Ann peered into the darkness that seemed to engulf the inside of the cell that Linus was holding in but couldn't see any movement from within. The cells were tiny, designed for security and not comfort. The cells that were allocated to hold wolf shifters were constructed of walls of reinforced concrete which had been infused with wolfsbane and nightshade before being coated with silver. There was no chance of escape for the shifters held here, even if they did manage to get out of the chains that held them. Lexi leaned up against the shatterproof pane, protected on the prisoner's side by thick bars of steel coated with silver that ran the full length and width of each wall. "So where's old rapey?" She sniffed, sounding a little disappointed as she turned to Ann with a pout, "I was looking forward to asking him a few uncomfortable questions." "You'll still get to ask them, Lexi." Ann said with a serious face, "He's in there, we just can't see him. I do wonder if he's still r
A low growl emanated from Linus's chest as he bared his teeth at Lexi who was finding the whole situation far too amusing and was doing her best not to double over with laughter. "Impressive… I'm surprised your wolf is still alive in there." Lexi remarked as she gasped for breath. "I believe you haven't been introduced to my second in command, The Alpha Queen's Beta, Lexi." Ann introduced her casually with a warm smile. Linus looked as though his eyes were about to pop out of his head as he spluttered and choked on his own saliva in indignation. "This... this… no… NO! There has never been a half-breed in a position of power within the Enclave and I will not stand for it!" He raged. "Too bad you old fart, it is what it is." Lexi smiled sweetly down at him. "Over. My. Dead. Body!" He snarled viciously, straining against his chains in an effort to reach Lexi. She was completely unfazed by his display of fury and instead, bent forward until her face was level with his own a
Adam and Allen's faces were stony as the door closed to the cell, and Lexi was still fuming about Linus's comments. "Don't let it get to you," Ann said gently, "Those comments were meant to infuriate and provoke us into a reaction. Most likely so that he can claim mistreatment at our hands." she continued with a grimace. "He's a disgusting piece of shit. How can an Elder hold such a high position and still live by those archaic standards? It's people like him that make the world such a horrendous place for people with mixed heritage to live in…" She fumed before pausing and turning to Ann with a sigh of regret, "I wish you'd have let me rearrange his face just a little bit." Ann smiled wryly and raised an eyebrow at her as Lexi smiled half-heartedly at her. "I would have settled for choking him until he passed out, you know…" Lexi offered as Allen looked at her with a mixture of pride and horror. "No, you wouldn't." Ann laughed, "You and Maeve seem to be cut from the same c
"Then I'll go too!" Ann replied stubbornly as the room erupted into snorts of protest. "No you won't, " Adam said firmly, placing a finger over her lips as she opened her mouth to protest. "Ann, you are the Alpha Queen, and you may be carrying the first of your line...our line…our pups." Adam smiled down at her tenderly, "When they are born, then I will hear your arguments regarding placing yourself in harm's way for the good of the kingdom, but until then, your safety is my priority." Ann scowled as she tore her gaze from his and looked to Lexi for support, but her friend held her hands up in front of her and shook her head. "Don't be a knobhead, Queenie. You have a kingdom to rule and twats like Linus and Cornelius to put in their place. You can't enact change if you and your little smut puppies are ten feet underground." "Some help you are," Ann grumbled as she pushed herself away from Adam and looked between Felix and Greyson. She was silent for a while as she mulled
Whilst Adam and Allen left to make the necessary arrangements for the next day's departure, Bartholomew, Lexi, and Ann made their way to the council chambers. "Don't you ever find all this tedious?" Lexi asked with a sigh. "What do you mean?" "The same scenery day in and day out… I think I might go mad if we don't get a break soon, you know." She whined, "I have no idea how you've done it for so long Barty-boy." Bartholomew chuckled good-naturedly. "I can assure you that things are not usually this busy nor intense under normal circumstances." "You hear that, Queenie? We've brought abnormal circumstances along with us." Lexi grinned as she nudged Ann in the side. "Who'd have thought, eh?" Ann chuckled as they linked arms. "Are we actually allowed out then? Or do we have to confine ourselves to these dusty halls forever?" Lexi pressed with a grin. "We can go out of course. Whether or not we have the time to or not, is a different matter entirely." Ann grimaced, "S
The murmurs in the council chamber had faded to an almost deafening silence as Ann and Lexi made their way to their allotted seats at the front of the room. Although the Elders wouldn't have noticed, as Ann took her seat, she picked up the minute details in Lexi's body language that showed just how uncomfortable she was in this position, but she hid it well. To the casual observer, she would still appear as the fiery and opinionated half-Daemon that people had heard so many whispers about lately. "Thank you all for coming." Ann's voice cut across the chamber, echoing loudly above their heads. "It's not as if we had much choice, your grace. If you could give us a little more notice…" "Oh, it's notice you want?" Ann smiled serenely although her eyes flashed with a dangerous light as Maeve simmered below the surface, "Perhaps if you had cleared the Rogues at the first instance then meetings wouldn't have to be called so abruptly." The rustle of cloaks could be heard and awkw
After the Elders had been informed of Linus's trial being scheduled for the following day, and no new issues were raised, Ann and Lexi left the council chambers. Lexi had seethed silently, a murderous aura exuding from every pore on her body as Ann had tried to wrap things up quickly so she could get her friend somewhere relatively safe so that she could explode without judgment. Ann glanced across at her friend, who strode furiously forwards, the vivid crimson of her eyes still burning brightly. "Do you want to go and hit things until you feel a little better?" Ann asked softly. Lexi snorted. "Unless part of the beating involves a knife in between the eyes of those bigoted motherfuckers then I'm not in the mood." She hissed, not breaking her stride. 'She'll probably end up pinning Allen to the bed and giving him the wildest night of his life to cool off.' Maeve sniggered as Ann sighed quietly. "How about a drink? Do you want to go into the city and find a bar to drink
As soon as the doors closed behind Lexi and she was left in the relative darkness of the training room, she let out a breath that she hadn't known she had been holding. She was still furious about the way some of the Elders thought about her and the other hybrids within the city, but she was positive that not all of them felt the same way. Even if it was only a small percentage of Elders that eventually sided with her and Ann, that was all that mattered. Even one person could make a huge difference if they worked hard and acted intelligently. She really didn't want to go back to Allen in this mood, he would only fuss over her and it irritated her when men hovered around her, unsure of what to do with themselves. She liked the fire of their heated banter, it got her riled up in all of the best ways and she didn't want to be stuck with an image in her head of a submissive Allen…that would just ruin the whole thing for her. Lexi smirked to herself as she made her way further i