“Why did you find her?” Morrigan said. He was dressed in all black, sitting on a big arm chair, a thick cigar burning furiously between his fingers. Beside him, was a fully grown wolf which was making a deep, throaty sound as it lay curled up on the thick rug.
Since the Blood River pack took over the town, they’ve all housed themselves in the edifice which formerly served as the gambling parlor.
The edifice was the biggest in the town and Morrigan, who had assumed the role of the pack Alpha, felt the edifice would serve them well. They’ve done some quick renovation and any other things they needed were being shipped for or brought from their former home in the woods.
“Outside the gate. I was coming back from the woods. The wolves were about to attack her. I called them off and brought her to you,” Valko, who was holding Selena by the arm, said. Then turning to her, he snarled, “Who are you and how did you get outside of the gate?”
“Speak up, girl!” Morrigan barked.
Selena did not say anything. The memories of how those evil wolves had lunged at her was still running around her skull.
“Won’t you speak up?” Valko demanded.
“Don’t worry, she will talk now,” Morrigan said and he made a soft clicking sound with his tongue against his teeth. Instantly, the wolf who had been eyeing Selena since she had been brought in stood up and began to move slowly forward. His gray eyes stared at her, his lips off his teeth in a threatening snarl that made Selena back away. “Just so you know, it hasn’t been fed. If you don’t talk, I assure you that my little friend here will eat you alive.”
The sight of the wolf sent a gripping white shock of fear into her. Selena began to talk earnestly “I was dropped there,” she said, her voice trembling. “Caesar asked one of his men to drop me here”
“Caesar?” Morrigan raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, Caesar,” she said evenly.
“Then it’s safe to say he’s still alive?” Morrigan asked.
Selena nodded her head.
“He’s very much alive.”
A frown creased Morrigan’s face. He was silent for a long moment. Then he finally said;
“It seems you know so much. I would like to hear from you. How do you know Caesar ? Why did he drop you at the gate? Who are you in this town? We are here to help you. But before we help, you’ve got to tell us everything. Just give us the whole story about what happened between you and Caesar , that’s all,”
“Come on,” Valko said and gave Selena’s arm a little squeeze. “Go on, talk”
Selena shook her head miserably.
“It’s so much. It’s just so much. I don’t know where to start “and she put her hands to her face.
“Well, you’ve got to talk,” Valko said impatiently. “If you don’t talk, then you are useless to us. And useless people don’t always stay alive for long,”
At that moment, Sam Wesley ambled into the room with a tray of food. When he saw Selena, the tray fell off from his hands. The jarring sound made everyone stiffened with shock.
“What the hell old man?” Morrigan exploded at him, his face, black with fury.
“Selena…….Selena,” Sam was pointing a trembling finger at her. “It’s Selena! It’s daughter”
“Dad!” Selena screamed. She jerked out her hand from Valko’s grip. Wide eyed, She ran madly to Sam and flew into his open arms. She threw herself at him. He nearly fell off from the impact. “Oh, dad! dadI miss you! I thought you were dead,” she wailed.
“Oh boy, aren’t I glad to see you, my little girl,” he said, smiling down at her face.
“Oh, dad, I thought you were dead,” she said breathlessly. Her voice broke. “I didn’t think you I was ever going to see you anymore,”
“Well, you’re wrong. I’m still alive and kicking well, my beautiful Selena,” and holding her at arm’s length, he was surprised to see how mature and ruddy her face is, “You’ve really taken good care of yourself. Why, you looked so beautiful.”
Her hand went to her mouth.
“Don’t say that, dad. It isn’t true, I look dirty and all roughened up,” she said, smiling tearfully.
“You are my daughter, Selena and you will always be beautiful to me,” he said evenly.
“Well if you say so,” she said indignantly. She looked down and for the first time her eyes took note of the food and broken glasses on the floor. “But dad, what are you doing here? What’s with the food and tray?”
Morrigan cleared his throat. Father and daughter jerked their heads to him as if just remembering that they were not alone.
“I’m sorry, but we would like to understand what this is all about?” Morrigan said. He pointed a finger at Selena. “You know her?” He was asking Sam.
Sam nodded vehemently “She’s my daughter,” he said evenly.
“On the level?” Morrigan asked.
“Yeah, on the level,”
Morrigan thought about this for a moment. He didn’t quite see any resemblance between the father and the daughter but he kept his thoughts to himself.
“Well in that case you should thank her for coming at the right moment in saving her life. It would be such a great shame to see such beauty go to waste,” he was looking at Selena now, his black eyes expressionless.
“Thank you very much sir for saving my daughter. I’m really grateful,” Sam said to Valko and he really meant it.
Valko grunted in response.
“You’ve not told me what my Dad is doing here for you?” Selena said, narrowing her eyes at Morrigan.
“He’s our little chef here and he does some valet stuff on the side.” Morrigan smiled with his tight mouth. “When we took over the town, we needed someone to oversee things for us till we got our shits together. Sam here, proved willingness and resourcefulness,”
“My father is not one valet! He’s a bartender and a damned good one at that!” Selena said curtly, thinking how her father must have been slaving for them all these while. “And look at him, he’s such an old man. All he needs is his food, a little sunshine and a good rest. Not monkeying around for some wolves and…..,,,,,,,,,” but her father interrupted her.
