Shattered (Complete) #Wattys2019

Chapter 3: Emerson

"I told you!" Alpha Donovan spat at the interrogator. "My mate is crazy. She's a danger to herself and others. That's why I locked her up."

I watched the questions continue from the other side of the two-way mirror. Donovan's dark brown hair was wild and his golden eyes showed the feral rage he wanted to let loose. However, the silver cuffs around his wrists kept his wolf at bay.

There was a small amount of pleasure I got from seeing the cuffs burn his flesh. I would never be able to forget the tiny, mutilated wrists of the girl left in a cell. Wrists damaged by Donovan's will. Whether he cuffed her or not, he was the alpha, he gave the order. I wondered just how long it would take for the alpha to crack? Would he hold up in a cell, chained with silver, left to starve and rot in the darkness with nowhere to go to do so much as relieve himself? Hell, he wouldn't last the day in interrogation.

Bryant was one of the best interrogators in the royal courts. There was no need for torture, the man had the patience of stone. He simply waited and kept pressing. He would get answers eventually. But there were so many questions that needed answering. Bryant had been smart enough to mix up the topics. Drilling on one thing, only to suddenly switch to something else most of the time the topics were meaningless to their goals. It was all to confuse the subject and keep his emotions of kilter, waiting for the pathetic alpha to slip up.

This was the long, slow part of a royal quarantine.

Every member had to be accounted for and separated into their homes. Higher ranked males and warriors were imprisoned in the pack prison. Families were allowed to stay in their own homes, under guard.

Each death that occurred during the raid had to be identified and documented.

Then the interrogators would arrive to start questioning members of the pack individually. Blah, blah, blah.

Fortunately, I didn't have to deal with most of that. My job was to escort the offending alpha of Blood Moon to Fenris Grove where he would wait to face his trial. The rest of the pack would remain in quarantine until the investigation and trial were over.

It made me wonder why wolves would be as stupid as to do anything that could result in such royal interference? It was a rare occasion, yet still it happened. What was ever worth the public disgrace that even a mere quarantine would cause, let alone the punishments for any crimes that brought such efforts onto their shoulders.

"What do you think about his excuses?" Jax asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't know yet. I withhold opinion until all of the evidence comes in."

"Well, we know he's lying about her hurting herself. There was no way that frail girl could kick herself in the ribs with a size ten boot that wasn't in the room."

I flinched. I hadn't forgotten the look of those bruises either. "Well, we still don't know why things happened the way they did."

"Are you excusing it?" Jax snapped his head at me. Disgust clearly written across his face.

I shook my head. "No. I'm just saying he may or may not be lying. Perhaps something did happen before that led him to lock her up for those reasons. Perhaps not. Neither answer changes the fact that he was the alpha who had sole access to her cell. He was responsible for the condition she was in when we found her. Those are the facts of that piece. We need to find the rest."

"And this is why you're Captain of the Guard. You are deadly unemotional when it comes to strategy, protection, and investigation. You get the job done and you do it right."

Unemotional? No. To the point. Yes.

I stayed focused because I cared. Even when it looked like I didn't. For all of his cockiness and power, I loved my brother, I loved my people. And I wanted to protect them all from psychotic assholes like Donovan. However, rushing into emotional decisions without all of the facts could lead to mistakes. Mistakes that could spark the hatred of more people who would challenge those I chose to protect. Doing the job right wasn't just a matter of detail or even pride, it was an offensive strategy to mitigate future risks.

"How is the girl?" I finally asked the question that had been nagging at the back of my mind.

Jax shrugged. "Lizzy's been sending me updates, but they're slow. The girl seems to go into a panic attack every time a male walks in the door. Not that Lizzy has gotten any information from her, the girl won't speak at all. But at least, she's not hyperventilating around my mate."

"What did that bastard do to scare her that much?" I asked rhetorically. I knew the beta wouldn't have an answer. "Were we able to confirm if she even is his mate?"

"Yeah. She bares his mark with his scent. Well, several of them. It's like he was making a point to his inner demons, marking her repeatedly."

I sucked in on my teeth. A small hissing sound passed through. Why in the hell would he do something like that? The first time the mark is created, it gives intense pleasure as the bond is seared into place. After that, it's just another bite to flesh. Damaging and painful. And it holds no purpose. "Another form of torture." My words hung in the air.

"Why won't you get it through your thick skull? Rose is crazy. She doesn't talk. She was unfaithful and tried to kill me by trying to kill herself. So, yeah, I locked her up where she couldn't do any more damage." Donovan growled.

Well, that was new information. I raised my brows.

So, that was the accusation he was going with? It did make sense, if that was all there was to it. However, the evidence of additional abuse, the lack of reasonable accommodations, the fact that the alpha had never sought royal assistance with the issue... that led me to think there was more to it than that.

But it was nice to finally have a name for the girl who was panicking in the hospital wing.

Rose.

I shot off a message to Liam to track down any records of a Rose in Blood Moon pack or any other pack close to it.

As expected, the interrogator didn't give anything away as he switched to another topic. "Well if you had a mate, then why were you sending your men out to hunt down female rogues?"

Ahh, back to the original charges.

"It's my right to defend my territory from other packs or rogues who want to cause problems." Donovan's demeanor changed. It was the first time the interrogator specified 'female' rogues. He was a smart enough man to see where the questions were leading.

He was trapped between two horrific crimes. Each made all the more appalling by the existence of the other.

"I'm headed to check on the girl. Why don't you come with me, see if we can get more answers?" Phalen called through the mind link, pulling me from watching the line of questioning.

Yeah, I needed a break. "Fine. But I'm not sure she'll be happy to see you."

"It was Liz's idea." He replied.

"On my way." I only paused to make sure Jax would remain and keep us up to date on the information being pulled apart piece by piece.

(Author's Note: I know that I haven't spent a lot of time describing my characters much. I let it flow as the characters themselves notice people and details. However, I do picture someone like Shemar Moore when I'm writing Jackson/Jax. I do not own the photos I post.)