Two Alphas, One Mate (BAAM 2)

TAOM(11)

The next night, everyone was gathered outside of the cave. Looking around the two packs, I noticed Marcus and Reagan were missing.

"Tilly, have you seen Marcus or Reagan?"

Her eyes glowed with concern. "They're inside, bolting the cage. Are you sure you want to do that?"

Taking in a deep breath, I nodded. "I just want to make sure I don't get out, you know?"

She nodded back. I could tell she didn't fully understand, but I couldn't expect her to. She grew up around all this. I was still new to it all and it still scared me. Your wolf turning into a monster for three days of the month was normal for her - this was only my second time and I had no pleasant memories from the first turn.

"C'mon," she grabbed my arm and started leading me to the mouth of the cave, "let's go see how they're doing."

We heard them before we saw them, they were arguing about the cage.

"One slam against those bars, and this door's busting open - it's not tight enough." Marcus growled in frustration. "Maybe we should just move it to the other side of the cave, this wall doesn't feel sturdy enough to handle the abuse it'll get throughout the night three days. The cage will fall apart."

Reagan snarled. "Then do it your damn self! Otherwise, it's fine. It's a cage in a cave, not a cell in Alcatraz. Holly's wolf isn't going to get out of this - the bars to too thick. And the wall will handle it fine."

Before either of them could say another thing, I stepped up. "I still want the chains, too."

Marcus and Reagan looked up at me, almost as if they were surprised by my claim. Reagan was the first to reply.

"Holly, your wolf is going to rage once it realizes it's trapped in a cage, it'll go full berserk if you chain it too."

"I need the reassurance, Reagan. It'll have two obstacles to go through in order to get out." I looked over at Marcus. "I need it." Marcus nodded, though he didn't look to happy. Reagan glared down at me with his thick arms crossed over his chest. Unmoving. "Please."

Reagan's sharp glance met my eyes. "If it's really what you want, Holly, but I'm telling you now, you're making a mistake." He walked past me to the other side of the open cave, the pebbles crunching under his boot echoed off the walls. Stopping at a duffle bag, he reached down and brought up a heavy set of chains with shackles connected at the end. "How many you want?"

I eyed the intimidating chains. "How many can I have?"

"I would tell you to only do one, but I have a feeling you'd tell me you want more."

I nodded. "I want a shackle on each of my ankles and wrists, and..." I swallowed. "My neck."

Marcus's eyes cut to mine. "No."

My gaze shifted to his. "And double the chains, too."

"That's not necessary, Holly!"

"It is to me!" Tears sprang to my eyes, burning them. "I'm still not fully convinced I didn't do anything when I got out the last wolf moon."

"Maybe you should be sedated," said Tilly. At Reagan and Marcus's glares, she held up her hands. "Joking."

My eyes widened. "That's a good idea."

Tilly's own eyes widened. "I was joking, Holly. We can't sedate you."

"Why not?"

"For most of our kind, being sedated is very irritable for our wolves. They'll claw at their skin. You'd wake up three days from now bloody and torn and it'd take weeks to heal."