The Rejected Luna’s Prince By Aurora Archer
Chapter 38 – Interrogation
**Some mild t.orture scenes just letting ya know**
(Willa)
“Willa, don’t panic.”
I swallowed against the lump in my throat, her panicked voice telling me not to panic did nothing to make me do anything but panic.
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“Everything is okay now, but-”
“But what?” I almost shouted. My voice didn’t belong to me anymore.
“Someone attacked us, well, tried to. They came, I don’t even know how actually, they got into our apartment, but we stopped him. If Holden wasn’t here,” Her voice broke.
I tried to even my breath, and think logically.
“Where is everyone now?”
“They’re here, Holden has the guy, and people are on the way here to extract him or whatever fancy word they were using.”
“Emmett?”
“He and Loreli are okay. As soon as they take the guy, we’re going to the packhouse.”
“And you’re never leaving my sight, neither of you,” Holden shouted.
“Meet us at the packhouse, okay?” Cali asked, “Caspien is on his way here now, and he’s going to escort us.”
“Okay,” I hung up and clutched the phone to my chest, reeling from the last few minutes. I couldn’t wrap my mind around everything that happened, but I knew it had to do with Emmett. I felt sick; the anxiety and worry that settled into me with Emmett’s fevers were back.
Caspien called me, and I fumbled to unlock it.
“Holden said you had been informed. Warriors are at your place now a*s*sessing the damage, and I’ll escort Cali, Emmett, and Loreli to the packhouse. I’m almost there, and the threat has already been extracted. You’re being followed.”
“What?” I looked out the window.
“By my warriors, sorry, I should have led with that.” I almost smiled.
“Everything will be okay; I’ll figure this out.” He hung up the phone before I could say anything else.
I found myself yearning for the simple life that I was so scared of months ago.
(Caspien)
Cali called me and told me about someone breaking in while they were all home. The pieces came together, Willa’s break in and now this. I directed the driver to their place instead, knowing Willa was already close to the packhouse.
I could guess what they were after, but I needed to figure out how they moved so quickly. It was only days after Emmett’s birthday. It was hardly enough time for anyone to track him down or figure out Willa and his changing schedule, and I was with them as much as I could be.
It could have been someone from the inside or someone that just got lucky.
Well, they didn’t because Holden was there. If he wouldn’t have been there, I couldn’t even think about what might have happened to Emmett. Cali and Loreli might have been casualties, and, d.amnit. I threw my phone across the car. Every part of me wanted to shift but-
I’ll get there faster than you in this f*****g prison
There are humans out there, and the car is already speeding
F*uc*k the humans, f*uc*k everything that isn’t our mate and pup
He had a point, but they were safe now, and I had to be rational. I couldn’t go running through the city as a ma*s*sive wolf because it might save me a few minutes.
It would save you more than that
I pushed him away.
I didn’t wait until we entirely stopped before I threw myself out of the car and pulled open her front door, not caring that I broke her buzzer or the door itself.
Okay, maybe I should get that fixed today.
Now who is the rational one
I ran up the stairs and ignored the warrior in front of Cali’s door. I burst in, looking frantically around. Even though Cali said Emmett was safe, some part of me didn’t believe it until I laid eyes on him unscathed.
Emmett was holding Loreli’s hand, and when he saw me, he ran into my arms. I scooped him up, breathing in our pup’s familiar scent that felt like home. I let out a deep breath I had been holding since I got that call. He was safe, and I wouldn’t let anything like this happen again.
After a few long moments in his small embrace, I pulled back and looked him over, “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” He smiled widely, “Cali hit him with a pan. It was so loud,” He laughed.
I looked back at Cali, who shrugged. She was holding Loreli now who was buried under her ma*s*s of deep red curls.
“Is she okay?” I nodded to her daughter.
She bit a wobbly lip and shook her head, “She will be,” She smoothed Loreli’s hair and let out a shaky breath.
“You’re safe now. You all are.”
She nodded, and I looked around the apartment. The couch was flipped over. There was some broken glass from Goddess knew what, it was obvious there was a struggle.
A few warriors were there, one surveying out the window, and I heard a few others in the other rooms.
“Pack what you need for the night. I’ll have people bring the rest.” There was no way Holden or I would let her come back here unguarded. They were staying in the packhouse, at least until we got this sorted.
