The Mating Rules

I have no reaction to the sandwich and when the guard comes to take my tray a while later he also brings a second meal, seems they have decided to feed me again after all.

They don’t bring in any more bleeding animals either and it isn’t until my fourth meal a few hours after my dose of Wolfsbane the next day, that they even speak to him.

‘Seems we might not be honoured with your company for much longer Vamp’ the guard sneers as he walks past Zenith’s cells. My heart jumps as I drop the ham sandwich in my hand and crawl to the bars, gripping them until the door shuts behind the man who brought my meal.

‘You getting out’ I gasp in excitement even if I do feel a pang of discomfort that I’ll now be here alone.

Zenith chuckles darkly, ‘no my friend’ he replies smoothly, ‘he’s not talking about my release, he’s talking about my execution.’

My b***d chills at his words, and I realise I’m shaking my head, ‘what are you talking about’ I growl, ‘they won’t kill you, I didn’t think we still did capital punishment!’

The vampire g****s, ‘there is still one reason that the Council will issue an execution’ he murmurs quietly, ‘and it needs the signature of every member on the high Council to issue it. This is why it takes so long and why it rarely happens, it only takes one high council member to refuse to sign to spare a life.’

I swallow thickly, ‘what did you do Zenith?’ I whisper, slightly frightened to ask.

The sound of the Vampire sliding to the floor reaches me, and I have a weird image of him gripping his hair. ‘I wanted to be more powerful’ he said softly, ‘I thought if I was stronger maybe my people would respect me more.’

My tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth, ‘dude’ I breathe, ‘what did you do?’

The Vampire laughs sadly, ‘I attacked a village’ he muttered darkly, ‘slaughtered every man, woman and child, drank them dry. Left their corpses behind causing a huge panic in the human world. The Council didn’t take long to find out it was me, my own people turned me in.’ Zenith spits out the words with venom, his voice tight with anger. ‘My own kind didn’t protect me, actively led the Council to me and handed me over, biting down on me to subdue me as the Councils’ warriors took me down. I was sentenced to death, I not only attacked a village of innocent humans, I threatened the very existence of the supernatural world.

The stories of Vampires through the human world was rampant due to the bite marks I left on the corpses, there were even hunts for the beast that had murdered the families in their beds. That is an act of Treason according to the Council as I have risked the exposure of our world for my own gain, and as such, is the only law that is still punishable by death.

For as long as I’ve been here, there has been one member of the High Council that refused to put their name to my folder. By the sounds of it, his brothers and sisters have finally convinced him to end my miserable life.’

A noise crawls up my throat halfway between a growl and a sob as I grip the bars tightly in my fists.

‘Do not worry my friend’ Zenith continues calmly, ‘I knew this day was coming, I was lucky to get the extra time I did. I am not concerned about the future, the only way I would ever meet my demise would be via a stake through my unbeating heart.’

‘There has to be something’ I mutter, ‘a way to appeal.’

The Vampire laughs hollowly, ‘there is not, and why would you care anyway?’ he replied. ‘I am not of your kind, Vampires and Wolves have warred for centuries. Plus, I killed a village of innocent weak humans with no regard for their lives or the secrecy of our world. I deserve my fate, I came to terms with that many months ago.’

‘You are not that same man that you were’ I snarl doggedly, not even sure why I am defending the Vamp. He is correct, our two species have never gotten along, many wars being waged between us over our time on Earth. I shouldn’t care about his fate, should be disgusted by his crime, but I can’t let go of how he befriended me. Even after learning that I was a wolf, he treated me as a friend, spoke to me through the darkness, checked on me after each dose of Wolfsbane. These are not the actions of a man who would leave his cell and recommit his crime, sometimes even the worst of offenders can be rehabilitated.

Zenith chuckles, ‘maybe not my friend but that doesn’t mean I should not suffer the punishment for my crime. You just need to let it go, I am fine with it, don’t worry about me, think about your own punishment.’

I scoff derisively, ‘oh I think about it all the time’ I mutter darkly, ‘five years for marking my own damn mate.’

The scraping of cloth against the concrete floor sounds across from me before the Vampire replies sharply. ‘They threw you in jail for five years for marking your mate? How did that come about? Did you force her or something? Ignore her rejection?’

I turn around so my back is to the bars again, picking up the abandoned sandwich and finally taking a bite. ‘She was given two mates’ I admit gruffly, ‘we both marked her.’

A low whistle came from across from me, ‘ooooooookay’ the Vampire draws out slowly, ‘are your mate and her other mate in different prisons then?’

A smile pulls at my lips as I shake my head even though the man can’t see me, ‘no, her other mate got a fine for not informing them of the double mates situation but was found not guilty of marking her with intent. My mate was not guilty on both parts.’

‘So why did you get stung with a sentence then?’ Zenith queried in obvious confusion. ‘Surely you both consciously marked your mate, so he would be as guilty as you.’

