Page 28 of Raven

I complied. He shut the gate and locked it, stepping back as if I might attack him.

"You so much as make a sound down here ..." He paused, then laughed. "Actually, make as much noise as you like. No one can hear you."

The small room beyond the gate was my cell. It was the smallest, dingiest thing I had ever seen, and that wasn't anaccident. They had reserved it for my kind. The walls bore stains of substances I didn't want to guess at, with marks across the floor. In the corner was an old, brown-looking mattress, wet and damp, with black mould growing on it. There was a bowl on a tray, filled with something so rotted that maggots were having a feast, and next to that was a small plastic cup, so black inside I couldn't tell if it was the design or the mould.

"If you want food and water, put the containers through this hatch," he instructed, pointing to a small opening. I had no intention of using it. "We'll refill it twice a day. Don’t eat it? Not our problem. We won't make you. We don't care if you want to starve." He glanced at his watch and shrugged. "Looks like you missed breakfast, though. Too bad."

He looked at me like he was daring me to say or do something, fully aware that I couldn't. The chains and the collar around my neck limited my movements, fuelling his boldness. Out in the open, things would be different. Despite the myriad of laws that shackled us and their penchant for pushing boundaries, most of them were all bravado and cruelty. But underneath, the humans were cowards.

I stayed motionless, denying him the satisfaction. He stared at me for a long, tense moment, said nothing, and then turned on his heel and left.

When he closed the door at the end of the corridor, I didn't sit on the filthy mattress. Instead, I leant against the wall, crouching slightly. I rolled my shoulders to relieve the ache and closed my eyes, trying not to think about Tia—where she might be, what might have happened to her.

It was useless, though. Intrusive thoughts invaded my mind, each more tormenting than the last. All I could do was hope that she was safe, perhaps back in her flat or attending class.

Time was a blur; it felt like morning, but the lack of windows left me guessing.

I stayed against that wall for what felt like an eternity, the pain in my back seeping into every bone. This was just another layer of agony—my wrists burnt, my ankles throbbed. There was nothing to do but endure. Eventually, the pain became as much a part of me as my own breath. I barely lifted my head when the door at the end of the corridor opened and footsteps approached. But then a familiar scent reached me ...

Malcolm?

Instinctively, I tried to stand, but my body protested violently, and I had to lean heavily against the wall for support. The chains bit into my flesh, sending waves of pain through me. "Shit," I hissed, staggering toward the gate and grasping the bars for support. Now I understood why this gesture was so iconic in the movies. "Oh, god," I gasped, sucking in a deep breath.

My body trembled, and I squinted into the darkness. My throat was so dry that when I tried to speak, no sound emerged.

Malcolm handed me a bottle of water through the bars. It was warm, but I didn't care. I uncapped it and drank greedily.

"What's going on?" Malcolm asked, his voice calm and steady as he stood on the other side of the gate. Meanwhile, I was on the edge of breaking down.

"Please," I gasped, my voice desperate. "You have to find her. Make sure she's okay," I pleaded. The dam inside me broke as my panther surged, driven by the need to ensure the woman who might one day be his mate was safe. "Please," I rubbed my face, trying to bring both hands up despite the chains. "The humans attacked us. They left her there, with them. Please, just check she's okay. Get someone to check."

He didn't move, just watched me with that alpha control that kept him still. This was why he was the alpha—because he had that calm. He wasn't just a tiger who could bide his time; he was a man of keen control and natural authority, even now, when my own cat wasn't following my logical brain's commands. Mypanther was pushing, begging, taking over, losing all sense of logic.

He sighed. "The courts have said you're free to go, but first, we need to talk," he finally spoke.

I blinked, stopped, almost tripped over my own thoughts. "What? I'm ..."

He held up a hand. "It isn't so simple." He pulled out a sheet of paper from inside his jacket and read the charges against me. "Assault, battery?—"

"Assault? I never touched any of them," I protested.

"Damage to property, disorderly behaviour, endangerment, theft."

"Theft? No. What the hell. I didn’t steal a damn thing. Please ..."

There was a look in his eyes, a blend of caring, concern, and power that all merged into one, and I felt his true power, the power that made him the alpha. He might have been the alpha of the tigers, but with his dominance over all Others in society, he could control us. I felt him inside my head, not to read my thoughts or spy—I wasn’t even sure he could do that—but he pushed at the barriers of my mind and reached for my panther, taming him, calming him. I leant my head against the bars and breathed deeply.

"I'm sorry."

"They’ve got you on almost fifteen charges. Some will stick; others are flimsy."

When I lifted my gaze to meet his, his eyes were so bright in colour, he could pass for a half-breed, though they didn’t have that tricolour hue. Half-breeds were rare; I’d seen two in the underground in my life. Both gone now.

"I didn't do any of what they're claiming. We were in a cafe, and some human guys came in and started trouble. The owner asked them to leave."

"They started on you for no reason?" he pressed.

I wanted to say yes, but he’d know. "I’d fought with them some weeks ago at the back of Spy Glass. They’d been trying to force themselves on Tia, and I defended her. They ran off. Then they saw us tonight."

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