Fighting for Power (Howl of the Elements: Book One)

Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

The jail in their town was more like a dungeon in Logan's opinion. To anyone else, it appeared as if it was just a small wooden shack, but it was much more than that. Walking inside, they came into a small room. There was a single wooden desk, with one guard sitting with his feet propped up on top of it. To the left was two small empty cells, but those were just for display. The real cells were hidden beneath the large maroon floor rug.

"What are you guys doing here?" the man behind the desk asked.

"He's here to learn some damn loyalty," the one standing to Logan's left responded in an agitated tone.

"Is somebody still butt-hurt that I hurt his poor little nose?" Logan asked sarcastically.

A sharp blow to Logan's jaw came in response. "Shut your fucking mouth unless spoken to. You're not daddy's little boy in here, so don't think anyone will be afraid to knock out your teeth for your smart ass comments."

"Your ours now," a smirk crossed over the mouth of the guard that was now standing up from his previous seat. He let out a chuckle and cracked the knuckles of his fingers.

The man to Logan's right had stayed silent during this exchange, but was now moving forward and reached down to slide the rug away from the trap door that was underneath it. The metal ring that was used as a handle made a clanging noise against the floor when the door was flung open.

"Ladies first," Logan heard the mumbled words only seconds before a booted foot kicked into his back, shoving him into the opening and down the flight of stairs.

Landing with his shoulder smacking against a cement wall, Logan groaned in pain. He wasn't expecting the fall, so he didn't have time to brace himself from injury. Even though he wanted too, he refused to let himself rub his throbbing shoulder and head. The men were already walking down the stairs behind him, and he didn't want to satisfy them by letting them see that the fall had hurt him.

"What are you waiting for? Get your ass up," the man with the broken nose shouted as he reached the bottom of the staircase.

Shifting his body, Logan pushed himself up from the floor. Pain shot through his shoulder from using it, but the only visible sign was a small scowl that left his face as quickly as it had appeared.

Once he had gotten to his feet, he started following the man into the dimly lit room. Despite waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, he could already tell what kind of an environment he was walking into. The smell of mold and dried blood was overpowering. Quiet sobs could be heard in the distance.

Their pace slowed and one of the men unlocked one of the cell doors. A loud screech echoed as he swung it open. The other man gripped Logan's arm tightly and yanked him inside the cell towards the back of it. Cold metal greeted his wrists, ankles, and neck as the two men fastened the cuffs in place, chaining Logan to the wall.

Logan's eyes had adjusted to the lighting, and he could see smiles arise on the men's faces as they turned to walk away before shutting and locking the cell door behind them. They started to chat among themselves as they walked back up the stairs, their laughter indicating how funny they thought the situation was.

"Fucking pricks," Logan mumbled out loud.

Clinking noises came from Logan's right side, sounding not far from him. Swiveling his head to the side, his eyes linked with those of another boy's. The boy, who looked about the same age as Logan, was slumped against the wall and looked as if he had taken quite the beating.

"You're telling me," the boy mumbled back in response to Logan's statement.

"Sorry I didn't realize you were in here."

"No need to apologize. What are you in here for? You're not from my pack," the boy said as he sized Logan up.

"For trying to save someone from your pack," his voice was almost a whisper as the thought of Layla returned to his mind.

"Oh really? Who?"

"Her name is Layla."

"How do you know Layla? And where is she?"

"We were friends, I guess, but she's gone now. She's...dead," Logan couldn't look the boy in the face as he revealed the horrible news, so he decided to stare at the dirt filled ground.

"You're lying. She's too tough. She can't be dead," the boy shook his head furiously as his voice became strained.

"I'm sorry. I know she was your alpha and all, but I wouldn't lie to you about that."

"She's not just my alpha. She is my mate, and I refuse to believe a word that is coming out of your mouth. How do I not know that you're not just here to mess with my head and torture me even more? What? Are you guy's done with the physical stuff and now moving on to trying to mentally manipulate me? Fuck you," the boy spat at Logan's face as he began to shout.

Wait, what? Her mate? I must have heard him wrong, Logan scrunched up his eyebrows as his mind began to race.

A/N: Sorry this was kind of a shorter chapter, and it was a later update than I had promised, but I still hope you all like it and choose to continue reading on :)