Feral Wolf by Caroline Peckham

24 hours until the FIB arrive…

 

“This could really work,” Ethan said for the hundredth time and I snarled as I paced the dingy room.

“It’s fucking suicide is what it is,” I muttered.

“Bullshit,” Ethan growled. “You know it can work or you would have tried harder to stop her from going.” He pointed at me accusingly and I ground my teeth together, unable to deny that. Alright, I could see the merit in this plan, despite the source of where it had come from. Sin Wilder was fucking insane, but for once he’d come up with something tangible that might actually get them all out of here. The problem was, I couldn’t just let Rosalie storm out of Darkmore with a bunch of violent criminals in tow. Sin was a psychopath who had a body count that rivalled Lionel Acrux himself.

“I don’t like it, but I trust Rosa,” Roary said darkly. “And if this is the only way, then I’ll suck up my worries over trusting Wilder and do whatever she asks of me.”

“I shall also be of service,” Plunger added as he started stretching in the far corner of the room. He was bent over, touching his toes and the leaf boxers Rosalie had made for him split right up the ass crack.

Hastings buried his face in his hands, mumbling something under his breath about the awful couple of days he’d had.

“By the stars,” I snarled and flicked my fingers to cast a silencing bubble around me and Rosalie’s two mates, turning my back on Plunger again. “You expect me to just let someone like that walk out of here?” I pointed at Plunger. “Do you know what he did on the outside? He’s a fucking pervert and a rapist.”

“Well I don’t plan on letting him out of here, Officer,” Ethan said, giving me an intent look that said he’d murder Plunger before he got that far.

“And what about you two?” I snarled, pointing between them. “You’re no innocent Fae.”

“My time was due to be up before I got caught with that fucking cuff key and got years slapped on my sentence. How is that fair?” Ethan demanded.

“Those are the rules,” I snarled. “You shouldn’t have stolen a key.”

“I didn’t,” he laughed coldly. “I took the hit for Rosalie.”

I frowned as I saw the truth in his eyes over that. I couldn’t even call him a fool for it, because with the way I felt about Rosalie now, I knew I’d take any punishment to keep her from harm.

“Fuck,” I cursed, pacing more furiously. “Don’t go making me feel bad for you. I didn’t land your ass in Darkmore, you did that. And it’s my job to fucking keep you here.”

“Oh screw your job,” Ethan scoffed. “You could have walked away from us ten times since this shit started, but you’re still here. I’m well aware you’re lusting after our mate, Cain, so get off your fucking high horse.”

I ground my teeth, not looking at him or Roary. I was hungry for blood and both of theirs were seeming really damn appealing right now. But if I drank from one of them, I was pretty sure I’d rip their throats out in the process and Rosalie would not be best pleased with that.

“This is all getting too real,” I rasped. “I promised to help her in return for her trying to figure out my curse, but if it comes to a point where this plan is really working then I can’t just stand by and allow a bunch of psychopaths to escape back out into the world. I’ll let her out. I’ll help her do it. I’ll even let you two go with her to ensure she makes it, but I cannot let anyone else leave this prison.”

I didn’t mention my other reason for deciding to allow them to leave with her, but I knew I had to. She’d made it more than clear to me that separating her from them caused her endless pain and heartache, and as such as I might not have liked the fact that she was mated to these two assholes, there wasn’t anything I could do to undo it. Besides, the curse would only punish me if I even tried to keep them from her. Though I had to admit that it was the pain it would cause her that motivated me the most. She was still my weakness, but I was beginning to accept that was the case.

“So your plan is to betray her?” Roary snarled. “Let her think we’re all getting out with her but stop Sin and the others at the last second?”

“It’s not a betrayal,” I spat.

“It is,” Ethan piped up. “Because she needs to get Sin out of here too or that asshole who paid her to rescue him is going to come after her.”

“She’s afraid of that guy, too,” Roary added darkly. “She hasn’t said it outright but she’d warned me about him. She isn’t willing to cross him and you know how fearless she is. That means that this Jerome asshole really is dangerous and she genuinely believes he’ll be able to get to her if she crosses him.”

“Shut up,” I snapped, not wanting to hear it.

“It’s the truth, Cain,” Roary said in a growl. “Rosa came here to get me out but she needed the help Jerome could offer so she took him up on the job to rescue Sin too. And I’m afraid of what will happen to her if we leave this place without him.”

“Sin Wilder is a murderer,” I growled.

“He only killed bad guys if that helps,” Ethan said with a shrug. “He was a hitman for hire but he only took on jobs where the mark deserved to die. You can ask him about it, he told me about some of the sick people he took from this world and I actually think he did all of us a favour.”

