I led Evelyn through the halls of the Packhouse. Her hand gently held my fingertips. As we passed through, I pointed out each section and what purpose it served. I grinned at Evelyn's precious expression, brows narrowed in concentration and head bobbing as she listened intently to what I said. She was so dedicated to being a good Luna.
Goddess, I am blessed.
After showing her the majority of the house we came to the guest corridor. It was completely void of people, as I had ordered, except a few wolves at the end who stood guard. Walking up the guest room door, I smelt the children and heard hushed whispering. I turned to Evelyn and took her small hand and captured it in my large one.
"Inside, there are two children. Both were found as rogues who crossed the border. I've heard the girl is a bit... combative. We haven't been able to have her let anyone near her," I told her. "Gamma Xerxes..." I motioned behind her to Kaleb who had been waiting on my command. He stepped forward like a soldier, back straight as a board.
"... will stand guard in the room. All I need you to do is see if you can get them to open up. Find out why they came here and who and where their parents are. Okay?" I asked her.
I hoped I wasn't overwhelming her. A lot had been thrown at her in such a short period of time. But, I needed her help. If anyone could get a child to open up, it was Evelyn. I had seen her gentle nature with children at hand. She was like a lulling melody to them. They seemed to naturally flock to her, one of many attributes that naturally made her an excellent Luna.
Evelyn nodded and gave a lopsided grin.
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
I lifted one of her hands and gently kissed her knuckles.
"Get me if-"
"-if I need anything," she cut me off and playfully rolled her eyes.
I sighed knowing I must sound like a relentless mother hen. I simply worried about her.
"I will, I promise," she assured me. She stood on her tiptoes and pecked my lips, a rush of heat passing through me at the contact. "Now go, get to work," she scolded me, giving me a light push. In honesty, the push wasn't hard enough to even make me budge, but I obliged her and moved with a chuckle.
Then, I shook my head and smiled, walking down the hall. Each step was painful, having newly marked her, my usual apprehension slightly diminished and yet heightened all in the same. I wasn't scared to leave her anymore, but instead, I just didn't want to leave her. She was my other half, and it was as if I was ripping it away by leaving her. I looked over my shoulder a few times, checking she was okay. Gamma Xerxes stepped closer to her to speak with her and made eye contact with me. I watched as Evelyn stuck out a hand for him to shake.
"Don't you dare," I mind-linked him. My gaze narrowed at him and I saw my mighty Gamma reveal an inch of fear in his eyes.
I smirked knowing he would listen as I turned down the hall. I wove through the massive building, going down a large flight of stairs to the second, and then the first level. Passing through a corridor, I came up to a large silver door. It was the only silver on all of the pack's land. Delta White stood outside it waiting for me.
He bowed his head and muttered, "Alpha," in greeting.
"Status report?" I asked him.
"The rogue is still belligerent and refuses to answer questions. She keeps insisting on seeing the children and asking what we did with," he paused momentarily, "... a woman she refers to as her... although she won't say who 'her' is."
I nodded my head thoughtfully, placing a hand on my chin. I had no idea who the woman was referring to. We had no other rogues in our possession except for herself and the children.
"Thank you, Delta White," I said to him. He raised his brows in slight surprise and I rolled my eyes. My mate's good manners were clearly rubbing off on me. "Follow me," I told him.
He nodded.
I placed my hand on a green scanner, a light passing up and down scanning my hand like a copy machine. The door beeped and a large click sounded, signaling it unlocked. I quickly closed my mental channel with Evelyn. Despite how much it pained me to not feel her presence, I certainly didn't want her feeling the emotions that would be coursing through me as I interrogated the rogue. I grabbed the handle of the door, the one part not coated in silver, and opened it. Matthias followed behind me closely.
The area was dark, and if it weren't for my wolf vision I may not have been able to see a single thing. I walked down a set of old wooden steps. They creaked beneath my weight. The smell of rust, old blood, and mold filled my nose and I scrunched my face in disgust. Finally, at the bottom of the stairs, my shoes clicked against the cement floors as I walked past a few cells.
