Jade
His teeth were inches from her throat. She closed her eyes, ready for the tear of flesh, the end.
It never came.
Instead, a sound ripped through the yard. It was a growl, but that word was too small for it. This was the sound of bedrock cracking, of a landslide starting. It was a sound of pure, undisputed authority, and it vibrated in Jade’s bones.
The entire prison fell silent.
Every inmate froze. The birds stopped chirping. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath. The wolf on top of her, Roric, went rigid, his lunge halted mid-air.
Slowly, he pushed himself off her, his eyes wide with a terror that hadn’t been there a moment before. He turned, along with every other wolf in the yard, to face the source of the sound.
A figure emerged from the shadows of the mess hall’s outer wall. He was tall, built with the dense, brutal muscle of a predator who fought for every meal and every breath. Scars mapped his skin, a testament to a life of violence. But it was his eyes that held the yard captive. They were the color of a stormy sky, and they promised death.
The crowd parted before him like water around a boulder.
He didn’t look at Jade. His gaze was fixed on the three wolves who had cornered her.
“Blackwood,” Roric breathed, the name a curse and a prayer. He took a half-step back.
“Get out of my way, Roric,” the man, Blackwood, said. His voice was as deep and menacing as his growl.
“This isn’t your business,” Roric stammered, trying to sound brave. “The warden said any new meat is fair game.”
“The warden doesn’t run this yard,” Blackwood replied, his tone dangerously calm. “I do.”
He took another step forward. “And you’re standing on my property.”
Roric glanced down at Jade, then back at Blackwood. “The leech? She’s nobody’s property.”
“She is now,” Blackwood said. A flicker of movement was the only warning. He crossed the ten feet between them in an instant.
The sound of bone snapping echoed across the yard. Roric screamed as Blackwood twisted his arm at an impossible angle. A second crack followed as a knee connected with his nose, sending a spray of blood into the mud.
The other two wolves tried to move, one drawing a shiv from his boot.
Blackwood didn’t even seem to notice. He kicked Roric’s legs out from under him and stomped on his chest. A sickening crunch told Jade that ribs had just broken.
“Anyone else have a problem?” Blackwood asked the yard, not even breathing heavily.
He turned to the wolf with the shiv. The wolf dropped the blade as if it were on fire. Blackwood grabbed him by the hair, slamming his face into the nearby wall. The wolf slumped to the ground, unconscious.
The third wolf simply turned and ran, disappearing into the crowd.
Silence returned, heavier this time, thick with fear. Blackwood stood over Roric’s whimpering form.
“I think you dropped something,” Blackwood said.
“What?” Roric cried, clutching his ruined arm.
“Your dignity.”
Blackwood turned his back on the broken wolf, his attention finally landing on Jade. She scrambled to her feet, trying to pull the torn pieces of her dress together. She would not show weakness. Not to him.
He stalked toward her. Every instinct screamed at her to run, but there was nowhere to go. She lifted her chin, meeting his stormy gaze.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice tight.
He didn’t stop until he was directly in front of her, his shadow swallowing her whole. He was even bigger up close. A monster of a man.
“I didn’t do it for you,” he growled.
Then his hand shot out, wrapping around her throat. He lifted her off her feet with effortless strength. Her hands flew to his wrist, but his grip was like iron. Panic flared in her chest as her air supply was cut off.
He held her dangling in the air and turned to face the entire prison population.
“Listen up!” he roared, and every eye was on him. “This one,” he gave her a little shake, “belongs to me now.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
“She is my meat,” he declared, his voice leaving no room for argument. “If you look at her, I’ll take your eyes. If you speak to her, I’ll take your tongue. If you touch her, I will tear you apart so slowly your own mother wouldn’t recognize the pieces.”
He let the threat hang in the air, a promise of brutal retribution.
“She is mine. Understand?”
A collective, fearful mumble of assent came from the inmates.
Satisfied, he dropped her. She landed on her feet, choking and gasping for air, her neck burning where his fingers had been. She glared at him, a fresh wave of fury replacing her fear.
“I don’t belong to anyone,” she rasped.
He ignored her. He grabbed her by the upper arm, his grip just as punishing as the one on her throat, and started walking.
“Where are you taking me?” she demanded, stumbling to keep up as he dragged her across the muddy yard.
“To my den,” he said without looking at her.
“I am not some pet you can claim.”
“You are whatever I say you are,” he countered, his voice flat. “Right now, you are the reason you are still breathing. I can change that.”
She fell silent. He was right. She hated it, but he was right. As he pulled her along, she looked back at the crowd. Roric was being helped away by his friends, his face a mask of agony and humiliation. The other wolves watched her go, their eyes filled with a mixture of thwarted hunger and a new, profound fear of the man who now held her leash.
They weren't just afraid of him. They revered him. He was their Alpha.
She looked from the pack of jackals to the lone wolf dragging her to his lair. One offered a swift death, or something worse. The other offered… what? Protection? Slavery?
Maybe they were the same thing in a place like this.
He pulled her toward a section of the prison that was clearly separate from the rest. The cells here were made of solid steel, not bars, with only a small slit for a window. Maximum security within a maximum-security prison.
He stopped in front of one of the doors. A guard, who had been watching the whole scene with a smirk, hurried over to unlock it.
“Got yourself a new toy, Blackwood?” the guard sneered.
Blackwood didn't answer. He just stared at the guard until the man’s smirk vanished and he fumbled with the keys.
“It’s open,” the guard said, backing away quickly.
Blackwood shoved the heavy door inward. He didn’t release her. He dragged her over the threshold into the dark, cold space.
Then he let go of her arm and shoved her forward. She stumbled into the cell, catching herself on a stone wall.
She turned just in time to see him step inside, his massive frame filling the doorway. He pulled the steel door closed behind him.
The sound of the bolt sliding into place was the loudest thing she had ever heard. It was the sound of a cage door closing. Of a tomb being sealed.
She was trapped. Alone. In the dark.
With the most dangerous monster in the entire prison.
