It wasn't often that the fallacies of the werewolf population were brought to light in as scorching a manner as on Reconciliation Day. A grand spectacle of false hope, nepotism and blind faith, Austin despised of it.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're crazy or just naïve," he said. He was standing in line with his brother and waiting for admission into the Royal Prison. The queue stretched out some way in front of him and endlessly behind him, made up of people just as delusional as Ellis. "I'm starting to think it's both."

Ellis shot him a glance. "Watch how you speak to your Alpha."

"Alpha or not, this is a waste of time. Reconciliation Day has never yielded any results before."

"I have a feeling," Ellis said, as though that was enough of a reason to dress up nicely, leave at the crack of dawn and spend the majority of the day standing in line, just for the opportunity of wandering around a disgusting, dark prison to see if his mate was there.

Austin groaned. The people standing in front of him turned around with a look clearly intended to question his sanity. In his defence, he was slowly losing his mind.

"Don't start about fate," he said. "I beg you."

The conversation ended there for the moment, not because Ellis respected Austin's entreaty (talking about fate was one of his favourite pastimes), but because the line briefly staggered into movement. They shuffled forwards a step or two and Austin pushed a sigh through his nose. Austin wasn't one for crowds, or strangers – let alone crowds of strangers – and his patience was wearing thin.

Most of the people he saw seemed eager to be there, which filled him with equal parts aversion and envy. Everyone was dressed in their best apparel – even Austin, though Ellis had to use the full extent of his alpha authority to get him to agree to that. He was sweating in his jacket and plucked at the sleeves.

He diverted his attention to the monolithic edifice rising up in front of him, shielding his eyes with his hand. Little thought had been put into design, and aesthetics clearly hadn't been a priority. In effect the building was little more than a huge square with round towers at each corner.

"Did you know the prison was built two hundred and thirty-seven years ago?" Austin said. "Under the reign of king Rupert. They actually forced the prisoners to build it. A bit like digging your own grave."

Ellis' gaze flicked upwards. "If I'm not allowed to talk about fate, you're not allowed to talk about history."

With a huff, Austin consented. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and attempted to count how many guards were stationed on top of the towers. Dozens. The walls connecting each of the towers were as thick as a person was tall, the only point of entry a large silver-infused iron gate that was currently let up to allow the stream of people to enter.

The queue moved up an indiscernible distance again and Austin let a slow breath slip past his lips. He glimpsed behind him, at the line that extended far beyond what he could see. The prison was situated in the middle of the Royal Wolves' territory, on a clearing amidst endless woods. The stream of people filled the space in tangled rows and then disappeared between the trees in the distance.

Another step forward. If nothing worse, it was all pointless. Even if Austin was to find his mate behind those dark walls, it would only complicate matters. He already had a mate lined up – a chosen one, yes, but a mate nonetheless.

"If you would just accept that I want to mate Julie, we wouldn't have to spend our day crammed between thousands of strangers."

It was a point of endless discord between them and Ellis sighed. "She's not meant for you, Austin."

Austin slowly exhaled, fearing another speech about fate. It wasn't that he didn't believe in fate. He'd been there when Ellis met his mate – Goddess rest her soul – so he really couldn't deny its existence. He just wasn't sure fate was for everyone. He liked telling himself he wasn't the fated mate type, whatever that meant.

"I love her," he said.

Ellis hummed his agreement, nodding his head.

"And she loves me."

"No doubt."

Austin pressed his lips together. Whenever they disagreed, Ellis would simply play the Alpha-card to trump every rational argument. No matter his objections, he found himself back at the damned prison every single year.

Maybe he could have lived with it if Reconciliation Day hadn't been so pathetic. It was the one day in the year that King Alder opened the prison's doors for people to view their prisoners. Thousands of desperate werewolves flocked together to find missing relatives, captured pack members, or – like Austin – their mates. If the circumstances were right, it was possible to discuss a rescission of the sentence. This, in effect, just meant that if the crime wasn't too heavy and if you could pay, you had a fair chance of seeing your loved ones restored to freedom. Austin figured it was all just an elaborate plan of Alder to line his own pockets and to free up some space. If he hadn't fallen victim to it himself, he might have appreciated the king's ingenuity.

