[Kieran's POV]
"I have a mate!" Those words rang again and again in my head as I tried processing what she had just blurted out. That wasn't possible; it couldn't have been. I felt the bond, the pull. It was strong. My wolf hadn't reacted to anyone else's the way it reacted to her, so how could she not be mine? How was this possible—her having a mate already?
My jaw clenched as I took a step backward, my hands dropping away from her. I shouldn't have acted the way I did; I had thought this was the right time, but just what was I doing? I was here to capture the mastermind, not... even so, it came bitterly in my presence.
This time, I leaned in closer to her ear. "You better protect him, and don't let me find out who he is..." I whispered before making my way out of the room, leaving her.
"Should we have her detained, Alpha?" the soldiers that had brought her in questioned. They were standing at my room doorsteps.
"Leave her. I want you to find out the man who reported her and every detail about him..." I ordered, stepping out of the motel. "Damn it!" I reacted, yelling, my clenched fist slamming against the wall as a little blood trickled down, splattering on the ground.
I made my way, walking on the street after cleaning the little blood that dropped from my injured hand.
Deciding to check out the town, maybe that would help me get my mind off things for now. As then, the incident of last night hit me—of me watching one of those elder wolves coming out of a barn.
I wanted to check out what was inside there, but would me going now be the best idea? It was still the afternoon, and I would possibly be seen entering the barn. There was nothing wrong there; I mean, I was here to investigate after all, but for the best, I think I should take my soldiers and Beta along.
I remained in one spot, my gaze scanning the crowd as some walked by, buying some stuff. The way they acted as though everything was so perfect bothered me. I made my way into the town's bar, hoping for a drink at least.
I sat in front of the bartender. "A glass, please..." I requested. He gave a nod, pouring me a glass. I gulped up the whole glass in a single second and requested another.
The town's bar was known to entertain visitors, or so I had heard. But a thought of mine made me wonder if there was really more to this.
"Three glasses for our darling gentlemen," I heard a voice followed by the chuckle of the men seated. My gaze landed on the same she-wolf I had noticed beside the same wolf I thought was my mate, Elara, or so was her name.
So the two must be close. I stood up, approaching her, but the moment our gaze met, I watched her pick up, making a run for it.
But I blocked her path, pinning her against the wall. The whole crowd went silent.
"Let me go," she struggled against my grasp, but why was she running all of a sudden? I only reacted to my instinct to stop her on her track; could it be she was possibly hiding something?
"I saw you the other night with Elara. Who are you?" I questioned, but she left no response to my question, only grunts as she struggled further.
"I don't plan on using any type of force since I don't see you as a threat, but don't let the table turn," I warned.
As she slowly gave in, I released my grasp on her.
"So speak, why were you two leaving the town?" I asked.
That was a question I still wasn't able to answer, and I thought she would be able to do that.
"She wanted to leave," she blurted out in whispers.
"Why?" I questioned.
"I don't know. She only came that night in a hurry, requesting I help her. I only did what I did since she was a close friend," she explained.
"Alright then, I will buy that for now," I said, taking a glass of wine from one of the tables and gulping it up before smashing the glass on the ground. I made my way outside the bar.
Even with my wolf bond and all, she was still a mystery I couldn't deny. She wasn't a native of this town, as I had heard, so where did she possibly come from?
"Alpha! Alpha!" I heard my name being called as I watched some of my soldiers making their way to my side in a hurry.
"What happened?" I questioned as I watched them gasp for breath before they eventually uttered, "We have him already, Alpha. The man you requested we dig on and restrain, he's somehow involved in the missing wolf case, Alpha."
Honestly, I never thought I would have a lead already in just a day. I had only requested that since he had accused Elara of stealing, but I could tell from her eyes that she didn't. She couldn't have, so I needed to know why he would have framed her, as she had said, but I got lucky instead.
"Have you restrained him?" I questioned, and they gave a nod. "Yes, Alpha. He tried running away, but we arrested him before he could do that," one of my soldiers said.
"Let's go," I ordered as I made my way with them, leading me to the room where they had him restrained.
Entering, my gaze landed on him, tied against a chair, his lips silenced with a paper tape.
That was for the best, at least for what I was planning on doing. Getting the truth from trash like them wasn't going to be easy. I would have to force it out, and I wouldn't want the town people hearing those ugly screams of his.
I approached his side and could notice the sweat that dripped down his forehead as his eyes widened with him trying to utter some words from those sealed lips of his.
"I won't be asking you twice," I said, taking some tools that were placed on a table beside me. "Tell me everything you know about this mastermind, and I promise to take it easy on you."
That was the only privilege I would be giving him. I also didn't plan on getting myself messy, but to uphold my father's name and my pack's honor, I had to find out the truth sooner. I can't fail.
"If you want to talk, two fingers up." I hesitated for a while, hoping he would really make this easy and cooperate, but I should never have expected that.
I only heard a slight chuckle from those sealed lips. He was laughing; honestly, to think he would be able to manage that, knowing the situation he found himself in, possibly he must be looking down on me.
I striked the sharp blade into his left palm as I twisted the blade. He screamed out in pain, but his words were silenced.
"Perfect," I said, drawing the blade out only to strike it again, this time in his right hand, as I twisted it. His blood was spraying all over, and some splattered on my face.
"I am giving you a last chance here to come clean. I want you to tell me everything you know, and then we can stop all this, but if you won't, then I am helpless." I said, tossing the bloodstained blades to a side.
"Now let's do this again. If you are ready to talk, leave two nods." I said, watching those tears that trailed down his eyes. But seriously, was this so painful to him? If what I had heard was true, what they do to those they had kidnapped, the rumors that their organs were probably being sold, then this was little compared to all that.
A side of me was hoping he wouldn't utter a word as I smiled, watching him chuckle again.
"I am really starting to enjoy this now," I said as I turned to the table, my hands picking up some of the instruments, only to pause on a pointed rod heater, one that I gave my soldiers to have heated up, as it was brought back, the edge heating red.
The mere heat it emitted was enough to leave a small burn on me. I wondered how this would do to him. It would be nice to see how strong he could hold up.
His eyes widened when I drew the rod close to his cheek as he struggled against the chair he was bound to. "Mm... n... mm," he mumbled.
"That's not the signal I am looking for," I said.
If he wasn't going to talk, then I should probably make him unable to talk again.
"Alpha!" I heard a voice that stopped me as I caught sight of my Beta, Lincoln, standing there.
"You can't kill him, Alpha," he said, but I was never planning on killing him. That would have been an easy death, one that he doesn't deserve in the slightest.