Chapter 2 #2
Ren could only see his side profile, but the softness of his face, his dark eyelashes stark against his tan skin, and plush lips paired with a hard, well-defined jawline made him stunning to look at.
His dark hair was cropped close to his scalp, but curled slightly on top, and his skin was a golden brown.
Ren truly couldn’t help the extra minute he took to stare at the guard—Alphas definitely weren’t pretty where he was from.
They were all big, broad Wolves with muscles and angry, scarred faces meant to terrify you—not pull you with looks as soft as a Faeries’.
But this Alpha was short, barely taller than Ren, and although he was muscular, it was nothing like the Alphas Ren knew.
His face scarcely had even a wrinkle on it besides a line between his eyebrows from pinching them together too much, let alone scars from battle.
Ren had assumed Kade was small because he was still a rookie, but maybe this was the new normal for Warriors.
Ren shuffled, groaning a bit at the twinge in his back from sleeping on such a stiff mattress, and the man’s eyes immediately flicked open.
Ren cowered back at the gaze—dark and harsh, almost feline. Tingles shivered down Ren’s spine when those eyes landed on him.
After a moment of just staring at each other, and Ren barely daring to breathe, he sat up all at once and shoved his messy hair out of his face.
He shivered even with his thick, wool socks protecting his feet as he hauled himself up and off of the mattress, swaying as he walked over to the cell bars.
He wrapped his hands around the bars with a smile. The Alpha tipped his head to one side as he watched Ren, his eyes trailing down to where Ren’s sweater was falling off to one side, showing his collarbone and shoulder. “Are you my new guard?” Ren chirped.
The man didn’t answer, the only sign that he had heard Ren being his arms crossed over his chest flexed just a bit.
“Ah, don’t tell me you’re going to ignore me too,” Ren said, leaning his forehead on the bars.
“Kade refused to talk to me or even read to me last night. It was quite selfish of him, really.” Unlike Kade and his twitchy demeanor, this Alpha peered straight at him with his jaw set firmly.
Ren refused to look away first and kept the smile on his lips, cocking his head to one side slowly in question. “What?”
The man said nothing. He sat there, gaze unmoving, long enough for Ren to feel the heat of it under his skin.
Ren huffed out a breath loudly, trying to make it clear he wasn’t looking away from fear but rather from boredom, as he rocked back on his heels and pulled away from the bars.
He almost would have preferred Kade as company, even if he ignored Ren or squirmed awkwardly when he tried to speak to him, than this guy with his watchful eyes.
Ren truly wouldn’t mind being down here if there were windows, if he could see outside, or if he was allowed to explore the castle more before he was imprisoned.
It made his skin crawl that he had no idea how much time was passing.
He was antsy with energy, unable to keep still and could only fill his time with pacing around, chewing on the skin of his thumb until he could taste the metal twang of blood.
“Yah, newbie,” a sudden call came, making Ren startle. “When did you come down here? Do you remember the date?”
Ren thought about it for a moment. “It was the twenty-eighth day of Spring,” he called back to them.
A low murmur of questioning tones and hushed conversations spread throughout the prison. Ren craned his head, trying to see through the bars to count how many other prisoners there were.
“Quiet,” the Alpha said the single word, a growl from deep in his throat. Ren was shocked when the rest of the prisoners actually fell silent.
“He speaks!” Ren cooed, a smile spreading across his face again. “And here I was, thinking you were a mute.” He pressed his lips out in a pout and asked, “Were you purposefully ignoring me? What have I ever done to you?”
The Alpha returned to his silence, staring at Ren with narrowed eyes and a frown that seemed to be his neutral expression.
Ren wasn’t sure how much longer passed—maybe it was only an hour or two, or maybe it was an entire day—but he was bored out of his mind by the time he heard faint footsteps coming down the stairwell.
Ren sat up immediately at the sound, scrambling to his feet to press himself against the poles again when a new Alpha appeared. He was dressed in the same black leathers as all of the Warriors Ren had met so far, but wore a look of disgust as he glanced around the prison, nose crinkled.
“They’re ready,” he said to their guard. The guard got to his feet and pulled out a ring of keys that were resting on his hip, moving to silently open Ren’s door.
