Maybe it was because of the contrast from being outside in just sweatpants and a t-shirt to being inside of a concrete compound, but the cellar did not feel nearly as cold as it had only a few weeks ago. By no means was I complaining, it was just odd.
The constant feeling of eyes following my every move as I moved quickly through the complex, however, did send a chill down my spine that I was not willing to acknowledge. It took more than a few kind words to convince the guards at the entrance to let me in, especially because they had strict orders to not let me into the cellar unless otherwise stated by Matteo. The last time I was allowed inside was when Jack and I had our little spat. That was also the last time that I actually wanted to venture inside of it. I've been keeping my space recently.
After threatening to send the guards and their families on a nice long vacation in unmarked territory, they agreed to let me in. The downside of it was that I was under heavy watch to make sure I left this stupid hell hole in one, untouched piece. I couldn't help but grumble under my breath about how difficult Matteo's stupid minions were making this.
Finally entering the correct block, I felt the weight of the world sink on my shoulders. I could not shake the feeling that maybe I should have just gone back to bed and spoke to Matteo about what happened with Hayden in the morning. Nevertheless, I did my best to brush the feeling away and continued my march down the cold hallway.
I'd only been to Taylor's cell once, but somehow I knew exactly where to go. The familiar crack in the concrete being illuminated by the fluorescent lights that hung from the ceilings of the hall alerted me that her cell was only steps away. Making those final few steps, I turned to face the girl slumped against the far wall. Chains still enclosed around her wrists continued to deny her much free movement, and, by the look on her face and the way her body seemed to be growing smaller, it was taking a bit of a toll.
"Not the person I expected to see right now," Taylor laughed humorlessly. Her voice sounded so dry that it seemed painful.
"Does 'override your mission' mean anything to you?" My blunt question clearly took her by surprise. Her jaw dropped slightly, and her brown eyes widened for a moment. She quickly recovered, snapping her mouth shut and glancing toward the floor.
"Who told you?" She asked carefully, raising her eyes up to meet mine. I knew what she was doing because I was hoping to do the same. She was looking for any signs that I could be lying.
"An old friend that was sent over here," I stated calmly. I could see the gears turning in her head as she thought of her next response.
"So Barron?" Her tone was cautious. She was clearly playing the field blind right now. I wondered how thrown off she would be if I said, 'no,' but didn't test it.
"Yes?" I responded honestly, but I couldn't hide the confusion behind my words. I spoke before I had the chance to make sure my tone matched my attitude. Her eyes continued searching mine for what felt like minutes, but, in reality, it had only been seconds. They shifted from one eye to the next before she removed her gaze completely, returning it to the floor. Her head tilted downward only the slightest fraction that I almost missed it. It was the smallest gesture that could have been offered, but it was still a submission. Something in my big head told me that this was a good sign.
"Was it Hayden?" Taylor asked softly. I drew my brows together in confusion. How did she know? Sensing my confusion before I even had the chance to verbalize it, she answered the question. "Barron knew this plan was risky, so he planned to send Hayden over if he didn't hear from me."
"Why Hayden?" I couldn't stop my curiosity from overtaking my mouth. The moment the words left my lips, I cursed myself for asking stupid questions instead of the right ones. Who knew how much time I had in here before Matteo realized that I was no longer in bed with him. I'm sure he knew I left, but it was only a matter of time before he started to get the hint that I was taking quite some time to return.
"You trust him, don't you?" She asked, giving me a pointed look. I had a good idea that Barron did a fair amount of snooping around Vindicta's cells to see who I had seemingly strong ties with. "Plus, he's a rogue wolf. He has experience with the sneaking around kind of shit. Not really the biggest loss if he couldn't pull through, either, if you know what I mean." Yeah, I did know what she meant. I never knew what Hayden did to get locked up in Vindicta, but it had to be something bad enough to stick him down there with Dallas and me. I would use rogue wolves to my advantage too if I had to play it safe. Especially if one of them had a reason to stay loyal. However, it made my blood boil a bit that Barron only saw Hayden as some sort of replaceable piece of messaging equipment--that if he died, no one would bat an eye.
"So, why didn't you admit it? That you weren't here to actually kill me?" I asked, beginning my interrogation of all the things that didn't make a single ounce of sense to me. She sighed tiredly and rolled her head back, tapping the wall behind her.
