Chapter Forty #2
I sat back and looked at everyone’s faces, but it was Marcus’s crazed eyes that waited for my eye contact. He waited until I reached him, and he leaned in. “Do you know who that wolf is?” He watched my face without blinking.
“No, I’ve never seen her before.” I looked down at the picture on the desktop.
“She was beautiful, though, and young.” I touched her face, and I accidentally zoomed in on the photo.
The photo jumped around before settling on her hands.
Half shifted fists with her nails digging into the palm, I gasped before I could stop myself.
“What?” Marcus looked from my face to the screen.
I traced her hands, and my mind flashed to my first life. “She was alive when this photo was taken.” I spoke without thinking, and I heard someone stumble back a step.
“You can’t know that for sure.” Theo tried to argue.
I shook my head. “I’ve been tortured before, Theo.” Rowan’s eyes flickered for a second. “A corpse doesn’t clench its fists in pain.”
There was a savage growl, and all I saw was a blur. “She was my DAUGHTER!”
Marcus’s hands were around Evan’s neck before anyone even thought to move. “She was my daughter, you son of a bitch.”
Evan sneered. “She was not your fucking pup, and we all know it. She was a whore’s throwaway, one you picked up as a mistake.
” He wrapped his hands around Marcus’s wrists and tried to pull them off of him.
“I did you a favor.” His eyes were dead.
This man, this wolf, was dancing on a thin thread of sanity.
Nix paced under my skin. Look at her eyes.
Nix’s voice pulled me away from the fight and back to the photo.
I shifted back to the girl’s face, and while at first glance you think she is dead like I originally thought.
Her eyes were half closed, but it was the deadness in them that made me think I was wrong, but her fists told her story.
Nix’s voice broke through my thoughts. She is staring at the one taking a photo.
Someone else was there. Someone she knew.
I opened my mouth but Megan’s soft voice stopped me. Her stomach. There was a soft cry that came from my wolf that had my blood freezing.
“Oh, Goddess.” The call fell from my lips before I could stop it.
Everyone turned, but I was glued to the screen.
I zoomed again, and there it was. “How could you?” I choked out as I stumbled from the chair.
Evan’s dead eyes found mine, and I wanted to kill him.
“You are a fucking monster. And believe me when I say this…I don’t say that lightly. ”
Evan’s lips curled up slowly. “I know.” Marcus’s hands tightened on his neck, and I watched as red travelled up his neck, his eyes locked on mine.
“Wait.” I walked around the desk, putting myself way too close to the others. Rowan growled and stepped up behind me.
“Are you trying to give me an aneurysm?” Rowan growled in my ear. “Don’t do that again.”
Marcus turned his face toward me. “What? He deserves to die.”
“I’m not trying to save him. I just need answers.” I stepped closer to the two men.
Marcus growled. “Answers about what? Why he killed her?” I shook my head. “Then what?”
I turned back to Evan, and his soulless eyes. “Who helped you?”
Every one tensed. “What do you mean?” My father’s voice was icy as he stepped up to the desk, trying to see what I saw.
“Look at her eyes.” I looked back at the picture on the big screen. My father zoomed in on her face again. “I had originally thought she was dead because of her eyes.” I explained. “But the truth is there. She is staring at the person taking the photo.”
My father zoomed in and then growled. “The picture is too old to manipulate enough to figure it out.”
“Whoever it was, she knew, and she felt betrayed by.” Ronnie’s voice cut through the murmuring.
I nodded. “Pan to her stomach.” My voice was barely a whisper as I stared at Evan. His eyes stared back at me, and I watched a smile bloom on his face.
“You see what most miss.” He chuckled. “I don’t think anyone who has seen this photo realized the truth. No one but you.” He grinned as Marcus turned to stare at the screen.
“I don’t see it…” My father kept staring for another second.
I swallowed before I looked at the picture. “Her chest is broken open, and most of her organs are on display.” My voice was almost a whisper. “But her intestines were pulled out, and they are off to the side on the table.”
“You don’t have to explain it. We see what he did to her.” Marcus screamed.
“Do you know why someone might remove the intestines from a woman?” My words were soft, and Evan grinned.
“Men would miss the reason with all the rest going on.” Even leaned closer. “But you caught it.” His eyes searched mine. “Have you lived through the same experiment?” He licked his lips. “Vince said he had caught a female a few months back…Was it you?”
Marcus growled and slammed him back against the wall. “Who cares about the reason?” He screamed as his hand tightened again.
But it was Ronnie who let out a grunt as my father passed over the spot again. “Is that a fucking foot?” His finger pointed to the tiny shape pressed up against the thin membrane.
Everything stopped as the truth settled around the room.
Marcus cried as the truth sank in. “Who helped you?” His fist tightened around Evan’s throat again, and if I had been looking anywhere else, I would have missed it.
The tiny flick of his eyes to the left. Marcus screamed again.
“Who fucking helped you take my Sera and my grand pup and give them to the humans? Who helped you take her apart while she watched you? Who helped you betray me?”
Evan laughed. “That’s the part that stings the most, isn’t it, Marcus? You thought we were all working together to betray the royals, and now you find out that it’s everyone for themselves?” Evan growled. “But you didn’t fucking flinch when you all voted against my son’s pack.”
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Marcus screamed.
