Austin entered the prison in silence and grabbed a chair, placing it in front of Ryleigh's cell. He sat himself down on it with a sigh. Ryleigh was lying on her side on the floor and didn't bother looking up or moving in the slightest at his arrival.

"You know there's a bed, right?" Austin said.

Ryleigh didn't respond – didn't even open her eyes. She did know there was a bed, but her legs were too tired to climb on it so the floor had to suffice. His scent enveloped her and she exhaled slowly. His presence invigorated her, which was both a blessing and a curse. The bond between them was getting stronger by the minute, and nothing either of them did to mentally detach themselves from the other had any effect. 

"You haven't eaten."

She blinked open a single eye and glanced at him, then at the bowl of food near the door of her cell. It'd been there for a couple hours, and she was still working up the energy to go over to it. She was no longer attempting to starve herself, but that no longer mattered. With or without her permission, her body would not eat. The mere thought made her stomach convulse.

"I'm Austin," he said, "but you probably picked up on that."

No reaction.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I'd like to know your name too. Think you could give it to me?" He watched her with slightly raised eyebrows, but though she was at least watching him now, she didn't do anything but blink. "Guess not. It would be easier to talk if you would shift, you know. I feel weird talking to your wolf."

Nothing.

He sighed and sat back again. Seeing the crease between his brows deepen in vexation, Ryleigh almost took pity on him, but then she reminded herself that she was the one dying behind bars, not him.

"Very well," he said. "I'll be patient. Do you know where you are?" He paused as if to give her an opportunity to reply, then went on: "We're the Midnight Moon pack. My oldest brother, Ellis, is the alpha. You've met him. My other brother and I are his betas." He clacked his tongue. "Figured you might want to know. I mean, I would like to know what pack you are from, if any. You're not a rogue, I don't think. Is someone looking for you? We could help you reach out to them."

She laughed, which in her wolf form materialised as a sort of snort.

"That's a no, then," he said.

The door opened, which startled them both.

"You linked me?" Ridge, the pack doctor asked, stepping inside the prison and closing the door behind him again. He turned around, his eyes resting a moment on Austin, then drifting off to Ryleigh. "This is her?"

"Yes. Will you take a look at her? She's not doing well."

"That's an understatement." Ridge approached the bars, clasping his hands behind his back and studying Ryleigh. She didn't like the attention and as if to show him she still had some fight left in her, she struggled to all fours. She whined as her muscles protested against the added pressure but refused to lie down again. Instead, she moved to the corner of her cell and sat down on her hindlegs, never once breaking eye contact with Ridge.

"Alright," Ridge muttered, turning his head. "Where are the keys, Beta?"

"The keys? You want to go in there?"

"Well, you want me to take a look at her. My eyes aren't what they used to be and she's pretty far away. Either she has to come closer to me or I have to come closer to her, and I think I know which of those two is most likely to happen."

"She's dangerous."

Ridge spotted the keys on a nail beside the door and got them, going through the ring to find the right key. "Is she dangerous, or just scared?" He landed on the key that had Ryleigh's cell number engraved in it and smiled. He approached her cell door and halted there, sticking the key in the lock but not turning it yet.

"Hello there," he said, looking at Ryleigh. She sat rigidly and watched his every move. "My name's Ridge. I'm the pack doctor. Mind if I come in?"

She didn't move.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." He opened the cell door and stepped inside, pulling it closed behind him. "Feel free to lock the door, Beta, if you're afraid of her."

"I'm not afraid," he said, though he did get up from his chair – just in case.

Ryleigh grumbled, huddling further into her corner. Ridge walked to the middle of the cell, then sat down cross-legged on the floor. Ryleigh cocked her head.

"Cold in here, huh?" he said. He shot a look over his shoulder. "This place isn't good for her health. She should be in the warm infirmary, not in this damp cell."

"Can't keep a wild wolf in the infirmary and you know that," Austin said. "If she'd shift back, we'd be having a different conversation."