"You," a graty old woman's voice seethed.
I stepped in front of her cell, brows raised.
"You," I spoke, gazing intensely at her.
Peering through the shadowy darkness I made out the silver-haired woman. She sat on the floor of the cell, legs crossed and hands in her lap. Her hair was matted in disarray and she was covered in blood. My blood.
I squatted, making direct eye contact with her.
"You are going to answer my questions," I told her with my Alpha voice. The voice boomed and was deep and powerful. It could make the strongest of wolves fall to their knees.
Instead, she crawled forward glaring at me. She opened her mouth and I waited for her to say something. Instead... she spat in my face. Thick saliva dripped down my brow.
"Fuck you," she gritted.
I slowly lifted a hand, wiping the spit from my face.
"Okay..." I lowered my voice, "I am going to ask my first question and you are going to anwser me," I leaned in closer towards the bars, "Why. Are. You. Here?"
She lifted a finger and flipped me off.
My wolf practically clawed at my insides begging to be unleashed and show her just who she was disrespecting but I kept him at bay. I had a bargaining chip.
"Okay," I said with a shrug, I stood up and turned around, hands behind my back. "I had thought we might discuss the children next but..."
"Where are you going?!" the woman screamed at me.
I turned to face her, "Why? You just essentially told me to fuck off, didn't you? You don't want to talk. That's fine by me," I shrugged.
Again, I turned around.
"Where are the children?" she spoke softly.
I smirked to myself but dropped it as I turned towards her.
I tilted my head, "Oh, so you do want to talk..." I taunted.
She stood in her cell and came dangerously near the silver bars. "Where. Are. They?" she demanded.
"Uh, uh, uh," I wagged a finger. "I ask the questions. You give me answers then... mmm maybe," I shrugged for effect, "we can talk about the children...' I paused knowing the blow of my words would hopefully bring sense to her, "I mean so long as they are alive by the time we are done."
Of course, I knew the children were safely tucked away in the care of my mate and not a hair on their head would be harmed. But she didn't know that, and it was what I had to barter with.
I watched her eyes widen and a gasp escaped her lips.
"You really are an evil bastard aren't you?" her lip trembled.
I shrugged, "Depends on who you are talking to... but I'm talking to you," I stepped closer, "and if you have any sense about you and ever want to see those children again, you will answer my questions."
She seemed to stiffen before dropping her shoulders and nodding silently.
"Why did you attack?"
Silence.
"That's it your wasting my time," I turned around and motioned to Delta White. "Get the children ready for executio-"
"STOP! WAIT!" she yelled. I faced her onc more as tears filled her eyes.
"Why. Did. You. Attack?" I demanded again.
An evil vengeful glint filled her eyes.
"Because you killed them."
"Killed who?" I asked her. My eyes narrowed. Specificity was key.
"My Alpha and Luna. My family and friends. You killed them all. You are evil and don't deserve such a position of power."
I stepped back my face a blank mask despite my internal confusion at her words.
I had killed... it was true.
But never had a killed an Alpha and Luna. Never innocent people in packs.
"What are you talking about?" I asked her.
"What am I-" her brows raised and tears filled her eyes, "What. Am. I. TALKING ABOUT?!" she screeched. "I'm talking about the MASSACRE OF THE EVERGREEN PACK. The MASSACRE!"
She laughed maniacally, "and the audacity to act as if you don't know what I'm talking about when you have her."
"Who is this person you keep referring to?" I questioned her. I stalked back and forth in frot of the cell racking my brain for answers. She remained silent so I went on. "You think that I- you think I," I repeated for emphasis, "killed one of the strongest packs in Alaska? I was six," I spoke in utter disbelief. It was almost laughable that the woman was so evidently deranged she could believe I would kill pack members at the age of six. That fact she would attack my pack over something I clearly had no part in was even more obscure.
