Chapter 3: The prisoner's mate

"D-Did you hear that?" she asked Anthony as her hands tremble with fear.

"Relax, Thea. I didn't hear anything," Anthony replied.

"Just relax and hold my hand," he added.

Althea looked around and noticed that this prison had only a few guards stationed.

Her heart began to race as they approached the main inmate building. She was getting more thrilled than she had planned, but she was also a little scared, and she couldn't figure out what her other feeling was because she was so certain that she had an unknown fear within her.

"All right, kids, welcome to the High-Security Prison," an intense, old voice says. She tries to get up and look, but Anthony ends up giving her a piggyback ride. He was already tall enough to see over everyone else's heads. While on his back, Althea stood out like a scabby arm.

"I hope you enjoy the tour," the old sheriff says, taking the lead, as their leader stood tall beside him.

The corridors were white and monotonous, with everything looking the same.

She was taking notes on everything that stood out to her and possibly not to others, and she planned to show Anthony later to see if they saw what she saw.

"As you may be aware, there is no prisoner mess hall here," the guard declares. "The prisoners always stay in their cells, no matter what. One of the prisoners had a dead body in his cell for his entire first year because of that policy," he chuckled. Althea frowned; a body had died after a month. It's cruel to leave the body with the new prisoner, but she figures they deserve everything bad in life.

They walked, well, she rode, for another fifteen minutes before arriving at an open area filled with cell doors. "This is the prison's weakest level of security."

Each door had a guard, and there were even a couple of grey wolves strolling around. According to legend, the darker your fur, the stronger you are. White wolves are known for their beauty rather than their strength while Althea was somewhere in the middle.

"There are currently eight prisoners in here, and all of their criminal acts include massacring between five and ten werewolves," the sheriff says as he inspects each cell. "I wanted to know why they kept them alive. I wish I could leave a note, but there was nothing too strange," she pondered.

Before proceeding to the Middle-Security section, the sheriff spoke for another ten minutes. There are two guards at each door, each with a loaded gun and silver bullets. They slaughtered over twenty werewolves, which was revolting beyond words.

Althea, on the other hand, can't deny that she was still excited. Her heart was racing and she was exhaling heavily. She placed her hand over her heart, pleading with it to slow down. Maybe she should take a walk. She gets off Anthony's back, and he looks down at her, slightly concerned. "What's wrong?" he inquired, concerned. He can detect her heartbeat. She gave him a light smile and said, "I'm okay, don't worry," but she knew he didn't believe her.

The following level of security was the most stringent and had only one prisoner. Allan is the most feared man in human history. Nobody knew his backstory or last name, but rumor had it that he was hot, which is meaningless when he is a murderer and a rapist.

As they approached his window cell, her inner wolf began to wag her tail. He was in a large cell, but he was wearing at least six silver chains. One on each of his arms, waist, and legs. They made certain he couldn't flee, which was a good thing.

He was looking down as they approached his cell. She didn't pay any more attention to the warden, who was now spewing nonsense. Everyone knew what he was talking about, or they should have. That is something they learned in school.

She gives him a good look as she sniffs in through her nose and smells the most magnificent scent ever, a caramel and chocolate scent. She then inhales deeply, unable to get enough of the enticing aroma. Althea had to track down the person who had a scent. Only one person who could smell this good could be her mate, she reasoned.

"Wait a minute. I haven't even met my mate yet. Oh my gosh. Don't tell me my mate is one of those criminals here?" she thinks to herself, disappointed and scared. She had to take a deep breath to calm herself.

"Mine," said the husky, masculine voice. She then looked around, trying to figure out who it was.

"What's wrong, Thea?" Anthony inquires, concerned.

"A-Ah nothing, I thought I heard something, maybe I'm just tired," she forced a smile at him as she continue to observe everyone in the prison.

