Love Bites

Jack's eyes fluttered open slowly.
His vision revealed what looked like a basement of sorts. He was sprawled out on a cold concrete floor, that much he knew. He feebly lifted his head to assess his surroundings.
Metal bars surrounded him, and the lighting in the room was dim. The walls were bare with the exception of a few loose chains that dangled from nails. It reeked of animal, and from what he could tell, no werewolves were in the room with him.
Jack curiously examined the metal bars. Why would they think that this could hold them? Just a little effort and he could easily stretch them apart-
"Don't, love, they're coated in vervain," he suddenly heard Alex murmur behind him.
He hadn't even noticed the elder sitting cross legged on the ground in the cell with him.
"What is vervain?"
Alex glowered. "An herb. It's something like vampire kryptonite. If you touch it, you'll burn. These damn dogs are using all of their tricks."
Jack brushed off the fact that they were locked in and instead moved to embrace his lover. They held each other tightly and passionately for a long moment, briefly forgetting about the bars they were trapped behind.
"Alex," Jack began. "I'm so fucking happy you're okay."
The elder smiled weakly. "I told you, everything will be okay. We're just in a bit of a sticky situation."
The door to the basement suddenly flew open, and a group of men were descending down the stairs.
"How cute," Jaime mocked. "They think that they're safe."
The largest one growled at him and gave him a silencing glare. "Quiet, omega."
Jaime grimaced and cast his eyes downward to the floor.
Alex laughed. "Dogs and their packs. It never gets old to watch. Tell me, Jaime, why do they call you omega?"
The youngest wolf snarled at him, earning himself another icy glare from the man who appeared to be the alpha.
"So," he began. "What do we have here? Alex Gaskarth, from England. You're just over three centuries old. You seem to have changed your mate rather recently."
He turned his attention toward Jack. "You're quite the newborn, aren't you? Young and stupid. Weak. It's a shame that Alex here didn't take you somewhere else when you were fleeing from the cops."
"How did you know that?" Jack wondered out loud.
"We do our research," Vic interjected.
Alex rolled his eyes. "Very clever. Want a cookie? What do you plan on doing with us, anyway? I'm sorry we hunted on your territory - you can have a few of ours from back home. Are we even now? Great. Let us go."
The ringleader growled and surged forward to stare Alex directly in the eye.
"The pack doesn't forgive."
Alex held his ground, returning the stare. His eyes began to darken and he bared his teeth, showing his fangs to the werewolf.
Jack examined their pack leader more closely. He was a tall, muscular man with dark tangled hair and eyes that resembled topaz with flecks of gold. He had a scar running from the end of his right eyebrow down to his jawline, and a slightly crooked nose that looked like it had been broken and set back into place numerous times before.
"Tyler," one of the others murmured, cautioning their leader.
At least Jack finally had a name to the face.
"Then at least let him go," the elder vampire continued, jerking his chin toward his mate. "He didn't do anything wrong."
Tyler sneered. "He's involved, is he not? Are you forgetting that you both hunted here? Not a chance."
The wolf turned toward his pack. "Brothers, as much as I'd love to kill these two leeches right now, I think I have a better idea."
Vic stepped forward eagerly. "Do tell."
"These ticks like to hunt in our territory. They like to steal our prey and drink their blood. They've been gorging themselves. Look - I think that our friend Alex here is starting to look a little...plump. Wouldn't you agree, boys? I think the only fair solution is to starve them out."
The men howled in agreement, laughing and stomping. One of them dangled keys to the cell door openly, taunting the two behind bars. The alpha werewolf nodded in approval, silent, and swiveled to face the two vampires, the elder having moved in front of the younger protectively again.
"See you in a week, boys."
With that, the pack began to rush back up the stairs, continuing to laugh sadistically as they moved. With a final slam of the door, the two vampires were alone again.
Jack looked at Alex, who hadn't taken his eyes off of the door.
"Alex? They're going to starve us? What's going to happen?"
Alex did not respond for a moment. He continued to assess the room, mind working on overdrive.
"My love, it will be fine," he reassured, breaking his silence. "I do need to tell you one thing, though."
"Yes?"
Alex paused. "You're going to get very thirsty. When we don't eat, we begin to get feverish symptoms. We get very weak. You will feel weak. You might even begin to hallucinate. But none of that is real. I'll keep you safe, and that's all you need to worry about. Promise me you won't forget that."
Jack frowned, perturbed by this information. "I promise, Alex."