Lying to Tristan was becoming easier and easier and I was ashamed to admit it.
Jasmine had left with him only to come back alone with her guards an hour later. Just like we had discussed.
Next think I knew we were driving to HQ.
"Tristan's gonna figure out what we're doing." I spoke aloud. Even though I had no problem going against Tristan's wishes this time around, doesn't mean I wasn't nervous about it.
I was freaking out on the inside.
And let's face it, the outside too.
I was anxiously wringing my hands and kept focusing on the trees that we by passed outside hoping it would momentarily distract me from the nerves that were making my stomach churn.
"I know he is." Jasmine spoke. "I just hope it will be too late by the time he tries to stop us."
She was scrolling through something on her phone looking all business like.
I sucked in a deep breath, my heart was racing in my chest.
Jasmine put her phone down and looked at me.
"You need to relax, Crystal."
"That's easy for you to say." I spoke out, my agitation coming off as anger. "Tristan's gonna forgive you. I've already done a lot of things to break his trust."
Jasmine frowned. "Tristan will always care for you, Crystal."
Jasmine hadn't been around when everything was going. I don't know how much Tristan told her but I knew she couldn't possibly know everything unless he opened his mind to her.
The pain that existed was deep rooted in his soldiers getting killed, in Roman managing to get the best of him, in the man who was responsible for his parents death being alive... and it all just came back to me. The girl who was supposed to be by his side but who instead was in love with one of his biggest enemies.
Jasmine couldn't understand. No matter how much she tried.
When we got to HQ, Jasmine turned to look at me.
"We're gonna use the back." She told both me and the driver.
Having the ex Luna and newly discovered granddaughter of the pack's biggest enemy walking through the door definitely wasn't a good look, I agreed.
"There's a back entrance?" I asked Jasmine.
I was mostly wondering how she knew about this. She wasn't a Silvercrest.
"There's always another entrance." Jasmine shrugged.
We got out of the vehicle and she gave the driver instructions to wait for us and remain inconspicuous.
HQ was in the middle of no where. So I wasn't surprised when he ended up navigating through trees, me following Jasmine who seemed to know where she was going.
All the while I was nervous. What if there were cameras that would alert them that we were here? Or trip wires or something. I refused to believe HQ was this easy to sneak around.
But mostly I was nervous about Tristan catching us. I had messed things up with him already and even though I was doing this to help him, I knew that he wouldn't see it this way.
"Here we go." Jasmine suddenly announced when we got to the back wall.
Before I could ask what she meant because there was nothing there, she reached out and swept away a thick covering of bush.
A staircase going down into the dark that I hadn't noticed before became visible.
"Come on." Jasmine told me, not wasting any time as she descended.
I followed her, all the while wondering if I had a gullibility problem. Going along with a strangers plan just because she had said it would help Tristan.
I stared at Jasmine's back, her dark hair sweeping it and wondered if she seemed like the traitorous type. What did the traitorous type even look like anyway?
"How do you even know about this entrance?" I asked Jasmine. We were down in a dark hallway, she used her phone torch for light as she continued down.
"I'm an alpha's daughter." Was her explanation.
As if she sensed how much that answer wasn't satisfactory, she turned to grin at me.
"I forget that your time as Luna was limited. You'll come to realise that they're levels of clearance among the packs. They're the people who have power and the people who have the actual power."
I furrowed my brows at her.
She looked away from me and kept walking.
"Think about it Crystal, why didn't you know about werewolves until you realised you were one? How do cities of werewolves exist and humans are none the wiser?"
I assumed it was a rhetoric question. The population of humans in Woodfell that I knew of was one.
Chris' mum. And she was only here because of her mate.
"Werewolves have a rich history. We've existed alongside humans for years. When we went into hiding, there were some entrusted with the job of protecting our secrets. Such people aren't elected, they inherit these secrets and hence the power.
Families like the Melroses, the Stones, Calhouns... we're they type of people who know how to infiltrate human organisations, make it seem like werewolf territories aren't even on maps, keep secret prisoners underground...."
As she said that the hallway opened up and became much wider, branching out into two doors.
We went through the one on the left which also had a retina scanner.
We walked out into another hallway with doors extending on either side of the fairly narrow hallway.
I looked around, to say the least, I was shocked.
"Why have secret prisons though?" I asked.
Crime levels in Woodfell were extremely low they could be none existent. Everyone here was like some big family and the alpha was supposed to be like the father. So if anyone has problems, they went to him.
Jasmine pressed in a code on one of the doors.