“Okay,” She nodded, looking down at Loreli. She seemed a bit reserved for the first time since I met her, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of her own shock or what her daughter must have witnessed.
Loreli fell asleep in Cali’s arms on the way, and Cali looked out the window, but her eyes didn’t focus on anything.
“Are you ready to talk about it?” I asked. Emmett was in his car seat playing with a toy, “Or do you want to talk about it?” That seemed like the right thing, something I would ask Willa. Maybe I could be better at people if I pretended they were all Willa.
“Sure,” She turned her hazel eyes to me, studying me for a long moment, “Basically, some guy appeared, literally seemed to appear out of thin air,” Her eyebrows furrowed, and she shook her head a few times.
“I can ask Holden if-”
“No,” She held up a hand, “I was just trying to make sense of it. I was so worried about Loreli I’m just now replaying it without fear for her.”
I nodded, looking at Emmett, I placed a hand on his knee, and he put a small one on top of it. I felt a huge sense of love swell up inside me. It was different than what I felt with my parents, with Griffen and Holden, even with Willa. It was a protective love, and love that didn’t have to try. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt like it was everything I was missing.
“Basically, he came in and was looking around,” She lowered her voice, “He lunged for Emmett, who was playing on the floor with Loreli, and Holden met him midair.” She closed her eyes, “It was so fast, a lot of banging, and I grabbed the kids and ran to the kitchen. It was the closest place out of the way, and they were fighting in front of the hallway.
That man came into view, he was taking a few steps back from Holden, and I don’t know. I grabbed the first thing I saw and hit him in the back of the head.” She gave me a half-smile.
“The pan?”
“A frying pan, yes,” She nodded, “I panicked, and I felt helpless, and that makes me feel just this anger I can’t describe. It distracted him enough and,” She shrugged, “Holden got him and held him and tied him down with I didn’t ask what, then the other guys showed up, and that’s it.”
“He came out of nowhere?” I would have to get the report from the warriors and see how he broke in. It wasn’t a surprise, honestly. Besides the locked gate, there was no other security. Even for other humans, it wouldn’t be that hard to break in if they wanted to.
“Literally, we were all hanging out and then, I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense.”
“Trauma can do that to you,”
She pinned me with a dead stare, “I know what I saw,” Her voice left no room for question.
“Fine, fine, I believe you.”
“Do you?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
“Fine,” She turned back to the window.
____
Willa was pacing by the front door, her eyes wide when she saw us. Emmett rushed to her, and she scooped him up. I wrapped them both in a tight embrace.
“Thank you-” She started.
“I’m so sorry-” I rushed at the same time.
She pulled back her green eyes locked on mine, “For what?”
“I should have protected you. I should have sent warriors, guards. I don’t know. I was arrogant. I didn’t think Alpha Jasper could actually do anything, not this fast.”
“It’s my fault too, I thought I could go back to the real world,” Willa shrugged, but her face fell slightly.
“Willa,” I waited until her gaze met mine. Emmett put his head on her shoulder and played with her hair, “This is the real world. You, me, and Emmett. I won’t keep you locked here. If you want to go get a hot dog right now, we can go.” She smiled at me, “Of course, an army will be surrounding us but”
“I think I’m fine here for now. I guess I’ll have to make do in a penthouse,” She sighed, a small smile played on her lips.
“Cali is coming up here with Loreli, she wanted to stop by Holden’s apartment, and Nora will be coming up too,” She nodded, and I grabbed Emmett’s hand, “Emmett, can you take care of Loreli? She is a bit scared.” He nodded once.
“Yes.”
“It’s okay if you’re scared too. You can tell us. I promise nothing will happen to you.
He shrugged, “It was crazy, Mama; guess what Cali did?”
She looked at him and k*issed his head, “Tell me,”
“She hit the man with a huge pan.” Willa’s smile lit up her whole face, and she laughed once.
“She did not.”
“She did, I promise,” He looked serious.
“Well, I can’t wait to hear that story,” She shook her head, putting him down.
“I have to go now, but there will be warriors outside and inside,” Willa’s shoulder sagged, and I knew she was about to say something, “Cali said he came out of nowhere. I want to cover all bases. I need to know you’re okay so I can focus on other things.”
“Like?”
“Getting the information I need from someone who tried to take my son.” Atlas pushed forward, and a low growl ripped through us.
