Siren Awakened - C.R. Jane Page 0,35

thing to feel comfortable while in someone’s company you barely knew. But Laz had a way of calming me. I leaned back on my arms and crossed my legs at my ankles. “How’d you end up in here?” I asked.

“I was framed by my second in command,” he answered, lowering his head, his back curling forward. “The bastard wanted my pack, so he killed my mate and planted her dead body to frame me. Before I knew it, the cops had busted down my door and I was thrown into this place.”

“Fuck. I’m so sorry. That is horrific.” My stomach rolled. “How could he do that?”

“The worst part is that I never saw it coming. It happened seven years ago, and I still burn with rage to destroy him.”

Soul-crushing, his recount throttled me. I pushed up and rubbed his back. I had no words to say about something so horrific. We sat in silence, and I remained by his side. Goosebumps raced up my arms, the hair standing on end along my arms to imagine experiencing such devastating betrayal.

“Laz,” I said after a while. “Are you okay?”

There was no response a first, then he stood. “We should head back inside.” His voice cracked, then he cleared his throat.

He leaned down and took my hand, hauling me to my feet. “Don’t worry about me, babe. I’m perfect. Once I get out of this joint, I have someone to hunt down and obliterate.”

I was lost for words and wished I knew the right thing to say.

Back indoors, I pulled the locked door shut, and Laz led me back to the main part of the prison where my cell lay.

“I’ll see you hopefully in my room tonight.” He winked so sexily, my legs trembled, then he strolled back the way we came, vanishing into the crowd. He was definitely not what I expected. Seemed no one was.

Someone snatched my hair and yanked backward, forcing me to cry out and retreat with quick steps to avoid falling over.

“Bitch, I know it was you,” a croaky female’s voice came.

I twisted around, grabbing my hair and managed to wrench myself free. I swallowed the lump in the back of my throat and hated how it was one thing after another here.

Raising myself, I faced the short-haired witch glaring in my direction, and if her stare could kill me, I’d be pinned to the wall already, dead.

“You killed our bird. I know you did,” she bellowed.

“You’ve got me confused with someone else, I told you before.” I curled my hands into fists, ready to fight if required.

Instead, a sudden explosion of cheering sounded from behind me. In a sudden flurry of busybodies, so many of the prisoners shoved past us to get to the commotion. Elbows in my ribs. Trodden on feet. I was pushed backward, but with the distance between the witch and I growing, I didn’t resist the push and tug. I really didn’t know what to tell the woman until I worked out what the hell was wrong with me.

Pivoting around to see where the masses were taking me, I came to where a group of guys were in a vicious brawl. It seemed to be happening daily, and everyone craved them for entertainment. I might have turned around if it wasn’t for Keon slicing through the masses and jumping in to stop the battle.

He had no clue I’d joined the audience, but seeing him move, he reminded me of a wolf. Swift and predatory, he knew exactly what he was doing. He went for the largest guy first, locked an arm around his neck, and wrenched him backward, then drove a knee into his back, sending him to his knees. The crowd seemed to be cheering Keon more than the fighters. And by the look of his grin, he was right in his element. He loved fighting, and he knew he was so damn strong, I wasn’t sure anyone stood a chance against him. With each punch he delivered, he grinned wider, taking joy from his punishment. I wouldn’t have thought guards were allowed to beat up prisoners as he was doing, but no one stopped him. Not even the three other guards watching.

Alaric was right about Keon being a wild cannon. I withdrew through the mob and rushed back to my cell, just wanting to hide from everything and sleep. Right then, I was reminded too much of Keon fighting before he turned into his demon side. How far did he have