Ridge looked back at Ryleigh. "You hear that? Might not be a bad idea to shift back. But you're not going to do that, are you?" He hummed. "I don't blame you. Such an unsafe environment. I saw you didn't eat your dinner. Not hungry?"

She shook her head – it was only a minor movement, but it was something.

"Didn't think so. You do need nutriments, though. Here's what I'll do. I'm going to link the kitchen to bring you some broth, how's that? Do you think you can drink that?"

She didn't acquiesce but she didn't refuse either, which was good enough for Ridge.

"How often did you say she got silvered, Austin?" he asked, without looking back at the beta.

"I think Alder said four times."

Ryleigh visibly tensed at the mention of silver. Her front legs were trembling at the effort it took her to stay seated and not slip back down on the floor.

"Four times, huh?" Ridge's gaze flitted over her with renewed interest. He groaned and wiggled around on the hard floor. "Not exactly comfortable, this. You won't hear me say the beds in my infirmary are up to standards, but they're still a step up from this. All you need to do is shift and I'll take you there."

There was a brief knock on the door and then a servant entered, carrying a bowl of broth. It was a young girl who ogled Ryleigh in fascination, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process. Austin took the bowl from her and silently ushered her out again, shutting the door behind her.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said, opening Ryleigh's cell and handing the substance to Ridge.

"No one ever knows what they're doing," Ridge said, putting the bowl down in front of him. "We only ever pretend. Isn't that right, hmm?" He was looking at Ryleigh again. "Just like you're pretending to be fine. I'd almost believe it. Come on over here, won't you? You must be starving. Come on. I don't bite."

Austin rolled his eyes and retreated. He sat down again and draped one leg over the other, watching them. 

"Don't tell me you're not hungry," Ridge said. "Austin mentioned you refused to eat in the Royal Prison. If you want to survive, you need to drink this." He nodded to the broth.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then she stirred into motion and clumsily moved over to Ridge. She growled, staying low on her legs and baring her teeth at Ridge.

"I've seen worse than you, trust me," Ridge said. "I'm not going to hurt you, and you're not going to hurt me. That said, can we drop the act and just get along?"

Ryleigh paused, unsure whether to listen to him or bite his face off. But he was right, she wasn't interested in hurting him, and he didn't seem mean enough to hurt her either. Still, appearances could be deceiving and everyone she had met the past month had tortured her.

"I have all day, you know," Ridge said. "Well, all night. It's getting pretty late. The soup's getting cold, though."

She took another step in his direction, her eyes fixed on him anxiously. He pushed the bowl a little closer towards her. She struggled towards it and made sure to keep looking at Ridge as she lowered her head to the broth. She lapped at it with her tongue, her stomach churning at finally getting something to digest again. When he reached out to her, however, she jumped and snarled at him. He pulled back and raised both hands, palms facing forwards.

"I just want to look, that's all." He got up to his knees and Ryleigh slinked away, growling. "Easy, easy. Just drink. You won't even notice I'm there."

Eying him in distrust, she moved back to the bowl. She stiffened when he reached out to her again, but she didn't stop him. She was too hungry.

Ridge gently examined her, prying the blood-caked patches of fur apart to look at the wounds underneath. He whistled through his teeth. "They really got you good, huh?" He glimpsed at Austin. "The silver is interfering with her healing abilities. These wounds should have long healed by now. It's a good thing they're not that deep. I'd still like to disinfect them, though. But you'll need to shift for that." He turned back to Ryleigh again. She glanced at him, continuing to lick up the broth. "Think about it." He pushed to his feet. "Drink all of it if you can, alright? I'll be back to check on you in the morning."

*****

"Julie," Ellis called, catching up with her in the mansion's entrance hall.

She paused, turned, watched him approach. "What can I do for you?" she asked, friendly but cautious. Her face tipped up when he halted in front of her – he was easily a head taller than her.

"Where are you heading?" he asked. There was no specific tone to his voice that made her on edge, but rather something in his look – something apologetic, yet determined.

"To Austin," she said. "Why?"

