Trembling with the need to do something – to launch into action – Bjorn watched as the two humans came into view of his cell. They were carrying Viggo on a stretcher. He was on his stomach, unconscious, with his arms dangling over the side and scraping along the floor.
Bjorn threw himself at the bars, mindless with rage at the sight of his alpha so helpless.
“Fucking shit, he’s awake!” the human who smelled like cloves and garbage yelped, dropping his grip on the stretcher.
Viggo fell to the floor with a thud, sliding forward and off the stretcher like a sack of potatoes.
“That’s weird,” the other man said. He’d dropped his hold on the stretcher the second the other man let go, making no effort to slow Viggo’s fall or to keep him from landing on his face.
Bjorn hated him.
“Is the implant not working?” the first man asked, bending down and pushing Viggo back into place. The sight of the man’s hands all over Bjorn’s mate had Bjorn baring his teeth and growling.
“Does that look in any way human to you?” the second man said, scoffing. He looked into Bjorn’s cell, contempt and disgust all over his face. “That is a fucking animal.”
Bjorn bared his teeth and growled, though he kept his hands inside the bars in the hopes that one of the humans would step too close and let him grab them.
“I guess you’re right,” the other man said. Together they hauled Viggo further down the hall, keeping well out of reach of his claws, and dumped him into the cell next to Bjorn.
“Fuck, I’m glad that’s done with,” the suspicious man from the bar said. “Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“Shouldn’t we get them some water?”
“They’ll be fine until tomorrow.” The words were dismissive, underpinned by a sadistic sense of pleasure. “They can drink from the hose when we spray them down.”
“Fine,” the first man said, giving up and deferring to the man from the bar.
The two of them walked back the way they came, ignoring Bjorn completely and disappearing out of sight.
There was a beep, followed by four more beeps, and then the sound of the metal door opening and closing and the two humans leaving.
When the door slammed shut, Viggo and Bjorn were alone.
“Viggo?” Bjorn hissed, pushing into the bars by the wall separating him from Viggo’s cell. “Viggo?”
Viggo didn’t respond.
Bjorn focused on Viggo’s breathing, matching his breathing to that of his alpha as he waited for him to wake up. It was something his human did when he needed to calm down, and Bjorn didn’t know what else to try.
Hours passed, Viggo not moving or making a sound, until out of nowhere, there was a crash and a roar coming from the cell next to him.
“Viggo!” Bjorn called, nearly crumbling with relief. His alpha would know what to do to get them out of there.
Viggo went silent, his breaths heaving and angry, after which he roared again and started throwing himself against the bars of the cell with mindless rage.
“Viggo?” Bjorn called, uncertain this time. When Viggo’s only reply was to roar louder and slam himself into the bars of his cell again, Bjorn had a horrible realization.
The same thing that had happened to him had happened to Viggo.
Bjorn knew how unsettling and disorienting it was to find yourself suddenly alone in your head, and unlike him, Viggo had no experience dealing with it.
Temperamental and violent at the best of times, Viggo, without his human, was even less suited than Bjorn to figure out a way to get them out of there.
“Calm!” Bjorn pleaded after a particularly nasty-sounding crash from the cell next to him. Viggo seemed to be testing the concrete walls, having moved on from the bars and started throwing himself against any surface to see if it would give way to the force of his body. “Don’t hurt!”
Viggo ignored him, throwing himself against the wall one more time.
“Calm!” Bjorn said again, pleading. “Have to be ready to fight.”