"It wasn't in the orders. I came over here knowing what I was getting myself into, and I was strictly told not to let anything slip until instructed."
"So," I began, trying to piece together the nonsense she was spewing, "you willingly came over here knowing that you could die, and then possibly spend forever in a cell if you were lucky enough to make it out alive?" She seemed contemplative for a moment before she nodded. "You only survived because of the coincidence that my Beta is your mate. Any sane person would have known that your ass would have been dead in any other scenario."
"I was on your territory before. I knew he was my mate, and I knew he would be there to stop anything before it would go too far," she admitted. I pursed my lips as I took in the new information. This bitch was on our land before, undetected?
"So, you knew Jack would stop Matteo from killing you, but what the hell was the big plan from there? Did Barron really think Jack was just going to betray his Alpha and release you? Clearly, he's not dumb enough to believe Matteo would just have the heart to outright roam around our grounds freely after your stunt." Sighing, Taylor ran a tired hand over her face. The dirt that had been collecting over the past few weeks on her fingers left trails on her cheeks.
"Jack was supposed to help me gain trust," she began. Her line of sight connected with mine and, surprisingly, made me feel less uneasy. "Through him, I was supposed to earn your favor and Matteo's. Alpha Mendax noted how Matteo would occasionally bend to your wishes. We hoped that you would request my freedom, and I would be able to help you fight Vindicta from the inside without having to admit any ties with Uirium. That way, there would be no suspicions or rumors. The less people to know the better. I would receive word from Barron that would help you without creating any loose ends," Taylor finished. I couldn't stop the frown from replacing my generally plain expression. It was a pretty good plan, but we kind of f—ked it up.
It made me want to laugh at loud at the idea that Barron had been on our side this entire time. The one person that Matteo couldn't stand the absolute most was putting himself in an extremely compromising situation to help us—help me. A weird little giddy feeling swelled in my chest as I thought about it. There was a part of me that never could fully grasp why Barron would turn his back on me, and I was happy that it wasn't just me being stupid.
"I just don't get why," I thought out loud. "Why would he go through all of this just to help me? He doesn't even know me."
"To be honest with you, Alpha, I have no idea. My guess is that Farrah has something to do with it." Farrah—Barron's mate. I never had a conversation of any sort with her. Maybe a few awkward, judgmental glances, but that was about it. If I was her, I would wish my ass luck and not bother getting involved in this whole mess. Perhaps, she was just a better person that me.
"So, now what?" I was beyond curious, at this point. I was completely dumbfounded by the situation. I had no idea what to do next. It was in this moment that I realized I should have probably taken this up with my mate first. He was much better at these things than me.
"Well, I suppose that is up to your Alpha. I'm under orders to protect and help you, so I'll do what I can whether I'm out there with you or chained to this dumbass wall," she huffed, yanking on the chains slightly, making them rattle.
"But this alliance thing is supposed to stay a secret?" The less people that know, the better.
"Ding, ding," Taylor sang humorlessly as she tapped her nose with her pointer finger. "Look at you. Already smarter than most Lunas." I growled lowly at her snarky comment. She might have put her life on the line for me, but that didn't make us friends. Getting the hint, her relaxed demeanor fell, and she became cautious once again.
"How can I trust that what you're telling me is the truth?" I finally asked, knowing that I had to take everything she was saying with a grain of salt until it proved to be honest.
"You could call him. Although, he'd probably deny it because anything done over the phone could easily be reviewed by Adrian." She pondered for a moment before speaking again. "Maybe a letter? Nah, probably get lost in the mail and end up in someone's hands that isn't supposed to have it." Again, Taylor fell silent as she thought deeply for an answer to my question. She sighed heavily, shrugging her shoulders. "To be real here, I don't have an answer. The reason he sent Hayden over was to make sure it couldn't be traced back to his own words. You really just have to trust me on this one."
"Just trust you?" I repeated, staring at her as if she'd grown a second head. Was this chick serious? She came prepared with all of these answers, but Barron didn't think to mention how to validate it all? He was relying on my trust? Does this guy really not recall my tainted childhood trauma that he was able to witness months ago at the Conference? Trust was not a department that I was very abundant in.
