Chapter 47: Chapter 47

It wasn’t much further until we arrived in the sleepy little town where I first discovered my mate. True to his word. As we pulled up in the town square, Mrs. Daley had her wrist tied above her head, and she stood against the podium. Shivering against the wind.

Alpha Dean and his son were waiting and instantly greeted us, though I noticed Alpha Dean stepped forward first to shake my hand, and his son kept his head hung. Alpha Dean was dressed in a suit with his jacket undone, his shirt wrinkled like he had been working all day in it, but he looked in pristine condition compared to his son, who wore shorts and a tank top. Not exactly dressed for a king’s arrival. I sneered at his b**e feet. He bared his neck to me.

Smart, he didn’t want me to lose my temper. I was already on edge about having to come here and leave my mate behind.

“Tied and waiting, sir, as you asked. May I ask what she did wrong?” Alpha Dean asked. Mrs. Daley whimpered at his words.

“I think the question is what she did right because there is no reasoning that could explain why you would leave a cruel, spiteful woman in charge of raising innocent children,” I told the Alpha.

“Right, right? I um. I can see that she is punished if I know what I am punishing her for?” he said, sending a glare her way. It was clear he wasn’t aware of the treatment, but his son’s fear was so potent I had a feeling he knew.

“Punishment is already decided, Alpha, I wanted to do it myself, but Gannon has volunteered so we could get this over with quicker. He even brought his own whip.” I smiled coldly at Mrs. Daley, whose face paled.

“How many lashings did we count on the girls’ backs?” I asked Gannon, turning to look at him.

“Damian and I believe around seventy on Abbie’s,” Gannon stated.

“And from what I could count roughly 135 on Ivy’s, though I know that number is a lot higher, but hard to count when the skin is terribly marred,” I growled.

“My King, 200 lashes, she wouldn’t be able to stand. She couldn’t possibly heal fast enough,” Alpha Dean said, and the headmistress whimpered.

“Quite right, we can’t have that.” the Alpha let out a breath, and I turned to Gannon. “Double it, I don’t want her standing at all,” I told him, and the woman screamed and thrashed against her restraints. The two alphas looked at me in h****r, and I stepped toward them.

“Shall we get this meeting over with?” I motioned toward the pack house. They both hurried ahead, sending nervous glances at me, and halfway to the house, I stopped and turned to watch as Gannon unraveled the whip he brought along with him.

“Gannon?” I called to him, and his head looked up at me.

“Yes, my king?” He asked, his eyes gleaming with this revenge. G*d, he could be a twisted f****r, a s****t.

Then again, I suppose I could be too.

“Make sure you swap arms. I wouldn’t want you to get a cramp, or tire out”

“Of course, my king,” he nodded, before stalking to where the woman stood cowering. I heard the swish of the whip as it sliced through the air before her blood-curdling scream rang through the town square as it came down on her back.

I climbed the steps into the packhouse where both Alpha stood staring out at the headmistress, horrified.

It’s funny they have no problem k*****g children, but they blanch watching her receive a much- deserved punishment.

The only thing better would be to do it myself, but I was eager to get home to Ivy, so when Gannon offered, I took him up on it. “My King, would you like coffee, water, maybe a tea?” The Alpha offered.

“Have you got whiskey?” I asked, needing something more potent.

“Yes, of course. Go fetch some Darius. We will be in the basement,” the Alpha said to his son, who looked humiliated that his father and the old Alpha just ordered him around. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he scampered off.

Two of my guards followed me, and another stalked ahead of the Alpha and pointed to a door. Alpha Dean nodded, and we waited until he went down and called clear before I descended into the basement.

The place was filled with boxes and boxes of files. A table and lamp sat in the middle of the room with pictures and various documents.

“What is all this?” I asked. Looking down at the table.

“Her parents, my King. I have some distressing news about little Ivy. I have no idea how I didn’t put the pieces together before,” Alpha Dean mused before handing me a picture of a d**d woman. Her throat was torn out, and her guts cut open as she lay on the autopsy table. Her face is barely recognizable as a woman, if not for the color of her long hair.

“What is this?” I asked, perplexed.

“Ivy’s mother, she went by the name Della Hunley, and this is her father, or so he claimed,” handing me another autopsy photograph of a man, but these pictures mean nothing to me. Their faces riddle with teeth and claw marks.

“OK,” I shake my head, wondering why he wasted my time. He opened a clear bag he retrieved from a box. The clothes were b****y, but I noticed the hunter’s insignia patch as he tipped it up, and it fell on the table. I picked it up.

“Where did you get this?” I asked him.

“Both her mother and father had matching ones,” Alpha Dean tells me.

“Abbie’s parents?”

“No, Ivy’s. Abbie’s parents were indeed who they said they were, and no threat just fell in with bad people,”

“What do you mean?” I asked, peering down at all the stuff on the table. My stomach rolled, and I felt like throwing up.

He rummaged through paperwork before pulling two photographs out. He handed them to me, and the blood drained from my body, and I snarled, recognizing the woman instantly. I had been hunting her ever since she k****d my sister and her family.

“I take it you recognize her,” Alpha Dean asked.

“Marissa Talbot wanted for m****r in the highest degree,”

“Yes, which is why I asked you here. You see, Della Hunley is Marissa Talbot. We are yet to identify her father. He has no records, but fingerprints for the mother match and also match everything else. Ivy’s parents are part of the hunter’s organization. They are also responsible for not only your sister and her unborn child’s d***h but also King Garret and Queen Tatiana. You have a traitor living in your castle, my King.”