Walking through the first floor of the dungeon brought back unwelcomed memories. Memories that made me want to become a stronger she-wolf, a stronger Beta. I am glad that unlike those cells Rune, Caspian, and I were held in as pups, going through the life of prisoners just for the greed of a pack of Rogues, these cells were kept clean thanks to Quincy. I am glad that my Pack agrees that no matter who it is, everyone deserves a clean-living space even if that person is a prisoner.
Now, staring at the man cuffed to the interrogation chair, I feel my anger and hatred replace the discomfort I feel. This wolf came to us as a Rogue from the Council. Came to our Pack pretending to be excited to join and then turned out to be a spy for Valor, giving that vial man information of Goddess knows what about Crescent Phoenix. Who knows, they could be on their way here, ready to take us out in our sleep without notice.
[So why do you need the ice?] I link Gale, getting a deep chuckle from him, the only sound in the room. There is a silent agreement between the five of us that we do not talk until it is time to interrogate our captive. Anything we say, no matter how benign the information is, could be relayed back to Valor through Devlyn.
[For interrogation purposes.] He answers, piquing my curiosity further.
[It’s a tactic your father used. He would put our captive’s feet into ice water, inject wolfsbane into them, and wait for an hour. If the captive was willing to talk, we would remove their feet from the water and allow them to say their piece.] Gale continues, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
[If they refused to talk, well let's just say some ended up having their toes amputated from the frostbite.] Quincy’s face scrunches in disgust at this information, making Gale and Asteria chuckle. Devlyn’s head snaps up, his eyes darting to each one of us in fear before Rune growls again, causing Devlyn to lower his head only for it to pop back up when the door opens behind Rune and me.
“Rune, I brought the –” Ashton begins to say, his words being cut off. His nostrils flair as he looks around the room, the ice buckets falling to the ground with a loud bang, and ice spills over. Shocked, I move to help my friend when he lets out a feral growl, his body shaking as his eyes zero in on Devlyn.
“Brynlee.” He calls my name through gritted teeth, his eyes never leaving Devlyn.
“Who is that?” Ashton continues. His skin ripples as if Ashton is fighting his body to stay put and for a moment I wonder if my friend is okay.
“I’m Devlyn.” Devlyn calls out before anyone can say anything. His voice is low, his eyes filling with grief and confusion as he takes in Ashton. Before anyone could do anything, Ashton has turned on his heels and rushed out the door. Shocked, I move to run after my friend and see what is wrong but a deep chuckle from the man cuffed to the chair stops me mid-step.
“To think I would find my Mate here. Not only that, but my Mate is a male.” Whirling on my heels to stare at Devlyn, my mind feels like it is lagging from this new information.
“You’re lying.” Quincy scoffs out, crossing his arms over his chest while glaring at Devlyn.
“I’m not. His scent is delectable to me.” Devlyn says with a shiver, his confusion turning into a look of longing. No one says anything, too stunned to interrogate Devlyn now knowing that he may be the Mate of our friend. Deciding I need to ask Ashton for the truth, I open the link between him and me.
[Ashton?] I call out tentatively.
[I am upstairs. I just need a moment.] Ashton replies quickly with a shaky voice.
[It’s true then.] I sigh, feeling Rune pull me closer while I focus on linking my friend.
[If that Rogue told you we are Mates, it's true.] Ashton confirms, his voice wavering. I sense the sadness in the link, sense the unsureness inside him. Ashton just found his Mate and he is our prisoner.
[Do you want to come talk to him? I am sure he will tell us the truth with you here.] I question, giving Ashton the chance to decide on his own.
[I…I can’t Brynlee. I may end up rejecting him.] I sigh, feeling all eyes on me as I tell Ashton it’s okay before closing our link. The situation has now become a lot more complicated with this revelation and I know that interrogating Devlyn might be a lot harder.
“He isn’t coming back, is he?” Devlyn calls out sadly, closing his eyes.
“No.” I confirm. Devlyn nods, sadness rippling off of him.
“You know, I thought I would find my Mate once I completed the requirements to dissolve the blood pact Valor forces onto me.” Devlyn chuckles out, a lone tear slipping down his face.
“I didn’t think I would meet them this way” Looking at the hopelessness in Devlyn, I wonder if he had any choice in spying on us. He was sent here by Valor; a man we all know is cruel and ruthless. Maybe, like all of us, he had no choice in the matter.
“Valor forced a blood pact onto you?” Jett is the one to ask, the man stepping closer to Devlyn and giving him a sympathetic smile.
“He did. It was a few weeks ago.” Devlyn answers, eyes still closed.
“He originally sent me to find out who the Alpha and Beta of Crescent Phoenix are. There had never been a female Alpha ruling a Pack, let alone a female being the main Beta.” No one speaks as Devlyn takes a shaky breath. He knows there are two options left for him. Be tortured and reveal the truth or reveal the truth now and have a chance to not be rejected by Ashton.
“Not only that but he wanted to know if Rune and Brynlee had taken refuge in Crescent Phoenix after the attack on Shadow Rose.”
“So you told him what he needed to know then?” This time I ask the question, all the hatred and anger I had for this man gone. Yes, he spied on us, but he is also a victim of Valor.
“Yes, I had to be careful with my words or the blood pact would cause me immense pain if Valor felt like the information but after telling him I told him who the Alpha and Beta were and that you and Rune were here, the blood pact dissolved and I was set free.” I scent the air, searching for any type of lie but come up empty. Devlyn is telling the truth thankfully.
“I was leaving today when Rune and the redhead here caught me. You can check my bag if you’d like, it has a cell phone Valor gave me.” Trying not to laugh at the way he calls Quincy ‘redhead’ with disdain in his voice, I look to Gale who has already walked towards a small table, a backpack sitting on top. After digging through it, Gale returns to our small group with a cell phone in hand and a smirk on his face.
“We will not be executing you since you’ve told the truth But we will be keeping you locked up until we have decided what to do with you.” Gale states, his eyes still glaring distrustfully at Devlyn.
“All I ask is that you tell my Mate I am sorry. I understand if he wants to reject me.” Devlyn says quietly, nodding his head respectfully towards Gale.
[Quincy, have a few wolves take him into one of the cells. He will be drugged with wolfsbane to keep him from shifting.] Asteria calls out through the link as she motions for us to leave. Rune and I are the first to exit the room, him not letting go of me.
[Already on it. I think we need to speak with Ashton first before we decide what to do.] Quincy answers with a grumble.
[I can do that, redhead.] I tease my friend, getting a growl from him. Gale chuckles, pointing out that Devlyn not knowing his name is a good thing to which Quincy reluctantly agrees.
[I am going to take the phone to our tech wiz. See if they can hack into Valor’s phone with it and fish out any plans of war before it comes our way.] Gale sighs through our link, our group of now six climbing the stairs and coming up inside the stone cottage to find Ashton leaning against the wall, his eyes red and puffy from obvious signs of crying. Asteria orders everyone to do their own duties, Rune being dragged off by Gale as I slowly make my way towards Ashton.
“Want to go for a drive?” I ask my friend, getting a small nod. He hands me the keys to my truck and the two of us leave the stone cottage behind. I know that Ashton is in pain, know that what my friend needs right now is a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen to him.