Chapter 24: Chapter 23

He retraced his steps, going down the four flights before he finally opened the front door. He slipped out, relishing the cool night air. “My Prince,” a voice made him jump.

“Adam, what are you doing?”

“Gamma Trey asked me to be on guard tonight.”

Chris growled, the noise rumbling in his chest. “You mean that he asked you to ensure I don’t run off.”

“Didn’t say that, My Prince.”

“I’m going to the cells. I’m not leaving packland, I’m not running off, I’m going there then going to bed.”

“I didn’t ask, My Prince.”

“Shut up.”

“Of course, My Prince,” he replied brightly.

Chris scowled, but made his way around the castle, towards the guard training grounds and beyond. The single-story stone building came into view quickly, all the while, he had the tail of Adam. A fact he tried to ignore.

The guards watching over the entrance to the stone building didn’t stop him as he approached and pushed open the door. Revealing a two-roomed space, the main area held three guards playing a board game but they soon jumped to their feet seeing Chris. “Heard some guard was swinging his fists earlier,” he announced.

“He’ll be released in a few days, My Prince. Unless-”

“I need a conversation with him.”

“Gamma Jesse ordered-”

“I am above Jesse. Open the door.”

“My Prince, I-”

“Just open the door for him. What’s he going to do?” Adam asked from behind.

“Not listening to you, you’re his friend.”

“If you wish for me to disturb my brother, I will, but he won’t be happy to learn I’m being ignored,” Chris rumbled with all the authority he could muster.

“His punishment is isolation, he’s not to have visitors.”

“I’m hardly a visitor. Open the door.” He gestured to the thick door that led down to the cells.

“Very well, My Prince.”

“Thank you,” he replied tersely as the door was unlocked and he immediately trudged down the stone steps, unsurprised that he was followed down. He wished he wasn’t.

Fear clawed at him as he descended. The jagged stone. The darkness. He swallowed hard, he couldn’t let his nightmares enter his waking moments. He had to make his feet keep going. He wasn’t a prisoner. He wasn’t trapped. He could leave whenever he wanted. He was safe.

He was safe.

His eyes adjusted to the gloom as he descended deep into the earth, the corridor was rough and narrow, glints of silver shined with the limited candle light as his shoes hit the compacted earth of the floor.

He found Jaxson in the first cell, sat hunched on the small cot within the soul despairing jail. He knew Jaxson’s wolf would be completely suffocated down here with the silver, Chris’ royal wolf was unaffected. He leant against the silver bars, “What were you thinking?” Chris sighed.

Jaxson rolled his head tiredly to the side to look at him before dropping it down. “I’m sorry I disgraced myself.”

“Don’t care about your position. Want to know what went through your head.”

“Wasn’t thinking. Should have controlled myself more.”

“Hard to go against instinct.” Chris shrugged to himself.

Jaxson blew out a heavy breath. A slight derisive noise echoing around the small room.

“Yeah…” Chris whispered.

“My Prince, you’ve seen he’s well I think it’s time to go,” the guard that had followed him down announced carefully.

“He punched someone, so what?”

“That would be something for you to discuss with Gamma Jesse.”

Chris turned and sank to the floor, his back against the bars, “Don’t feel like leaving. You go.” He knew the guard wanted to leave, no-one wanted to spend long down here if they could help it.

The guard hesitated.

“It’s not like I can do anything. If I were to wish to punish him, there’re bars in the way. I’m just going to sit here, it’s peaceful.”

“Go, Sam. No reason for you to feel this shit. His Highness is stubborn.”

“Why thank you,” Chris replied.

“We’ll be on alert,” Sam warned before disappearing down the corridor and up the stairs.

“People are going to talk more if it gets out you’re sitting on the floor of the cells keeping me company for nearly killing someone.”

Chris shrugged, resting his head back against the cool metal.

They were silent, no sound from above penetrated this low down, the only sound was their heartbeats and their breathing.

“You claimed me in front of those humans. Why?” Jaxson broke the silent din.

“My wolf pushed forward,” Chris stated through a small shrug. “I couldn’t control it.”

“Could have controlled it if you wanted,” Jaxson retaliated.

“What, like you punching the shit out of someone because they bruised your ego?”

“Whatever,” he growled.

The candlelight didn’t breach the ceiling of the corridor, the single candle within Jaxson’s cell flickered ghostly shadows over the wall opposite Chris. He didn’t like the cells, he had never really been down here before… OK… he had never been down here before. He’d never had the guts after spending months in that dungeon. But somehow, he didn’t feel that fear he thought he’d feel now he was within the oppressive doom. He shuffled a little over the dirt ground, he realised he didn’t want to be anywhere else.

“I’m sorry,” Chris blurted out.

“What for?”

“Everything. That I’m your mate. That I decided to have sex with everyone. That I hurt you. That I messed up your reputation. That I’m me,” he rambled.

“Nothing wrong with you,” Jaxson stated dismissively.

“You said it yourself, I’m messed up.”

“I didn’t mean that. I was… I’m not what you need. I can’t offer you anything.”

“I don’t blame you,” Chris whispered, dropping his head to numbly look at his lap.

Boots shuffled along the dirt before a hand shot onto Chris’ shoulder. “I do want you,” Jaxson murmured.

