Alpha Convict - Burgov Series I

7. Benson

"VanWoert!" - I heard someone yelling from just behind my cell making me open my eyes with a grunt and look his way. - "You've got a visitor." - the guard announced trapping the hole between the bars with his metal baton.

I got up from the cot. Slowly. Not to annoy the guard, who already isn't the biggest fan of mine, but because going cold turkey for the past two days was a living nightmare. My every muscle hurt, my head was spinning even though I didn't have even a drop, and when I wasn't laying on my left side I was constantly nauseated. And worst of all that hollow feeling as if very significant organ was ripped from my chest came back in full swing.

I dragged myself to the front of the cell and put my both hands in the hole, just as I was instructed. The guard immediately locked a silver handcuff around my wrists and only then opened the metal door with a loud clunk.

I have no idea what he was expecting I would do. But the silver around my wrists was nothing compared to the steel collar with spikes on the inside, around my neck. I wouldn't be able to shift either way, just like I haven't tried since that night over two years ago. But the damn collar was to make sure I would die trying. However, the lack of trust wasn't the worst, sleeping in this damn thing was. It pricked my skin on the regular basis waking me up every other hour. But surprisingly feeling the pain coming from some other place than my chest was refreshing. Maybe in a place like this, where I couldn't drown my sorrows, that would be my new addiction.

I walked in front of the guard, who was posing for Mister Tough Guy, but the scent of fear that emanated from him whenever my eyes glanced his way made his composed mask drop in no time. The guy wouldn't even touch me, not that I wanted him to, but to show me directions he used his metal stick, nudging or tapping me with it. f*****g annoying.

He walked me to the well-lit room separated in two with a thick plexiglass with chairs and tiny desks in front of it, creating small visiting stations.

My eyes immediately landed on Sabine's dark hair on the other side of the glass. She wasn't looking at me, she actually looked lost in her thoughts, not to mention completely out of place in a s**t hole like this. But her barely-there makeup and hair hanging straight, instead of one of her complexed hairdos, made me worried.

When I started moving her way the clanging of my cuffs finally got her attention and she locked her eyes with mine. She looked miserable, not like her always confident self, but actually as if it was her who was sitting in this Goddess forsaken place.

My sister rose on her feet and her sharp gaze was scanning me from head to toes as if she was looking for something. Don't worry Sis, no one is mistreating me more than I do myself.

"Ben…" - she said in a gentle voice that died in her throat. I sent her a faint smile to make her feel better, because to be honest I had nothing to laugh about.

The guard shoved me down on the chair in front of my sister and Sabine growled at him. He glanced her way for just a second, but then turned back to me.

"You've got fifteen minutes." - the man announced and strolled away from the room leaving us alone and locking the door behind him.

Just then Sabine sat down, but her unblinking gaze was making me uncomfortable. I didn't want my baby sister to see me like this. I know I fell really low, but I don't need the pity in her eyes to remind me of that fact.

"What the hell is going on, Ben? They wouldn't allow me to come and visit when you were in arrest for forty-eight, but now I hear that you'd be going through a trial. What the hell, Ben?!" - the anger in her voice was picking up and I didn't like that. I gave her more reasons to worry than I could count. She shouldn't have to deal with this too.

"I don't know what to tell you, Sabi. All I know is they found some evidence connecting that girl's disappearance with me and they want to investigate it." - I said trying to stay calm for her, but Sabi was already a ticking bomb.

"No s**t, Sherlock!" - she sneered brushing her long hair to the back of her head. - "The blood in your trunk was hers, and from what I learned there was about a gallon of it in there. Mind telling me how it ended up there?"

"I-I don't know." - I said quietly, looking away from her.

"For f**k's sake, Benson!" - she hissed standing up from her seat and started pacing in front of the glass. Another thing she does when she loses her composure because of me.

Now that I think about it she picked quite a few nervous quirks in the last two and a half years. Sabi was never this uptight, constantly worried and with a permanent scowl kind of girl. I made her that way. Maybe in the long run, me being locked up would be for the best for her.

She returned back to her seat after wandering around the spacious room four times back and forth and glared at me.

"Alright, so let's start from the beginning." - she asked much calmer, although I knew that her anger needed only a single spark to ignite into a full flame in a matter of seconds. - "What do you remember from that night? Where did you go? Who did you see? Anything and everything."

I sent her my best sheepish smile and her brows knitted together because she probably just realized that she won't like what I'm about to say.

"You know what day that was."

She frowned, clearly not expecting this at all, then she looked as if she was making math in her head and then her expression softened.

