By the time I get out of here, Alpha Bowen will have moved on to someone else, and my matriarch’s anger will have faded. Hopefully. Now I just need to make sure this vaycay lasts longer than a year.
I walk in line with the other inmates as we head down the drab gray corridor with a pretty yellow line painted down the middle. I let the movements of the other convicts direct me where to go. After passing the rest of the cell block and heading up a set of metal stairs, the herd of gray clad bodies spills into a large cafeteria room.
It’s like the Great Hall in Hogwarts except with fluorescent lighting, cement picnic style benches, and it smells like toe-cheese. Okay, so it’s not like the Great Hall at all. It looks like it’s segregated by cliques and gangs rather than Houses. There are definitely no Hufflepuffs up in here.
I look around the tables, my eyes scanning over everyone. I see a dozen gorgons in the far corner, their hair snakes hissing at one another. They all start laughing as soon as I come in, like they can sense me even though they’re all wearing iron blindfolds. I guess that group is gonna need more time to warm up to me.
There’s another group of some vampires with a posse of fang bangers hanging all over them. Most of the vamps are forgoing the food completely and are just sucking on willing veins instead.
I don’t blame the fang bangers at all. I’ve been bitten by a vamp once at a rave. I orgasmed on the dance floor just as soon as their sharp teeth pricked my skin. Vamp venom is a very powerful aphrodisiac, but the crash afterward is a bitch. It was like coming down from the highest of horny highs to dealing with the world’s worst PMS lows. I ate an entire palette of cookie dough ice cream, texted my ex, and plucked out way too much of my eyebrows.
The fang banger option is gonna be a hard pass for me.
Turning around, I head to the buffet-style assembly line and pick up a red plastic tray and empty paper plate. The male in front of me turns around and growls when I accidentally bump into his back.
I roll my eyes. “Calm down, Big Bad Wolf. It was an accident.”
“The fuck you say?”
Groan. Wolf shifters think they’re such hot shit. They’ve fancied themselves the public’s favorite shifter ever since Twilight came out.
“Go huff and puff on your little piggy, mmkay?” I tell him with false sweetness.
The wolf shifter looks at me incredulously, and he’s a big dude, but the way he’s squinting at me makes me think he’s a little slow.
I hear a female snicker behind me, and I shoot her an awkward thumbs up where my hand is still clutching the edge of my tray.
He, in turn, tosses his tray to the floor with a loud clack—needlessly wasting food, I might add—and faces me, rolling back his shoulders like he wants to intimidate me. “I will fucking crush you, lizard girl.”
My eyes widen. “Oh, this is gonna be my first prison fight!” I say with excitement. I set my tray down responsibly and then rub my hands together and bounce from one foot to the other. “Alright, go ahead. I’ll give you the first punch.”
His bushy brows pull together. “Huh?”
I pat my chest. “Just not the face, okay? I’ve managed to go this long without a broken nose, and I’d like to keep it that way,” I explain. “I know that might not sound like a big deal, but I’m very scrappy. I got in a lot of fights as a kid.”
He hesitates, like he’s not really sure what to do with me. We’ve created a scene by now, and the entire cafeteria has quieted down to watch our exchange. The workers serving the food ignore us completely though, and the guards stationed along the walls look like they’re taking bets. I wonder if I can get in on that action?
“Just to be clear, what does the winner get?”
“What?” he snaps.
“Bragging rights? First turn at the toilet? You become my prison bitch?”
A new growl bursts from his chest, and then he charges at me. I jump out of the way, watching as he spins on his heels, fury in his eyes.
But before he can pummel me, the same female who laughed earlier steps between us smoothly and tosses him a bored look. She’s wearing the same gray scrubs as everyone else, and she has black dreadlocks pulled back at the nape of her neck, dark skin, and golden eyes. She also has a metallic-green tattoo of a tiny lotus flower beside her left eye that seems to shimmer slightly. “Beast, stop your growling and go lick your hairy balls,” she tells him.
“Fuck off, Zen. This is between me and the lizard girl.”
I crinkle my nose at the nickname and hold up my finger, leaning around Zen to speak. “Excuse me, if you’re giving out prison nicknames, can it be something better than lizard girl? Because I can’t work with that one. There’s no amount of bedazzling that can make that look good on the ass of my pants. While we’re at it, let’s think up something new for you too. Beast is just so...predictable. And let’s be honest, Belle and that library-giving hottie she’s with really fucked with the terror that the name Beast used to evoke.”
Beast seems to get irrationally angry at that statement and just starts growling at me like crazy. I blink at him as he starts frothing at the mouth, tawny hair breaking out over his skin.
“He’s gonna get the collar!” someone yells out with excitement.
Sure enough, as soon as Beast starts shifting on all fours, some of the prison guards rush over and clamp a metal collar around his neck. His body pauses mid-shift. Everyone winces and oohhh’s. It looks painful as hell, and a shiver runs up my spine at the sight of a shifter stuck in their shift. The unnaturalness of it messes with me, and I watch as he’s led away like a stray to the pound.
The female, Zen, turns to me and shakes her head. “Damn, girl. I’ve never seen Beast hate someone so much at first sight.”
I shrug and pick up my tray again. “I’d say that was a new experience for me...but I’d be lying.”
Snickering again, Zen follows me as I continue back to the food. The rest of the inmates in line are still paused, watching me. They’re blocking the goods, though, and I really am hungry, so I start to elbow my way between two of them as they watch me, shuffling over awkwardly. “I’m just gonna slide past you and get some of that coleslaw.”
I serve myself, piling up the creamy cabbage deliciousness in one high mountain. I don’t know what it is, but I just love cafeteria food. I flourished in elementary school. “Mmm. Perfect.”
One of the cafeteria servers comes up and dumps down some tuna casserole next. I fill up the rest of the plate with that and some red Jell-O. I love red Jell-O.
Pleased with my collection, I turn to figure out what table I’m going to sit at, but Zen stops me as I pick out a small carton of milk. “Can I get some strawberry milk instead?” I ask the servers. The female in the hairnet rolls her eyes and dumps more plain milk into the barrel. I guess that’s a no.
“Come on,” Zen says to me. I notice she’s opted for a plate full of cornbread. I respect that. “You can sit with me.”
“Which one is your group?” I ask as I follow her.
“Does it matter?” she asks, cocking a brow at me.
I nod. “It does. It’s very important to assimilate myself in the correct prison gang on my first day,” I explain. “It has to be a group strong enough that the other gangs won’t fuck with us, but not top dog because then that would mean we would always be fighting for dominance, and that shit is exhausting.”