Taylor opened her mouth to speak, but the echo that radiated off of the walls from the slam of a heavy door cut her off. The sound was enough the make the both of us jump. Taylor snapped her attention to the end of the hall where the sound originated from, but I just continued to stare at Taylor. I knew exactly who was behind the angry slam of the metal door, and I was seconds away from taking the biggest leak in my pants because of it.
"Kaia." The deathly calm tone of Matteo's voice caused a cold shiver to climb my spine and spread into my veins. My stomach felt like it tumbled six stories down. Still staring at Taylor, I didn't respond. A part of me hoped that maybe he would follow in the steps of those dinosaurs that don't see their prey until they move. If I didn't move or speak, maybe I'd survive this. "Kaia, if you don't look at me in the next five seconds, I will come over there and make you." Well, that sounded like a promise. Knowing that he was beyond the point of being mad, I turned my head to see my god of a mate who definitely wanted me more dead than alive right now.
He stood only about ten feet away from me, but that still gave me a head start to run. I could spit somewhere to cause a distraction and hightail it out of there.
"Whatever you're thinking about doing right now, I suggest you stop," Matteo warned with the same calm tone. This man really did know me too well.
"I really don't like the way you're speaking to me right now," I accused, trying to make Matteo loosen up a bit. There was no doubt that he was beyond sexy when he was so serious, but he also was so serious to the point that it was a bit scary. Fear never really turned me on all too much.
"And I don't like that you disobeyed me by coming here, but I suppose we're both going beyond our limits tonight." It became very clear to me that Matteo was not about budge. He was furious with me, and I knew that he had a right to be. I probably gave him a heart attack the last hour by being MIA at a time when a lot of people wanted me dead.
Sighing, I made the decision that this was not a fight that I was going to win. With a final look at Taylor and sending her a single nod, I did my best to put on the strongest face I could as I walked up to Matteo. He peered down at me with anger filling his eyes making me feel like a little kid who was about to get a lecture.
"I would like to go to bed and have this fight in the morning when you hate me less," I admitted with a blank stare.
"I do not hate you," Matteo barked. I rolled my eyes. I knew that's the part he would focus on.
"Then, can we talk about this in the morning?" Matteo did not respond. Instead, he snatched my hand and held it tightly in his own as he dragged me down the hall and out of the building.
I didn't lose, but I definitely wasn't winning either.
I had a strong feeling that one of the guards called and ratted me out. Matteo had driven to the compound, and I had a hard time seeing him doing that if he actually was going on a crazed manhunt looking for me with no direction. I was happy that I didn't have to walk back to the pack house, though. Truthfully, I was tired as hell and could have slept peacefully on a roller coaster at that point. My tired state made the awkward, angry tension in the car more bearable, but it still made me want to hurl myself through the windshield.
Matteo didn't really acknowledge me until we were back in our room. And by acknowledge I mean that he tossed me a new shirt and new pants to wear to bed. I put them on without arguing. I was going to get new clothes anyway because of the soil that continued to cling to the material in patches. I kind of wish Matteo would have tried to argue again. Staying in silence with him felt worse than shouting.
I climbed into bed and pulled the cover over me. I contemplated suffocating myself with the pillow to escape the situation but decided against it. I was trying to be less childish. Without a word, Matteo climbed into bed behind me. It warmed my heart when he still cuddled me from behind. His arms wrapped around my torso and crushed me to him. I smiled to myself and sighed feeling safe.
"Matteo." Nothing. "Matteo." Nothing. "Matteo." Again, he didn't say anything. I knew there was no way he had fallen asleep. I could feel his breathing on the back of my neck and could easily recognize that it wasn't as slow and steady as it is when he sleeps. Sighing in defeat, I tucked my hands under my cheek in an attempt to get more comfortable despite the uncomfortable air in our room. "I know you're really pissed off at me right now, but I love you," I admitted. Half of me was telling him that because I was trying to guilt him into responding, but the other half was using it as an apology. Moments passed, and a heavy feeling settled on my chest knowing that he wasn't going to respond. I closed my eyes trying to ignore the crushing pain.
"I love you, too," he finally responded after I'd lost all hope. Again, I smiled. That calmed my nerves enough to put me to sleep.
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Would it be stupid and totally unwanted if I started to publish another werewolf story while I work on this one? I've totally been writing one just for shigs but I'm kinda digging it but idk about posting it lmao
3/10/20