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Three hours of interrogation resulted in nothing m Neal's lips were tightly sealed. He made no attempts to answer any of my questions. Even when the guards were torturing him to the extreme upon Alpha Lucian's orders, he still stayed silent. He didn't even try to defend himself when I accused him falsely of the things he didn't do. It was a basic technique to make him at least start defending himself. He eventually passed out due to pain because I used the same trick on him that he used on me. His wolf was sleeping inside him and couldn't help him.
The guards dragged the bastard out of the hall where we were interrogating him toward the clinic in the dungeon. If his wolf wouldn't be woken up at this point, he would die and we would lose our only source of information about the recent events that had been occuring around the pack.
To all the interrogations Hank had done, Hank had connected many blind events with Neal as he was absent in all of those events. And he had no explanations about those events as well. I was shocked when he didn't even try to make an attempt to defend himself. As if someone was controlling his tongue.
I stepped out of the dungeon, lost in my own thoughts. Hank was waiting for me outside. “Did he say anything at all?” Hank asked me in a low tone as he saw me. I looked up and sighed in annoyance.
“You wouldn't believe it, Gamma. Bastard didn't even try to defend himself. Not even against the accusations that were falsely against him.” I replied to him in a low tone while my mind was running a hundred miles an hour just to think about one reason that might be forcing him to take everything on his head quietly.
The sound of Hank's chuckle pulled me out of the oceans of my thoughts. I looked at him with a confused look on my face. “What's the big deal then? Looks like he is owning his sins. Doesn't matter if he is actually saying it with his own mouth, unless he is defending himself.” Hank spoke in a calmed tone and I sighed in frustration. I knew, I should have been happier that Neal was finally going to pay for his crimes. But my subconscious just wouldn't let go of the real sense of justice.
“I don't know! I feel like there is something more to this story that we just can't see. And he is not telling us anything.” I spoke up whatever I had in my head. Hank laughed out loud as he heard me.
I was looking at his face with a confused pout on my face. “Look at you, trying to defend the bastard who nearly destroyed your life twice and tried to kill you twice within a year. You should be happy, not confused and frustrated.” Hank spoke in a low tone and I rolled my eyes at him.
“Anyways, I am going back to the pack house to tell Alpha Lucian everything. Then after lunch, I will join you for that market thing you were talking about this morning. The high price retailers.” I informed Hank as I was starting to talk away. He nodded his his head and went the other direction.
Lost in the same kind of thoughts, I made my way toward the pack house. I was not that far away from the pack house when I heard some commotion. When I looked up, I found a group of people gathered at a spot. Frowning in confusion, I walked toward the spot. My eyes widened in surprise when I found Gracie tied to the trunk of a tree while people were throwing mud on her. Her clothes were torn and her hair was cut uneven. Someone was punishing her.
I wanted to jump in and rescue her. She looked so depressed and sad. “Don't! If you keep on doing this, you will be known as a biased beta. It's not that far away from the pack house. So why don't you call Alpha Lucian and let him handle these extreme people?” Tala gave me the idea I could never have thought about.
I was the person who never would have thought that I would end up being the beta over the people who used to envy me whenever they used to see me walking around with Samael. Back then, I also used to think that I was so lucky. Little did I know, he was the bastard.
“Alpha Lucian, some people are bullying a woman. It's not far away from the pack house. They are literally torturing her and humiliating her openly. I thought it's better to inform you instead of jumping in since I am a beta. It's better if the Alpha is here to handle these kinds of people who likes to pass judgement upon people.” I informed Alpha Lucian through a mind link. I didn't receive his response. Though I knew he was on his way to the location.
Sensing my wolf, he reached the location within minutes. He howled loudly at the people and everyone froze. They turned around slowly as Alpha Lucian made his way toward Gracie. Looking at her, I felt sorry for everything she had started to endure because Neal chose her to be his personal plaything.
Alpha Lucian took his jacket off of his body then used his claws to break her free from the wolf's bane binds the bastards used to keep her in her place. I had endured those people when I was accused of seducing Dorian. I knew how unfair they could be.
Alpha Lucian covered her with his jacket and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Are you alright?” Alpha Lucian asked Gracie in a calmed tone, trying to help her calm down. I was standing afar from them. So I knew she wouldn't be able to see or sense me.