I sighed deeply, ‘we tried to explain that our wolves took over’ I started reluctantly, ‘it’s a long story but we both were holding back from marking her until she picked.’ I wince at the word, even the memory of waiting for Jamie-lee to choose one of us hurts still. ‘The Council accepted that as an Alpha wolf, the other guy would have lost control of his wolf at some point, an Alpha needs his Luna. They didn’t believe that I had the same issue, they decided that I released control as I agreed with my wolf about claiming her and that I did it without my mate’s consent. Her wolf would be unable to refuse her Alpha if he wanted to mark her, but she could have said no to me and they want to believe that she did and I ignored her.’

Zenith growls softly, ‘that is some f*cked up bull crap’ he hisses angrily, ‘if your mate’s wolf wanted her Alpha mate then it would make sense that she would also want you. I’ll be honest here, you don’t come across as the kind of guy that would force your fangs into your female without her consent.’

I rub my eyes tiredly with my free hand, finishing off the sandwich, ‘canines’ I murmur, ‘we have canines not fangs.’

The Vampire snorts, ‘canines, fangs, it’s all the same’ he replies dismissively, ‘they are both to pierce skin.’

I laugh hollowly, groping for the tray beside me and picking up the plastic bottle of water, gulping it thirstily. I still have my hidden bottle at the back of my cell so I think I can afford the luxury of a full drink.

‘Ugh, I wish I could help you my friend’ Zenith mutters, ‘you do not deserve to be here, you are not a criminal. I understand why I’m here, I hurt people but you? You marked your beloved, how does that cause hurt to anyone?’

I nod, ‘Yeah, we had a problem over that too’ I mumble, ‘why even have a law banning multiple mates, what difference does it make to the Council if two men claim the same female? But, there is nothing I can do about it, they’ve already convicted me, I’m here for the next five years.’

The clang of a hand slamming down on the bars makes me jump, my water splashing over my shirt as I tilt it too far and it runs out of the bottle down my chin. ‘No!’ the Vampire growls loudly, ‘I do not accept this! You do not deserve to be here dammit. I wish that damn guard would come back with that rabbit, I’d crush myself into these damn bars to reach it just to get enough b***d to give me strength and then I’d break you out of this damn place and return you to your beloved.’

I can hear his ragged breathing and a lump forms in my throat at his words, even though he can’t help me, it’s nice that he wants too. That guard hasn’t been back to taunt Zenith again and I don’t want him too. The man doesn’t need another b***d l**t episode, it’s a shame he can’t get b***d from somewhere else though. I settle back against the bars, drinking the last few drops of my water, my mind wandering over what it would be like if the Vampire did get that rabbit, regained his strength and broke us out somehow. He could start again, live a better life, I would return to Caden and Jamie-Lee, my family.

I shake my head, ‘it’s a nice thought’ I sigh sadly, ‘but even if you got that rabbit, we can’t get out of this room without a key. Then you’ve got whatever guards are outside and we don’t even know our way around the prison to escape or where this prison is.’

Zenith grunts, ‘Oh if I had my strength back, that locked door wouldn’t be an issue’ he replied softly, ‘you think a door, be it metal bars of a reinforced door can keep a fully grown, full strength Vampire out? No my friend, I’d be able to rip these things right off their hinges. As for the guards, none of them are Vamps or Wolves, they’d be no match for us if we escaped, that’s why they don’t get to close to me at all, or to you unless they are in a group.’

I turn slightly, playing with the bottle, allowing myself to indulge in the fantasy with my friend for a moment. ‘OK so we rip off the door, get through the guards, we’re still in a building we don’t know that is somewhere in the country.’

Zenith huffs, ‘we are within two hours drive of the capitol’ he muttered.

‘What? How would you know that?’ I gasp in shock.

‘They didn’t knock me out when they brought me here’ the Vampire replies quietly, a sinister amusement to his voice. ‘Oh they tried’ he adds, at my sound of disbelief, ‘but I just played along with their game. Pretended they gave me enough and lay on the floor of the van they threw me in counting seconds as we drove. I also listened for sounds that would tell me where we were going and I’m certain we passed a construction site. I could hear the sound of trucks and the bang of metal, like beams were being put in place with a crane or something.’

The Vampire sighs heavily, ‘but as you say, it’s hopeless, without b***d, I’m as useless as a baby and from what our friend said, I’ll be heading out of here soon enough.’

I frown angrily into the darkness, scraping my bare heels along the rough concrete to dispel some of my pent up fury, this is so wrong! I crush the bottle in my hand as my temper gets the best of me and I feel the sharp edge of the crumpled plastic pierce my skin. Lifting my hand instinctively, I lick my palm, tasting the metallic liquid of my b***d as the wound reseals. Eyes widening, I pull my hand from my mouth, staring into the darkness as my voice calls out to the man across from me, a slight quiver there.

‘Zenith’ I whisper hoarsely, my fingers caressing the edges of the bottle still clutched in my hand, ‘Just how much b***d do you think you would need to get your strength back?’