“When Garith picked the first packs to be attacked by the rogue pack.” Evan screamed. “You all voted against my son. I begged for more time to turn him. But what did you say?” Evan leaned in with a wide. “What did you say, Marcus?”
“I don’t remember; it was twenty years ago.”
“You said it wasn’t personal.” Yarrow offered. “We needed to attack those loyal to the King, and it wasn’t personal with Evan’s son, but he made his stance clear.”
Evan leaned into Marcus and snapped his teeth.
“Exactly.” His dead eyes turned murderous.
“You took my pup from me.” His fangs descended.
“So when Garith came to me, to tell me the humans wanted wolves to do experiments on, I made sure Sera was the first to be taken.” Evan’s face settled. “A pup for a pup.”
“She was pregnant!” Marcus howled.
“So was my son’s Luna.” Evan snapped back. Before anyone could think, he darted in, fangs flashing. Blood arced up, and Marcus let out a garbled cry. Evan dropped the chunk of flesh he had trapped between his fangs.
Marcus pulled his hand back and slammed his shifted claws straight through Evan’s chest. “If I’m dying…
” He gasped. “So are you.” He struggled to pull his hand back out, but with a final wrench, Marcus stumbled back against me.
He sagged against my body, Evan’s heart still clutched in his hand.
Evan looked down at the hole in his chest and chuckled.
He looked over at Theo. “Don’t think that just because we are dying you get off scot-free.
Theo knows everything about the humans.” Evan turned to me, and for the first time since he had come into the office.
“We underestimated you.” He chuckled again, and blood poured from his lips.
“I left everything in my safe at home.” He turned to Rowan.
“I regret it.” He struggled for a breath and looked back at me.
“Do you think she will forgive me?” The two men dropped before I could answer.
Ronnie snorted. “Did he really ask if the Goddess would forgive him as he died?”
I shook my head no. “He wasn’t asking about the Goddess.” I turned to look at my uncle. “He was asking about his mate.”
“What?” Ronnie furrowed his brow. “But we didn’t talk about his mate.” He looked around the room. “Did I miss something?”
My father chuckled. “If you rebelled against the King, and because of it, your only pup was murdered in an attack orchestrated by said rebellion…wouldn’t you worry about what your mate would say when you saw her in the afterlife?”
Ronnie thought for a second before he winced. “Tina would kill me.” He paused. “Again.”
My dad just nodded before turning back to the two men left in the room. “Theo…I think I have a lot of questions for you.” My dad’s smile was terrifying.
Theo growled. “You can’t do anything to us. We have guards.” He smirked as he tried to mind-link them.
Yarrow backed away from everyone. “Guards.” He screamed, and I covered my ears. “Guards.”
I turned to Rowan. “You took advice from these men?” My voice was laced with confusion and judgement. Rowan just snorted out a chuckle.
“They came off smarter when I was younger.” He defended himself, and it was my time to chuckle.
“Sure they did.” I turned back to Yarrow. “The room is sealed, remember. Dumbass. No sound in, no sound out.” I shook my head. Theo stared at the door expectantly. “You can stare at the door all you want; no one is coming.”
Theo’s head snapped towards me. “What do you mean?”
I grinned. “Did you not wonder why I was more than happy to seal the room?” I tilted my head. “Or why you have had no one mind-link you about how the extermination was going?”
Theo stilled. “We told them only to mind-link us if it was necessary.”
I nodded. “But radio silence for this long?” I raised my eyebrows. “Or is it more likely that your plan failed?”
Yarrow screamed again. “Guards.” His back hit the wall, and he slid to the door, trying the handle.
“That won’t work either.” I scratched behind my ear.
“What did you do?” Yarrow kept trying the knob. “Turn off whatever soundproofing system you are using.”
My dad looked at me. “Soundproofing system?”
I smiled as I walked back to the desk and opened the top drawer, pulling out the useless fake control panel. “This?” Yarrow and Theo both froze.
“We saw you press the buttons.” Theo shook his head.
“You saw me press this useless thing.” I nodded.
“But you missed the whispered spell.” I turned back to the two men with a bright smile.
“Did you think the twins and Verity were the only ones with magic?” I laughed.
“Come now…you can’t be this old and that foolish.
” I waved a hand, and a ball of light shone in my palm.
“You are a witchling.” Theo whispered in horror.
“So is he.” I nodded to my dad. The two men choked on whatever they were going to say. My dad formed his own ball of light. “Did you ever wonder why he was always protected?”
Theo and Yarrow looked at each other. Yarrow was the first to ask the question. “Our guards?” I waved a hand, dropped the sound shield and the mind-link block. The screams that ricocheted around the room had the two of them dropping to their knees. “No.”
I nodded. “Your plan to kill us, and sever our karmic bonds with our wolves — well obviously that’s no longer happening.” I grinned. “Rowan’s Elite guard and our pack took care of your guards.”
“And we took the spear back.” He grinned as he pulled it from his back pocket. He turned to my dad. “Thank you for hiding it.”
My dad waved him off. “It was easy.” My dad stood. “But before you use it on these two, I think we have a lot of unanswered questions to figure out.”
“You can’t use it on us!” Theo screamed.
Rowan just walked over to him and used the tip to raise Theo’s head. “You brought the spear here to kill my mate and sever her bonds with her wolves. I can do whatever I fucking want with you.”