Chapter 71 She knows the truth
"No way," Lucas stated. "No fucking way would she do this? Braelyn works her ass off with us. She takes care of the pack, and she's earned our respect because of it. She would sooner cut off her own hands than hurt our people."
"And yet she threw away her mate? She lied to the pack about Saint, and she allowed her father to sell him and his friends. Braelyn committed the worst crime she could by lying to her pack about her true soul mate," Carleigh in- jected, her anger rising at what had been done to me and the others. “Did you know she knowingly denied her mate?"
"Yes," Lucas stated, causing my eyes to narrow on him. "I knew she had a mate and that it was you, Saint. Braelyn didn't deny it to me when I asked. She said if you love something, you protect it, even if you have to protect it from yourself and the monsters within your glass house."
"Which leads me to believe she knew exactly what was happening in her home and on her mountain," Xariana injected smoothly. "Others have told me the same thing. Why would she say that unless she was aware of what her father was doing and that he was a monster?"
Lucas sat down, his face scrunching up at Xari's words. His dark head shook, but he couldn't argue it; no one could. My stomach tightened, and a vice clenched around my heart. We'd been questioning the pack about Brae, and everyone said the same thing. Brae never argued that her father was a monster, backing that opinion up with her own words.
"We believe there's another lodge somewhere on this mountain. We don't have very long before winter comes, and it goes without saying the children won't survive without food until spring. We must find them soon before the snow comes," I stated, changing the subject from Braelyn.
“I can send my sons out, but I can confirm already that there's no hidden lodge on the mountain." A silver-haired alpha stated, his light blue eyes holding mine briefly. "We've patrolled the area for many years. There's no secondary lodge, at least not above ground."
I turned his words over in my head before exhaling slowly. Moving my attention to the monitors showing the children huddled in groups, I studied the area around them. We were missing something, and time was running out.
Sliding my gaze over the walls behind them, I paused.
"It could be underground. Maybe that's why we can't locate them. We've been looking for a lodge, not considering they could be beneath the surface. It would explain not being able to smell or catch their scents. They're fucking underground, which means they're freezing, and we're losing our window to save them," I exhaled, glancing at the monitors and studying the way the women clustered around the children, using their body heat to keep them from freezing.
We'd assumed they were their mothers, but looking at them now, it was doubtful; they seemed too young to have children of their own. Tragedy and fear created bonds between the victims, just as it had my crew, Carleigh, and me. Pushing my fingers through my hair, I schooled my expression to cover the fact that we were losing the fight because time wasn't something we had.
"What we discussed here tonight doesn't leave this room. That's an order as your alpha," I announced.
"That's a shit order. If Brae is in on this, we deserve to know," one of the al- phas growled, his red eyes meeting and holding mine. "If she is involved, we've been working side-by-side with someone who has betrayed us. I will not respect a woman who sells her people, let alone bow to the bitch."
"Agreed," another stated, forcing my gaze to slide over the men seated against the wall.
"We don't know the level of her involvement yet. Until we know for sure, Braelyn is considered innocent," I warned. "She is my mate, and if she is found guilty, I will take her life. That is my vow to you. Her punishment is mine to give. As her mate, it is my right to handle her how I see fit. Until I say other- wise, she isn't to know that we're aware of what was happening here. I don't want to give her the chance to cover her tracks or hide anything from me. It could be that she's unaware of what her father did, as you all were."
"Or it could be that she was a knowing participant. After all, she sent you into slavery to star in several porn and snuff films," Carleigh sneered, her lips tilting into a cocky smirk. "I'm biased, though, since I've tasted her mate and crave him for myself."
I studied Carleigh for a moment before dismissing her to excuse the alphas from the room. Ezekiel and Enzo approached slowly, staring at the monitors that showed the room filled with children of varying ages.
"There are ways to get answers out of your mate quickly. Let us play with her, and she'll tell us everything you want to know," Enzo stated, his lips curv ing into a deadly grin.
I snorted, studying the Gemini twins. They were incubus demons, who fed off sex, and they ran a club that was known for granting people their deepest, darkest fantasies. I'd often heard the rumors of how they seduced their prey, and once they had them in their thrall, both would feed on the same victim. They always asked for consent and were never denied.
We'd actually encountered the twins on a hunt where they'd been tracking down a child that was stolen from one of their hives. Cocky, arrogant, evil pricks they were, but they had heart, and we shared the same goals to stop the traf- ficking. Or at least when it suited them and fit within their terms. Witches were their hard limit, hating them with a vengeance due to a curse in which they weren't eager to share the details.
"I'm going to pass on letting you fuckers get close to Braelyn. No offense, but if she isn't guilty, I don't want her craving you twisted assholes once you've finished corrupting her."
"We'd play nice with her," Ezekiel promised with a grin. "No, we really wouldn't. My brother is lying. Your mate would be ours for- ever because you'd never satisfy her once we'd given her our love," Enzo bragged.
"Yo! Ying and Yang, fuck off. Braelyn is Saint's mate; not a plaything," Eryx snapped, his gaze on Carleigh, who stood beside me, anger oozing from her pores as she glared at me. "You too, sweetheart," he laughed. "You can play with me, though, Car. I will enjoy giving you what you crave. Let me hurt you, and you can act like you don't like it rough for me. What do you say?"
"Fuck off, Eryx. You know I only play hard to get for Saint," she snorted. "He isn't interested in playing with you anymore. He has Braelyn, and their bond-it's absolute. You're not even on his radar as long as she lives." "As long as she lives, which at the moment, doesn't seem likely," Carleigh smarted off, turning to look at me. "I'm hoping she's found guilty sooner rather than later. I miss being yours, Saint." Carleigh pushed her hair over her shoulder before starting toward the door and slipping out of the room.
My stare slid to Eryx, who smirked the moment he noted the anger burning in my eyes. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"Killing two birds with one stone," he snorted. "Piss off the hound, and she may nip at the heels of the wolf. You're the one who fucked a hellhound and then invited me to play with her. Carleigh came here for you, and you know it. She's going to be gunning for Brae, and wanting her to be guilty, Saint. You invited a jealous bitch onto your playground, and Brae doesn't even know she's here yet."
"Maybe I should be using Carleigh to get Braelyn to unleash her anger? Women often let their words go when they're upset or jealous," I mused as Xari lifted a blonde eyebrow at my suggestion.