Back in Texas, the following day...

"Moranox, Rosseaux-Yanez! Up and at 'em, boys!" came the booming voice of a beefy prison guard, both boys grunting and stirring awake as a new day arrived. "I trust that you two watched the film last night?"

"We did, CO," Luciane yawned, stretching his limbs as he got out of the bottom bunk. "Made me and Matt wish that we'd stuck by him in the past."

"I bet you did," the guard, a towering Beta werecat shifter, replied. "Anyway, don't make any plans for today. Warden Abernathy is expecting you in a few. You missed breakfast this morning due to you sleeping in and shit. But I guess that's what happens when you're forced to listen to the other prisoners in solitary read to you from Thierry's memoir."

He sauntered away, leaving Matt and Thierry to themselves.

"Damn, that was one of the longest days of my life," Matt sighed, shaking his head. "It never gets any easier every year when we're reminded of what we did."

"Tell me about it," Luciane agreed just as another prison guard came over to drop off some clean prison jumpsuits and underwear. "I wonder what the warden wants from us this time."

"Maybe he's still hopped up on wanting us to remain in solitary," Matt replied bitterly. "If he had his way, we'd never get out of the lower levels and would likely send in some of the rogue bloodsuckers to drain us dry."

"Anything would be better than this, being reminded by the guards and prisoners of breaking Thierry's heart. Not even those old receptionists out front gave us a warm welcome when we arrived, one of them slapping me silly before being sweet on a guy who was possessed by a demon and turned him into a serial killer. Last time I checked, he's now released on parole. Or maybe he got exonerated and his record expunged."

Matt snorted, rolling his eyes. "Seems like everyone else's getting a fresh start except you and I," he grunted. "Come on, man. Might as well shower and get ready to meet Abernathy. Who knows what's ahead for us?"

Fifteen minutes later, both boys were escorted out of the solitary confinement area and passed through the hallways, taking in the prisoners who were shooting the breeze, exercising in their cells, or reading one of the many books from Thierry's repertoire. At the canteen, the lines were long as many of the prisoners and guards were waiting to preorder the announced novel that was slated for release. "Looks like another day," Matt hummed.

"Yeah, but y'all don't know the real news that dropped last night," the female prison guard from last night replied. "As soon as y'all were in your own screening for the movie, something major just dropped."

"What is it?" Matt wanted to know.

"I can't tell y'all, but you'll know soon enough."

Matt and Luciane looked at each other, unsure of what was soon to come.

*********************

"Hello, gentlemen," Mr. Bernard Abernathy, a fifty-ish-year-old Black Beta vampire, sneered as the young men entered his office and were told to sit in front of his desk. "I assume that you haven't heard the wonderful news regarding your ex-mate."

Matt and Luciane, who were in solitary confinement before being brought into his office for a fight in the mess hall, shook their heads no. "We weren't aware of what's going on, sir," the former replied. "It's been a while since the other prisoners told us the latest about Mr. Lemieux."

Mr. Abernathy grinned widely. "Well, this ought to cheer you right up," he drawled as the door swung open to reveal a tastefully-dressed Aquilla Wytche and her coven leader Ariana Vivacious (dressed as a femme-fatale a la Lauren Bacall) following behind her. "Ladies, so good to see you."

"Likewise," replied Aquilla before sneering at the two former shifters. "And I'd say the same thing if it weren't for the fact that they smell like rotten trash, gasoline, and body odor."

"True," Ariana agreed, smirking at the boys' unease. "Anyway, we might as well cut straight to the chase. While y'all two losers were facing charges and awaiting trial, Thierry was graduating from SFA and was planning to leave out from my nightclub and cafe when he got himself a new and fantastic surprise: a new mate named Lyle Aronson. And Mr. Aronson comes from a family who is well-connected to my coven with relations to Electrique."

"What?" Luciane whimpered.

"You heard me," Ariana shot back, smirking widely. "And while y'all were forced to be the other boys' prison bitches, Thierry and Lyle were quietly courting each other while using false dates to cover my wards' tracks. But it wasn't until last week when they decided to make things official after Thierry graduated with his Bachelor's degree at Boston U. Lyle asked Thierry to marry him after they had their mating ritual. And Thierry said yes."

"NO!" both Matt and Luciane howled in sadness.

