Imprisoned

Chapter 2

Barney was a long-time friend of Jigger’s, that had come to them to warn them about the impending attack by Jigger’s “father”, and had fought by their side to help their people. He wasn’t part of the council, but because of everyone’s misgivings about having Jigger in a possible hostile situation, and his disability affecting his mobility, after a lot of arguing, it was agreed that he should have someone they could trust to be there, in case Jigger needed out of a situation fast, and was unable to shift.

Hel and Loki were not happy with the decision to allow Jigger to come on this trip, but they learned real fast that Jigger was a force to be reckoned with when he had his mind set on something, so they had reluctantly agreed, but on one condition. As a mating gift, they had made it to where the mechanical legs would shift automatically onto Jigger’s back legs. They didn’t change the mechanics of it, nor did they change his human mobility... that would have been too much like interfering with what Jigger was meant to be able to do. However, this little addit ion to his fisher cat wouldn’t change much, but would allow for convenience. Thankfully, Odin, Jupiter, and Zeus had agreed to the gift.

Normally the gods couldn’t interfere in the human realms, however, they had found their way around that little loophole with this, as well as getting rid of the old council, and replacing it with a new one. It was why they were at the old council grounds to begin with.

The gods had discovered that throughout time, shifters had become so modernized, and human-like that they had stopped looking for mates. As a result, different shifters were becoming extinct, and others were threatened with becoming extinct. If this continued, all shifters would be no more, and that would mean the end to the gods themselves. Everything in life was connected.

For example, bees. Bees pollinated the plants around the planet, and if they disappeared they could no longer do so, and if they didn’t the plants would die, that meant the animals that ate those plants died, and if they died so did the animals that ate those animals. It was just how it was.

Not wanting the shifters gone from this world, and the gods not wanting to die either, they had to come up with a plan of action. That plan was to do what they could, without it being interference. They had decided on evolution... or at least, that was what Loki had called it when he informed the shifters and paranormals of their new fate in life. First, they had gotten rid of the old council, and replaced them with Elija and many of his band, along with a couple of others from surrounding packs and such. Then, they had dropped even bigger bombshells. Not only would men now be able to give birth, but by the age of twenty-one, they would lose either their animal, or the magical ability they currently possessed, and it would be switched with their fated mate. It would be up to the persons affected to find their mates within one year, or they would forever be who they were switched with, also even if they decided they didn’t want their fated mate, they could decide to ignore it. However, it changed nothing. They still would not get back their original animal, or the magical ability they once had.

The people were pissed, and Elija hadn’t been all that happy about it either. Not because he didn’t want a mate, but because he loved his Chupacabra half. They shared more than a soul.

They shared a heart and mind as well. Hell, Elija would swear it was his Chupacabra that came up with most of the solutions to his invention problems. However, there was nothing Elija or any of the others could do about their situation, and once Elija and the others had gotten started, trying to figure out what needed to be done to help the other shifters and paranormals, they had discovered just how f****d up their old council had been. This prison was a prime example.

Elija and Alaska had come here a month ago, and discovered the horrifying conditions of this place. One prison was overfilled, with no running water and little food. Cells designed for two people, had four and even five within each one. The stench and disgust was too much for Elija’s sensitive nose, and he had actually had to leave the building and throw up.

He had hesitated to go into the second building, but when he got inside he couldn’t get past the shock of what he was seeing. Night and f*****g day! Where the other had little to no running water or food, this building had an indoor pool with a hot tub and sauna, along with a weight room, salon, bar, and f**k him sideways on a conveyer belt they had a motherfucking chef. When they had asked what the f**k was going on, the guards said that this was the VIP prison. This was for alphas and the inner circles that might have done minor offenses, or were being

“punished” for not following the laws of the council. Whereas the other prison held the “regular”

pack, or paranormal people that had broken council law, or that the alpha of their grouping had deemed trouble.

Elija and Alaska had done some more digging, and discovered that many of the VIPs currently in

“Club Med” had done some atrocious acts, like forced matings, unsolicited deaths, and damned if there weren’t some of the kids of these alphas and betas that had done atrocities to their people being held in the special prison, because someone on the council had been paid very nicely to make that happen.

Then and there, Alaska and Elija had decided that this s**t was going to change, and change fast.