“Selena,” Sam said calmly and he gripped her hand. “That’s enough. The people here I’ve been really kind to me. Please daughter, don’t let us be ungrateful,” then turning to his face to Morrigan, “Please,forgive my daughter. You see, she is very tough and haughty. She has a way with words. But she’s just a little girl. And she doesn’t mean anything she saying,”
“I can see she’s a spitfire,” Morrigan said, jeering light in his eyes. “But tell her to watch her tongue. We don’t accommodate rubbish talk here. Especially for someone who should be grateful that her life was saved by those people who she wants to be trash talking,” he was staring coldly at Selena. She returned his look with a defiant expression but said nothing. Now that we’ve settled that, can we move on to pressing issues?” He jerked his head to Valko.
Valko nodded and turned to Selena.
“You’ve not answered our questions. Why did Caesar drop you off at the gate? What are you to him? A mistress?”
“I’m not his mistress and I can never be,” Selena retorted.
“Then what is it?” Valko fired back.
“Sam!” Morrigan rapped out, anger in his voice. “If your daughter doesn’t open her goddamned mouth and tell us what we need to know. I’m gonna feed her to Nyx here,” he gestured at the wolf whose eyes were on Selena and Sam.
“Don’t be stubborn, Selena. Tell them what they need,” Sam urged, terribly worried.
“Tell them what, dad?” Selena said impatiently.
“Tell us anything! Tell us why you were with Caesar. You weren’t part of the people we met here after the fight. So it means you weren’t in town before and after the whole fight. So give or Nyx will be snacking on your bones before sundown,”
“Alright, alright,” Selena said curtly. She drew in a long, slow breath. Then she went on to tell them everything that happened between her, Caesar, the cell, Dvorak and Victor. The only thing she left out was the fact that she was pregnant. How could she bring herself to tell her that she was pregnant? What will they think? Most especially her father? He would definitely hit the roof.
The room was very still and tense by the time she finished talking.
“Why, that little rat,” Sam said angrily. “That bastard swore he had no idea of your sudden disappeArance,”
“You mean to tell us Victor is still alive?” Morrigan said, an expression of surprise on his black face.
“He’s alive. He’s been kept in a kind of house in the woods. Dvorak is with him there. Torturing him,”
“But what the hell has Dvorak Zimmerman got to do with all these? How did Caesar get to him?” Sam whined.
“Let me do the questioning, old man,” Morrigan said stiffly. Then turning to Selena , he said. “Are you assuring me Victor is still very much alive?”
“She he is,” she replied.
“What about Helldog? Caught a whiff of him?” Morrigan asked.
“I don’t really know who that is. I only know about Victor,” she replied.
Morrigan thought about this for a moment, then said;
“You know we thought they were all dead. Victor, Helldog and the other werewolves of our pack. Before we attacked the town, we splitted into two teams. Helldog and Victor and two others went to Caesar’s mansion. The rest of us attacked the town. After the whole fight when Helldog and Victor didn’t come back, we thought they were dead. We scrounged the whole woods for their bodies. During that time, we came upon a cabin in the woods. And we found this,” he paused, as he took out something from his pockets. He showed it to them. The gold chain attached to it was an ivory tusk. Selena recognized it at once. “We found this inside the cabin,”
“It’s mine! I gave it to Victor,” she gasped, her eyes wide.
Sam was abashed. The expression on his face was a blend of bewilderment and indignation.
“Selena, why would you do that? I gave you this necklace for keepsake. It was meant for you. To protect you,”
“I know dad, I know,” Selena said miserably. “But I couldn’t help it at that time. Victor needed it more than I do,”
Sam looked at her sadly but said nothing.
“It wouldn’t be bad if I hold onto this for sometime. Of Course I would give you back when things have been sorted out,” Morrigan said evenly.
Selena regarded him for some moments, then shrugged.
“You can hold on to it as long as you like,”
Morrigan gave a sly smile. The chain disappeared into his pants pockets.
“Sir, if Victor is still alive, then we have to rescue him,” Valko said, there was worry in his deep set eyes.
“Of course! That we must do,” Morrigan said, but enthusiasm was lost in his voice. He turned to look at Selena. “I believe you and Victor had something going?” When she nodded, he went on “
Do you know it was because of you we attacked Fur Rivers?”
Selena stiffened.
“What? She gasped.
“The last fight was all about you,”
“That can’t be true.” Sam offered. “Your wolf pack always attacks our town. We are used to it. You guys have always wanted this town back. I know the history of this town, so I understand your sentiments. But telling us now my daughter is the reason behind the the attack is like pissing on our head and telling us it’s rain,”
Morrigan scoffed.
“Just like your daughter, you don’t know Jack! Yes, you are right. The Blood River pack has been attacking your town. But you see this last attack, Victor was the one who made us do it. In Fact he gave us the whole drill that made it work. And he did it all because of you” he pointed at Valko. “He was present that day when Victor came to us. He wanted us to help him in rescuing you from Caesar . Because of you, he returned back to the pack. He didn’t want to return to the pack. But because of you, he had to join the pack. This last fight was for you, girl. You owe Victor,”
Selena stood there, looking at Morrigan wordlessly. Her tongue felt like a strip of dry leather in her mouth. Sam on the other hand, had turned whitish green.