by Charlie Tran
Before I could even enjoy his reaction, I felt my head slam against the long cafeteria table, my forehead aching immediately as I rolled out of my seat and onto the ground. The fluorescent lighting in the room starting to fade in and out.
"Hey, hey, hey!" I heard people shouting and saw others standing up from their tables to watch what was happening.
"You picked wrong one, pup," Leon growled, and I felt someone's foot slam into my side as I continued to roll around on the ground, grabbing my head in pain.
"Naughty doggies." Another voice purred from far away amongst the scuffle of feet.
"Fuck off, cat!" Leon shouted, until he yelped in pain and Joshua's frightening cackle erupted.
"Break it up, break it up!" Guards were shouting, and I peeked out from between my fingers to see what was going on. Leon was being slammed to the ground by a hefty guard, three lines of bright red across his face, and Joshua was bouncing back and forth laughing. His claws were extended and covered in crimson.
"Stupid cat!" Another wolf shouted, trying to rush Joshua—who dodged easily—before both of them were also taken down to the ground by more guards. But by then, the fading of the lights grew to heavy shadows, and my vision turned completely black.
4
JUDE
"This place looks horrible." Silver shuddered, and I glanced over at him in the backseat through the rear-view mirror. His face was pressed to the tinted window, eyes darting across everything we were passing as we pulled into the visitor parking area. The county jail was quite a far distance out of town. I thought we were never going to get there. We'd missed the exit twice before finally finding it as it wound out onto a dirt road. It was already starting to get dark, even though it was only around five in the evening. I wished it was a bit brighter. I didn't wanna be walking around in the dark outside of a jail. Even if the criminals were locked away inside, who's to say that these cops weren't going to pull something over on us? I was feeling rather strong distrust after the situation with Detective Evan.
I parked the vehicle, turned it off, and sat in the driver's seat for a long minute. I needed a moment to breathe, to muster up the strength to be there for Silver, since this is who I was doing this for.
"Finally. I needed to stretch." Lucas yawned, And I could feel his knees banging into the back of my seat. I frowned, finally stepping out and slamming my car door behind me.
"Come on guys, I don't wanna be late. We don't know what the check-in process entails."
"Coming!" Silver smiled, carefully waddling himself out of the car and around to join his lover on the other side. They linked arms and followed behind in my steps towards the concrete building. It was quite ominous, bereft of any windows. One couldn't see inside or out, and the ground was uneven, and unpaved back here.
"This is giving me a bad feeling," Lucas said, stumbling a bit over the bulky gravel, but he and Silver fell into step evenly again. I balled my hands into fists at my sides, pressing the button on my key fob to ensure that the alarm was set on my car. The last thing I needed was to come out here and not find a car to drive home in.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." I sighed, pressing the back of my fingers to my forehead. I could feel a bit of sweat beginning to form at my brow. I wiped it away though, before my two pack mates would notice. I had made such a big deal about being the Alpha, I couldn't let them see how nervous I was about going near a jail.
Approaching the single door in the large, eerie building, I held it open for the other two to enter. Thankfully, a bright fluorescent light emanated outside. At least the place wasn't as unwelcoming as it looked from the outside and was brightly lit within.
When I'd followed the two inside, we all stopped to glance around. Many plastic uncomfortable looking chairs littered the room, half of them occupied with people who kept their heads down towards their phones or in a book. To the right was a vending machine and another machine that looked reminiscent of an ATM, but the sign on the front said something about placing money onto inmate's 'books'.
"Need help?" A voice called out from the front through a barred window. Only a small recess was lacking bars, just small enough for hands to slide underneath and place something on the desk behind it. The man in full uniform was leaning forward, watching us carefully.
"Yes. We're here to visit an inmate." I snorted, approaching him quickly and dragging the other two along with me. His gaze drifted quickly between the three of us before settling on me last.
"The same inmate?"
"Of course."
"I need some I.D."
I made a face, fishing into my pocket to retrieve my wallet and drawing out my identification card. I slid it through the small slot towards him. The officer quickly snatched it up and began to process the information from the card onto the computer. After he was finished, his fingers flying across his keyboard in what looked like record time, he placed my I.D. into a drawer to his left. and turned back towards us.
"Go ahead, Silver," I reassured him, taking a step back and putting a hand to Silver's shoulder to usher him closer to the man.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry," he mumbled, finding his own identification card and passing it to the officer.
The process was repeated for Silver, with the man typing away and then hiding the card in a drawer with many others.
"Go sit down."
"Don't you need my I.D. card too?" Lucas asked, leaning over Silver's shoulder into my peripheral vision.
"Only two visitors per visiting session. Go sit down and let me do my job," he snarled, spinning around in his chair and ignoring us to go back to his computer.
"What an asshole," Lucas grumbled, not caring whether he heard us or not as I too turned to find a seating arrangement for us.
Though most were only empty in seats of two, or a single one here and there, there were three that were free of anyone sitting in them, though they were far back by the restroom door.
"Come on, let's just hurry up and sit down," I told my pack and headed right towards the chairs before anyone else came in to claim them.
