Special thanks to all my advanced readers who helped me edit this chapter and come up with questions! 

Saffron

I stare longingly at the burger that the guard is holding out. How long has it been since I've eaten? Hours? Days? When I woke up, Luna hadn't brought anything to eat. All she'd had was that embarrassing book.

To be fair, I hadn't even been hungry at the time, but I am now. My stomach growls in protest, but I've skipped enough meals not to let it bother me. In the winter, when the money jar was empty and I couldn't hunt up any meat, we'd had no choice. I hold on to that thought, ignore the hunger pangs, and focus on escape.

The guard has no sense of self-preservation, not with the way he's reaching into my cell. His arm is in almost up to his shoulder as he tries to get me to take that burger. It would be so easy to break it and then twist until he begs for mercy. Would that be enough to get him to unlock the cell door? Or would the other guard stop him?

The temptation to try is almost too much, but it's not just my life on the line. I have Jess and Amaryllis to worry about too, not to mention the entire pack. If I screw up our escape attempt, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Not if something were to happen to Logan or his family.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the guard says gently, completely oblivious to the fact that I'm the one who could hurt him. He gives me a kind smile, and I see my opportunity. I grab the burger and then sink in on myself and start to tremble. Sympathy fills his gaze, just like I intended, and I struggle to mask my triumph behind the false fear.

"Hey, Kyle, maybe you should give her some space?" the skinny guard chimes in. "Saffron, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Robbie's right," Kyle agrees, pulling his arm out from between the cell bars. "We'll protect you."

It's all I can do not to roll my eyes. I stay huddled as Kyle gets to his feet and grabs the bag of food from Robbie. He takes out another burger and heads toward Jess's cell. I hope she doesn't do anything stupid. The way Kyle's sticking his arm into cells, he's practically begging for it, and I hope Jess has the common sense to resist.

I hold my breath, but it turns out I have nothing to worry about. Instead of squatting down and handing Jess a burger, Kyle tosses it to her like she's a rabid animal. Has she already broken someone's arm in a botched attempt to escape?

I grimace as the burger lands in Jess's cell with a plop, and picture it sliding across the dirt floor. A second later, there is the crinkling of the wrapper, an indication that Jess must have picked up the burger. I imagine at least some of the dirt has gotten inside the wrapper, but it doesn't sound like Jess cares. She chews loudly, moaning like it's the first decent piece of food she's had in days. The worst part is, that's probably true.

I barely stifle a growl as Kyle passes my cell on his way to Amaryllis. How dare he treat Jess like this? I'm so tempted to reach out and slam his head into the metal bars of my cell. It wouldn't cause any permanent damage, and definitely wouldn't get us out of here, but I could make him suffer. It wouldn't help Logan or POW or my new pack, but it would be satisfying.

I sigh and stay rooted in place. Kyle takes out another burger, but instead of giving it to Amaryllis, he starts to unwrap it. Then, he tosses it to her, and I cringe at the thought of the bread and meat and toppings all falling in the dirt. Amaryllis must too, because I don't hear any slurping.

"Can I have more?" Jess cries.

Kyle grumbles, but tosses her another wrapped burger. "Just slow down, before you throw it back up."

By the sound of it, Jess doesn't pay any attention. She eats loudly, sighing periodically.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Kyle asks me and I stare down at the burger suspiciously. "Look, it's not poisoned or anything. We're not here to hurt you."

His words only make me more suspicious, because I'm ashamed to say the thought of poison never crossed my mind. Now, it's all I can think about.

Kyle seems to realize that too, because he takes out a burger and starts to unwrap it. "Here, watch."

"Wait." I get to my feet just as he's about to take a bite and approach the bars. I do so cautiously so he thinks I'm scared of him, and extend the burger. "Trade?"

"Sure." Kyle chuckles. "You're a smart one, just like he said."

"Like who said?"

"Never mind that. You'll find out soon enough."

"Find out what?" I frown.

"Hey, Kyle," Robbie interrupts. "Should we maybe get her some clothes?"

I realize he's talking about Amaryllis, who's still in wolf form.

"Why does it matter?" Kyle groans.

Please? Amaryllis whispers over the link. Then, more loudly, Please, Kyle?

"You can't expect her to eat off the floor like some animal," Robbie adds with a shudder.

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Kyle shakes his head. "I'll be back. Do not move while I'm gone."

Since we're all locked behind bars, I'm assuming he means Robbie. It takes a second before he realizes it too, and nods. "Sure things."