"Because sometimes it's safer for the public not to know what kind of prisoners we're keeping here."
She held the door open for me.
"After you."
I stared at her momentarily before pushing myself to move. This was what we agreed on after all.
When I walked in I don't know what I had been expecting. But the view wasn't as scary as I had been anticipating.
A girl sat on the floor in the corner, her head hang down causing her matted curls to fall across her face creating a curtain.
"You better be here to kill me." She muttered.
"Unfortunately today isn't your lucky day."
Jasmine closed the door behind her.
The girl slowly raised her head.
Her eyes had dark circles around them, and they landed on me.
They widened slightly.
"Valencia Van Cliffe." She spoke, her voice scratchy.
I felt uncomfortable under her scrutinising glare.
"It's Crystal." I told her. Valencia wasn't my name. It never was.
She scoffed.
"Whatever."
I watched as she shakily brought herself to her feet. Her lips were dry and she looked like she hadn't slept in days.
She walked up to the glass, stopping and staring at me. I tried not to show how freaked out I was but hell! I was.
"I was wondering when you'd show up." She spoke, cocking her head to the side. "Did your alpha mate finally let you out to play?"
I narrowed my eyes at her.
"We had a deal, Meghan." Jasmine spoke, stepping forward. "You said you would talk if I brought Crystal, well here she is."
"It's Meggy." The girl responded gruffly. "And I know, a deal's a deal. But maybe you can get me some water first? It would make it a lot easier if my throat didn't feel like freaking sandpaper." She spoke sarcastically.
Jasmine rolled her eyes.
"I'll be right back." She told me before turning to leave.
The Meggy girl turned to look at me again.
"You don't seem to talk much." She spoke.
I sucked in a breath. Jasmine had told me about the situation. The rogues weren't speaking at all. And this Meggy girl was the only one willing to talk. But only if I was there. Ofcourse Tristan hadn't told me that. He was probably determined to keep me as far from this as possible.
I didn't know how to do interrogations. Maybe if I had spent enough time in the AAP, I would have learnt a thing or two.
But the truth is, I had no idea how to go about this.
I didn't know this girl. She had indirectly saved me but I didn't know if that had been intentional or not.
"Say something." The girl spoke impatiently when I remained silent.
Truth is, I didn't know what to say.
"Do you only talk when they're around?" She scoffed. "Are you really that hell bent on hiding behind them? I wouldn't rely on that if I were you because once Ornyx gets you, not even Tristan Melrose will be able to save you."
I kept a straight face trying not to show any emotion.
"Why did you fight Roman that night?" I asked.
There should have been a number of other questions I could've asked but that's the one I was most curious about to be honest.
The Meggy girl smiled in amusement.
"What can I say? David knows how to drive any girl crazy enough to want to kill him." She spoke.
She leaned closer to the class as if she was trying to get through.
"It was nothing personal, our beliefs just don't align anymore. We had different missions and we were in each other's way."
"Your mission was to retrieve me." I told her figuring that much from what Tristan had said.
Meggy folded her arms across her chest.
"I guess our missions were similar after all."
She outstretched her hand to lean on the glass. She looked tired... and weak.
"We both meant to capture you, just for different reasons."
I knew why Roman had wanted me.
"What was your reason?" I asked her.
She was silent for a while, just staring at my face.
"You're such a bitch, you know that?"
I was taken aback by the sudden bitterness in her tone.
"Excuse me?"
She laughed humourlessly.
I looked at the door nervously wondering where Jasmine was because Miss Meggy here was starting to creep me out.
"For years, I was basically Ornyx's puppet. My parents willingly gave me up when I was only six so that I could be trained to be one of his spies. I spent eleven years committed to him and whatever he wanted me to do. When I finally escaped and joined the resistance, I thought things would be better.
Your mother gave me hope -"
"My mother?" I asked in confusion.
Meggy didn't look too pleased at being interrupted and I probably should have been letting her rant to get more information.
"My mother is part of the resistance against Ornyx?" I asked.
"No. Of course not." Meggy spat at me. "She's Xavier's freaking wife. But she's also the only person who ever came close to escaping the Shadow pack. She chose to return!"
My heart shattered. My mother chose to go back to those monsters? Why would she do that?
Leave my father and me for them?
"She kept me safe though. She kept all of us safe. She was the closest thing to a mother any of us had."
I stared at Meggy in confusion. What was she saying?
"How did you know my mother?" I asked.
The timeline just didn't add up.
When would my mother have had the time to go back and forth between being my mum and raising murderous spy children?
