Chapter 7 #2
I’d already said too much. There was no chance in hell I was gonna say more.
Look where I was. As soon as they’d noticed I was a mage, they’d thrown me in a fucking cell. My mate had thrown me in a cell. The one who was supposed to support and protect me. He’d taken one look at me and imprisoned me. And as the Alpha of the pack, the rest would follow.
I couldn’t risk it.
Bile rose in my throat as I looked at Levi.
“Nix, it’s okay.”
I shook my head again.
Nothing was okay.
There were five shifters outside the cell, watching my every move.
There was his mate standing merely three feet away, his eyes tracking me relentlessly, his aura showing his agitation.
Levi sighed, his eyes never leaving me, questions warring with frustration.
“Can we maybe get him out of this cell?” he asked, finally turning his head to his mate. “Please. He’s clearly uncomfortable being here.”
Rhett scoffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he gave a curt headshake that sent his longish hair flying. “No can do, sweetie. We don’t know if he’s dangerous.”
Levi snorted. “Nix isn’t dangerous. I told you about my friend. The one I’ve been trying to help.”
“How can you say that? He attacked you,” Rhett exploded, and I shrank further back. If he really thought I’d attacked his mate, I was in deep trouble.
But it might mean Levi’s safe, a voice in my head supplied. If I kept my mouth shut, they might forget the fact that I said something about Levi’s magic. Maybe they won’t find out…
But Levi shook his head. “I don’t know what happened, but he didn’t attack me. You didn’t, right, Nix?”
I pressed my lips together, not willing to answer him.
This was such a mess, but it was my mess, not his.
“See, he’s not even denying it.”
I closed my eyes, shutting the world out, and focused just on their auras and what I could feel.
Levi was still happy to see me, but worry made his aura swirl.
He also kept reaching out to me, or his magic did.
Was he trying to recreate a reaction? Trying to find out what’d happened himself? Exploring a newfound ability?
Then there were the others. Not just wolves. A fox and a lion too. The fox was a Mountie. I’d seen him investigating after I’d stolen from the grocery store.
One of the wolves bled hostility. The one closest to the staircase.
If I wanted to get past them all… what did I need to do?
I could probably knock them out with a controlled blast of energy, but at what cost? Even though the magic was doing a spectacular job at healing all the small aches in my body, I was still beat. Still tired. Still so utterly exhausted, I wasn’t sure how far I could run.
Also, I had no idea what was upstairs.
If I was at the packhouse, getting out of this cell would be the easiest part.
No.
I needed to wait for a better chance.
Maybe they’d leave me alone when they realized I wasn’t talking.
Maybe I could wait for everyone to go to sleep, pick the lock, and sneak out.
And then what?
Run again?
Where?
And how?
My fucking mate was here.
A shiver ran down my spine again, icy cold spreading through my veins.
My mate. The Alpha of this pack.
There was no getting away from him.
“Nix, do you want something to drink?”
I shook my head but didn’t open my eyes, despair rolling through me in waves. Why did I have to have a shifter as a mate? Why did I have to find him now? I’d been here for months and never met him. I’d been blissfully unaware of the fact that my mate was lurking just outside of my reach.
“We need to talk about what happened,” a new voice said. The fox. “Gray should be here soon.”
Who was Gray?
Some kind of enforcer?
Was he supposed to make me talk?
Oh, shit… would they… were they about to hurt me?
I shivered again, my mind running wild with scenarios.
“Okay. But in the meantime, can someone please get him a blanket or a hot chocolate?” Levi sounded annoyed. “He’s shivering all over. And I still don’t understand why he has to be in a cell down here and not one of the spare bedrooms upstairs.”
Okay, I was definitely being held in the basement of the packhouse. I filed that information away for later.
“Rhett?”
“I’m staying.”
Levi huffed.
“Paul?”
“I’m sorry, but I feel responsible for watching over the prisoner.”
I flinched. A prisoner. There it was. Today I was a prisoner, and tomorrow I’d be…
“He’s not a prisoner,” Levi said sharply. “He’s my friend. And you are all extremely rude. When Rhett brought me here, no one put me in a cell.”
“That was different.”
Because Levi was Rhett’s mate.
Yet I was sitting in a cell while being their Alpha’s mate.
I felt like I was about to puke.
Did they not know? Had their Alpha kept that information from them? Was he ashamed? Probably. Would he ever tell them? Or would he just… keep me away from everyone? Trapped in his home. His slave to do his bidding whenever he needed me to perform some kind of magic for him or to…
There wasn’t enough air for me to breathe. Not enough oxygen to get into my lungs. My breaths were coming too fast, too shallow, my teeth chattering.
I knew packs like this. Hell, one had been hunting me for months now.
I’d wanted to believe Levi when he’d said I didn’t need to be afraid of the wolves here. Had so desperately wanted to believe that what he was telling me was true, that the shifters here were different.
Hell, I’d been about to tell him everything and let him set up a formal meeting between me and the pack.
And now? Now I was sitting here and learning just how wrong he’d been about everything. The shifters might’ve been nice to him. But they thought he was human. Not a mage.
“Hey now. Breathe, Nix. I know it doesn’t look like it right now, but I promise you’re safe here.”
I wanted to cry at Levi’s unwavering confidence. I was safe here? I was sitting in a cell, waiting for a mate who didn’t want me for me and probably wanted to enslave me.
I was anything but safe.
And once the Alpha got here, I never would be again.