Chapter 17: 17: The Betrayer

MELANIE

I can’t shake off this heavy drowsiness. I try to pry my eyes open, but the harsh lights sting.

Suddenly, a soft squeeze on my hand. A familiar scent wafts over me, stirring my wolf.

I attempt to reach out to her, but she insists I stay still, rest. I manage to squint my eyes open just enough to see.

Beck is there, his gaze scanning my face. I’m not sure what he’s searching for, but his focus is intense.

I try to speak, but my mouth and throat are dry. “Water,” I manage to croak out.

“Hold on, Mel,” Beck says, letting go of my hand. He’s back in a moment, pressing a straw to my lips.

I’m too weak to suck on it. He seems to understand and removes the lid from the cup, gently pouring a bit of water into my mouth.

“Better?” he asks. I nod weakly. “I’m glad you’re awake. I’ll go get your mom,” Beck starts to move away, but I gather all my strength to grab his hand.

He turns back to me. “Melanie?”

“Stay.” I don’t want to be alone. I’m scared.

My voice is raspy. My throat aches.

I feel a dull pain in my side and realize I’m in a hospital. “Okay. I’ll just mind-link the alpha and let him know you’re awake,” he replies.

He sits back down, taking my hand again. I give him a weak nod.

Closing my eyes again, my other senses become sharper. The steady beeping of the monitors fills the room.

I hear someone enter, but I don’t open my eyes. Beck whispers that it’s the nurse checking on me.

“I’m going to give her some morphine to help with the pain. Her heart rate is a bit high and she’s breathing too fast. We need to make her comfortable,” I hear a female voice say.

I lie there, waiting for someone to say something else. A warmth spreads through my body, and I relax.

As the sound of the monitors lulls me, I drift back into sleep, the darkness enveloping me once again.

MAX

As I step into the dungeon, the stench of the three chained wolves hits me. The two rogues reek of death and blood.

Patrice smells of fear. She should be.

She’s betrayed her pack, harmed a pack member, and aided in injuring others. I wonder why she would do that.

What did she gain? I watch as my father enters the room with the rogues.

He circles them, giving each a look but says nothing. Zander, one of the rogues, closes his eyes and licks his dry lips.

Preston maintains a stoic expression. He’s good, that one.

He’s been trained to stay calm during interrogation and torture. Interesting.

“Thirsty?” My father asks Zander. Zander’s eyes snap open, but he remains silent.

My father walks over to the wall, pressing a button to lower the shackles Zander is hanging from. He descends to the floor, too weak to stand, and falls over.

His arms snap taut from the chains. My father signals to the guard outside the door, who enters with a garden hose.

My father takes the hose while the guard kneels behind Zander, holding his head between his knees. Before Zander realizes what’s happening, my father is spraying water into his mouth, faster than he can swallow.

He chokes and tries to shake his head free. This continues for a minute or so before my father pulls the hose back.

Zander continues to choke and the guard releases his head just in time for Zander to turn his head and vomit. I glance at Preston to gauge his reaction.

His jaw drops slightly. Surprise flickers across his face, but it quickly morphs into indifference.

He turns to me and smirks. Without thinking—and maybe it’s my temper—I walk up to him and slam my fist into his nose, breaking it again.

Blood gushes down his face. He spits blood from his mouth, splattering his front and the floor.

My father simply raises an eyebrow at me and continues his assault on Zander. He’s going to be the easy one to break.

“Anything you want to tell me?” Sebastian asks Zander. Zander shakes his head before replying, “I told you what I know. That’s all I know, I swear.”

This catches Preston’s attention. “What did you tell them?” he snaps.

Zander doesn’t respond. My father presses the button on the wall again, hoisting Zander back up.

His toes barely touch the floor, his arms pulled tight above his head. I’m surprised his shoulders haven’t dislocated by now, with all the weight pulling on them for days.

“It seems you know a lot more than our friend Zander,” I say as I circle Preston. “Do you know a she-wolf named Patrice?” I ask.

Preston glances at my father but remains silent. I take this as confirmation.

“So you do know Patrice then?” Sebastian approaches Preston.

“How do you know Patrice? What’s your relationship to Canyon Ranch?” My father taps his silver knife against his palm.

He’s long become accustomed to the silver touching his skin, almost immune to it at this point. He’s made it part of his own training over the years, trying to build an immunity to silver and wolfsbane.

It seems to be working, as I notice that there is no burn to his skin from the blade. Preston visibly swallows as he watches my father with sharp eyes.

Sebastian takes his knife and carefully runs it down the center of Preston’s chest, all the way to his navel. A thin line appears, blood slowly seeping from the new wound.

Preston hisses at the feel of the silver on his skin. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he blurts out.

“No? Maybe this will help you remember more,” my father says. He slides his knife down the waistband of Preston’s pants, cutting the legs open.