I growled at him, refusing to give a shit if that was true. Wilder was still a killer. End of story. Shadowbrook had served his sentence so I could justify that one and the Lion had only ended up here because he’d been rescuing Rosalie if I was to believe her stories. But that didn’t make him innocent, it only meant he was unlucky to have been caught.

Lionel Acrux had been a terrible choice of someone to steal from. But he had stolen from him which meant he’d earned his sentence here, no matter what any of us may have thought of that motherfucker. The Dragon Lord. The cousin of my own bane, Benjamin Acrux.

“You stole from Lionel Acrux,” I grunted, not looking Roary’s way, but wanting to know more about that story if I really was going to be letting him walk out of here. Besides, I didn’t want to hear any more of their bullshit reasons for me releasing Wilder. It wasn’t going to happen.

“Yeah, to help my brother. He needed something Lionel had. We didn’t do it for personal gain, not all of it anyway. I wouldn’t have risked stealing from that raging psycho of a motherfucker if I hadn’t had a good reason to. But I’m not excusing what I did anyway. I’m a thief. I’m proud of being one too. But I didn’t deserve what I got. Ten years is more than long enough for theft – have you ever heard of another inmate serving a sentence as long as mine for the same crime? I didn’t deserve Lionel showing up here at Darkmore and making a fucking death bond with me which made it impossible for me leave this place with an appeal or a pardon. I’m trapped in here for the entirety of my youth because of his ego. He stole my life from me and the only loophole left open to me was that he didn’t include the idea of escape in the death bond which is clearly why Rosa chose this course of action.”

“Why would you even go along with a death bond?” I muttered, distracted by that because no Fae was fool enough to make a promise which would result in their death if they broke it even if it was the Dragon overlord asking them to do it.

“He said if I didn’t make the deal with him, he’d hand Rosa over to the authorities.” Roary stepped closer to me and that news settled over me like a heavy weight. “He knew she’d been at his house. He saw her. But he let her off to get some sway over her cousin Dante because he wanted a pet Storm Dragon. So now I don’t get to leave Darkmore until I’m an old man unless I can take advantage of that loophole and escape this place.”

Ethan laid a hand on Roary’s shoulder and I got the impression it was the first time he’d heard this. I wasn’t heartless, as much as I liked to act like I was. And as I looked at the man whose life had been stolen by Lionel Acrux, then turned to the one who’d given up his chance to leave this hell for Rosalie, I had to admit I was running out of reasons to hate them.

“Not to go overkill on you or anything, man,” Ethan said. “But I’m also innocent of my crimes.”

“Oh come on,” I said dryly. “Don’t bullshit me.”

“It’s true.” Ethan shrugged. “I took the fall for someone I love because they had a baby on the way and I wasn’t gonna see their life get fucked up by one stupid mistake they made.”

Roary nuzzled against him and they went all fucking fluffy animal on each other for a moment.

“You care about her too,” Roary said. “And I know it’s more than just you trying to break that curse. I’ve seen the way you look at her. You don’t want her getting hurt.”

“So what?”

“So let Sin leave with us,” he urged. “To protect her from Jerome. You could even come with us if you wanted to…”

The offer didn’t exactly sound enthusiastic and Ethan breathed a growl in response to it, but it was there all the same. It was an idiotic suggestion though. Wasn’t it?

But as I thought of the raven haired girl who had captured every part of me from the moment she’d first walked into this place, I had to admit that the idea of her leaving me behind wasn’t one I was looking forward to.

I clucked my tongue, figuring my time as a guard at Darkmore was fucked anyway. I didn’t know what the security cameras had seen or what a judge would even believe once the evidence was analysed. I could say I’d been magically Coerced, maybe they’d even believe it. But some part of me didn’t even want this life anymore. It had been all I’d known for so long though that I was afraid of what life would look like without it. I didn’t have anything out there. But if I was honest, I didn’t have anything in here either. Especially once Rosalie left.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes, knowing I was being worn down. Because all I really wanted was for this to be over, for Rosalie to get out and for me to not be so fucking afraid of what was going to happen to her if she didn’t make it out before the FIB came. And I was afraid for her if she stayed here too. Whatever they’d been doing down in Psych wasn’t just going to end now that some of the people who worked in there were dead. The Warden was a part of something fucked up that was taking place there and she’d had Rosalie’s name down for whatever it was. I didn’t want her anywhere near that shit.

“I’m not coming with you,” I gritted out, because the idea of that was just too much. I couldn’t give up my entire life for a girl who had lied to me and manipulated me for months, no matter how captivated I was by her. But maybe helping her was the key to my own survival, the thing I needed to do to break this curse and save my sorry life. And so long as she ended up safe and away from here, I’d deal with what came after.