He cast a look ahead. They were nearing the end of the line, thank the Goddess. He and the rest of the queue moved another step closer to the prison, while beside him, in opposite direction, a stream of people trickled by. Some had their arms draped around the shoulders of dishevelled loved ones, others were on their own and kept their solemn gazes pinned to the floor.

Some had travelled days to be there, and what for? In most cases, for no reason at all. And those criminals that did get released most likely deserved to remain imprisoned. Austin and Ellis, fortunately, had the means to hire a human teleporter to take them to the Royal Wolves directly. Not every pack could afford magic, nor did everyone trust humans enough to hire them.

"There we go," Ellis said. They passed underneath the gate, and Austin stared up at the spiky bottom. The entrance led to a spacious courtyard. On normal days, prisoners – or at least those that behaved – got to go outside for an hour every day, but not on a day like that one.

Long tables were set up in each corner of the yard, and more in the middle. Large signs were suspended above every table, detailing their purpose. The section in the middle was administration – that was where people went when they wanted to negotiate. The tables in the corners were for information and regulation, separated into categories. The two corners of the left side of the courtyard dealt with the female prisoners, the two on the right with the male prisoners.

"Who are you looking for?" An administrator popped up beside Ellis and Austin, clasping a clipboard in his hands. "Male, female? Nature of the crime?"

"Female," Ellis said. "That's all we know."

The administrator nodded and gestured to the table in the front left corner. "Go over there, they will help you further." He moved on to the next person without another word, and Ellis and Austin quietly moved out of the line towards the table pointed out to them.

Security-wise Reconciliation Day was tricky. The prison was a fortress and under normal circumstances it would be nigh impossible to escape. Now that there were thousands of people moving around, there was a bigger window. Anticipating this, the place was infested with guards.

"Alright," another administrator said – a woman, this time – while clapping her hands. Austin and Ellis joined the group that was gathered in front of the table. "House rules: conform to a single file line. Do not, I repeat: do not, step out of said line. Follow the routes laid out by our guards. If you stray from the group, it might be assumed you have illicit intentions and you will be apprehended. Save us all a lot of trouble and stick to the rules. This entrance here" – she pointed over her shoulder to the door behind her, which led into the prison – "leads to the female section of the prison – blocks D through F. Each block is a different sub-division: light crime, rogues, and heavy crimes. Depending on the nature of the crime and the disposition of the prisoner, not every subject will be eligible for release. Now, if you find a person belonging to you, make sure to remember the cell number. Return outside, again following the guards' instructions, and make your way to the middle of the courtyard."

Again she paused to point towards the table in question. "Those that have questions may stay behind, the others can now enter. This is the light crime section, there will be an opportunity to move on to heavier crimes inside. Follow the rules and good luck."

She stepped aside and the door was opened. One by one, the visitors trickled inside. Austin and Ellis quietly fell into step and were led into a narrow, gloomy hallway. It was dark, the only light coming from a few torches mounted up the walls, and initially the daylight falling in through the door. But as they progressed, that light fell away and they were all shrouded in twilight, shadows dancing on the glistening walls.

Austin scuttled to the side to make way for people shuffling by. His hand brushed the wall and came back slick. Goosebumps rose on his skin, and he obsessively rubbed his palm against his trousers.

That far into the hallway, there was no longer any fresh air to carry the smells away. The pungent, earthy smell of mildew and mould infiltrated Austin's nostrils and he opted to breathing through his mouth.

Another door opened at the end of the hallway and the line staggered into motion. They were admitted into a larger space. There were cells built into the walls, with narrow stairs in the middle of the rooms leading upwards to higher levels. A torch was attached to the wall every other cell, but that hardly sufficed to chase the darkness away.