"Six years old or not you did it," she seethed. "You were there that night with your father. You stayed in the Pack House... the top floor with the Alphas family. Yet somehow..." she laughed maniacally, "yet, somehow you emerged completely unscathed? Bull shit."
My brain was scattered as I tried to recall that night. In honesty, it was a lesser of memories for me. It was before my father married the woman, my stepmother. My father told me I needed to see how pack business was done and I accompanied him on the trip. I met the Oaks, the Alpha's family. At the time they had a five-year-old son named Eli and a baby daughter named Estelle. The night we visited, a freak fire started, I woke up to a rancid smell filling my lungs and burning them. Then, I woke my father who picked me up and ran us from the building. I remember looking over his shoulder down the hall, where the Oaks were, as we ran. The fire had completely consumed that part of the pack house. Most of the pack survived, but a few upper-level pack members and the Alpha, Luna, and their daughter Estelle didn't make it. It was thoroughly investigated and deemed an accident of some sort, my father ruled innocent in the case.
"I had nothing to do with that fire," I told her intensely.
"No, it WAS you! I have a witness. I know a man who saw you do it. Just like you massacred the children who are in your care's parents."
My jaw clenched in anger. "I have not MASSACRED ANYONE!" I shouted at her. "What is not clear to you?! I have not killed any of the people you claim I have killed!"
"But, you killed your brother whose to say you wouldn't-"
"DON'T. YOU. DARE. SPEAK. OF. MY. BROTHER. YOU KNOW NOTHING!" I seethed. My claws elongated and I charged toward the prison cell. In a flash, I unlocked it, charging in and gripping her by her neck. My claws dug into her skin, as I squeezed the air from her lungs. Flashes of my little brother's mangled corpse flashed in my mind, making me see red.
I felt arms tug at me and I turned around, scratching them with my claws only to hear a wince and realize it was Matthias.
I dropped the woman. She wheezed, clutching her throat, and trying to rapidly intake air. I widened my eyes at Matthias, quickly getting us out of the cage.
"Did I hurt you?" I mind-linked him and asked.
"Nothing that won't heal," he responded and gave me the best half smile he could muster. while gritting his teeth.
The woman croaked, "What have you done with her?"
"WITH WHO?" I shouted face turning red. "Who is this ominous her you keep speaking fucking riddles about?"
"If you hurt her... if you hurt the one things that is left. You," she breathed out a shaky laugh, "you will be sorry."
"I'll be back tomorrow," I seethed. "We will be talking again. And, this time," a devilish glint filled my eyes, rage consuming me, "I expect more than a fucking riddle."
I began to stomp away before I paused and stalked back towards the cell. My rage at her accusations culminated.
"And just so you know. The children you so clearly care about from your half-truth answers are doing absolutely fucking dandy. They are under the care of my loving, and sweet mate who you wouldn't believe loves an 'evil bastard,' as you put it, like me. I would never hurt a child. Never."
Her face paled a strange look crossing it as I stomped away. Matthias following while clutching his arm.
I stomped up the stairs and exited the basement. I clutched my forehead, resisting the urge to groan. Mathias locked the door behind us and stood awaiting my orders. I turned to him with a glare.
"I want every detail you can get on this woman as possible. Every. Damn. Detail," I seethed, and paused, "and I want you to track down this supposed witness," I ordered. He nodded his head sharply, turning to walk away. "Oh and one more thing Delta," Matthias turned to face me, "call Alpha Eli Oak and ask him to come for a visit." Matthias nodded, before turning and walking away so fast he almost sprinted.
My head ached from all the information I had to process. I hoped Evelyn had been luckier extracting information.
Despite the strong urge I had to see her, I knew I needed to try and find every possible detail about the captive rogue as possible. I trudged through the packhouse. Not a single person stood in my way, the anger emanating from me probably scorching them as I passed. I made it quickly to my office, a small pile of papers pertaining to possible leads about the women already stacked on my desk.
