Life in this place - in 'The Cage', as we call it - revolves around the moons. Of course, the life of a wolfblood revolves around the moon anyway, but this is a world away from before. The days of the dark and full moons should be days of rest or days of freedom, but here they are days spent starving, forbidden from seeing the sun, as they don't feed us on those days, or take us out to the yard. But - and it goes against everything I am to say this - the nights of the full moon are the worst.

I'm kneeling on the concrete floor, wishing I could drag my mat over but unable to because I'm restrained by the metal collar keeping me pinned by the neck to one of the bars, my hands cuffed behind my back and my ankles chained together. Maddy is held back in the same way at the other end of the bars. Neither of us can reach the water dish; we're parched and starving but there's still a tingle of excitement in my bones, hidden beneath the dread. Moonrise is fast approaching, and there's a buzz of anticipation in both the wolfbloods and the guards. As I feel myself getting stronger with the moon I start to struggle in my metal bonds, paying for it in shocks from the guard on the other side of the bars.

"Quiet down, girl!"

"Let me outta these chains!"

"What, so you can tear me to shreds?"

"No, I don' want ta 'urt ya! I jus' want me freedom…"

He doesn't answer me. There's nothing he can say. Instead he gives me a shock to the neck that lasts about five seconds, and I have to grit my teeth to stop myself from crying out in pain. I look across the cell and meet Maddy's gaze. Her eyes are brimming with tears of anger. We're forbidden from talking to each other, so we have to kneel in silence until sundown.

Even though we can't see the moon - we haven't seen it for months - we can feel it rise; the adrenaline rush is immense. The cuffs and ankle chains slip off as I turn but the collar holds firm, even when I throw all of my weight against it.

"Stay still!"

I won't stay still, I can't! The metal around my neck feels so wrong, so unnatural that I just have to get out of it. A spark of pain jolts into my nose and I yelp, trying to jump away but unable to.

"Stay. Still."

I continue to throw myself against the collar and the bars, bruising my throat and receiving shocks all over my body for it, but after a while I have to admit that it's pointless. I look down at my paws rather than over at Maddy, not wanting to see her with dull fur and dull eyes and ribs sticking out of her sides.

Hours drag by - the very opposite of what the full moon's hours should do. There's nothing to do but stand here, still parched, still starving. There's howling, of course, but it's a mournful sound rather than joyful as it should have been, and it is short-lived; snuffed out by the guards and their shockers. As I stand with my paws on the cold concrete and the collar at my throat, round and round my head floats a single thought: this is wrong. This is wrong. This. Is. Wrong.

I start to thrash again, unable to stand it. I'm wild, freedom is such a huge part of who I am, and this is tearing me apart.

"Jana. It's okay. Just calm down."

I barely register Ben's voice beside me. I can't 'just calm down'. He doesn't understand, can't understand the pain of captivity for someone like me.

"Shh, shh, stay still. You're going to get yourself hurt."

I don't care. I don't care if I get hurt. The shocks on my skin and the bruising on my neck are nothing compared to the torture of being held prisoner. But even though I fight my collar all night, I'm still a prisoner the next morning.