Chapter 208: Caleb
“Grace?” I tried again.
She hadn’t responded in the last several hours. Well, honestly, I wasn’t really sure how much time had passed since she had arrived. She had been thrown in the cell next to mine. She was so close, but I couldn’t reach her. I couldn’t protect her.
Her pale face stood out against the darkness. How she had gotten here, how my brother had let her get taken was beyond me. And I guess, honestly, it didn’t matter anymore. She was here. She was in this hell hole with us. The place that had given her all her scars. The place she had escaped. The place she had been promised that she’d never have to return to. She was now here with us. And my heart broke for her. For my brother, who I knew was hurting and desperate to get her back. I would do whatever I could to protect her. Leon and I both would.
“Is she healing?” Leon asked quietly. We didn’t want to draw the guard's attention toward us. They were playing a game down the hall at the entrance.
“I’m not sure.” I answered. “It’s hard to tell in the dark.”
“She didn’t even look like herself when she came in.” Leon responded nervously. “They bound her wolf before, do you think they did it again?”
“I don’t think they’ve had time for that yet,” I said honestly. “But I wouldn’t doubt that they are in the process of trying to get a witch to come now.”
“You two are being so loud.” Grace mumbled.
Her eyes were still closed, but she was trying to move her body into a more comfortable position.
“We’re whispering.” I told her, a little surprised at her comment.
“Really? It sounds like you're yelling.” She answered, her eyes finally popping open to look at me.
I shook my head, but I was unsure if she could see me in the dim light. I wasn’t sure if she had her Lycan or if Lycan’s could even see well in the dark for it to matter.
“How do you feel?” Leon asked.
“Like I was hit by a truck.” She laughed nervously and groaned as she pulled herself into a sitting position. “But I’ve had worse.”
“You’ve had worse than this?” I asked a little too loudly, and the guard down the hall made his way toward us.
We all pretended it wasn’t us. The cells around us were full of people too, it wasn’t ideal by any stretch, but it helped in moments like these when we got a little too rambunctious. We could pretend we were sleeping on something, and more often than not, the guards would fall for it and leave us alone.
Grace knew this trick too. She didn’t move either. She just closed her eyes and pretended to still be unconscious. The guard rattled our cells, but thankfully, that was it. We didn’t try to talk for a while. Time lost all meaning again. I felt myself drifting in and out of sleep, but every time I woke up, my first thought was to check on Grace. Grace who shouldn’t be here. Leon who shouldn’t be here. I fucking shouldn’t be here. I had escaped this place with barely my life and my daughter’s. It wasn’t fair to now be rotting in a prison, getting tortured every day. If I had wanted this life, I would have continued my old patterns. But I had changed... For my daughter. And now I feared, I would never get to see her again. I would never actually get the chance to start over.
The door down the hall opened, and a pair of heels clicked along the floor. Normally, I wouldn’t give the time of day to visitors, but this one piqued my interest. I angled myself ever so slightly, so no matter what direction she went, I would be able to see.
And I wasn’t even slightly surprised when the woman stopped directly in front of Grace’s cell.
“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” The woman sneered, squatting down to be eye level with her.
Grace’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t respond.
“Is that anyway greet your dear sister?” The woman asked in a pouty voice, and I realized that she must be Luna Kinsley. It was hard to really see her features in this lighting, but I didn’t know how I hadn’t guessed it in the first place.
Grace bit down harder, but I could see that she wanted to say something. All that time in safety was getting to her. All that time being able to speak freely had made her more sarcastic, and I could see the words on the tip of her tongue, even if she didn’t plan to say them.
The door to Grace’s cell opened, and I stiffened. Grace already looked like shit. She had hardly healed at all.
“I heard you shifted out there and really gave Kyle a run for his money. Getting between him and his son like that. How fucking noble. And do you know what we do to people who interfere with pack business?”
I hated how she was talking to Grace. I hated it, but I knew the game. If I spoke up, it would only make things worse for her.
“You beat them?” Grace supplied, even though Kinsley wasn’t looking for an answer.
The door slammed shut behind Kinsley as she inched her way closer to Grace, but she ignored Grace’s words.
“My husband showed a special interest in you being back, would you happen to know anything about that?”
Grace’s body reacted this time. She stiffened, and Kinsley knew she had struck a nerve.
“Sorry you can’t keep your husband satisfied.” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Kinsley spun toward me and banged on the cell with a ferocity that was unmatched to the comment.
“How cute, Grace, you’re just going after the whole damn Alpha family now, aren’t you? Let’s show them what a pathetic piece of shit you really are.”
Kinsley slapped Grace right across the face, and I knew that was only the beginning of what was to come.