"THOSE VISITING for inmate name's starting with G, second i through o," a man said, snapping me out of my daydream with his obnoxiously loud voice.
The only other door in here that didn't lead outside or to the restrooms opened as he spoke, the officer having to use all of his weight to lean into it and prevent it from falling shut again.
He began to roll call those who were to visit inmates.
"First round of visitors: Jerry, Oscar, Prince..."
"That's gonna be us!" Silver called out, hopping out of his chair, but I quickly snapped his elbow up in my hand to steady him before he fell face first onto the floor with how off balance he was getting. The bigger his stomach got, the clumsier he became.
"Wait for him to say your name," I lectured the young pup, "They're obviously calling us in sections. Must be a lotta visitors for that group."
"...Brown, Gerard, Jude, Derrik..."
Silver and Lucas both looked towards me and could definitely see the stupid look on my face. Well, more confused than stupefied.
"Wait. Me? I'm just here for support," I told them as I stood up out of my seat, while Silver folded his arms across his chest and sat back down with a pout.
"Come on. Hurry and file in a line before entering," The officer called, ignoring what I had to say. Lucas shrugged at me, but Silver's pout quickly faded into a smile.
"Go ahead, say hi. You're the one who brought us here anyway."
"Whatever," I snorted. I was only doing this for Silver's sake, but I might as well go and say something.
So, we filed into the line, me alongside all the other strangers there to visit their friends or family. I was sure some were destined for prison and would be moving out of the jail soon by the way a few of the people around me were crying.
It honestly made me more uncomfortable being closer to them—not those crying, but the people near who were eyeing me up and down.
Perhaps
it wasn't right to wear a suit here, but I thought one was supposed to look presentable when coming to the jail. I guess it was my own ignorance confusing the attire for this setting with that of court. I should've listened to Lucas for once when he insisted on wearing only sweats.
"Come on in," the prison guard said, drawing me from my thoughts and leading the line of people through the door with me in tow.
As soon as we entered, the people in line began to scatter, the other visitors obviously far more accustomed to what was to happen next. I watched most of them move to divided booths, a thick plastic barrier between the visitors and the inmates that were already on the other side, waiting with a corded phone in their hands to speak with their loved ones.
I gulped and went towards the only divided section that was left empty and open and took a seat.
And there he was, staring at me, confused, his dark hair tied back into a high ponytail that drifted across the top of his shoulders with its length, keeping his hair out of his swollen and bruised face. There was a long stint of time of only staring at one another before we reached for the corded phones, bringing them to our ears.
"I'm surprised to see you here, of all people," he said, tilting his head to the side, sizing me up.
"It was due to some confusion on my end."
"You look rather dressed up. Am I supposed to feel special that you'd take the time to get all fancy just to see me?" He smiled, but I could tell that something was forced about it. He winced, the side of his mouth, scabbed over, cracking as he pulled his lips back.
"What happened to you?" I asked, leaning closer towards the thick plastic divider between us. He turned his face away, and I could see the muscles in his jaw flex, eyes downturned.
"Nothing."
I'm not sure why, but his response agitated me, almost as much as Lucas when he questioned me or went against my decisions. But in a different way.
"What happened?" I insisted, much more slowly, biting into my tongue to keep myself from snapping at him even further. I didn't want to shout.
"Leon was just..."
"They still let you be around that fucker?" I barked, garnering the attention of a couple of the guards that were watching us closely, strolling up and down the aisles slowly both on the visitors' side and the inmates'.
"What can they do? Give me special treatment? I'm just a prisoner like anyone else here. It was during our mealtime, there's no way to keep all of us separated then."
"Why would he do it? It's not like he's free to do what he will. He's still in jail."
"He doesn't care, okay? He wanted me to come crawling back to him again and give myself to him like nothing had ever happened, and I refused. He got mad, but—"
"Fuck him!" I snarled, only for Glenn to shrug back away, his eyes widening at my sudden feral attitude. I took in a deep breath, closing my eyes to calm myself down.
"Sorry," I grunted, another inhale and exhale, counting to five in my head to calm down. I was really starting to feel like something was wrong with me. If I had been an Omega myself, I probably would have thought myself with child by how wildly my emotions were swinging. Given Forest's previous mood swings, as well as Silver's.
What is wrong with me?
"Don't get so worked up! I'm fine, just a bit bruised up. I have a friend. My bunkmate. He helped me out."
I immediately arched a brow, watching Glenn smile at the thought of this friend.
"Oh?"
"He's actually out of his mind, insane. And a cat. What could be worse than a damned cat shifter in a jail filled with wolves?"
I leaned back into my chair, tilting my head as I watched Glenn continue on about the cat shifter and how he'd helped him in the scuffle. How he'd been annoyed with him since he first learned he would be sharing a cell with the man.
"But he's not so bad. I think they're changing him out to solitary, to be honest. Something's not completely right in here." He laughed low, tapping a finger against his temple. "He had already said goodbye when they dragged him out last night."
"So, you're alone now?"
Glenn shrugged, tossing his head back as his hair flipped over to the other shoulder.
