Concerned

  Claire hummed softly as she leaned against the wall with her eyes closed. It was an old French song that Elias sang to her years ago. Some sort of lullaby sung during to the royal children the early Capetian dynasty, back when the French were called 'Francs.' It was originally a Troubadour's ballad about a young noblewoman learning to dance with her milk brother, and how they secretly fell in love. He had hummed it in the beginning, back when the pain kept her awake and paralyzed, when it was all that she could think of. She hadn't even remembered that he was the one who taught it to her until she went to sing the words under her breath and realized they were French, not English. That made her stop and burn with rage, both at herself and Elias.

  "Don't stop on my account," a tired voice said from the other side of the room. 

  Claire's eyes shot open and she moved to the side of her cage, staring at the lump casted in shadow. His heartbeat jumped a little as she came as close as she could. "How are you feeling?" she asked breathlessly, trying to ignore the blood dried on his back. 

  Colin pushed himself up onto his forearms, making sure that the cloth wrapped around his waist stayed put, and smiled weakly. "I've got a helluva headache, and I think Doc is going to have to reset a finger, but I would do it again."

  Claire rolled her eyes and, for a moment, they had been best friends for years, repeating the same well-worn joke until it became funny all over again. But Colin sat himself up and grunted softly, clutching the base of his neck. Claire's stomach turned at the sight of his pain, but she didn't understand why. His handcuffs caught the fluorescent light swinging above them, and she gasped, "They've left silver on you?! Are you alright?" 

  Colin looked at his red and raw wrists as if he had forgotten about the burning pain coming from wherever the metal contacted his skin. "These? Nothing to worry about. I've had worse." That wasn't a lie at all. 

  "I can smell the blood from here," she replied. 

  His eyes jumped to hers, and he couldn't help but sigh out of relief when he saw that they were still a bright blue. Dark circles sat underneath them, and her cheeks were bloated; but at least her eyes were still blue. She knew what he was doing and looked down in embarrassment. 

  "Did they do anything to you?" he asked, suddenly concerned again. 

  She shook her head too quickly; something in her gut told her that Colin was trustworthy, but she wasn't going to tell a stranger about her problems. She realized that now, she had no one to tell. "I don't need to ask the same, I guess." 

  The room was silent for a moment before Colin said quietly, "I was so scared when you disappeared. I just," he paused. "I felt like my entire world flashed before my eyes." 

  Claire wanted to stare at him in confusion. She wanted to be freaked out by the nearly naked stranger calling her 'his world.' However, she kept thinking about him too. Jocelyn's laughter rang in her ears as she spoke about how all of them wanted to use her powers, and she took a deep breath, trying to push those thoughts out of her head. Colin noticed and tried to back away, thinking it was the dried blood on him. 

  'Elias lied to me for years and made me trust him too,' she thought resentfully. 'This wolf must be doing it somehow too.' 

  "I'm going to find a way out of here, okay Claire? I'll find us a way out, and then you won't have to worry about any of them," he said earnestly, already looking over his own cage for loose bars. After all, this wasn't his first time breaking out of one of these. 

  All Claire heard was that he was going to take her away, and she stiffened. "Why would I go with you?" she snapped, trying to sound strong. Colin's face dropped from concern to sadness, and she continued, "I know that you all just want to use me for some stupid powers that I don't even have." 

  This time, it was Colin's turn to be confused, "Powers? What are you talking about?"

  She rolled her eyes. "At least that witch has the decency to admit what she wants from me. Elias, you, and your jackass Alpha keep lying!" 

  Colin wanted to chuckle at his mate calling his father a jackass, but all he could focus on was how angry she was at him. Holding his hands up, he took a step towards her. "I'm not sure what you think I want from you, but I don't think that we are on the same page. Claire, I care about you-"

  Claire scoffed and moved towards him, hands on her hips. "What? All of you creatures hear about some possible hybrid and come running at once, all with some claim to care about me. At least Elias and the witches have their own twisted familial claims, what's yours?" 

  Confused, Colin sighed loudly and replied, "Everyone keeps calling you that! What even is a hybrid?! I thought that they weren't possible, so what are you?" 

  The sincerity in his voice threw her off. Either he was an amazing actor, or he genuinely didn't even know what his Alpha was using him for. She wouldn't justify his question with an answer. Instead, she snapped, "Why do you smell like that? What kind of magic is that anyways?" 

  Colin stopped, threading his thick brows together in thought. "You said that the witches have a familial claim?" 

  Claire stuck out her lip, upset that she had revealed that to him. "Yeah, I did. So?" 

  "You were, you are, a witch of the Yew Coven?" She shrugged, not liking how that sounded. She didn't like having some connection to Jocelyn. "And a vampire?" 

  Claire smacked her lips, staring at her feet. "When you say it like that, it sounds like a corny plot from some romance novel." 

  "And you don't know who I am, do you?" 

  "A presumptuous ass!" Claire retorted. 

  "Claire," Colin broke into a wide grin, showing off his crooked teeth. "Claire, you're my mate."