I picked one up and began to read through it, going through the papers one by one.
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Hours later the progress I had made was minimal at best. I felt myself nodding off, laying my head down on my desk.
Just a few minutes... I told myself.
Creakkkk.
I groaned hearing my office door whine ever so slightly as someone opened it, awakening me from my sleep. Soft footsteps padded against the ground and I let a soft growl out.
Who is fucking bothering me?
Just as I went to lift my head a heavenly smell filled my nose- roses, lavender, and fresh cotton.
Goddess, that smells good.
Soft hands brushed through my hair.
"Max?" a soft sweet voice whispered. A soft uncalloused hand touched my shoulder.
This must be a dream, I told myself.
Deciding I wanted more of the smell, I reached a tired hand out and grabbed the smell by its waist. "Max," the soft voice gasped.
I nestled my head into the neck and soft hair of the magnificent being, enveloping myself in the nice smell.
"Mmm," I mused to myself. I ran my nose against the collarbone of the creature, not finding enough scent. A squeal sounded.
My head shot up and my eyes opened widely.
Evelyn, I mentally registered.
My mate's hair was touseled to the side, her neck exposes and a bright red blush filled her cheeks. I quickly realized that I had pulled her into my lap so that she was straddling me.
"I- oh goddess I'm sorry," I stuttered as I swept some hair out of my face. I groaned and rubbed my eyes.
"It's okay," she giggled softly. Her soft-toned effort to not startle me more made my heart soar. She shifted so that her legs were strung across my lap instead. "I'm sorry I woke you," she apologized.
"No, no," I mumbled, "don't apologize, I'm glad you came and found me."
She looked down sheepishly, "Gamma Xerxes and Delta White said you hadn't eaten anything so I brought you dinner..." she said softly. I looked to my right, seeing a plate full of delectable food piled high along with a fork and knife.
I pecked her lips and smiled, "Thank you, angel."
I grabbed the plate and placed it on her lap before cutting a piece of steak. I grabbed the fork and brought the food to her lips.
She raised a hand and pushed the food back towards me, "No, no, Max," she scolded, "this is for you."
"You haven't eaten dinner yet," I told her with narrowed brows. The mate bond had reopened and I felt her panging hunger.
"No-no that not tr-"
I took advantage of her open mouth forcing the food in. She reluctantly took it and chewed. I looked down at the plate to cut another piece, but she grabbed the fork and knife from me and cut a piece herself this time. Then, she raised it to my lips. I kept them closed and gave her a side eye that reflected, "really?"
She glared at me and I rolled my eyes, opening my mouth and obliging her. It was worth it when I saw the triumphant smile that emerged on her face. We took turns feeding each other until all the food was gone. She grabbed the plate and put it on my desk.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and leaned my head on her chest. She leaned her head on mine and I felt her begin to become droopy. I gently picked her up.
"W-where are we going?" she mumbled to me half asleep.
"Guest room," I whispered kissing her forehead. I carried us down the hall to the Alpha and Luna room of the Packhouse. It hadn't been used in years. I laid her on the bed and mind-linked Gamma Xerxes to bring me some clothes. A few minutes later, a quiet know sounded at the door and I found a t-shirt in my size and pajama shorts.
I was not specific enough.
"Ev," I whispered gently shaking her.
"Hmm?" she groaned.
"Clothes," I whispered.
She cracked her eyes open and sat up taking the t-shirt from me. She fumbled wth her sweater and I laughed considering I had been the one sleeping only thirty minutes before.
"Here," I whispered. I slipped her sweater over her head and then slipped the shirt on. She took her bra off under the cover of the shirt, before slipping her skirt off. I saw a flash of her beautiful legs before she burrowed herself under the bed covers.
Adorable.
I stripped off my shirt and put on the pajama pants, crawling into bed next to her. She quickly migrated to me and I wrapped my arms around her, holding her against my chest.
My sweet sweet Evelyn. Sleep well.