I was worried we might have scared them, but Willa placed a hand on my arm and tugged me down to meet her. I captured her sweet lips in a too-brief k*iss before I had to slip back into the person I didn’t want to become, Prince Caspien Dracos, the one that everyone feared, hated, and awed before even meeting me.
_________
Griffen was waiting for me in the basement, the nicer term for what this was. We had another holding cell outside the packhouse, but I liked to know where my prisoners were.
“Where’s Holden?” I asked, taking off my suit and changing into a white shirt and pants. I found it helped when the prisoners could see how much blood and gore they were spilling on me.
“Glaring at the prisoner,” He shook his head, “He’s been guarded, but Holden won’t take his eyes off him, he didn’t even go up to see Cali and Loreli. I think he’s worried if he looks away, the guy will disappear.”
“Cali did say that he just appeared out of nowhere,” I mentioned.
“Doesn’t change the fact that Holden staring at him could stop him if he was some kind of warlock,”
“I don’t want to hear you judging anyone for being overprotective,” I gave him a look, “Also, Nora is up with Cali and Willa at my place. Warriors are in and outside.”
His jaw tensed, “Thanks,”
“So let’s just focus on him.” He nodded once, “What do you have?”
“Not from this pack. We sent a photo to anyone nearby, but none returned with a positive identification. The footage from around the city doesn’t fill in too many holes. We don’t have many eyes on that side of town,” I figured that much. I would have to change that, human or not. I needed to know what was going on in this city.
“No sign of how they broke into either place and the scents don’t match. The one in Willa’s and Cali’s is completely different. The guy we have is a werewolf, but the scent at Willa’s, no one could identify it completely.”
I paused, that was weird, “Was it masked?”
“Potentially, but then why not mask the werewolf scent?”
“Maybe they weren’t working together.”
“That would be one h*ell of a coincidence.”
“You’re right.” I was trying to think of all the angles, “Well, we have him now, so we can get whatever we can from him while we wait to see if anyone claims this piece of s**t or if they’re found on other footage.”
“Let’s do it,” A smile spread across his face.
Holden was waiting outside the holding cell window. I put my hand on his shoulder, “Ready?”
“I thought you would never ask,” His voice was ice, all traces of his usually carefree attitude gone. He cracked his neck, let his Gamma aura expand, and walked into the room.
I nodded to the warriors to leave us, but I knew they would be watching.
I didn’t say anything for a few moments, letting my aura expand. I rarely did that. It was enough when I was trying to withhold it. Even Griffen and Holden flinched a bit, but they were good at faking it at this point.
I studied him, his hands were tied above him, chained in silver, and his feet were barely on the ground. Atlas was getting riled up by the scent of his fear. He didn’t look like anything special, a normal werewolf. No discernable scars, at least not visible. His swollen face and the bruises Holden gave him were already healing. He smelled like a werewolf, nothing else.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked him.
His jaw clenched, and he stared me down.
I pulled my lips back, “You can’t hide your fear. I don’t care how you’ve been trained, how much you’ve endured. You have seen nothing compared to me.” I circled him.
Usually, Holden would come into my mind right now about how I sounded like Batman or something, but he was stoic, trying to control his rage. Griffen took out my tools, making a show of it. He made sure to put everything on the metal table louder and slower than necessary.
The prisoner shook his head, but it seemed more out of fear. I could play the long game, but I needed answers. Now.
If something was in motion, if there was a hit out for Emmett, I needed to stop it before it got any further and end everyone that thought about being a part of it in the process.
“Let’s start easy,” I stopped in front of him, crossing my arms, “What’s your name?”
He swallowed.
I held out my hand, and Griffen put something in it. I looked down at a wrench. Interesting choice to start with, but I could make it work.
I grabbed part of his finger, a bit awkward with his hands tied up. I tightened the wrench until I heard the crunching of bone. The man squirmed and bit down on a groan. I made sure the wrench was tight and wouldn’t budge before I snapped it the opposite direction. The snap of his bone was satisfying.
He let out a muffled sound, and I stepped away, leaving the wrench hanging from his finger. He was trying not to scream. His face turned red with the effort.
“I’m going to ask you one more time, and I don’t give second chances. So consider this your lucky day. What is your name?”
“Brady,”
“I don’t believe you, but I don’t care what your mother called you as you crawled into this world as a waste of space. I don’t care where you’ve come from.” I turned my back to him, walking to choose my next tool.
