TEN MINUTES TOO MUCH

4 MARCH, THURSDAY, CONTINUED

Despite the dark atmosphere, Beta Lucas took special care to make sure the two boys cleaned up all the brightly colored food wrappers and empty soda cans. Fluffy put down his violin to help, but Beta Lucas said each one should pick up his own litter and it turned out the mess was all EJ's.

"Hurry up, Red." Ben said, "Time's ticking."

And then I realized Beta Lucas was being sneaky! He was wasting my ten minutes on cleaning up! I mean, did he not see (or smell) the mess in the opposite cells?

{That's not fair! You're stalling. My ten minutes doesn't start till after the clean up!} I protested, but only over the mindlinks. I didn't think Jude realized I was here, and I wanted to keep it that way.

{Well, I tried, Alpha.} Beta Lucas wasn't the most discreet beta.

{Alright. Let's not waste any more time then.} Dad decided.

Grrr.... Did they think I was still a puppy? But on all accounts, yes, they did. Even Fluffy and EJ - they crowded in front of me as if to physically shield me from the two cells on the other side. They didn't announce me. They didn't make eye contact. It was like they were trying to make me invisible.

They didn't even chase Fluffy and EJ out. As the wolves around me arranged themselves to surround the prisoner cells, I realized they figured having more bodies around would block Jude and Ron's view better. I don't think anyone knew how Fluffy and EJ were big bodies though - big busybodies, that is. Heh, I hung back to watch a good show.

Beta Lucas stuck his hands in his pockets and gangster-walked over right up to Jude's cell. This was Beta Lucas' intimidation mode. Even his wolf rose to the occasion. He wasn't joking when he said this was serious business.

When the other side showed no interest, he kicked the cell bars, "Oi, the Alpha is here to see you."

"We know." Ron growled, "But why is HE here too?"

He was referring to Bell, "Since when did Night Leaf let Lorries stick their noses into their business?"

Ron was seething like all his suppressed rage was about to boil over. It was like Bell's presence physically hurt him.

Wait a minute... I narrowed my eyes at my mate's broad back. I wouldn't put it past him...

"Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you or your alpha..." Bell smirked, "yet."

Ron responded by snarling. I felt a little better that Ron's hostility wasn't reserved only for me. He hated Bell too.

"Hoo boy." Beta Lucas looked from Bell who stood looking down at the prisoners impassively to Ron burning with fury from the back of the cell, "You boys have some history?"

"He slept with my alpha's woman." Ron growled.

Ki stepped forward to do PR damage control, but Bell held out a hand. Ki stopped.

It was HER.

I wanted to hear Bell explain this. I wanted to hear him say it was a misunderstanding. That he never loved her. That he only loved me.

But Bell only shrugged, "I have no interest in pathetic lowlifes and their delusions of love."

I froze, and then I realized he was talking to Jude.

Jude, who looked the epitome of a broken man. He was sitting on one side of his cell, his knees drawn to his chin. His face looked sunken, and dark rings hung under his eyes.

On the other side of the cell was a sleeping mat, clean clothes, a neatly folded towel, packed biscuits, and bottled water - all untouched.

"Okay, Jude." Beta Lucas stepped up, "This is your last chance. Why did you do it?"

"I..." Jude croaked.

He sounded like he really could do with a drink of water. I looked at the bottles of untouched drinking water in his cell. Why didn't he drink any of that?

"I've told you..." Jude croaked lowly into his knees, "But you keep asking me the same questions..."

"And every time we ask, you tell us a different story!" Beta Lucas interrupted, "Do you have a new story for us tonight?"

Jude stared mutely at his hand for a long while, and then he growled, "Just leave me here to die."

Beta Lucas turned to leave with a shrug, "Okay, since you're not going to talk... There's no point wasting my alpha's time."

Beta Lucas went over to Dad, "Sorry for wasting your time, Alpha..."

"My mother!" Jude rasped. Beta Lucas stopped.

"My mother... Has she come to see you yet?" Jude asked.

"No, Jude." It was Dad who answered, "She has not."

There was a heavy silence as Jude processed that.

And then he sighed and leaned back against the wall, "Even my own mother has turned her back on me. I have no one left."

He very conveniently forgot about his beta next door.

"I wouldn't have the face to show myself around here if I were her." Fluffy whispered too loudly to EJ, "Not after what he had done."

If he had meant to provoke Jude, he was quite successful. Our prisoner started shaking. He clenched the hand he was staring at into a fist.

"Mou... But Neil and Jax really did say she wasn't going to come this time." EJ answered Fluffy.

"Oh, were you waiting for your mother to come bail you out, Alpha?" Fluffy beamed at Jude, "Was she supposed to come see you in this sorry state and go 'Oh! My poor puppy!' and cry on your behalf till Alpha Kingsley lets you go?"

"She told Neil and Jax that she couldn't face Alpha Kingsley after what her son did." EJ informed Fluffy and all of us present.

Fluffy's wolf seemed to be enjoying himself, "Are you sulking now? Your mama isn't coming to save you. You betrayed your benefactor and committed treason with rogues against your own packlands."

And then Fluffy smiled rather evilly, "You should just kill yourself."

"SHUT UP!" Jude punched the floor of his cell, but the impact was dulled by the layers of rubbery hard epoxy.

"I guess he doesn't want to die after all." Fluffy shrugged, his smiling mask barely hiding the glint in his eye.

Why was no one telling Fluffy to stop it?

"Come now, it's not that bad." Beta Lucas tried to reason with the prisoner, "A warm cell, visiting rights... If you stop refusing your meals and showers, I'm sure you'll feel better."

"Jude, I'm not trying to make things harder for you than it has to be." Dad said, "I hope you'd cooperate with the investigations."

"What do you want me to say, Alpha King?" Jude asked.

