My eyes found and recognized Cade and Schneider standing among a group of new faces. I scanned the faces, trying to commit each one to memory; I had a feeling I was going to be seeing these people a lot more from now onward.

All eyes fell on me. Like a deer in headlight, I froze, unsure what to do or what was going to happen next. How I loathed being scrutinized. I could never be myself when I was the center of attention, and theirs was unwanted.

I jumped when Schneizel's hand rested on my shoulder. He steered me forward a few steps until I was right in front of the group of strangers. I visibly swallowed. I was suddenly overtaken by the urge to hide behind Schneizel like a child cowering behind his father in the face of a pack of bulldogs. And that was exactly what they were. A pack of rabid dogs, unchained and unsupervised.

"A'right, can someone explain who this pup is? I'm tired of waitin' and I've got better shit to do." A black man with tree branches for arms was the first to break the heavy silence. He had a scar the size of a finger across his left eyebrow and a tattoo on his neck of something I couldn't quite name. I found myself narrowing my eyes at the bizarre tattoo, trying to discern what it was. I wasn't sure if it was a mythical monster I didn't know about, or if the tattoo artist was just really, really bad. Was it one of those 'prison tattoos'?

"If you could stay quiet for a second, maybe Schneizel will." It was another black guy who spoke, but he was much taller than the tattooed one and with a much leaner body. His build was actually quite impressive. He had the whole gang leader aura to him and the attitude to go with it as well, but his lean, well-proportioned physique was that of a model. He also had the face to pull off a modeling career.

His hazel eyes collided with mine.

A suspicion bloomed in my head. Could this be 'Hazel', Schneizel's ex and the one Schneider had warned me about on our way to the cafeteria?

"Who are you, kid?" The rancor in his voice took me by surprise. This was only our first meeting and this man seemed to already hate me with a vengeance! He didn't even bother hiding the malice in his gaze.

He looked only a couple of years older than I was, so why was he referring to me as 'kid'?! Was it a requirement here in prison to belittle and humiliate as many people as possible? Was there a score board hidden somewhere and prizes to be won?

Somewhat bristling, I hastened to reply, "My name is Aiden and I'm not a kid."

A redhead among the group suddenly laughed, then said, "Damn, Schneizel. You really know how to pick 'em. I heard he's cute, but I didn't think he'd be this cute." He reached out a hand and took a strand of my hair between his thumb and index fingers. He sounded and looked Irish, if the accent and the hair color were any indication.

In the corner of my eye, I saw the hazel-eyed guy frown.

I backed a step out of the redhead's reach and gave him the best meaningful glare I could muster. The taunting smirk he flashed me was definitely meant to arouse my anger further.

Everyone here seemed to enjoy ruffling my feathers.

One of the boilers hissed, startling me.

"They do that sometimes. After some time, you start to anticipate the hisses." Schneider explained.

I felt Schneizel come stand beside me before I glimpsed him in my peripheral vision.

"I would like to get to business now. From now on, Aiden is a part of my gang." How did someone even make their voice sound as authoritative and confident as Schneizel's? Was it some kind of latent ability you were born with?

"Of course, you all understand what this means. Aiden is under our protection now." It was Schneider who clarified, and then he winked at me.

"We would appreciate it if you notified your members. We'd hate to have a repeat of what happened in the cafeteria." Cade's timbre voice echoed in the high-ceilinged room.

Each one of the gang leaders -I assumed they were gang leaders from what I had gathered so far- nodded their heads in agreement and understanding.

"Aww, that's too bad." The redhead looked visibly disappointed, his lips forming a pout, but he nodded nevertheless.

This went well enough.

Perhaps due to all the drama I'd been subjected to lately, I had mentally prepared and steeled myself for far worse. I was more than grateful that neither one of my latter scenarios had occurred.

Would this mean that from now on, my prison stay would pass smoothly? A part of me hoped that was the case.

I couldn't help starting to relax a little, lowering my guard.

"One more thing."

Goddammit!

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at Schneizel, bracing myself for what was about to come, already knowing that I wouldn't like it. Not one bit.

As if sensing my gaze, he looked at me. When our eyes met, I saw something distinctively mischievous and borderline evil flash in his eyes. Whatever the hell it was caused my stomach to instantly churn and turn and I regretted ever thinking this wretched meeting could be over without incident.

How stupid could I have been, jumping to conclusions like that?

And then, confirming my worst suspicions, he broke eye contact with me and leveled his gaze on the group of gang leaders, "From now onward, Aiden is my bitch. He's off limits. I'll kill anyone who tries to touch him. Pass it on."