"Can I see you in my office for a second?" He didn't wait for a response. She suppressed a sigh and fell into step behind him.

He opened the door and gestured for her to enter, then stepped inside himself and closed the door behind her. "I have been thinking."

"Alright." She linked her hands behind her back and waited for whatever was coming next. Ellis' office was as sterile and empty as it always was. He attached no value to decorations and only had an office because holding meetings outside was too much of a hassle.

"Let me start by thanking you for agreeing to my suggestion of having Austin and his mate get to know each other."

"It was not exactly a suggestion, if I recall rightly."

"Well, whatever it was, you performed brilliantly. I have another suggestion."

Julie drew in a slow breath. She didn't answer, because she doubted she could utter any phrase that was respectful enough to suit an interaction with her alpha.

"Austin might now have every possibility to get to know his mate, but he won't be comfortable doing so, I imagine, as long as you're near him."

She blinked, swallowed her initial retort, blinked again. "Do you want me to avoid him? We live in the same pack, Ellis. We move in the same circles, sit at the same table at dinner, attend the same council meetings..."

"I know. Avoiding him is not a feasible endeavour." A beat of silence passed, then: "Not as long as you're here."

"You want me to leave?" Her mind froze. Where would she even go?

"Just for a little while."

He had the audacity to look at her as though he was making a completely reasonable request. Anger clawed at her chest like a wolf did its prey. Still, there was Ellis her friend and Ellis her alpha, and she had little doubt as to which she was speaking to right now. She couldn't give a voice to her indignation.

"I agreed to encourage him to meet his mate. I never said I would remove myself from the equation."

"It's not like that. If your relationship is as strong as the both of you insist it is, then what harm will a few weeks do?" He leant against the edge of his desk. "Didn't your brother get a pup a while ago?"

"Yes." She feared what he was going to say next.

"I'm sure he can use some help. You should go to the Royal Wolves and support him and his mate. It might be fun. How long has it been since you've seen your family?"

"They have a whole pack to support them," Julie said. "If they needed me, they would have written to me."

He sighed. "Come on, Jules. Don't you agree it will be nearly impossible for Austin to give his mate a chance if you're here to distract him?"

"What's next?" She bit her tongue, but the words kept coming regardless. "Will you 'suggest' I end my relationship with him? Will you 'suggest' I tell him to mate her instead? Should I dig my own grave while I'm at it?"

"Careful," he said.

She sucked in a sharp breath. "So what, you can talk to me as a friend but I am to talk to you as my alpha? That hardly seems fair. Are you asking me to leave or are you telling me to leave?"

"I'm asking you to realise your presence here is going to ensure Austin won't engage at all with his mate, which is something the both of you might regret later on."

"Why does this need to be my decision? I never signed up for a love triangle."

"You did, though. When you decided to get involved with an unmated male, you signed up for this."

She hated how he made her feel – like she had done something despicable. "You say it as though he never had a say in it. You talk to me as though Austin's future depends on me."

"It does."

She shook her head. "No. It's not my call. Talk to him instead. Ask him to send me away. If he asks me to, I will. If he thinks it's better, I'll get out of his hair and give him all the space he wants. If he doesn't want me to, why should I hurt us both?"

"He won't listen to me. He'll only listen to you. You know that. Reasonable as he is, he won't see reason when it comes to you."

"He loves me."

"Yes. And if you love him, you'll give him this opportunity. If you return and he still wants you, you'll have nothing to feel guilty about when he does mate you. If not, then perhaps your relationship was never as good as you thought it was."

"You're manipulating me."

"I'm applying to your conscience."

She swallowed hard, balling her hands into fists behind her back. "Are you asking me to leave or are you telling me to leave?"

He disengaged himself from his desk and looked at her a moment. "I'm telling you this is the right thing to do, and I'm trusting that your moral compass will agree with me."

________

A/N: Ellis is playing match-maker again. Guess he missed his calling.

How do you like Ridge? He's a favourite of mine :) 

Thanks for reading!