"The truth, Jude." Dad said.

"Jude, tell us why you did it." Beta Lucas repeated, "Why did you betray our packlands?"

"I did it for her..." Jude said miserably.

"Who? Your rogue-lover, Ruby?" Beta Lucas asked.

"Wait! He and Ruby?" EJ interrupted, "Really?"

Yes, really, EJ. But it wasn't the Ruby you knew back at the Underground. This one was like a walking corpse and probably crazy.

"I thought Ruby was executed in the Gold Packlands?" Fluffy asked.

"She was, but her corpse was resurrected." Ki took the trouble to explain.

"So he was dating a corpse?" EJ asked and then he made a face, "Did they kiss?"

Yes. The flashback wasn't pleasant.

Were my ten minutes up yet? This wasn't turning out as fun as I had hoped. I looked to Ben meaning to ask if my time was up, but Ben misunderstood me.

His wolf rose with an evil grin that quite matched Fluffy's, "Did you kiss her? Bet it was gross."

"I did it for her!" For some reason, the younger wolves' jibes got to Jude, "I did everything for her!"

And then Jude came up to the bars, all desperate and crazy-eyed, "Alpha Kingsley, the truth is... I did it for your daughter."

There was a stunned silence.

"Which daughter?" Beta Lucas asked very cautiously.

I tugged on Ben's sleeve. I was pretty sure my ten minutes were up. When Ben turn to look, I nodded towards the door.

"She was my soul mate." Jude said.

Ben backed up so that he was next to me again, {Are we leaving?}

I nodded and we made our way the long way around the broad backs of the other wolves to the exit.

"What I did... I did for love." Jude continued in a low growling, "Yes, I often visited the hidden rogue village, I gave them intel, drank with their men, and slept with their women, and then I became Ruby's lover. When she requested it, I used my connections with the rogue village to help her and the old beta Lorent amass an army. I led some of my warriors to lend the rogues firepower during the war... I'm not ashamed of what I did, but if you must know, I only did it in a desperate attempt to protect my princess."

Ben took out his keycard to unlock the exit so we could leave. I caught his wrist, {Wait.}

He did WHAT?

Ben waited.

"I know you won't believe me, Alpha King." Jude said, "But I did this for my princess. From the day I met your daughter, I knew she was the one for me."

Ron groaned loudly at this point, "Jude, just give it up. Spoilt princesses like that would never give the likes of us underdogs a second look."

"No Ron." Jude growled fiercely now, "I had been waiting for such a long time for the perfect princess, how can I stand by and watch her be given away to a monster?"

"Who are you calling a monster?" Bell asked coldly.

"All my life." Jude said dramatically, "I was the underdog. Even though I was born an Alpha, my lovely mother and I lived like omegas."

"But we carved a home and better future for ourselves - and with the establishment of the Asphalt Pack, carved a home for many just like us." Jude narrated.

"That's very touching." Ki smiled, "But I think you're missing out the part about how Alpha Kingsley and his Luna saved your sorry hides and supported the both of you with their personal savings."

"Yes, but if he says it like that, it would ruin the perspective he's trying to paint." Fluffy explained.

"I'm not the two princes who came crawling to me for refuge, and then started crawling all over my head and then into my bed..." Jude spat out.

"That..." Ki started.

But Bell held out his hand to stop him.

{Ten minutes is up, Sam.} Ben told me.

{Are you sure?} I asked.

{Give or take a few minutes.} Ben shrugged.

"Is it so hard to accept that your lover would choose a 15 year old brat over you?" Bell smirked.

"She didn't choose YOU!" Jude was immediately worked up. He even forgot he was in the middle of a story, "She chose the rich Lorent Prince!"

"I was just a minor then." Bell mused aloud, "I wonder if I should sue her for damages."

"What damages?" Jude all but screeched, "You had your pick of girls, and you had to take MINE."

"It's tough being the heir to prestigious elite families. So many ladies, so little time..." Bell shrugged.

Really now?

"Of course, I wouldn't expect a minor alpha to understand." Bell continued in the most slappable way.

Jude grabbed the bars and snarled. Bell smirked and I realized belatedly that he was purposely messing with Jude.

"Not only is our Luna a purebred rare bloodline of healing wolves, he is also handsome and talented." Fluffy praised. This was not because Fluffy was a fan of scary Luna. Fluffy just enjoyed this kind of thing.

"All the female wolves swoon a little when he walks by." EJ fanned himself and acted it out.

"When he walks along the street, the women drop like flies when he passes." Fluffy said. He wasn't even trying to conceal the fact that he was lying anymore.

"When he smiles, we have to call an ambulance because the ladies will get a heart attack." EJ joined in.

"He even makes straight men question their orientation." Fluffy wasn't going to lose.

At this point, I couldn't say for sure if these two clowns were helping to get a rise out of Jude or Bell. Both guys were growling lowly.

But Bell had Ki who smiled and said easily, "But an underdog like you wouldn't understand his suffering."

This gave Bell the moment to run his good hand through his hair and stay on track, "So you're saying you betrayed your Packlands, your savior and benefactor, and even your own mother and the pack you built together with THEIR money because you fell in love with MY princess."

"SHE SHOULD'VE BEEN MINE!" Jude screamed back. If they had meant to crack him, they succeeded.

Suddenly all the dramatic story-telling of the tragic hero flew out the window as Jude raged, "I was the one who climbed up from the bottom of the rubble. I was the one who survived the backstreets and had to work part-time jobs. I was the one whose trust was betrayed by someone I treated as my own brother. I was the one who overcame the odds and emerged victorious. I was the one who remained filial. I was the one Alpha King favored. I was the one who should have been his daughter's soul mate. I was the one who should've mated into his family. I was the one who should have been the next alpha of Night Leaf. NOT YOU."