"Oh Ben, another month's anniversary?"

I nodded and rubbed my hands over my face mostly to distract that painful pang in my chest.

"I can't believe I forgot." - she added more quietly.

"Yeah, so I don't exactly remember that night."

"What does that mean?" - she asked slowly and the compassion in her eyes once again gave place to something else. And here it is, another suspicious glare. So the spark went on.

"It means that I got wasted. Then drove all the way to our spot. Where I drank even more. And then I woke up in my own bed the next morning. That's mostly it." - I said in one breath and waited for the tsunami to swallow me.

She was silent for a moment but then she put her open palm in front of the glass and closed her eyes.

"Let me get this straight… you not only drove while drunk, but you also don't remember most of the night?!" - with every word her voice was getting louder and I was sure that if it wasn't for the glass separating us she would be slashing my throat in this very minute. Not that I blame her, I kinda deserve that.

Huh, maybe the glass wall was to protect the prisoners, not their visitors after all.

"I'm afraid so." - I confirmed.

Her jaw was hanging open for a moment, but then the all too familiar flame lit her dark brown eyes.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL f**k, BEN?!" - she yelled, throwing her arms in the air. - "So it's not completely impossible that you did something to that girl, is it?"

I frowned, offended and leaned back in my chair watching her in disbelief.

"Now, that's a bit of a far-fetched assumption, don't you think? For starters I think I would have known if I found a second chance Mate, would I? That damn pain I feel every goddamn day would be gone at least!"

Sabine smirked and tilted her head to the side.

"Unless the pain you feel now is not because of Emily." - she said matter-of-factly and I felt the blood draining from my face.

No, that's not possible. I would have remembered that, right? That girl's name or even the picture they showed me two days ago would most likely trigger some memories, wouldn't it? But it wasn't the case once they showed me the picture of this young smiling girl, all I could do was faintly recall seeing her a few times in the Pack. Most often with that infuriating other one with a long braid. The one I actually do remember treating poorly.

"I don't think that's the case. I would have known. My wolf would be howling in pain from yet another wound I caused him." - I said trying to convince her, and since there was no fight in her eyes I continued - "But isn't it surprising how they connected a missing she-wolf to me? The blood, the new Mate. It's all too convenient. How did they even know she was my Mate? Allegedly."

"The missing girl… Claudia sent a text to her best friend claiming that you two met and you are taking her for a ride. They wouldn't tell me who the friend was though." - Sabine answered with a sigh and she covered her face with both hands suddenly looking tired as hell. And I'm the one doing this to her. She would be so much better without me in the picture. She is strong and capable of leading the Pack. And with Trevor by her side they would be unstoppable, if they would stop screwing around.

But the woman as a head of the Pack is still very unconventional in our world. And even though I'm no good to the Midnight Banes I'm the bufor that keeps our family claim in place. The oldest son of the bloodline that was holding the rein of those lands for generations. And in the f****d up society we live in, even the useless drunk sounds better than a woman. That's just a new level of low, even for me.

But what if taking me out if the picture wasn't just for bringing justice, but for something more. And it was bugging me why that blonde girl was in the middle of everything. The hatred she poured into her eyes when they were taking me away was something much deeper than just our miscommunication in the woods.

"I know that friend." - I said.

"You?! Seriously?" - she asked in complete shock which was once again insulting. After all, I'm still the f*****g Alpha.

"I'm not even going to comment on that." - I waved my hand in front of her baffled face making my cuffs cling again. - "It's that Sasha girl. And I don't think she likes me very much."

"Burgov? The sister of Ivan, that we were considering for our new Gamma?" - Sabine's eyes grew wide and she folded her hands in her chest. - "And you're implying that she wasn't telling the truth? That this girl used her missing friend just to throw you under the bus?" - she asked with one of her perfect brows arched high.

"That's the one. And to be honest there's something strange about that family."

And that wasn't a lie. Encounter with that Sasha girl was strange and I may have lost my s**t for a while. But her older brother was another mystery. He was no Gamma material and that's why Trevor was so hesitant. Truth be told there's a power in him that I can't quite put my finger on.

"Alright, even if she's the friend who provided the evidence, why would she lie? After all, we can't be completely sure it wasn't true."

"But I am sure, Sabi, and I know that no matter how drunk, or pissed, or sad I was, I wouldn't forget finding a Mate. I'm telling you, it wasn't me. And I'm also telling you, something smells fishy here. Secure the VanWeart legacy, Sis, because I think we're being set up here. I just don't know by whom, yet."