Page 56

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Kaylee

The first man gasps awake, his confused eyes looking around the room until his gaze lands on his companions. The look of defeat that follows brings such joy to me that I wonder if he truly understands just how fucked they are.

“Why didn’t you just kill us?” he asks, sounding defeated.

“Because that’s not how we operate,” Amelia answers, stepping close and using her index finger to lift the man’s head from under his chin. Their eyes meet, and for a moment, I wonder if he will try and lunge for my alpha, but he just sits there, no fight left in him.

“Alpha Amelia, I assume?” The man asks, getting a smirk out of Amelia.

“The very same,” she answers, letting go of his chin and stepping back. The man sighs again, his eyes shifting to the unconscious woman. I see the look of longing in his eyes, the look of worry and fear—not fear for himself, but for her.

“Is she your mate?” I ask, stepping out from the side so the man can see me. Lucas reaches out to stop me, but I sidestep his grasp, sending my mate a warning glare. David pulls him back and shakes his head, his eyes glazing over. Ryder and Simon roll their eyes at Lucas trying to keep me at his side, but stay silent. They’re here as guards—they need to stay as stoic and unmoving as possible while we interrogate our first captive.

“She is,” the man answers, looking at Lucas and then at me. “I know you two. Lucas and Kaylee. Ramos really wants you two dead.” He laughs bitterly at the end of his statement.

“That man is a fool,” he continues. “I even told my alpha that joining up with him was a death sentence. I’ll tell you anything you like and accept any conditions you have. Just let my mate and her brother live.”

Shocked by the wolf’s honesty, I look to Amelia, who contemplates him. She signals for everyone except Simon and Ryder to leave the room.

“What do you think we should do?” David asks once we’re in the hallway. Amelia leans against the wall, deep in thought.

“Sounds like he hates his alpha. So we should hear him out and see if we should use him,” Amelia answers, looking at Lucas and me.

“What do you two think?” she asks.

I consider our options. We can use the wolf to our advantage in learning why they came here and who escaped, but leaving them all alive could become a risk.

“If we let them live, we’ll need to have them turn rogue first,” Lucas says quietly from beside me. “As long as they’re still part of their pack, we aren’t safe.”

“Lucas is right, but we must learn about their situation first. It’s clear these three are family, but we don’t know if they have pups at home in their pack. If we can find that out, we can agree about what to do next,” David chimes in.

Placing a hand on my stomach, I think about what I would do if I was captured and my pups were waiting for me at home. I know I would do anything in my power to get back to them, even if it meant giving up on my pack to become rogue, so maybe we can use this to our advantage.

“When we go in, can I take the lead?” I ask, looking at Amelia. She looks at me, her eyes searching mine for a moment before nodding.

“Go ahead. It seems like you have a plan,” she answers, a soft smile on her lips.

We return to the interrogation room. The man is still the only one awake, and as everyone spreads out around the room, I stand in the middle of all three of them.

“Have you all made a decision?” the man asks, his head hanging down, his words neither overbearing nor servile. He seems resigned to his fate as long as his mate and brother-in-law live.

“We have,” I answer, giving him a small smile. “But first, may I know your name? You already know ours, so it seems unfair not to know yours.” The man jerks his head, taken aback by my request. It seems he didn’t expect us to be so polite to prisoners.

“I’m Hale Jefferson,” Hale answers with a low voice. “The she-wolf is my mate, Inda Jefferson, and the male is her brother Zach Winston.”

I nod, keeping my eyes on the man as I open a link with David.

[See if Alexander can find out who these wolves are,] I inquire, catching David’s slight nod in response.

“There’s no need to have someone look into us. We’re members of Canine Sun,” Hale says, his eyes meeting mine. Taken aback by his honesty, David links me and says he will ask Alexander to see if what Hale says is true and keep him talking in the meantime, as it might take ten minutes.

“Well, Hale,” I begin, watching his body for any signs of dishonesty. “Do you and Inda have any pups?”

Hale’s eyes widen again before he turns to look at his mate. The sadness returns for a moment, and I wonder if maybe he’d lost a pup. I can’t imagine the pain he’s going through if this is true.

“We have one. A girl,” he answers with a sigh of defeat, tears welling in his eyes. “Right now, our alpha and Luna are holding her hostage while we work on this mission he sent us on. It’s been just over a week since we last saw her.”

A growl ripples through the room, and Lucas strides out. His anger is palpable as I instinctively place a hand on my stomach. The thought of someone holding another wolf’s pup hostage just to get them to do their bidding is reprehensible.

“I am guessing you are with pup by how Lucas reacted to this news.” It’s a statement, not a question. I find myself turning to look at Hale, who gives me a small smile, and for a moment, I wonder just how I should answer. Given how Lucas and I had acted, there’s no way to deny it, but I also didn’t want to confirm it and have the news sent to our enemies.

“If you can help me save our pup, I promise to tell you everything I know about the alliance between Oak Fur, Canine Sun, Snarling Claws, Night Moon, and Fanged Growl. I’ll even identify the bodies of the dead and let you know who escaped the fight alive,” Hale offers.

The deal Hale offers is too good to be true. We’ve gained a lot of information from the hacked message channel we managed to access, but having inside knowledge from a wolf in one of our enemy packs would be a boon for our battle ahead.

[Alexander says the three of them are indeed from Canine Sun. He also confirmed that they have a daughter,] David calls out through our link.

[So what should we do then?] I ask, keeping my gaze on Hale’s hopeful eyes.

“We accept your terms. I’ll send a team to save your pup as long as you help us, starting now,” Amelia states, stepping away from the walls to stand beside me. “We just have one condition.”

“What is that condition, Alpha Amelia?” Hale asks.

The door slams open, and Lucas walks inside. In his hands are similar collars to the one Devon had worn around his neck, and I sigh with relief.

“I won’t ask you to become rogue, as your alpha will feel it, putting your pup in danger. But I insist that you all wear these collars. It’s the only way we can trust you,” Amelia says.

Lucas stands beside her, his jaw clenched and anger radiating from him. I know some of that anger is directed at Hale due to his invasion of our pack, but the majority is for the Alpha of Canine Sun. I have a feeling that we’ll need to take out the alpha and Luna of that pack after we deal with Ramos and Marilyn.