There were guards everywhere, indicating with their movements what route they were supposed to follow. Austin blindly followed Ellis, who followed the person in front of him, and so on.

"You're not paying attention," Ellis said, glimpsing over his shoulder.

Austin sighed and looked at the cell on his right. The cells were small, with a narrow bed against the left wall and a bucket placed in a far corner. Every cell housed one werewolf, this one slight and cowering. The next one was much the same, and Austin let his eyes stray away from them as soon as he saw them. They were definitely not his mates, and looking at them made his skin crawl. The first two he saw were in their human forms – naked, dirt coating their emaciated limbs. The third one was in her wolf form, snarling at him as he passed.

When they had moved past all the cells on the lowest level, they went up the stairs to the next, and then again to a third. None of the women he saw made him feel anything but uncomfortable and he was growing a bit more confident that he would not find his mate.

The next block contained rogues, and had Austin thought the atmosphere unsettling before, now he wanted to turn and leave the way he came. If Ellis hadn't been shooting him constant glances, he might have made a run for it.

The feral prisoners freaked him out the most. They were the ones that stuck to their wolf forms and shot to the bars whenever someone passed, pulling up their lips and growling with saliva dripping from their yellowed canines.

Someone accidentally pushed against him, causing him to stumble and almost fall against one of the cells. Had Ellis not grabbed the back of his shirt and jerked him away, he might have had a rogue's dental structure etched into his shoulder.

Another cell, another female who was definitely not his mate (thank the Goddess for that). He had half made up his mind that should his mate be a rogue, he would just not let Ellis know and leave without anyone being any the wiser.

They moved onto the next level – still no sign of his mate. It had clearly not been a good year for criminals: the dungeons were even more overflowing than the year before.

At times the line staggered to a halt when someone spotted the person they were looking for. There were some exhilarated greetings, some emotional breakdowns, a lot of guards shouting for people to stay in line and not approach the cells.

A great number of people gave up after one or two sections, the line thinning out more and more every minute. By the time they were ushered into the third section – heavy crimes – there weren't that many people left.

The stench of blood and excrements was stronger there than in the first two sections. Somewhere on a higher level, a wolf howled, and some others joined in, followed by yelping and aggressive grumbling as the guards stuck their spears into the cells to force the prisoners away from the bars.

Austin sucked in a deep breath through his mouth and advanced further into the dimly lit space. He'd been there before, but every year it was as though he was seeing it for the first time. Shooting a look over his shoulder, he calculated his chances. He might make it back outside before Ellis could catch up with him. Even his wolf was ready to give up and run for the hills.

He shuffled forwards, keeping his eyes pinned to the ground. A large stain of what looked suspiciously like dried blood came into his view and he took care to step over it, shivering. A wolf jumped against the bars of her cell right as Austin passed it and he jerked away, the meagre light from a torch mounted beside the cell reflecting on the prisoner's feral eyes. This was it. He was calling it. He was not staying there for a second longer. But then –

"Do you smell that?" he asked, sniffing the air and looking around him. Somewhere buried deep underneath the stench of blood and shit and sweat, there was something sweeter. Austin was rather surprised he was able to pick up any other scent at all, but there it was: the smell of honey.

"I'm trying not to smell anything," Ellis remarked, waving a hand in front of his face.

"You don't smell it?" The scent was getting stronger by the second, and it was most decidedly the most rapturous thing Austin had ever encountered in his entire life.

In fact, he was no longer aware there even were other people present. They muttered some choice words but seeing that he did not resume walking, they moved around him. It would have annoyed him under normal circumstances – the bumping against him, the brushing of his shoulders against those of others, being crowded – but he didn't even notice it. All he noticed was that smell.

His wolf moved to the forefront of his mind. The animal knew what was going on, even though Austin was still trying to convince himself of something – anything – else. He'd found his mate.

Drat. 

____________

A/N: And we're off! 

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