Juniper followed behind Raphael as the three berserkers walked through the corridors of what seemed to be a prison.

It was the middle of the night, so the building was illuminated with bright lights.

There was demons of all kinds behind the cells, some leering at her.

She sneered at them as Raphael reached behind while speaking to Felix, offering his hand blindly.

Juniper reluctantly took it, linking their fingers together.

He tugged her into his side, "You're going to wait in my office here."

"How many offices do you have?" she muttered.

He only grunted in response, nodding to the room coming up on the left.

"Do you want Felix or Zane to stay with you?" His tone lead her to believe it was a suggestion more than a question.

"No." She glanced at the other men, "No offense."

"None taken," they both looked unbothered.

Raphael frowned and lead Juniper inside, shutting the door behind him.

Juniper stared up at him as he rubbed his brow.

"Stay here, don't answer the door for anyone other than me. Okay?"

She rolled her eyes but nodded nonetheless. He cupped her cheek, kissing her twice before leaving with a lingering look.

Juniper sauntered over to his desk, sitting heavily in the large chair as she looked over the dim room boredly.

"This sucks," she huffed.

Raphael was taking long strides towards the last cell, Felix and Zane flanking either side of him. Behind him he heard them whispering to each other but he paid them no mind.

Before he entered the room, Felix passed him a file with their information.

He grunted and nodded in thanks before opening the thick metal door. All of the cells were made with a unique type of metal that canceled out the use of magic.

He saw two men and one woman tied to their chairs, he kept his face blank while sitting at the table in front of them. Zane stood behind him as Felix stood outside the door.

"I'm assuming you know why you're here?" Raphael husked.

The man in the middle, who was a skinny warlock with dark hair piped up. "No, actually. We don't, we want to know why we've been taken in like criminals Mr. Saint. Honestly, we'd like to file complaints."

Raphael rose a brow, "And who will you file those complaints to?"

He waited a moment, no response as the man tried to answer.

"Me?" The Berserker scoffed. "You're on my land. You follow my laws. And you're being here at all breaks them, we have no record of your identifications or clearance for arrival."

Raphael snarled, "You're trespassing."

They all stalled, floundering while thinking of an excuse.

"Not only that, I have reason to believe you were involved in the death of one of my citizens here. A woman," it was hard for him to say the word death. It made his stomach turn to even reference Juniper and death, even if it was a lie.

"What proof?" the man in the middle sneered.

Raphael growled lowly, "My right hand man places you at the scene. He chased after you, actually. Before I got here he confirmed your scent."

The man in the middle paled with the woman and man glanced at him nervously.

"Before I decide on whether I want you all dead, I need you to tell me why. I'll decide if it's justified."

The woman looked the most nervous, glancing at the man in the middle again.

Raphael slammed his hand down, "Don't look at him. I'm in charge, not him."

The girl paled, "W-We'd be charged with murder?"

"Charged is a generous word."

The man on the left, a red head, scoffed. "He can't charge us with murder when the person isn't dead," he hissed.

Raphael's brow twitched. "The woman you shot was pronounced dead at the hospital."

"Really?" the red head leaned forward. "That's interesting."

~

Juniper was rummaging through Raphael's desk.

Looking for a working pen to draw on one of his documents.

They had only been separated for a few minutes and Juniper was already going stir crazy.

She couldn't find a stupid pen and walked towards the book case that was besides the door.

Juniper skimmed over the spines of the books when speaking outside of the door caught her attention.

"We're sure she's in there?"

"Yeah, 100% we got information after the poisoning that she was part shadow demon. They're practically impossible to poison. We just saw her on the security cameras coming in."

"How are we supposed to grab her and get out?" the second hushed voice asked.

Juniper's eyes had widened before she backed away from the door.

"When we go in turn the lights on all the way. The less shadows around the better so she can't escape."

Juniper crawled underneath the desk and slowly sunk her body into the small shadow.

She cursed, she can only move through shadows she can see in the vicinity. So, at the moment she could only travel to shadows in the damn office.

For now, she could just conceal herself within them.

The door burst open and Juniper held her breath, she could only merge into the shadows for a short amount of time.

"Fuck!" the deeper voice cursed. "Shine the light at all the shadows! We need to prove to the coven we held our end of the deal."

They could be heard stomping around, if Juniper was in her normal form her hands would be shaking with anxiety.

For a moment, she thought she was safe as they tore up everything around her.

