Chapter 33

Chapter 33
CHRIS'S POV

Big Stick, aka Marcus, wasted no time in grabbing me to bring me back to my cell once Vivid agreed to be his Luna, sealing their deal with a kiss that felt worse than the blow he landed in my gut. I struggled against Marcus's hold, screaming for Vivid, who looked back, regret etched on her face.
Killian jerked her forward, almost causing her to stumble. Then they were rounding the corner, and she was gone. Marcus laughed, pulling me back down the hall, his grip on my neck tightening. "Stand down. Even if you did get to her, Alpha Killian would tear you to shreds."
I growled, Rock begging to be released. But they had something in the air here, stopping him. There would be no shifting. Fine. Bring me back to my cell. I was next to Zeke. I didn't get along with him, but after I told him, maybe he’d stop giving me the cold shoulder, and we could plan to save Vivid together.
Coming to my cell, Marcus unlocked the door and shoved me inside. "I'll bring your dinner later. If you behave."
I banged the bars, growling at him again as he walked away laughing. Once he was gone and I was confident he couldn't hear anymore, I whispered to Zeke. "I saw Vivian."
"How is she?"
Good. He was talking. "Not good, man. She's with the Alpha. She struck a deal with him. He's going to make her his Luna."
I heard shuffling. "What?"
"Yeah. He's up to something."
Zeke didn't respond. "Zeke? We have to do something."
"What's going to happen to us?"
"They're going to let you go home, and they're keeping me as leverage to ensure she keeps her end of the deal and then supposedly release me."
"Good."
What? "What?"
"I need to get home and learn more about Blackmoon, and you need to stay here. But Chris, do you feel it?"
I leaned against the bars, feeling the cold sensation against my warm skin. "Feel what?"
"She's in you."
"Who is?"
He sighed. "Sam."
I realized I hadn't thought about her in a while, but being reminded of her felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped over me. Reality set in. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know what it is. I realized it when she started pulling away from me and showing interest in you, but there's something about her. Something isn't right. The further away she is, it's like she has a hook inside of you. It's not natural. It's starting to mess with my mind. I think me more so than you because I've been further from her longer than you have and been with her longer. You've barely scratched the surface."
I closed my eyes, trying to feel inside myself, sensing tendrils of emotions linked to her. It was like a scratching sense of awareness at the back of my mind that I couldn't quite reach. "How do I get rid of it?"
"I don't know. But I can only assume it will worsen the longer you're here. Just...fight it."
I nodded to myself, knowing he couldn't see me. "Thanks, man. What are you going to do when you get home? Are you going to send anyone back?"
"My dad will know better than to challenge Blackmoon. I'm sure he'll raise hell with me, but there won't be anything he can do. He might try to make a deal, but Blackmoon won't have it. Not with Killian at the wheel."
Fuck.



They made good on their promise to release Zeke. They did it quickly and got rid of him before dinner, so we only had a short time to talk about what he would tell his dad. We decided to say to him we got lost trying to find new flowers and crap for Vivid—anything for Zeke's mate.
I sat there, banging my head against the wall. Bored out of my mind, I wondered where Vivid was, what Killian was doing to her, and what I was going to do with myself for weeks on end in this stupid jail cell. This was pathetic.
I had nothing to do but think. I tried to think harder about the grip that Zeke said Sam had on me, trying to disassociate it from my mind. But every time I felt the tendrils at the back of my mind, it was like they slipped away out of my grasp, like whisps of smoke, until I finally grunted and stood up.
Pacing, I started going over what Zeke and I were talking about and how he had felt it back when Sam first started showing an interest in me. He hadn't seemed too distraught. He seemed relieved to have Vivid back in his sight.
Then we discussed making a deal for us to get back to Greywood and how to do it with Killian...I never said Killian was the Alpha. As far as he knew, Keenan was the Alpha. Killian being the Alpha was recent news. I said Alpha. I thought back, Alpha. I said Alpha. I definitely said Alpha.
When I saw Killian, I was surprised. We all knew Keenan as Alpha. There's no way that Zeke had known. So why did he say Killian at the wheel? How did he know?
Zeke was part of this. He had set Vivid up. That's why he had agreed to this entire trip in the first place. Fuck. I had to let Vivid know. But what fucking good would it do to tell her that her best friend since she was five had set her up?
He was right about Sam, though. I felt like my skin was getting warmer. Or it could be the stress of sitting in this cell and the enormity of what I had just figured out. I was starting to itch. "Dinner time, dumbass."
Marcus appeared, a metal tray in hand. His face looked so punchable. There was a slot under the door, perfect for a sliding tray, which he utilized. "Eat up, punk. See you in the morning."
With that, he was gone. He was always annoying, but he seemed especially annoying now. I looked down at the tray of food—a sandwich, some chips, and a not-rotten apple. At least it wasn't literal slop. I expected rotten food or something.
I grabbed the tray and went to sit on the cot and eat. I needed to eat, even though I didn't feel hungry and just felt a rock in my stomach. I slowly breathed in and out of my nose, trying to calm myself. I'd never been so out of control.
As I quickly finished the sandwich, scarfed down the chips, and set the apple aside for later, I looked down at the tray. Without thinking, I threw it at the bars, screaming. Fuck this. I needed to get out of here. I couldn't fucking stand this.
I grabbed at the bars, pulling, continuing to scream. No one came. Nothing.
I pulled, the bars not budging. I kept pulling, screaming, until I couldn't anymore. I finally stopped, all my energy gone. I fell to the ground, landing on my knees. Vivid was out there, and I didn't protect her. I was supposed to protect her.
I lay down on the ground, the hard floor the only thing I deserved to sleep on, and closed my eyes. Sleep. It's all I could do.



"Chris?"
A voice of an angel. Surely, I died. I was in heaven. "Chris, wake up."
I opened my eyes. Nope. I was still in jail. I sat up and saw the wide eyes of Vivid, peering at me through the bars of my jail cell, looming behind her none other than the Alpha-dumbass.
"Vi...vian."
Killian smirked behind her but said nothing. Vivian offered a small smile. "Are you okay? Marcus said you skipped breakfast and lunch, and you've just been passed out on the floor."
I rubbed my neck. Man, I slept awhile. "Yeah, I'm fine. How about you? Are you okay?"
She looked over her shoulder at Killian. "I'm fine. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and to see you. Zeke is headed back home. He'll be there shortly if he's not back already. I'm not sure. I'm sure he shifted and headed back. I don't know. It's going to be okay. You'll be back before you know it."
"And you?"
She crouched down to be at eye level with me but looked down. "Chris...this is my home now."
"No, it's not."
Killian stepped forward. "That's enough for today, little wolf. We have to go."
He placed his hand on her shoulder. I glared, earning me a smirk from his smug face. She stood, not looking at me directly. "I'll see you tomorrow...if I can."
With that, they left, leaving me alone once again, alone with my thoughts.