MATEO’S P. O. V.
When Ash linked me about the call I had to sneak away from Lila. I didn’t need her to know that I was talking to her mom. She would go crazy. I hated lying to the woman, she really did sound worried. I just couldn’t have her coming up here and dragging her daughter out of my house. I need Lila to like me. I need my mate.
When I come back to Lila she is laughing and playing around with Callum, if anyone can get Lila to like me it is Callum. The boy is too sweet for his own good. When Lila sees me she stops and waits for me to come closer. “Done with business?”
I smile, “For now. What else would you like to see?”
“Your cells.” She says it pointedly. No question as to what she wants to see.
“Are you sure about that? It’s not exactly a place for a woman of your upbringing.” I really don’t want to take her down there.
“I am here to see it all. See how you really are, then I want to see the cells.” She puts her fists on her hips making it clear that she is not changing her mind.
I sigh, “Alright, let me get Ash to take Callum, I don’t want him down there.”
It takes a few minutes for Ash to collect Callum, who is a little disappointed to leave us. But I really don’t want him down in the cells. I don’t care if he already knows what goes on in there, it is one thing to know, it is another to see it.
I take her to the entrance of the cells. I’m still holding her hand. I think at this point it is more clinging than holding. I turn to Lila before we pass the guard to enter the cells. “Are you sure this is what you want to see?”
She gives me that ‘don’t argue with me look’ and I can’t. I nod to the guard to open the door and now there is no going back. We enter the cells and immediately you can hear the clammer of the prisoners. They are all talking and it would seem that they aren’t as upset today. Lila looks around at the packed cells. I don’t like to kill my prisoners and the council has their own ideas about me, so I have no choice but to leave them here. Three years can accumulate a lot of prisoners.
Lila lets go of my hand and walks the long center aisle of the cells. She looks on and I notice that her face gets more and more grim as we continue on. As she moves down the aisle the prisoners get quieter. They watch her with interest, it’s not like I bring prisoners down here all the time, or guests either. When she reaches the end she turns to me. “Why are there so many?”
“Not many options on what to do with them.” I do not want to hear what she is going to say about them.
“It looks like some of them have been here for a long time. What are they in here for?” She looks around at some of the more worn prisoners.
I shrug, “It depends. Most for trespassing.”
She yells at me. “You have these people imprisoned for years for trespassing.” There is no mistaking that anger and it is all directed at me. “Did you even ask these people why they were here? Hell, Callum’s parents could be in here. What form of interrogation have you used? Shit you probably still use the rack.”
I roll my eyes. “That is ridiculous, we do not use the rack.”
She growls at me. “You can’t treat people like this Mateo. It is barbaric. These people can not be locked in here like this. If they did something really wrong then turn them over to the council, don’t leave them down here.”
I scoff, “Did you forget who you were talking to? I am the death dealing Alpha. I don’t turn prisoners over to the council.”
She gets more in my face, “Well, obviously you don’t kill them either. So something needs to be done with them, keeping them here is wrong.”
The prisoners are so quiet now that you could almost forget that they are there and are watching the exchange between Lila and I. “Lila, maybe we should calm down and talk about this back at the house.”
She shakes her head. “No, you wanted me to see who you really are, well I see and I am not happy about it. How can you keep people like this Mateo?”
“I am protecting my people, would you rather I killed them all?” I growled. I’m not angry with her but the situation. I wouldn’t have these people here at all if it wasn’t for circumstances that were out of my control.
“You would kill them all for trespassing. Are you insane?” Yeah, that is pure anger directed at me.
“How do I know they aren’t spies? I am not a popular Alpha, Lila.”
“How do you know they were not just lost or looking for a place to settle into? Did you know that a bunch of wolves were just rescued after being kidnapped and sold as slaves? Some of them didn’t have homes to go back to. Some of these wolves could be them.”
“Well, maybe if the other packs kept me more in the loop I would have known that. I am treated like an outcast, Lila. If I get a call from another Alpha it is a cold day in hell. I have to protect my pack from everyone else.”
“You still can’t treat people like this.” She is glaring at me.
“Fine, how about I conduct an investigation. All the prisoners that are here for trespassing will be evaluated on their claims and released if they show just cause.”
She glared at me, “That’s a start, but these people have suffered. You need to make this right.”
I growled at her, she wasn’t fucking listening. “Woman, you are in my pack. It is time that you listened to me.” I took her hand and led her out of the cells. I didn’t want to hurt her, I just didn’t want to talk about this in front of the prisoners. They will only use it to their advantage.
I drag her all the way back to the house, locking us in as soon as we are both fully in the house. Only then do I feel I can heave a sigh of relief. She can’t run now. She folds her arms over her chest and glares at me. “So, I have seen the real you now, can I go?”
I look at her, how dare she want to leave now. “No, I said you are here until your birthday. Don’t ask again.” I stormed off. I need a breather. I want her to see me in a better light. I thought that at least she would see that I don’t kill them, maybe think better of me, but it’s just as bad. How am I ever going to get her not to reject me? She is only seeing the bad here. I am really trying, but I am going to lose her before she even realizes that I am the one for her. That I am her other half. I already feel that she is my everything. How can I get her to see that?