cages, it's not like we could all go in a corner anyway.
I had even vomited twice throughout the night, my stomach not settling well with the putrid scent.
People were lying down or sitting in their cages, most shifted into their wolf forms to fit more comfortably like myself, though some were merely hunched over. The tops of their heads brushed against the metal ceiling of the cages. Kennels was probably a better word for them, given how small they were designed. Places for dogs and mutts to sleep, not a wolf. Not a shifter. And definitely not a human.
It was rather dark, but I could see well enough to notice the redness around my wrists between the exposed fur that had already begun to wear away at the tightness. My wrists were rather sore and were blistered from not only the rough slapping of the cuffs but from the rope that was fastened far too tightly around my left paw. They kept us all tethered to our kennels. Of course, the ropes could be chewed through after some time, but even throughout the nights, there was someone walking through and scanning each of us, making sure we were still in our cages and hadn't attempted any type of break out.
I was scared of what would happen should we try to get free.
The metal door that led into the shack swung open, catching the attention of each of the prisoners as we tried to check out who was going to be doing the walkthrough this morning. The wolf to my left, his fur a bright yellow in hue with gold flecking in his coat backed away at the sight of Leon. I cowered as well. These wolves had been here far longer than I, and they must know how horrid Leon really could be.
We watched him silently as he walked slowly through the maze of cages, peering into each one and sizing up the different prisoners before his feet fell still.
In front of my cage.
He squatted in front of me, low enough to be at eye level with me as he had the night before.
“Good morning, Silver. Have a nice rest?” He grinned mischievously, but I kept staring down at my tied wrist, refusing to make total eye contact with him though letting out a soft whine.
“Oh, don't be like that.” He sighed and stuck his fingers through the slots of the cage toward me. I could bite them off if I really wanted to, but he didn't seem to care. “You wanna get out of this shit hole, don't you? Glenn!”
He removed his fingers from between the bars of the cage and stood up as another pair of legs came into my line of sight to join him. I directed my glance up to the torso and higher to reveal the ragged black shirt and long brown hair of a much younger boy. He was maybe a year or two younger than me-nineteen or so.
“Yes, Leon,” he said, bowing his head down while his lengthy hair cascaded over his shoulders. While the top and ends of it were brushed, the hair at the back of his head seemed to be matted and knotted.
“This is the one you'll be teaching the ropes. Show him what he's gonna be doing, explain the rest. And if he tries to get away from you,” Leon reached into the back of his pants, removing something that looked like a pistol that was stuffed there for safekeeping, “shoot him. Or it's you that'll be put down.”
The boy accepted the gun with shaky hands, nodding up at the new leader of the Grey Brotherhood.
"Yes, Leon,” he said with a nod. Everyone watched as Leon strolled back into the main building with his hands behind his back, stumbling slightly as though he was already inebriated this early in the morning.
The boy, Glenn, knelt down in front of my cage, staring at me as he fumbled with the lock.
“Hey. It's okay,” he said to me, the sound of the padlock dropping o
pen causing me to shrink away from him even further. The door swung open, and I watched his hand carefully as he reached toward me. “I wanna help.”
His fingers came within a few inches of my face no matter how hard I tried to push myself against the back of the kennel. I snarled at him to back off, baring my teeth pitifully while my muzzle crinkled up in a terrible display of aggression. He didn't seem the least bit worried, finally reaching out to my snowy fur and dragging his fingers down my neck.
“Come on.” He smiled kindly, retreating from the cage and standing up, merely waiting for me.
“Glenn, do you have anything today?” another shifter said. He had remained in his human form, his hands palming at the ridges of the cage with his face pressed up against it.
“Not much. But here's something.” Glenn reached into his pocket with his free hand, the other still gripping onto the gun Leon had given to him. He extracted a handful of something that looked mushed. I sniffed hard, trying to pull in any scent from it to determine what it was, but I could only get a whiff of bile which made me gag. He handed what he was holding toward the man, close to the bars. The prisoner grabbed at it and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.
I shrugged off from the corner, moving closer toward the front of the cage to watch as he continued. From his baggy sweatpants, he managed to pull out about five more handfuls of whatever it was, passing it around to other wolves who rushed to the front their cages to eat some of it.
“Thank you,” the last man had said. He was much older than any of the others within the cages, and he ate much more carefully than the others, taking one small piece of the mush at a time before placing it into his mouth, savoring the substance.