Chapter Fifteen

Clayton

I found myself sitting in a chair, my gaze fixed on the small pup. The bruises were already starting to show where Joseph had struck her. What could have driven him to do such a thing? Not just the beating, but the killing of the other pup too.

So what if she was a hybrid? Sure, it was odd that she was immune to silver, but that was no reason to try and kill her. No one in my pack was that prejudiced against humans or hybrids.

At least, that’s what I believed.

It was one of the reasons my father had pulled us away from the council’s control after the war. Especially after what they did to the Luna queen. That was just wrong.

They must have known that losing his mate would devastate the king, but in this case, it had killed him.

I was surprised that more packs hadn’t joined us. I guess they felt there was safety in numbers.

We had the biggest pack and the largest territory. But when you added up all the other packs, they were still bigger.

It didn’t add up, though. Why would he kill the boy without being sure? Unless he was a traitor or spy. Maybe he was working for Zagan, who would have been furious about their escape.

But why didn’t Zagan kill them when he had the chance? It didn’t make sense for him to connect with someone in my pack just to kill two pups. No, it had to be the council.

They were obsessed with keeping the werewolf race pure, but why? The moon goddess chose our mates. If she chose a human for a mate, we should respect that.

I shook my head, unable to figure it out.

I wanted to interrogate that bastard, find out what was really happening. But I wasn’t going to leave this little one, not until I was sure she was going to be okay.

If the council was so desperate to end her life, then she must be special. I just didn’t know how.

I was pulled from my thoughts when I heard her moan. I walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, gently stroking her hair.

It seemed to soothe her.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she was having nightmares, not after everything she’d been through. I couldn’t help but wonder where she came from.

I highly doubted she was raised on the werewolf side of the border. After all, no wolf under council control would dare to take a human mate.

It would take a very strong wolf to live without their mate.

Someone like my uncle. When the council’s warriors killed the Luna queen, my uncle managed to get his human mate across the border.

Even though he was an Alpha, he took the role as the king’s beta. After the king's death, and once the war was over, he’d given up his position. There were no heirs, and he didn’t want the title of Alpha.

He now lived in a small home near the mountains. The Alpha King's palace was nearby, but it had been empty since the king's death.

No one would take the title of king; it just didn’t feel right considering the werewolf territory was divided in two. That’s when my father stepped in. Not as king, just as Alpha.

He was strong and kept our pack strong. Essentially, there were now three kingdoms: the council-run packs, the humans, and us.

I did wonder if the humans hadn’t become so aggressive towards us, whether the purge would have happened. My father always said that two wrongs didn’t make a right.

I tended to agree with him.

Maybe there wouldn’t have been a war if the king hadn’t brought his mate to live in the palace. She was the eldest daughter of the human royal family.

He took her in the night and brought her back to his palace. They gave the king an ultimatum: return her or it would be war. But by then it was too late.

She didn’t want to leave him, and he had no intention of giving up his mate. Besides, the mate bond was already formed.

It’s terrible to think that it was our own kind that wiped out the last of the royal line. Both of them survived the war, only to be killed by the people who were supposed to protect them.

I looked up as the bedroom door opened, and Seth stood there.

“How’s she doing?” he asked.

I nodded. “Okay, I think. She’s been a bit restless, but that’s to be expected, I guess.”

He nodded in agreement.

“Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll sit with her for a bit,” he offered as he walked in.

I stood up.

“I’m not going to rest, Seth. I’m going to find out from that bastard why he did this,” I growled.

Seth sighed. “I should really come with you,” he glanced down at the little pup, “but someone needs to stay with her.”

I patted him on the shoulder as I walked towards the door.

“She only trusts us. The last thing I want is for her to wake up in a room with a stranger.”

I could see he didn’t like that idea either. I also knew he wanted to beat the shit out of Joseph. It was better that he stayed here.

I didn’t want him killing the bastard until I got all the information I needed.

I made my way to the cells. When I reached the large metal door, I stopped, calming my wolf. It wasn’t just the thought of what he had done to both pups, that was bad enough.

It was the idea of a traitor among us. Someone who had aligned themselves with the council’s ideals. While it disgusted me, it made my wolf angry.

I pushed open the large metal door and descended the stone steps.

Two of my best warriors were guarding the cell.

This cell was nothing like the one we had put Ellie in. This one was designed to hold the worst offenders.