"Oh, and here." Kyle pulls out his phone and slaps it into Robbie's hand. "In case the boss calls."

Kyle's footsteps recede down the hall, and my mind starts to race. How do I convince Robbie to unlock the cell door?

I take a bit of my burger while I think. It's actually not bad, and I tell Robbie so.

"Better than the stuff we usually get." Robbie settles down on the floor cross-legged, facing me, and unwraps a burger. "I'm so tired of Meat Lover's Pizza."

"Yeah, I'm not a fan of pizza either," I lie.

"Nah, don't get me wrong. I love pizza! But having it three times a day? You'll hate anything."

"You eat pizza three times a day? That doesn't sound healthy."

"It's not, but it's what Alpha likes."

"You mean Kyle?" I ask, even though I already know that Kyle's no alpha. He doesn't have that same air of command that POW has, for one thing. That and Jess mentioned an Alpha Daniel.

"Not Kyle." Robbie starts to laugh, but then the phone Kyle handed him rings and he abruptly stops. "Oh, shit. Hello?"

I can't hear whoever is on the other line, but Robbie suddenly goes a little pale. "Can't you just bring her down here?" He pauses, frowns. "I can't. I have to wait for Kyle." Pause. "No, he went to grab some clothes for the girl. When he's back—yeah, yeah, okay. Fine. Yes."

"Everything okay?" I ask Robbie when he hands up. I try to look sympathetic, and not like I'm digging for information.

"Yeah. They wanted my help up there, but if I'm not here when he gets back, Kyle will have my head.

"So he's like, your boss?" I ask.

"It's not like that." Robbie shakes his head.

"Really?" I ask. "Do you both work for someone? Some Rogue or something?"

"No. I shouldn't say anything but..." he hesitates. "Look, we're the good guys, okay?"

"Good guys?" Jess shrieks, making Robbie grimace. "Are you kidding me? You assholes kidnapped—"

"Jess," I snap, "be quiet."

Jess instantly goes silent. "Would you look at that?" Robbie grins "Don't know how you did it, but thanks. She's been driving us insane with her constant shrieking."

I suddenly want to strangle Robbie and I wait for Jess to chew him out. Instead, she just whines pitifully. It makes me want to strangle Robbie even more, and I take a deep breath. Jess is obviously staying quiet so we can get out of here, and I need to focus on that.

"Hey, Robbie," I hesitate, staring down at my feet, "I kind of need to pee."

"Now?" Robbie shakes his head.

"Please? I've been trying to hold it in until Kyle got back, but..." I give him my most pitiful look.

"Shit." Robbie shakes his head. "If I let you out, Kyle is going to kill me.

"I know. But... I really gotta go." I dig my nails into my palms, and my eyes fill with tears.

"Oh man, don't cry. If I take you to the bathroom, can you be really quick? If Kyle gets back and we're not here, he'll have my head."

"Okay. I'll only take a minute. I promise."

"Okay." Robbie nods. He pulls out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocks my cell. Then he pulls out a gun and trains it on me. "Okay just... hold out your hands where I can see them, okay? It's not that I don't trust you, I just want to be careful."

"Of course." I raise both hands and step out of the cell. 

❀Questions?❀

❀Comments?❀

✿What did you think of this chapter? 👍/👎?✿

❁ How did Saf manage to shut Jess up?!?!

❁ AND why do Robbie and Kyle think they're the good guys?!?! 

❁ Do you think Kyle is higher ranked than Robbie? Any idea who their boss is? 

❁ What did you think of the names Robbie and Kyle? Are they boring? Do you think I should change them? (I picked these names because I wanted names that I would never want to use in future books for main characters (all the books happen in the same world, so at some point, I'm going to start running out of names)... and for some reason I felt like they should have older names. I watched some reruns of 7th Heaven a while back, and that's where I got Robbie. Kyle just sort of named himself.)

❁ Do you think Saf can overpower Robbie and find a way to escape? 

❀I Spy STAWP Game by cherry_The_Rose:❀ I Spy is a popular (British?) game where the spy, or it, says "I spy with my little eye ..." and players have to guess the object the Spy saw. Stick to this chapter to start, but if it's too easy, other parts of the book are fair game!(Example: Person 1: I spy something from this chapter that starts with the letter 'B'. -->  person 2: bag? ; person 3: bars? ; person 4: back? ; person 5: burger? Person 1: Yes! Burger!; You can give other clues too, like: any first letter, color, sounds like, shape, etc.)