“Still early, you were thrashing around for a while. I was waiting for you to wake.”
In that moment I was vulnerable, half asleep, half in the dream world. I couldn’t suppress the emotion like I normally would.
“I’m afraid, Brax.” I let the words slip through my bared teeth.
His hand flexed on my chest. I could see it was an involuntary movement, he didn’t even seem to notice he’d done it. “I won’t let anything happen to you in here. I promise.”
I closed my eyes, sucking in a deep breath before meeting his unwavering gaze again. “Not just about being in here, more about the future. The mark – even though it’s spelled, it’s going to come back and find me. Secrets don’t stay hidden forever. I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to be hunted.”
I didn’t want to ever find myself on the opposite side of a war with anyone I loved. My dreams continued to indicate that it was going to reach a point where I had to choose between my twin sister and something else.
He was opening his mouth to answer when the long, yellowed light bulb above us flickered to life. The fake illumination spread around the dark spaces and suddenly the world felt a little more exposed. I knew today was not going to go as well as yesterday. Everyone who had ever gunned for my father was going to be gunning for me today.
“Twenty minutes until shower time,” Braxton said as he gritted his teeth. “They don’t separate us, even in the bathroom, but unless you want me in the same stall as you … well, you’ll be out of my sight for a bit.”
I found myself having to work very hard to hide my thoughts right then. Holy fuck me. Braxton in the shower, water running over those delicious planes of hardened muscle. Too much for a sexually deprived wolf shifter … way too much. I could not be trusted with naked male parts right now.
“I’m sure it won’t have to come to that,” I kind of blurted.
His lazy grin was enough for me to want to throat punch myself. Clearly I had not hidden my emotions very well.
“I don’t think I can remember the last time you blushed, Jessa.” His dimples assaulted me as he stood stretching out his giant frame.
I swung my legs over the side, flipping him off at the same time. Yeah, I totally nailed that comeback. Stupid dragon, throwing me off my game.
It felt like an hour – pacing the cell in an agitated manner – for the silver-threaded barred gates to slide open. They were on some sort of automatic locking system which opened every door at the same time. Braxton and I waited until the majority had left and were heading down the long corridor. We joined the back of the crowd, and again he had my hand clenched tightly in his own. Just before we reached that large double-barred door which led out into the circular area, the group veered off to the right, through a smaller door that I hadn’t noticed yesterday.
Another corridor: the walls were rock near the start, but as we walked along slowly morphed into tiles. The walkway opened up and I realized it was one large shower room, massive and square, with rows of showers down one side, hundreds of them, each with a curtain that could be pulled between them for separation.
“Screw it,” Braxton growled. “I’m coming in with you. We can just turn our backs on each other.”
I knew what had gotten him so upset again. A lot of stares were being leveled in our direction and there was a distinctive dark nature to most of them. Surprisingly enough, the majority of venom was coming from the women. Which I was used to, especially since I was always with the Compasses. The female supernaturals wanted the biggest, baddest boy in their race. It was a sign of our own female strength, power, and attractiveness to snag an alpha. Pathetic, I know. But Braxton, Maximus, Jacob, and Tyson were the best of the best. I was the number one blame for the fact that they wouldn’t settle down with anyone. Which was bullshit, no one controlled those men, and that was mostly the reason they were forever single. That, and the fact they believed in finding their mates, and they were yet to.
Whips in hand, the guards spread out around the room. I wanted to flinch at the silver glinting in the leather but I forced myself to stay calm.
“You have forty minutes to clean yourselves up,” a stocky mage yelled out into the room. “Move it now.”
Forty minutes was longer than I’d expected.
Braxton and I strode to the shower right on the very end. I knew why he would want this stall. If we were attacked, there were only two sides they could come at us, instead of three. We stepped into the tight space, the curtain sliding across to block out the world. I reached down to lift off my shirt.