She took a breather and looked closer, noticing something was missing from one of the man's faces in the corner that every other prisoner had, "no wait, none of them had it on today, it was mandatory," she thought to herself as she shot her hand up into the air, drawing strange looks. The sheriff looks at her, then the Alpha, who nods and tells her to ask whatever she wants.

"Warden, every prisoner in this prison is required to wear a muzzle, right? But there's no doubt about it, so why did they come off on the day all the college students arrived?" she paused. "Excuse me, never mind," she says softly.

"They get some fresh air once in a while," the sheriff says, gazing at her and touching his foot. But she is aware that the sheriff is lying to her.

She nodded, accepting his response despite knowing it was a lie. He announced a minute later that they could search for another 15 min. He made certain that everyone got a good look at him.

She sat in the last row to get a good look at the man who was only four years her senior. He was expressionless as he stared at the floor.

Her nose perked up when she smelled the caramel and chocolate scent again, and she closed her eyes before opening them wide.

Althea looked over to the man in the corner and couldn't help but gasp. He was far too appealing for his good. His dark brown hair was styled in the 'just woke up' style. His arms and shoulders were made entirely of muscle. Through his tight v-neck shirt, Althea could see his eight-pack. Her frailty. She had a feeling he'd be able to use those in the future.

His stunning eyes were the best feature of his entire body. Keep was trapped in a trance by his gaze, with no way out. She could spend the rest of her life staring into those eyes.

She looked down and exhaled deeply, her internal organs twisting as she froze in terror. "No, he couldn't be my mate; my mate is not a monster; I think he didn't notice the mate spark. So it's nothing," she thought, forcing herself to calm down.

"Looking intently isn't polite," a deep, dark voice inside the cell says, having a good laugh at the end. As he looked up, gasps could be heard, his eyes mostly white, with only black pupils.

When you arrived, they removed the color from his eyes so that if he ever escaped, he could be easily apprehended. Contacts were also prohibited objects, so they couldn't use them.

The sheriff blocked her and Anthony's path. "Look who woke up," he said, his voice free of fear.

"It's been about a year since you've spoken, is that right?" the Warden said.

Allan smirks, his dimples showing, and smiles crookedly, "Old bags aren't worth talking to." She overheard some girls gushing over him. They appear to have forgotten that he murdered and raped thousands of innocent werewolf women. "Looks mean absolutely nothing!" she exclaimed angrily to herself.

"All right, a freak show," the Warden says, gritting his teeth.

Allan looks up and notices her notebook and a quick note, but he does nothing but returns his attention to the warden. "I'm guessing they have no idea this is all to find the prisoner's mates, especially mine," he snickers, and they gasp. Today has seen a lot of gasping, but there have also been a lot of gasp-worthy moments.

"That makes sense, the muzzles blocked their sense of smell, but now they're not wearing it, so they can smell their mates," she thought to herself.

"Tasha, the school slut, found her mate; you could see her eyes flash," Allan said quietly. Althea then turns around to face the fourth student and she witnesses how her eyes flash.

"So, this tour is just to find the prisoner's mate," she shocked herself.

"What the hell is this?" her Alpha asks, snatching the notebook from her grasp. She froze, but luckily a softer voice spoke up for her.

"It's just a class note; for all she knows, there could be a surprise quiz later," Allan says as he slips the notebooks from their Alpha's grasp.

return to her She was afraid she was going to have a nervous breakdown. "All right," their Alpha says as he stared at the warden.

The warden nods, returning his gaze to Allan. "Hahaha, similarly, why would the moon goddess provide you with a mate?" he scoffs.

Allan shrugs and returns his gaze to the ground. "I guess he went vitriolic again; he does that when he loses interest," the warden observes, casting a glance at Allan, who appeared the same when they arrived. "OK, kids, it's time to go back to school," he says as most of them groan.

Allan was about to be the first to exit, but she held him back until they were the last to end up leaving. "What's wrong, Althea?" he inquires, sounding concerned as he tried to hold her hand.

"Althea," she heard someone's click.

tongue.