I made a show of my deliberation, holding up a knife, hammer, and ax pretending to weigh my best options. But it didn’t matter. I could do enough damage to him with a thumb tac.
“Start the fire,” I nodded to Holden, who reluctantly tore his gaze from the prisoner, fake Brady, and knocked once to be let out of the room.
I had an idea it would be a bet, but one that I was willing to take, “Get me the witches’ poker,” I said to Griffen.
What?
A brand, anything that looks mystical.
Griffen nodded once and left the room. I grabbed a knife and twirled it in my hand before turning back to him.
“The only thing I care about is why you came after my son.”
His eyes went wide. His fear was almost stifling.
“Good, so now you understand the situation.” I took a slow step forward.
“H- he will kill me. I swear I didn’t know.” He tried to back up, but the chains held fast.
“Who will?”
His mouth clamped down.
“Let’s get one thing straight. I will kill you. You are going to die here. I will be the last thing that you see. What I’m going to do to you will haunt you well into the afterworld.” I was inches away from his face; he shut his eyes and tried to turn away.
I flipped the knife in my hand and ran it up his shirt, deep enough to cut it open and leave a shallow cut, droplets of blood pooled in its wake.
“But, I am feeling generous today, so you get to decide. You can either die today, or we can drag it out for months, maybe years if we’re bored. It’s your choice,” I ripped open the rest of his shirt, there were a few scars there, and it took a lot for us to be scarred unless it was pure silver.
“Who are you working for?”
“He didn’t tell me his name, I swear. I have never known it.”
“What do you refer to him by then?”
“The Blade.” Why did that name tug on my memory?
Griffen came in and laid something on the table, followed by Holden, who went to work on heating up the furnace he wheeled in.
The Silent a*s*sa*s*sin
My eyes narrowed. It was one of his aliases. He took a blood pact with me not to take any contracts from or against Crescent Moon’s pack members. I wanted to take a live-and-let-live approach with him, but apparently, that wasn’t working anymore. Suppose he broke the pact, though. I would have felt it. There was no way he should have been able to break it. I would deal with that later.
“So, you tried to hurt someone I love. Now I will hurt everyone that you love.”
“You don’t know me,” He smiled.
“I don’t need to,” I smiled back at him, “Actually, I do apologize. It was wrong for me to a*s*sume that you love those whose blood runs through your veins. Family isn’t always blood,” I studied him. He looked nothing but confused.
I held out my hand and waited until I felt the cool iron of the brand Griffen placed in it. I studied it, looking at the tip.
“You’re trained,” Holden snorted behind me, “To some extent,” I amended, “You might be able to withstand hours of torture, but can your family?”
I flipped the brand in my hand, “A brand, something so simple, so archaic. But once you add a little magic, well, that’s when the fun begins.” I kept my voice passive, enthralled with the brand in my hand.
“Once you’re branded with this, everything that we do to you will be felt by those with your blood running through them.”
“Parents, siblings, children,” Griffen added, catching on.
So-called-Brady’s eyes widened at that. He looked from me to the brand in my hand to my eyes.
“You don’t have to believe me,” I handed the brand to Holden, “Get the witch,” I nodded once.
“It’s done,” Griffen stated.
“An eye for an eye, poetic even.”
“I didn’t do anything-” He thrashed against his chains. The wrench fell to the floor, and he bit down on a scream.
“You tried to take my son. You come after my family; I come after yours.” I held his gaze, “But again, it’s your choice.”
I looked back at Holden leaning against the wall stoking the flames, “Ten minutes, give or take,” He shrugged, but his cold gaze never left our prisoner’s face.
“Five minutes to tell us what you know, or your blood kin will be joining in on the fun.”
“Months, possibly years.” Griffen added, “We kept that one guy alive for almost two. Still not sure how he survived that long without food and with all those infections.”
“I can still smell him,” Holden said, gagging.
I let him have his last few moments of peace, making a show of having Holden turn the brand three times to the left and once to the right.
“She’s arrived,” Griffen said.
I didn’t understand what he was getting at. I didn’t want him to blow this. He was smarter than that.
A light flicked on outside the viewing window, and our room darkened.
A woman in a dark black robe, the hood covering everything but her painted red lips.
I hoped Griffen knew I was joking about a witch.