“You two I’ll allow. But not Sin. He’s volatile, he’s dangerous and he’s a murderer. I’m not going to let him back out into the kingdom to continue killing, because a Fae like that does not get reformed. His mind is twisted. He’s got no conscience. There’s no excusing who he is.”

“Fine,” Roary agreed reluctantly, though his jaw ticked like he wasn’t happy about that and Shadowbrook definitely didn’t seem so sure.

“Look I know he’s off the rails, but I genuinely think he means well,” the Wolf tried.

“Means well?” I snarled. “He gave magic back to every psycho in this place. How many murders do you think there’s going to be now before the FIB arrive? How many inmates are gonna die because he’s so fucking reckless that he can’t think beyond his own crazy whims?”

Roary nudged him, giving him an imploring look and Ethan’s throat bobbed as he nodded and he slowly bowed his head.

“Fine. Not Sin,” Ethan murmured, though he looked pained to say it. “But you have to swear you’ll help Rosalie get out, no matter what.” He held his hand out to me and I strode forward, taking it firmly in my grasp.

Rosalie might have been at risk from this Jerome guy once she escaped without the Incubus, but I hardly doubted there was anyone who could take her on once she got out of here and returned to her gang family who was ruled by a damn Storm Dragon. And she’d have her mates to protect her too. So this was the right choice.

“I swear it,” I said and magic flashed between our palms as the deal was struck.

I glanced over at Hastings who was watching me and disbanded the silencing bubble as I pulled my hand from Shadowbrook’s. I strode over to sit with him and he glanced at me a little nervously.

“You’re not gonna leave me, are you?” he asked in a low voice.

“No,” I promised, frowning at the kid and wishing he hadn’t had to go through all this shit. It looked like it was going to leave a scar or two on him that might never really heal. “I’m just ensuring we get out of here without a knife in our backs,” I said and he nodded, seeming relieved over that. It wasn’t exactly a lie either because I’d told Ethan and Roary point blank I didn’t want them getting out of here, so they could have turned on me anytime they liked. If it hadn’t been for Rosalie holding them off, I knew I’d have been dead long before now, but she wasn’t here currently so there was nothing stopping them if they wanted to strike at me or Hastings. Though as I glanced over at them, I didn’t see any murderous intention in their eyes. They were just talking between themselves, their words hidden from me within a silencing bubble and though I didn’t like that, I couldn’t do much about it.

“When I get out of here, I’m gonna go and visit Sunshine Bay,” Hastings said with a decisive nod. “I always wanted to go there. Do you think we’ll get a big pay out for this shit?”

“I dunno,” I muttered, not wanting to mention the inquiry that would definitely happen as soon as Darkmore was locked down again. The FIB were going to be looking for someone to blame and shame for this mess. And the Warden would need to cast responsibility off of herself if she wanted to keep her job here.

“Doesn’t matter either way, I’ve got some savings. I can afford the flight there, then I’ll just get some cheap accommodation,” Hastings said and I patted his arm awkwardly. “Do you wanna come with me?” he asked, a hopeful gleam in his eyes and I cleared my throat, knowing I couldn’t commit to that. I didn’t know what was going to happen when I helped Rosalie and her mates get out of here, but I had the feeling it might just blow up in my face.

“Yeah,” I said anyway, because I didn’t want him feeling shittier than he already did right now. “I’d like that, Jack.”

He smiled, seeming to relax and I took in a long breath as I leaned back against the wall and tried to ignore Plunger as he continued to stretch and show off way too much of his naked ass.

My mind ran over Rosalie as it always seemed to these days and all I could think was that she was the mistake I couldn’t stop making. And I couldn’t even regret it anymore.

I was just starting to chill out when an alarm cut through the air like a wailing bomb siren, filling the whole prison. I shot to my feet in a flash, panic slashing my chest to ribbons.

I knew what that noise meant even before the booming male voice carried to us magically on the air to explain it.

“This is Agent Carver. Darkmore Penitentiary is now under FIB jurisdiction. All prisoners are instructed to get on their knees and remain in place with your hands on your heads while you wait to be detained. Any inmate who remains on their feet when approached will be killed on sight.”

“Fuck!” Roary bellowed as Ethan clawed a hand through his hair.

“They’re early,” Hastings gasped, looking hopeful, but that was the exact opposite of what I was feeling. This was the worst fate that could have befallen us. We were officially out of time.

I ran to the door, tugging it open a crack and Ethan and Roary crowded in either side of me as we all peered out, spotting FIB agents in black jumpsuits racing up the stairs at the far end of the corridor.

“We have to move our hineys,” Plunger hissed.

Roary pushed the door shut, his face paling and panic etching into his features. “Rosa,” he croaked and for once I was sure I felt the exact same way as him and Shadowbrook.

Because Rosalie was up in the prison and her final plan just got all kinds of fucked. So what the hell were we gonna do?