CHAPTER 18. Something wrong
**— DEREK.**
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I’ve been looking at these papers for hours, but I haven’t absorbed any of these words, data, numbers, signatures... it’s like I’m on autopilot, and I’m about to implode.
My mind doesn’t work in my favor.
There’s something wrong with me these days. If before I was on edge and always one step away from complete insanity, with spurts of anger, now I’m so numb that I don’t even care what happens around me... Except when it comes to Vita.
Everything that moves me is related to that woman. It’s almost like my life is entirely focused on her existence, and it bothers me to the point of robbing me of sleep. I haven’t had a wink of sleep in three days, and now I have deep, dark circles under my tired eyes.
Even after Vita was convicted and jailed, I continued to review all the evidence, looking for any new clues. Nero refuses to believe that Vita killed Alice, but I know it's only because he's convinced she's our true mate. He's always impatient and crying in my head, begging for Vita, and it's driving me crazy. At this point, I don't know if I keeping up with this because I want to convince it that she's guilty, or simply because I want to believe that she's not.
But still, I’m bothered. I can’t ignore or forget... I can’t get it out of my head the fact that Vita looked for another man to satisfy herself but refused to share a bed with me.
Vita tells me that I can’t buy her, but she belongs to me — how could I not have her? This resistance shouldn’t bother me, but it bothers… like a stone in my shoe... no, like a needle under my fingernail.
“Why does it annoy me so much?” I mutter to no one in the silence of this office.
I turn around slowly, looking at the incredible view from up here, my eyes getting lost in the horizon just as my mind searches for the curves of Vita’s body...
And I remember how that bastard dared to find his fangs in the neck of my prey... How dare he even think of marking something that already belongs to me?
I let out a growl, feeling the blood bubbling inside my veins...
“Shadow,” I call out, and, as always, my faithful man appears in the same instant, in the blink of an eye, really like a shadow. He has his head down, saying Yes, Alpha, waiting for my command.
“Did you guide Mr. Bug out of this country?” I ask with clasped hands, still looking beyond the buildings, the blue of the sky lost among the almost lifeless gray.
“Yes, and I’ve made sure he never returns to these lands,” Shadow says slowly; his always serene and cold tone used to give me chills, especially when I first met him on my eighteenth birthday. Since then, he’s been my right-hand man, my greatest ally... even more so in recent years when I almost lost my way.
“And how did you do that?”
“He spent almost all his assets in bars and brothels. Now, he’s barely got a place to drop dead, but he kept going into debt.” Shadow explains, pausing briefly.
“Did you offer him money?” I ask without much expectation.
“No, no, Alpha... I said that if he didn’t leave the country, his wife and daughter would pay off the debt he made using their bodies, just like the girls he abused.”
I turn my chair slowly, looking directly at Shadow, who, despite not showing any obvious emotion in his tone, seems more upset than I’ve ever seen him.
“And what did that rat do?”
Shadow gives a discreet smile and adds, “I might have said I’d use some of his body parts on the black market as well.”
I stifle a laugh, then wave my hand dismissively, “Anyway, buy off Mr. Bug’s debt, leave his wife and daughter with what little they have left. They already suffer from being related to someone so rotten; let them have some peace at last.”
Shadow looks at me intensely, and I wish I could understand what’s going on in his mind, but it’s a complete mystery since he’s never been one to share a mere glimmer of thought.
“What about that bastard?” I ask through gritted teeth. “Any news?”
“Same place as always.” Shadow gives his usual pause, and, faced with my silence, he asks, “They used all methods to make him talk, but he keeps saying the same. He didn’t lose himself or change any details… Word by word, the story is the same.”
I look at Shadow, watching his eyes so dark that they look like an intense black that blends with the pupil.
“And what do you think of that?” I ask slowly, tapping my fingers on the table. “Is he hiding something?”
“I can’t say... He has remained firm in his version of the facts. If he’s not a regular man, then he’s well-trained... He would be a dangerous man.”
Sighing, I stop my fingers in the air.
“He doesn’t say anything even under torture, huh?” I smile, not liking the feeling it brings me. “Interesting.”
“What do you want to do, Alpha? Do you want to go to the next level?”
I ponder for a few moments, then finally stand up, loosening my choking tie a little. I take one last look at the blue sky and say with a somber tone, “I want to see it first... Take me to the Wolf Jail.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
[...]
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This dark and damp room is known for being the most effective one in this prison. There is not a single piece of furniture, only hooks on the walls and huge shackles that bind the feet of the unfortunate who have ended up inside these walls. Loneliness is often one of the worst tortures, especially when the mind is broken... and some teeth as well.
When they open the heavy steel door and turn on the light, which flashes a few times before actually illuminating the small cubicle, my eyes immediately find the man on the floor, who’s cowering like a wounded animal.
I approach him slowly, and the sound of my footsteps makes him lift his face a bit, with difficulty, looking down at my feet. I finally stop in front of him, just a few steps from his beat-up body; there are several bruises along his abdomen, as well as claw cuts that cover his entire back — this is the oldest punishment in these lands, and what happens when a werewolf tries to take the prey of another wolf.
“How is your stay here at Wolf Jail, Mr. Raven?” I say slowly, my voice cold and my eyes just as stern, and the man shudders, reaching out to touch my feet... “Now that I’m seeing you, it seems that you’re doing pretty well… I mean, your head is in place, isn’t that good? You still have your hands, your arms, eyes, tongue… Do you still have your tongue, right?”
“Alpha, Alpha, please...” Mr. Raven pleads, tears streaming down his bruised face and getting lost in the dried blood on his cheeks. “Have mercy on me...”
“Mercy? Why would I show mercy to a rat like you?” My cold tone makes the man flinch and lower his head, unable to look at me directly. “I’m being too benevolent! The punishment for people like you should be death... don’t you think my heart is good? You’re not by pieces, and just allowing you to keep all your parts is enough to prove that I’m being good to you.”
“Yes, yes! Thank you for sparing my life...”
“But the way you’re talking makes me think that the pain is too much for you.” I interrupted him and lifted my feet slowly, using the tip of my shoe to lift his chin, which he did without resistance, looking back at me. “Are you making a mockery of my goodwill?”
“Never! I wouldn’t dare!” Mr. Raven’s voice comes out shaky, and I can smell his fear... I confess, there are few things in the world better than that smell... The only thing that beats it is the scent of Vita.
I’m surprised by this intrusive thought, and I hate myself for it. Why do I still have a soft spot for this woman? She killed my sister, and here I am, punishing the man she wanted to have sex with, and turning his body into an old rag.
The truth is that Vita is the one who should be here, suffering for everything she did to my sister... and not singing under a disguise and seducing men around.
I’m a fool, huh?
“Let me ask you something, Mr. Raven... Be honest because I hate lies, but also think carefully… After all, your life depends on your answer.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t dare lie to my Alpha!” I feel his chin tremble under the tip of my shoe, and the smell of his fear grows stronger, bringing an insane smile to my lips.
“So tell me, Mr. Raven... Do you have feelings for Vita?”
My question makes the man’s eyes widen, and I can even hear his heart racing.
I grit my teeth, feeling an intense discomfort in my chest, secretly afraid of hearing him confess that not only does he have feelings for Vita but that her heart also belongs to him.
But well, I guess it doesn’t matter... whatever the answer, I just need to kill them both.