The bars of the cell were laced with silver like the other cells, but the prisoner, Joseph in this case, was chained to the wall with silver and wolfsbane cuffs.

The guards had already given Joseph a good beating. Not enough to kill him, but enough to leave him in pain. Bruises covered his face and body. Dried blood clung to his nostrils.

The shackles attached to his wrists suspended him high enough so his feet didn’t touch the floor.

The warriors bowed their heads, then opened the cell door.

When I stepped into the cell, he didn’t even bother to glance my way. So, I gave him a good smack across the face with the flat of my hand.

His eyes snapped open, and he glared at me with a defiant look.

“Listen up, Joseph. You’ve got two options here. Either you spill everything you know and I’ll make sure your death is quick, or I guarantee you’ll be begging to tell me everything once I’m done with you,” I threatened.

He ran his tongue over his dry lips.

“Even if I spill, it won’t change a thing. If I die, there’ll be others. She’ll never be safe. She’ll always be looking over her shoulder,” he shot back.

I clenched my hand into a fist and slammed it into his chest, hard enough to hear a satisfying crack.

“Who?” I demanded.

He groaned in pain, then shook his head.

“I don’t know who they are, I swear.”

He sucked in a breath, “the council, they’ve got sleepers here.”

“How do they send you orders, information?” I pressed.

He licked his lips again. I knew he was thirsty, but he wasn’t getting any water from me.

“There are spots along the border, by the river. Rocks, hollow trees. They leave markers on top when there’s information to be given or received.”

I nodded. At least I could try to intercept the information. Make sure my guards were completely loyal.

“Tell me about the pups? Everything you know?” I demanded.

He took a deep breath.

“She ran from the human side, she didn’t know she had a wolf. It came out when she was blooded into the Crescent moon pack.”

He took another deep breath, his jaw clenching from the pain.

“The council found out. The alpha’s father convinced him to call Zagan to take the boy, he’d been trouble. A bane wolf.”

I frowned, “There’s nothing you can do for a bane wolf, except keep the wolf sedated or controlled with an Alpha command?”

Joseph smirked and nodded, “Alpha Gabriel didn’t know that, he thought Bane wolves were a myth. Zagan convinced him that Dante used to be one. So he let him take the boy.”

I grabbed him by the throat and slammed his head against the wall.

“What about the girl? What about Ellie?”

Joseph grunted.

“Zagan stayed for lunch, met the girl, memorized her scent. Went back later and kidnapped her. He was supposed to kill her, but he didn’t. He thought she might have been his daughter.”

I released Joseph’s throat.

“So he’s her father!” I exclaimed.

Joseph shook his head, “No. Alpha Gabriel wouldn’t stop looking, but Zagan wouldn’t let him onto the territory. He asked the council for a paternity test.

“If she wasn’t his pup, they were going to let Gabriel search. The test showed he wasn’t her father. Then he admitted she’d escaped, over the western border.”

I narrowed my eyes, “then who is?”

Joseph shook his head, “No one knows.”

I glanced over my shoulder at one of the warriors and gave him a nod.

He handed me a syringe.

“One last thing,” I demanded, turning back to Joseph. “Why did you kill the boy?”

Joseph sighed.

“I didn’t know which one was which. My orders stated that one was a bane wolf, the other a hybrid. The girl seemed stronger, was recovering quicker, so I figured the boy must be the hybrid.”

I shook my head. “What happened to you, Joseph? What happened to your doctor's oath of do no harm?”

He rolled his eyes.

“I do no harm to purebred werewolves. All the rest are just scum. They deserve to die,” he spat.

I nodded. “Yeah, Joseph, and so do you.”

I popped the cap off the needle and jabbed it into his arm, pushing down on the plunger.

He screamed in pain, the smell of fear radiating off him.

“Wh...What did you give me? What did you do?” he screamed, his face twisting in pain.

I took a step back from him.

“It's pure liquid silver, Joseph. It will slowly work its way through your body, burning you from the inside out,” I snarled.

I watched as his jaw clenched and his muscles tensed.

“Y...You said...You said it would be a quick death,” he stuttered.

I stared at him blankly.

“I lied,” I hissed, as I turned and left him in the cell.

As I climbed the stairs, I could hear his screams. Once I reached the top, I opened the large steel door and closed it behind me, grateful that the door was soundproofed.

I didn’t want his screams upsetting any of the younger pups, especially not little Ellie.