The door reopened. Jasmine stepped in with water in a plastic cup.
"Okay, here's your water." Jasmine spoke as she opened a latch and placed the cup through a small window. "I wouldn't get used to this luxury by the way. You need to remember that you're still a prisoner."
I watched as Meggy shakily lifted the cup to her lips.
I tried to keep a straight face but I was incredibly disturbed. Were they starving the prisoners down here?
I knew Meggy hadn't even been in here as long as the others. So if she was in this state, what did the others look like?
"Did I miss anything?" Jasmine asked and the question was directed at me.
I didn't answer, I just walked up to the glass. "How did you know my mother?" I asked more forcefully."
Meggy smirked. "There's that Van Cliffe spark I was waiting for."
"I'm not a Van Cliffe." I spoke again.
Jasmine placed her hands on my shoulders, pulling me back.
"Hey, you need to relax. She wants you to get worked up. Don't let her get to you."
I looked at Meggy and saw the smug look on her face.
"Why don't you let me take over for now?" Jasmine spoke.
"You promised I would get my answers as well." I told her.
"And you will." She insisted. "But Tristan first, right?"
I sighed. That's why we were here primarily.
I nodded.
Jasmine stepped forward, folding her arms across her chest.
"Meggy, in spirit of our deal, why don't we get things started?"
"Hold up princess." Meggy spoke as she set the cup down. "Bringing Ornyx's daughter here was only half the agreement."
Jasmine cocked her head to the side. "Excuse me."
"You have my people locked up. I want them and myself released."
"Unfortunately I don't have that authority, sweetheart." Jasmine spoke sarcastically.
Meggy's brown eyes turned to me. "But she does."
I was taken aback.
"Me?"
"You're the Luna, aren't you?" She asked as if it was obvious. "Get your mate to let me and my people go. In exchange, we dish all the dirt on Roman."
Clearly someone hadn't got the memo about me being dropped.
Before I could even open my mouth Jasmine spoke up.
"Not gonna happen. The least we can do is ask for leniency. Your wolves infiltrated Silvercrest territory, tried to attack the Luna, attempted to murder the alpha's brother-"
"That wasn't us!" Meggy snapped. Her eyes were wild and the anger on her face was apparent. "Ornyx's soldier went after Joshua. We snuck into the Silvercrest territory, yes. But that was afterwards. We wanted the Luna but we weren't going to forcibly drag her out of here. You saw that."
Meggy looked at me, her eyes pleading.
I remembered how all I had to do was ask the wolf if it had been here for me.
"And then your alpha came along and almost killed Nathan." She spoke angrily.
I remembered how Tristan hadn't hesitated to go for the throat.
But he was still alive the last time I saw him.
"The alpha was protecting his Luna from a perceived attack." Jasmine spoke defensively, not giving me a chance to speak. For goodness sake, she wasn't even there.
And I guess she was on board with pretending I was still the Luna.
"Perceived threat." Meggy scoffed. "That's the problem with you all. The Werewolf Union. When Ornyx rebelled, you all shut us out. Declared us the enemy. But did it ever occur to you that some of us had no choice? That some of us would want out? I. Was. Only. A. Child."
There was so much emotion in her voice. I thought of Roman. He must have been around the same age as Meggy when he started training as well. At such a young age, he had been fed their agenda. It was probably implanted in his brain if he was still so dedicated to it today.
When I looked at Jasmine, I saw her falter as well. Her calm and collected demeanour seemed to be faltering.
"You should have saved us." Meggy spat at her. "When the war ended, you should have rescued us. Not isolate us, leave us lost and pack less. If anything, Ornyx's rise is your fault!"
Jasmine swallowed.
Ornyx was perceived as a monster among the packs of the Union. But what if that was also the case for his people? What if there were more like Uncle Victor? People who wanted out but were too afraid to leave.
"And you-" Meggy turned to me. "You have no idea how lucky you are that you didn't grow up in that place. With those monsters.
You know... your mother spoke of you often. About how kind you were kind and generous. She actually had hope that when you became alpha of the Shadow pack, things would be better. And now here you are, in a place of privilege... we came to you for help and you had your mate lock us up like a pack of wild dogs! Your own people! What kind of Luna are you?"
Her words stung and I found myself feeling more guilty than imaginable. I thought back to how that wolf in the woods hadn't hurt me.
And maybe if I had a few minutes before Tristan had showed up...
"What's going on here?" I turned to see Tristan at the door, glaring at both Jasmine and I.
Busted.