The tension between them was heavy as the open door called to Ren like a Siren’s song. He glanced between it and his bound hands, wishing the Alpha would say something more—would tell him where they were going.
Ren straightened his spine, pushing his shoulders back, before moving forward and making his way past the Alpha.
Once Ren had stepped far enough away from the cage, the Alpha swung the door shut.
The keys jingled as his guard handed the ring off to another Alpha, who grumbled and made his way from cell to cell.
“Where are we going?” Ren asked, keeping his tone light.
He shouldn’t have expected a response, but he still pursed his lips as his guard walked past him without a word.
His guard moved to block the steps, dragging Ren along as they waited for the rest of the prisoners to be brought out of their cells.
Not all of the men in the cages were taken out, many were left behind, but about a dozen of them lined up behind Ren.
His guard and the other Alpha nodded at each other simultaneously and told the prisoners to start walking.
His guard started up the steps, making Ren huff as he had to jog to catch up; the Alpha didn’t even glance behind to make sure Ren was still following.
“Where are we going?” He asked again once he fell into step just behind his guard who didn’t answer.
Ren scowled. He wasn’t used to being ignored. He usually had too many eyes on him—too many hungry gazes, too many Alphas wanting to speak with him, too many Alphas telling him?—
He sniffed the air, trying to make out his guard’s scent now that there were no bars separating them.
It was dull, difficult to distinguish, but he could also smell something spicy—like cloves.
Ren was decent at reading people—most Omegas were—but he couldn’t figure out what the guard was feeling.
He couldn’t tell if the warmth of his scent was dull with indifference or spicy with annoyance or if maybe that’s just how it normally was.
Ren's legs burned with each step, muscles stiff and aching from the long descent now pushing back with every strained movement. The climb seemed to stretch on forever, each footfall heavier than the last. When he finally reached the top, he couldn’t help but let out a low groan, his body protesting the effort.
The air was different here—cooler, fresher.
His eyes swept over the castle’s vast, high-ceilinged halls, the stone walls towering above him like giants.
For the first time in what felt like ages, sunlight streamed through tall windows, bathing him in warmth.
His stomach grumbled as the rich scent of roasting meat and freshly baked bread wafted from the kitchens down the hall
Ren grinned as he looked around, almost turning in a full circle. He yelped when the guard took hold of his bicep, stopping his excited spin. Ren tried to pull out of his grasp, but the man’s hand tightened on him.
“Hey,” Ren hissed, struggling a bit more, “Let go of me.”
“Stop moving then.”
Ren did in fact stop moving at the sound of the Alpha’s voice, directed at him for the first time. He blinked at him, curious. “Oh, now you speak to me?”
The guard just took Ren’s wrists, and hooked a rope through the loop connecting his iron cuffs. Ren realized a moment too late what he was doing.
“I am not an actual dog, you know,” Ren protested when the guard tugged him forward by the wrists. “Just because we are Wolves does not mean you can treat me like an animal.”
The Alpha said nothing, but he did ease up a bit with the pulling, letting the rope fall so Ren could walk normally with his hands down by his hips.
He glanced over his shoulder, noticing that the other guard was hooking the rest of the prisoners together as well. He frowned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. “Why am I separate from them? Are we going to different places?” he asked. The guard’s steps didn’t waver as he strode forward.
Ren was surprised when his guard actually responded, “You will have your trial today.”
“Already?” Ren asked, breath hitching.
“We always have our prisoners' sentences on the thirtieth of each season.” Ren was about to protest when the man continued as though reading his thoughts, “You have been asleep for two days.”
Ren gaped at him, “Two days?” No wonder he had been so disoriented when he woke up.
The knowledge of how long he had been unconscious seemed to trigger something inside of him, his stomach cramping painfully with hunger and he could feel how dry his tongue was. His guard’s words slowly caught up to him—the prisoners’ sentences.
He didn’t realize his steps had slowed until there was a tug on his wrists. His guard was looking back at him, having fully stopped when Ren did.
“What’s the hold up?” The other Warrior asked. The footsteps behind him come to a halt. All of the prisoners were staring at him, variations of confusion and irritation on their faces.