They fall to the floor. Preston now hangs naked.

His eyes widen as my father places the knife against his right thigh, near his testicles. The skin hisses and Preston tries to move his body away.

It does the opposite and the knife slices into the side of his right testicle. He screams out in pain, and sweat begins to trickle down his forehead.

I have heard stories of how my father used to torture people twenty years ago. His methods have become more methodical over the years, hinging more on creating fear of the unknown.

The guard comes into view, Patrice chained and led in front of him. Preston’s eyes widen in shock.

“What?” he breathes out. Patrice’s eyes meet his, a desperate plea in her gaze.

I can’t quite decipher what she’s trying to communicate, but her desperation is palpable. A gag is tied tightly around her mouth.

As she looks at Preston, tears start to fall. It seems she’s finally grasping the severity of her situation.

“Preston, you have a choice,” Sebastian begins. “You can watch us torture Patrice, or we can torture you. The easy way out is to talk. Your death will be swift. Either way, you’re going to die. The method is your choice.”

Sebastian gestures toward Patrice with his knife. The guard steps forward and removes her gag.

“Please, Alpha,” Patrice begs. “I didn’t know.”

She’s lying, of course. We all know it.

I heard her on the phone myself, and Carter was chained up under her house. I raise an eyebrow at her and step closer.

“You didn’t know, Patrice? You almost killed Carter. Who were you talking to when I came to your house?” I’m struggling to keep my anger under control.

I can’t stand liars. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about. How did I almost kill Carter?”

She’s trying to play innocent and sow seeds of doubt, but we all know the truth. I can’t understand why she thinks she can get away with her lies.

I shake my head and stand directly in front of Patrice. I place my hand on her cheek.

“Such a shame, Patrice.” My father hands me his knife and before she can react, I drag the blade down the side of her face.

Her scream is ear-splitting, and tears immediately pour down her face. “Why, Max? I loved you,” she sobs.

I must look completely baffled. I hear my father snort behind me.

“What the hell are you talking about, you crazy bitch,” I snap. “You almost got my sister killed.”

“I was following orders,” she cries. “Whose orders?” my father asks.

She clamps her mouth shut and shakes her head. “So, Patrice, you’re not loyal to your alpha, huh?”

Sebastian steps forward, his hand reaching out to grab a handful of her hair. He jerks her head back, a swift, brutal movement.

The guard steps back as my father takes hold of the chains, yanking them with a force that sends Patrice sprawling backward. His grip on her hair doesn’t loosen, and she lets out a whimper of pain.

“Stop!” The shout comes from Preston. We both turn to look at him, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“I’ll tell you what you want to know,” he says, his eyes squeezed shut. “No! You can’t,” Patrice cries out.

Preston’s eyes snap open, locking onto Patrice. “Why not? Does it even matter? We’re going to die anyway. I’d rather not watch them torture you. I don’t care about myself, but you…you’re different.”

I’m taken aback. He’s a rogue, so what’s his connection to Patrice?

I glance between the two of them, trying to make sense of it. Then it clicks.

As I look from him to her, I notice the similarities. The same eyes, same hair color.

I bet if they smiled, it would be identical. “Well, I’ll be damned,” I murmur, barely audible.

“How do you have a rogue brother, Patrice?” I ask. Now it’s my father’s turn to look surprised.

Patrice closes her eyes. “The alpha of Canyon Ranch cast him out a year ago. Preston wasn’t happy with how Jason was running things.”

“Is that so?” my father muses, his hand stroking his chin. “He was abusing pack members and I stood up to him, so he cast me out,” Preston adds.

“I was helping him now to try and earn a spot back in the pack.”

“Keep talking,” my father commands.

Preston turns his head away from us, as if gathering his thoughts. Patrice lies on the floor, whimpering softly.

After a moment, Preston begins to speak again. “He apparently hates you, Alpha Sebastian. You and your luna. You humiliated him years ago. Now that he’s in charge, he wanted revenge. His plan was to capture your daughter and force her to mate with him.”

Preston swallows hard before continuing. “He said if he couldn’t have your luna, he would take your daughter.”

“That’s disgusting,” I spit out.

“Melanie isn’t even old enough to know who her mate is, she’s a teenager.” Patrice starts to sob, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. Jason threatened us and I wanted Preston to earn his right back in the pack. No one wants to be a rogue,” she chokes out.

I feel no sympathy for her. My father signals the guard to take her back to her cell, then turns back to Preston.

“Tell me what else you know. Who gave you the information to know where to hit the truck with my children in it? Or is Patrice the only traitor in my midst? Leave no detail out, or I can promise you, it’s going to be worse. I will tear your sister apart, right in front of you.”

Preston nods, understanding the gravity of the situation. At last, the truth is about to be revealed and we can plan our counterattack.

A war is brewing between our two packs, and it’s not going to end well for Canyon Ranch. Not at all.