"Yes!" cheered Mr. Abernathy, grinning wickedly at the young men. "Y'all could've had the best thing in the supernatural world with your packs by your sides and made Mr. Lemieux your Luna. But one foolish choice snowballed you two into this mess. And while Thierry's going to be made a blushing groom, y'all going to be stuck here with the only hope for you is resting your pathetic bodies in a casket."

"Well said," piped up Arianna. "I thank Druscilla that She has given Her son a new chance to find romance so he wouldn't be alone. I bet that it sucks to be either of you two gentlemen. Your arrogance was the start of your downfall and you're now reminiscent of your glory days- sallow and weak, pathetically a reminder of my morning Corn Flakes that were ruined by rats that left droppings in the bag. I have seen my fair share of what a REAL Alpha man is like. And from where I stand...I'm not looking at either of you now."

Matt gulped, Luciane fighting a sob that choked his throat.

"Well, boys, I can only imagine what you have to say," Mr. Abernathy replied. "With this tidbit of news, I bet that y'all want to pray to the Moon Goddess to give you boys a second chance, if that's even possible for either of you."

"Your question is mine to answer!"

All eyes whipped around to see the Moon Goddess (Druscilla) in her heavenly form as she approached the morose young men. "Goddess," they breathed, getting out of their chairs and kneeling in front of her.

"Rise," She said firmly, Her tone of voice formal and sharp as a sword.

They did so quickly.

Druscilla slowly walked around them, her flawless face marred by a frown. "I had high hopes for you two," She began. "I had hoped that Thierry would finally have two Alpha mates that would be good to him and show him how to love. But the moment you showed me that you would rather reject him than stand by him during the war was when I knew that you two would never be the right ones for him. At this rate, I ought to put you in Amalia's hands and let you burn in HER lake of fire and brimstone."

"That's not a bad idea," murmured Mr. Abernathy.

"But," Druscilla went on, sending the warden a knowing look, "My siblings and Thierry have officially decided to give you boys a do-over that will not only give you two new lives and new supernatural halves, but also two mates- one for each of you- that will be commissioned by me to whip you boys into being the perfect husbands. but I must warn you that this offer is a one-time thing. If you refuse, then you will remain humans and will die in this prison before being condemned to the underworld. But if you accept, you MUST and WILL follow the path that I will set before you both- no exceptions!"

Matt and Luciane looked at each other briefly, knowing that the Moon Goddess meant every word. "We accept," both boys said firmly.

"Damn," Aquilla hissed, taking out fifty bucks to a gleeful Ariana. "I thought that they would refuse! There went my manicure downtown!"

"Never bet against me, my faerie fae," Ariana teased.

The warden grinned.

Matt took a deep breath. "So, what now?" he asked.

The Moon Goddess grinned widely. "This," was all She said before snapping Her fingers and both Luciane and Matthieux disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

"Where'd you send them and what's going to happen to them?" the warden wanted to know.

Druscilla smiled softly. "Well, Abernathy, let's just say that these boys will go from former dominant Alpha males to submissive Omega pool boys who will not only be into their dominant mates...but each other, in many ways than one."

The warden whistled, shaking his head in disbelief. "Your Grace, this is why I never intend to piss you off and remind my sons to be loyal to their mates," he replied. "You can cause a lot of damage when you want to."

"And don't you forget it," the ladies said. And with a final snap of their fingers, both witches and the Moon Goddess vanished.

Mr. Abernathy sat back at his desk, wondering what to tell the other prisoners of the sudden departure of the boys who made his stomach churn. Then again, he knew that everyone hated them and would rather throw a party when they heard what happened.

"What a day," he hummed, planning to call his male Omega husband and arranging for a lunch date. "What a bloody day. Wait until the prisoners and COs hear about this! Knowing that those two were hated here, everyone will want to throw a party once word gets out!"

Gentle readers, that was the truth. But what the man didn't know was that the moment when Druscilla transported the young men away was when the REAL magic was set to begin with Matt and Luciane's wolves going back into the astral project and the boys' bodies transforming from Alpha primes to those of slender male Omega frames.

And from there, this is where the story officially begins with a rocky road to redemption that was going to be far from easy.

Don't even think about getting comfortable just yet! In the next chapter, Matt and Luciane are no more as they're now...well, stick around and see what I mean when their old lives are no more and their new lives begin!

Dedication: SammyDAdams. Song: "Blown Away" by Carrie Underwood.

Vote.
Comment.
Share.
Follow.
Add.
FAN!