"More or less. I'm trying not to get into any more trouble. And staying far away from Leon, at the very least. Hopefully, they'll take his ass to prison, and I won't have to see him for a long time."
"What about you? Are you gonna be getting out soon?"
"No, they want me to stay in here for a while. I haven't actually had a proper trial—none of us from the Gilded Heart have. They're trying to charge me with prostitution and gang affiliation. Can you believe that?"
It was my turn to shrug.
"I don't know. It's not like I actually know anything about you," I reminded him—and myself. Here we were, chatting along as though it was him and I that had been friends, when in actuality this was the conversation he should have been having with Silver.
"You're right. Sorry for talking your ear off," He said as a whistle sounded.
"It's time to switch! If more than one person is here to visit, file in line so they can take your spot," the original guard called out, heading back towards the door that I had entered.
"I guess that's my cue," I nodded at him and rose from my chair.
"You do look good, by the way." He smirked, and I returned it, getting a final look at him before I had to hang up the phone and join the others in line.
It was gonna be Silver's turn to talk now.
Perhaps I could figure something else out while we were here.
Our line was short, only a few people sharing their visitation time. Silver was marched in past me with the others entering as our group left.
Lucas waved at me to come join him, but instead, I walked straight to the front desk where we had checked in.
The officer gave me an annoyed look for bothering him again.
"Want your I.D. now?" he snorted.
I smiled at him, flashing my sharpened teeth.
"I was wondering, where do I go to settle an inmate's bail?"
5
GLENN
I lay in bed, arms tucked underneath my head as I stared up at the empty top bunk. The lack of static playing in the morning to wake up to or at night to put me to sleep had already had an effect on me. Not having Joshua here to annoy me any longer was upsetting. He was the only companion I'd had here and being alone was weighing heavy on my heart.
"This is such bullshit." I rolled onto my side to stare at the broken television. Turned off, of course. I hadn't touched it since the cat had left.
I forced myself to sit up and look out through the gaps between the bars of my cell. It was quiet today, most people still asleep. We hadn't even had breakfast yet, and I did not want to go on my own again. This time Joshua wouldn't be here to defend me.
Talking to Silver had been... nice. To know that at least he hadn't given up on me completely. But I had told him he needed to find my son. That's what I cared about right now. More than my own safety. More than my own comfort. I'd spend the rest of my life in here if I had to as long as I could know for certain that Xander was safe.
My ears picked up the sound of familiar footsteps, heavy and spaced apart in marching rhythm.
A guard was coming.
Was it time for breakfast after all? I doubted I'd slept for more than a few hours. I rubbed at my eyes, pulled myself off the bottom bunk, and stumbled over towards the bars to stare out into the hallway as the officer approached.
Instead of being loud and waking others up with his screeching, he came closer before stopping right in front of my cell.
"'Morning, sir." I yawned, noticing the strange look in his eyes and the deep-set wrinkles embedded into his frown lines.
"It's your lucky day, inmate," he said, fishing for the keys on his belt loop and beginning to unlock the door to my cell.
"Just me? Where are we going?" I asked as the door slid open. He reached in and grabbed hold of my arm, tugging me out and slammi
ng the door shut behind us, though he refused to answer me. He simply began to lead me down the hall from where he had come from.
My heart started to beat a little faster.
"Where are we going? Am I gonna talk to a lawyer?" I asked him again, at least thankful he wasn't keeping me in cuffs as we marched on.
"Shut up," he said tersely, leading me all the way down the hall past the common area. It was even colder down here, and I hadn't had any money to buy proper thermals, so I held myself as we walked on, shivering.
Where the fuck were we going?
"THIS IS all you had left on your person when you arrived," the man before me said, writing on his papers, and signing it at the very bottom before he slid it over for me to sign as well. I grabbed the pen and signed on the bottom line, though what I was placing my signature upon I was still unsure. Was I being moved to another jail? Prison? Why were they giving me my stuff?
I was dumbfounded as they shoved the small strings of clothing I had worn into my hands.
"Hurry and change," they said, watching me expectantly. I did so, right in front of them, as they didn't gesture for me to head off anywhere else to swap out my clothes. They probably wanted to make sure that I wasn't trying to smuggle anything out of jail for anyone, or have me suffer further humiliation. It only took a minute or two to fully transition from the inmate garb to my working clothes, and I was considerably colder.
I was shivering even harder in the cropped shirt that hugged tightly against my skin and the tiny shorts that shouldn't have even been called such. It was more like a thick thong with the way they fit so snugly and high up on my hips.
"All right, take him out to the lobby."
"You're really going to let me walk around like this? It's cold as hell!" I was surprised, but they saw fit to just ignore my complaints. Typical.
I was led down another series of hallways, finally to what I assumed to be the main lobby here. And sitting down waiting for me was... not Silver. The one I had expected to see.
Instead, it was their Alpha, Jude.
"Wow," he said as he rose to his feet, dressed much more casually this time. Although I'd worn this outfit within the confines of the Gilded Heart, I felt much more naked standing in front of him—and out in public for other people to see—but there wasn't much I could do to hide what I was wearing.
