“Mitchel.” I swallowed hard. “Mitchel Fraser.”
Otto raised a brow. “Fraser? Any relation to the warden?”
“He’s my father.”
“Guessing there’s a story there,” Otto observed. “Wanna tell me?”
I drew in a deep breath. “I saw something I shouldn’t have so I’m inprotective custody.”
Otto snorted. “Well, kid, I hate to break it to you, but you’re doing the protective part wrong.”
Despite my circumstances, I laughed. “Yeah, well, I’ve always been an underachiever.”
Otto grinned. “You actually commit any crimes or is this just a scared straight maneuver?”
“The second one, sort of,” I confirmed, shaking my head. “I’ve, uh, never even had a speeding ticket but I’m pretty sure my father wanted that crowd to do more than scare me.” I shuddered at the thought.
Otto shook his head, too. “How old are you, Mitchel?”
I swallowed. “Seventeen.”
“And he threw you in with a room of hardened criminals? He definitely knew they would hurt you. Jesus fuck. I hope you didn’t buy him afather of the yearmug.” Otto was watching me closely, like he was seeing into my soul before seeming to make up his mind about something. “We need to get you out of here,” Otto said, barely over a whisper. “Do you have somewhere safe to go?”
I shook my head again. “I’m supposed to start college in the fall, so I’m still living at home.” I winced, “or I was, anyway, but if I can get away, I’ll find a place,” I said quickly. “And I’ll do anything you want in exchange.” Swallowing hard, I forced myself to reach over and place my hand on his crotch. “Anything.”
Otto exhaled in a soft huff and stared at me in appalled surprise. “You’re a minor, Mitchel. That is absolutelynothappening. I have a friend who can help you sort things out,” he said, narrowing his eyes at me, “and he isn’t going to want that either, got it?”
I bit down on my lip. “I..I don’t have any money or anything else to pay him with.”
Otto sighed. “He’s not going to be expecting anything from you, okay? Just let him help you. I promise you’ll be safe.”
It was ridiculous for me to trust this Alpha -thisconvict- with my safety, with my very life when we’d just met but I didn’t have many options.
“What do I need to do?”
“Just hang out with me today and be ready to go tonight, okay? You’ll have to leave with just what’s on your person.”
I laughed bitterly. “Conveniently, that’s all I have.”
Otto patted my shoulder. “There’s something I need to tell you, though.” He hesitated for a second, choosing his words carefully. “We’re not like you,” he said softly. “We’re shifters. That’s how we’re going to be able to get you out of here. But we won’t hurt you, I promise.”
I snorted. “Is that all?” I managed to tease despite my situation. “Frankly, humans are not exactly on my favorite creatures list right now.”
Otto barked out a laugh, the hand resting on my shoulder squeezing lightly. “Don’t you want to know what I am?”
I shrugged. “If you want to tell me, sure, but I went to boarding school with a lot of different shifter species and I always thought it was rude to ask.”
Otto seemed to consider that for a moment and then he nodded. “Yeah, I guess you might have a point,” he conceded. “So instead of you asking, I’ll just tell you I’m a bear. And so are the friends who are going to help get you out of here.”
“Okay.”
Our conversation stalled when voices in the hall announced the arrival of my father and his cronies, but Otto snickered and eased me onto my back, rolling over to brace his weight over top of me as the voices drew closer.
“Don’t worry, kid. I know exactly how to handle him. You just need to remember that I won’t hurt you, no matter what you hear, okay?”
I nodded slowly. After all, I was certain that my safety relied on getting away from my father and I wasn’t exactly drowning in options.
~*~