Because my wolf was an Alpha wolf, I could hear, smell or sense anyone from a distance that wasn't possible for a normal wolf to sense. That's why I could hear them clearly from even that distance. “I am fine. And let them kill me if they want. I deserve every bit of humiliation I am going through right now.” Gracie replied to Alpha Lucian in a sad tone. Her confession suddenly worried me. I didn't know what they did to her, for her to speak so lowly about herself.
I wanted to go there and console her. But my legs remained frozen in their place. I didn't know why it happened. “Why would you say such a thing? You know I can never let anyone hurt you. You are part of my pack. Just like all these bastards. Even if you have committed a crime, they still have no power to punish you or humiliate you in any way publicly. It's a forbidden act in my pack and among my people.” Alpha started off speaking on a soft tone when he was talking to Gracie. But the moment the daggers of his words turned to the group, he was growling angrily.
He made this a law after Neal had humiliated me openly the second time. Yes, Neal was not punished back then. And I felt betrayed because of that same reason. But I was able to forgive Alpha Lucian because he had passed this law over his land that no one would ever be allowed to humiliate or punish anyone, not even a criminal, publicly. And only upon alpha's orders, anyone would receive punishments. In his way, he had saved me. And that helped me grow those ticklish feelings for him in my chest.
Hearing Alpha Lucian, Gracie started sobbing even harder. Now I was worried sick about her. “You don't understand. I deserve everything they are doing to me.” Gracie repeated herself and my heart squeezed at the thought of Neal filling her head with lies.
“Now why would you say that, sweetheart! There is nothing you might have done to deserve such a thing. How can you deserve any of this?” Alpha Lucian asked her in a low tone while stroking her head gently, like a father who was consoling his child who was sad over a mistake he had made.
Looking at him all gentle and fatherly toward his people, always brought tears to my eyes. He was born to be an alpha. That's why he was the Alpha of the biggest pack of the werewolf kingdom. Had the biggest army, had a huge piece of land under his command that was thriving because of him.
Hearing Alpha Lucian's questions, one of the men stepped forward. That's when I realized, those were the people who came from the north and got settled in the south after alpha Lucian had taken over the Dark Wolf Pack. Those were actually Alpha Lucian's people.
“Let us tell you Alpha, why we did whatever we did. She gave Neal her shirt, covered with her blood to loore both you and Beta Eris toward your end. And she did it because she had a crush on Ramsay's younger son, Dorian. I can't believe someone can be as selfish and foolish as her. Neal and Samael were using her and she was ready to sacrifice the Alpha she submitted to and the brave woman who had saved not just her life, but her dignity and her virtue from those monsters.” My eyes widened in surprise when I heard all that.
It was no news for all those people. While people of the south thought of me as a traitor and hated me, people of the north thought of me as a brave woman. Because I had saved lives while locked inside the dungeon with no room for an escape.
My eyes started to tears up, my heart broke into a million pieces when I found out the real reason those people were throwing mud on her. I wanted to look in her eyes and ask her if it was all true. But I was just too shocked at that moment to proceed.
Alpha Lucian's eyes met mine. He was controlling his anger. “Even if it's true, none of you were asked to pass your judgement on her. It's my job to investigate and punish. Or did you thought your alpha had died already?” Alpha Lucian growled at the group of people and they all narrowed their heads.
Alpha Lucian stood up, pulling Gracie on her feet with him. “Just get out of here and do something good with your life instead of creating chaos on my land.” Alpha Lucian ordered the people and they all scattered within a minute.
Alpha Lucian walked toward me, holding Gracie with him. When her eyes met mine, she instantly narrowed her head. I saw guilt flashing into her eyes and on her face. I had heard her talking dreamily about Dorian a few times. And the others in the dungeon had told her that everything in my life was okay until Dorian took something that didn't belong to him.
She knew that Dorian was the man who had raped me for the very first time and falsely accused me that I tried to seduce him. Yet she still had feelings for that bastard in her heart and she even tried to kill me and Lucian for her little fantasy dream.
Anger surged through my veins and I felt something bubbling up into my stomach. I felt like I was going to puke. I turned around to walk away but someone held my hand from behind.
The tingles were enough to tell me that it was Lucian. Holding my hand, he started walking toward the pack house. I could feel the anger radiating him but he tried to stay calm. I couldn't blame him. I was angry at Gracie too. She just tried to ruin my happiness over some impossible dream of hers.