Meeting In The Middle

Love Behind Bars

Caleb, Damian and Lucian bring me to the pack camp, filled with many young boys and rarely, a couple of girls. As Alpha Damian walked past, they each nod their heads once, never daring to look up. I felt sorry for them as I trail behind Damian. They all eye me with curiosity and excitement, wondering who I was. As we follow the trail into a wooden cabin, I feel drawn to it, like it was pulling me towards it. As Damian pushed open the wooden door, I saw a descending staircase to the left and a small and old door, leading into the darkness. It was locked.

"What's in there?" I inquire, nodding towards the dark stairway. He exchanged a dark and dangerous look with the rest of the boys.
"That's the pack prison." He explains, pushing open the door with a grunt. "It's where we punish the rebels and disobeyers of the pack laws and rules."

He gestures for us to follow him and I cautiously step onto the first stair. It creaked beneath my weight. I gulp and keep descending into the dark, following Damian. Our footsteps echo in the walls and I let my eyes adjust to the low lighting. There were prison cells with tough looking guys in them. They were all wearing the same expression of grim and a snarl suddenly echoed in the cell and I jump. It was a guy we just passed, his face full of fury and rage. I bite my lip and hurry along, not wanting to be his dinner. Alpha Damian stops at a certain cell, the one closest to the wall and stares into it, his arms crossed.

I lay my eyes on a guy leaving against the wall, his eyes concentrated on a thick book in his hands. He locks eyes with me and his jaw tightened. My heart explodes into a million pieces. His sharp cheekbones and piercing blue eyes bore into mine, his long lashes casting a shadow over his cheeks. Damian watches us with a smirk on his face.

"You're mating." Lucian grinned at the boy, his eyes amused and a hint of excitement was in his voice. I couldn't tear my eyes away from his intense gaze between bars. I couldn't even sneak a dirty look at Lucian.

"I'm Ryder." He murmurs, closing the book he was reading. "Hello, princess."

I glare at Damian. "Let him out."

Damian shakes his head, his face slightly amused and even a bit surprised. "The rules are rules, Rosella. He broke them, he's in there for a reason."

I pull on the bars as hard as I could but they wouldn't budge.

"We put some of the most strongest werewolves in there." Damian laughs as he watches me struggle. "You don't think you would be able to even bend them right?"

I grit my teeth as my eyes meet Ryder's again.

"Don't talk to her like that." Ryder snarled and pressed himself against the bars so he could swipe at him. Damian backs away, raising his eyebrows.

"You were supposed to get out of the cell today..." Damian turns and heads back towards the stairs. "But I changed my mind. Another week in the cell for you."

I kick him. He turns around, a daring glint in his eye. I took a step back under his challenging gaze. "What did you just do to me?"

"I kicked you." I say, determination in my voice. "You can't just keep people locked up when they just found out who their mate was. I want to see you without your mate for the entire week!" I scream at him, my face burning with anger. He was surprised for a moment but then his smirk appeared back on his face.

"Your absolutely right, Rose." He sneers. "Maybe you would like to spend a week with your mate."

I was about to thank him but he spit out something else.

"In the prison cell." He finishes and with a snap of his fingers, he orders Caleb and Lucian to lock me up. I stare at him incredulously.
"I'm not even a werewolf yet!" I yell at him, pissed to a point where I didn't even care if he died in hell. He was being so unfair.

As Caleb closes the prison door, he gives me an encouraging look and whispered "I'm sorry." I sigh and lean against the cold wall, breathing in and out to calm myself. After a couple minutes, a werewolf from the cell beside me complained that I was too loud. I forgot they had amazing hearing. I whispered a sorry and he grunted. I could hear shuffling in the room.

"So you're a new member of this pack?" A guy asked from the cell beside me.
"Yeah and I think I got on Damian's bad side already."
"Rule one, NEVER call him by his name. Always put the word Alpha before it." He instructs me. I roll my eyes.

"I don't see the point in that." I retort, shaking my head. He sighs.
"That's how things work here."

I hear a growl from the cell in front of me and I peer behind the bars. It was Ryder.

"Easy, easy." The guy beside me coaxes him. "I'm not trying to hit on your mate."

I stifle a laugh at how possessive Ryder was.

"I'm Jake, just for the record." He instroduced himself. "I've got a mate, her name is Fern. You guys will get along just fine."

"Thanks, haven't had much girl friends here."

Ryder's eyes were trained on me the entire time, his eyes full of affection. I couldn't feel that way yet, I wish I could. He seemed so happy and content, it's like a mate could bring life to him in any situation, even in a prison cell. I wanted to be able to feel that love instead of just seeing it.

"So how'd you end up in here?" I ask him, looking at him behind bars. He grins, not ashamed of it one bit.

"I fought with the Alpha." He says. "Got punished for it."
"You, know he's the beta." Jake explains from beside me. "If he can beat the alpha in a fight, he gets to be alpha."

I laugh a little at that. "Well in that case, great work Ryder."
"I was pretty close too." Ryder states, taking a sip of his water. I watch him as he gulped down the water and I was startled as the door to the prison room opened, revealing Caleb carrying a tray of steaming hot food. He hands me a bowl but I refuse to take it.

"Please, Caleb get me out of here." I plead. "And all of them. They technically didn't do anything wrong." He gives me a sympathetic look and slides the steaming bowl of soup over. "Sorry Rose, I cant do that."
"Ryder's your beta for heaven's sake, you cant disobey someone of higher status." I ramble on and on, unsure of what I'm even saying anymore. He sighs and starts moving to the next cell.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said before passing me and heading towards the end of the corridor. How the hell did I get put into jail on my first day? What a great impression I would make on the pack. Ryder could sense my distress and he was frowning in an instant.

"What's wrong princess?" He asked me, pushing his soup aside. I shake my head.
"Everyone's going to think I'm crazy and weird to disobey the Alpha and end up in jail on the first night here." I sigh and place my head against the wall.

"You know its making me crazy." He suddenly says. I look at him quizzically.
"I want to be there with you, holding you in my arms and helping you relax and comfort you but I can't." He was frustrated and he slammed his fists into the metal bars. They bent. He kept slamming it until the gap was large enough for him to crawl through. His hands were all red and bloody but he didn't care as he freed me from the cage. I jump into his arms and he inhales my hair, and closes his eyes. I fit perfectly in his body, it was like we were made for each other. He holds me tight and I dissolve myself in his warmth.

"I've been waiting to do this since I laid my eyes on you." He murmurs into my hair. I smile into his shirt and snuggle closer.
"I cant wait until I shift for the first time." I say, my heart beating fast.
"It'll be painful at first, then you'll experience a special moment where only wolves with mates before the transformation would feel." His eyes glazed over with happiness. I liked his smile, it made his blue eyes shine even brighter than they usually do.

"I love you princess." He whispers into my ear.