Chris shook his head, no he didn’t.

“I just worry what our life would be like, if we accepted.”

“You don’t want to accept me so there’s no point talking about it. The Moon Goddess obviously wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“She had her reasons… we just can’t see them.”

“She probably didn’t foresee how much of a fuck up I would be.”

The hand on his shoulder squeezed on the verge of painfully. “Stop it. You’re not,” he growled, the warning and protective tone clear. “Break one of these bars,” he demanded.

Chris frowned and sat up, turning to give him a confused look.

“Just do it.”

He sighed, but reached up and squeezed the bar with most of his strength. It snapped, so he yanked it down, bending it at the base. It wasn’t enough space for Jaxson to fit through, but it soon became evident that escape wasn’t on his mind. Jaxson’s hand reached through the gap and tugged Chris’ arm hard, turning him sideways, he just wiggled through the bars.

As soon as he was free, he found thick strong arms around him, crushing him into a warm hard chest. Chris stiffened, ready to pull away but his wolf surged forward, glueing him into the comforting embrace. Chris’ chest rumbled in what could only be described as a purr. He wasn’t a cat though, so he just put it as a vibration of contentment.

“I don’t even have my wolf and I want you,” Jaxson admitted gruffly into Chris’ neck.

Chris tensed. That wasn’t what he was expecting. It wasn’t something he’d thought about.

“How?” he croaked.

“You’re special. And I was an idiot.”

“I’m still me, I’m still what you don’t want.”

“Sitting in a cell makes you think. I don’t know, just let me hold you a minute.” His arms tightened even more and Chris couldn’t help relax, he wasn’t sure who was in charge of his body but he couldn’t care less.

Chris had no idea how long he sat, half on the other male’s lap while his arms pinned him in place. He didn’t want to admit how truly blissful it felt. After fighting the feeling, ignoring his core desire, then believing there was no hope. He didn’t want to let go for a fear it was fleeting. A niggle that Jaxson would let go and tell him they couldn’t do it.

Part of him knew they couldn’t. They would never be accepted.

“I can’t shift this feeling. It’s tearing me apart,” Jaxson whispered.

“What I can’t have was always what I wanted most,” Chris chuckled quietly.

Jaxson’s fingers tangled into Chris’ hair, “Are you willing to try?”

Chris pulled back, frowning at Jaxson in the low light. “I thought…”

“Thought I dragged you in here to tell you to get lost?”

“Yeah.”

Jaxson cupped Chris’ cheek, “No. I want you, if you’ll have me.”

“But you don’t want to be a Royal.”

“I don’t care. When that idiot was shooting his mouth about you… All I thought was you, I needed to protect you.”

Chris looked down, “I don’t need protection.”

“No.” Jaxson forced his head back up to meet his gaze, “You need a partner. Someone to bounce off of. Someone to talk to. Someone that understands.”

“Are you saying you want that?”

“No.”

Chris deflated instantly, pulling out of Jaxson’s grip that never loosened.

“I need it. I crave it.” Jaxson pulled Chris roughly towards him, guiding him by his hair until their lips collided in perfection.

The cliché of fireworks didn’t come close to the explosions that they both felt. It was a release. A tightly wound spring finally able to fling free. Chris’ arms wound around Jaxson’s shoulders, his hands landing in his thick auburn hair. A groan rumbled in his chest when Jaxson’s tongue flicked his lips. He didn’t need any other encouragement, he let their tongues meld together.

Jaxson leant back, spreading onto his back with Chris still firmly in his grasp, their lips never breaking contact once. Chris bent over him, supporting his weight on his hands on either side of Jaxson’s head.

“Mark you right now if I could,” Jaxson growled, breaking to nip Chris’ neck.

“Not in the dungeon.” Chris wasn’t only telling Jaxson, his wolf was wanting to mark. Claim.

To tame the wolf, he lay human bites down Jackson’s neck, eliciting rumbles and gasping groans.

It was a little strange to feel a bulge against his own. But somehow it felt more right… In fact… he thought how on earth he ever touched anyone else. His hips moved without any permission from his mind, he needed to feel him. Jaxson’s head flung back, cracking against the hard ground. “That shouldn’t feel that good,” he breathed.

Chris slipped his hand down the other male’s chest but before he could get close to his goal, Jaxson grasped him by the back of the neck and crashed him down, back into a furious kiss. “Not in the dungeon,” Jaxson rumbled through his lips.

Chris chuckled but accepted, retracting his hand. As soon as he was back in position, he found himself flipped, his head cradled so he wouldn’t bang it. He whimpered with the feel of Jaxson’s body over his. It felt so right, it felt like everything he’d dreamed of. He was a weighted blanket over his anxiety.

Jaxson rested his forehead on Chris’, both their breathing coming out in ragged pants. “Are you worried what others will say?” he whispered.

“A little. What if Marc forbids it?” Chris reached up, stroking Jaxson’s stubble.

“We’ll figure it out, you better go before someone comes down,” Jaxson stated reluctantly.

“Yeah,” Chris breathed through a sigh. He reached up and yanked Jaxson down beside him, “Five more minutes.”

“Five more minutes,” Jaxson confirmed.

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