She sucked in a breath when one of them shuffled by the desk. Lingering for a second too long before a light was flashed underneath the desk, banishing the shadow out.

Juniper was forced out into the next nearest shadow, crying out with a hiss as she fell to the ground by the book case.

Everyone in the room froze, both men looked to be hell hounds.

The one closest to her lunged forward, his fist tightening around her neck.

She gagged on a choked breath as she clawed at his face. Any noise getting caught in her throat as he choked her.

Juniper wheezed and hit at his arms as her vision blackened. In a last resort, pinned between this man and the wall she pressed her feet against his legs.

She walked her feet up his body in clunky, desperate moves. Finally shoving her shoes to his torso she pried him off her body, gasping in a deep breath.

"Raph!" She screeched so loud that is echoed through the building.

A resounding roar shook the walls in response.

The two men leapt for her again, Juniper gripped a nearby vase and pegged it at the one that choked her.

The man that flashed the light at her lit his hands on fire, a stream of fire bounding towards her.

She cried out as he burned her arms as she shielded her face. Juniper dropped and crawled between his legs, pushing him over from behind.

She was tackled down by the second man just as Raphael burst into the room with other berserkers behind him.

The man on top of her snatched a small dagger and stabbed down at her.

She bellowed as she caught his hand, the knife inches from her right eyes.

Raphael snarled, his eyes completely black. With a large wind up, his pounded his fist into the man in front of hims face.

With no control over his strength, the man's face caved in so violently that his brain matter exploded onto the walls.

Raphael paid it no mind as his mate struggled underneath a man with a knife. Snagging the attacker by the back of his shirt, he threw him up.

The filthy man tried to stab Raphael in the chest, the dagger breaking against his body.

This only made the berserker, who was currently reminding everyone why he was so feared, more mad. Surging his fist forward, it speared into the demon. The dying man spluttered up blood, Raphael forced him to look up into his dark eyes before using the other hand to tear the man's chest open.

Sneering at the pathetic corpse, he shoved him to the floor.

He turned swiftly and saw Juniper backing herself into the corner of the room, her lips wobbling.

He felt the wind knocked out of him as she pressed her hands to her bruised throat and her burned arms.

When he approached her, she yelped in alarm. Wild gray eyes darted up to her mate, her shoulders falling a little when she realized who it was.

He knelt besides her as tears welled in her eyes, "I-" she tried to croak.

Her voice was hoarse and sounded painful, he cupped her face. His fingers threaded into her hair as he brought their faces closer.

He pressed their foreheads together as hot tears streamed down her face. A quiet sob fell from her lips.

"Don't talk, baby. Show me what hurts," he husked. Seeing her in pain felt like a knife being twisted in his gut.

Juniper was obviously trying to keep herself together, continuously opening her mouth only for quiet cries to fall out.

"I'm sorry, I should've been here," he hissed in frustration. She shook her head while wiping at her face carefully.

"Show me what hurts," he commanded again softly. He glanced behind him as his men cleaned up the corpses he'd left behind, the two mates were cooped in a corner.

She patted her throat gently, proceeding to hold up her forearms. The skin was raw, red and irritated at the moment and blistering in some areas.

He grit his teeth together, shaking his head.

"We're going to the doctor."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head, "No!"

Raphael lifted her up, "Don't speak for now. He's not taking your blood."

She still shook her head as her gaze hardened.

"Juniper," he growled lowly. "This isn't up for discussion. I need to do this."

She opened her mouth again but shut it with a sharp glare from her mate, he saw her face drop as she glanced at the corpses being moved warily. He held her closer, pressing his lips to her temple.

"Lock this place down," Raphael barked to the berserkers outside. "I want to know how they got in, I need answers. Now. I don't care if you go door to fuckin' door to find them. String up their bodies at the damn entrance if you have to, let them know what happens if they god damn cross me." Raphael's voice was booming, strinkingly low as it shook the halls.

She tugged Raphael down, pressed her lips to his ear as she spoke quietly to ease her discomfort.

"T-they said..." she winced as she could feel her throat swelling. "A deal... with the cov-coven."

She hated how weak she sounded.

Raphael nodded at the information, mulling it over as he rushed towards his car. Sitting her down and buckling her seatbelt, soon enough they were speeding to the doctors.

~

surprise update :) to give you guys something to actually celebrate instead of this hypocritical holiday lmao

what do u guys think about the chapter 👀👀