Chapter 33 The truth
Dravik's pov
“What is it?”
Brandon barges into the office, drawn by the crash and commotion in the office. Seris is still pinned against the wall, my hand locked around her throat, her legs hanging off the floor. Her pulse beats wild against my palm.
“There,” I say, my voice low. “Rot. In the scent of the wine……Like black magic.”
Brandon moves fast and grabs the glass from where it upended on the floor, brings it to his nose and inhales deep. His brow furrows.
“I don’t smell anything.”
“Well I can.”
Or should I say Shadow can.
Everyone knows my wolf isn't normal and tends to have abilities other wolves don't have. This is one of them.
I tighten my fingers just a little. Enough to make her choke her. “So tell me. What the fuck is in it.”
“I… I don’t….know….what you’re talking about,” she gasps, her hands clawing at my wrist.
Her eyes are wide, wet with tears now……she almost looks innocent.
“Let her go!”
Alpha Magnus’s voice crashes through the door as he storms in with his beta right behind him. The force of his shove slams into me from the side, sending me stumbling back.
Auren is behind me, my body hits hers and we go down together, her soft frame pinned beneath mine. She gasps, her breath leaving her in a sharp sound as her chest presses to mine. For one frozen second the world narrows to her brown eyes staring up at me, wide and startled, her scent flooding my senses.
Something sparks. Iike some kind of electricity moving through my body.
Shadow snickers in my head. You felt that, didn’t you? I told you she belongs to us
I did.
I push myself up fast, turning to face Magnus as he runs his hand around his daughter’s neck, checking for injuries.
“How fucking dare you,” he roars at me. “You come into my pack and attack my daughter. Have you gone mad?”
Too bad Shadow mutters. Her neck would have snapped nicely.
“Tell me what’s in the wine,” I growl.
“There is nothing in it.”
“There is,” I snap. “I can smell it. I came here for answers Magnus, but if it’s war you want, you will get it tenfold.”
He freezes. Then slowly reaches for the bottle on his desk, lifts it and studies the content. I see his jaw tightens.
“It was an innocent mistake,” he says at last, covering the bottle. “She shouldn’t have touched the drinks in my office. Don’t worry, It doesn’t kill. It only creates pain. I use it to protect myself when required.”
Well remind me never to take a drink from you again.
“Well too bad,” I say coldly. “You see the problem we have now is that the contract clearly states, if any of you hurts Auren again, this pack becomes mine.”
I was waiting for his shock but it never came. Instead, a slow smile creeps across his face.
“But she didn’t, did she? You stopped her before any damage was done.” He looks over at Seris who is sitting rubbing her neck. “Thank goddess for that.”
A loophole.
The bastard actually found his own fucking loophole in my loophole.
I have been creating contracts for years and he is the first one to find a loophole. He isn't as stupid as I thought he was.
“I’m sure we can find a way to forget this little misunderstanding.” He turns to his daughter, “Seris, leave us.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Let her stay,” I say. “Let her see exactly the kind of monster her father is.”
Magnus exhales, annoyed. His beta comes over his side, looking tense and ready to attack. The man’s size is almost impressive with a scar crossing the right side of his face. I feel pity for whoever gave him that scar.
“What do you want, Alpha Dravik?” Magnus asks. “The girl is not to your liking? I warned you but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
The way he says it makes my blood boil.
Why do they all assume I came to return her? It’s starting to piss me off.
I lean back against my chair, my eyes on the three of them. “Where is Eron.”
He and his beta exchange a look.
“What do you want with him.”
“He will be part of this conversation and I would rather not go find him myself.”
He nods once and His beta’s eyes glaze over, mindlinking. “He is coming,” the man mutters.
“Good.” I turn back to Magnus. “Now as we’re waiting I want to know who really killed your brother and his wife.”
His jaw flexes as he looks over to Auren. “I already told you.”
“And I don’t believe you.”
“That is the truth, it was her. But you obviously don't care about that seeing that you still took her as your wife even after knowing what she did.”
“But it isn’t the truth. You can keep lying but from all the magic fiasco I have seen here I believe it’s one of you or maybe it’s you. You afterall have much to gain.”
I see his cheek twitches…….bingo.
“Were you so desperate to become Alpha that you killed your own brother and ruined your niece’s life?”
He looks away.
“If you did that, that’s your business”, I continue. “But to put the blame on a kid and punish her for what she didn’t do is barbaric. I'm guessing if the rest of your pack finds out about this you will be less of a leader to them and you will have no place in this pack.”
“My father did nothing!” Seris screams. “It is that useless thing beside you who…”
Magnus grabs her arm. “Shut up and sit down!”
He nods to his beta who leaves the room shutting the door quietly behind him. He leans forward, hands on the desk then turns from Auren to me.
“You want the truth? I will give you the truth. She really did kill her parents.”
“How?”
He exhales through his nose. “It was the night she first turned. The pack children were in the yard, playing together. Then Auren screamed, dropped to the ground and started convulsing like something was tearing her apart from the inside.”
Auren flinches and I see her fingers curl into the fabric of her jeans.
“She did not know how to control it,” Magnus continues. “Her wolf forced its way out. Not a full change, just something twisted and wrong. Claws, teeth, eyes glowing like a demon’s. The other children ran. Some of them were hurt in the panic, one almost lost an arm.”
“That get to the point,” I snap.
“Her parents heard the screams,” he goes on ignoring me. “They ran after her into the woods but I assumed she wasn’t thinking and was in bloodlust. That is what happens when a wolf is cursed, It does not recognize family.”
Cursed?
“We found them later,” he says quietly. “Her father’s throat was ripped out, her mother was torn open from chest to stomach. The bodies were still warm and their blood was everywhere. On the leaves, the trees…….On her.”
Auren’s breath stutters.
“She was kneeling between them,” he says in disgust. “Covered in their blood. Growling like an animal guarding its kill. That's the first time she was bound.”
I see from the corner of my eyes the way Auren’s shoulders start to shake and the way she pulls into herself like she wants to disappear.
He is hurting her. Tell him to stop Shadow growls in my head.
Relax. She needs this.
“Did you see her strike them?” I ask.
“No,” he admits. “But there was no one else. No rogue scent, no outsider, only hers. And we have a witness who saw the whole thing.”
“Who?”
“Seris’s mother. My first mate.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Who is currently dead?”
“Yes.”
“So let me get this straight, there is no evidence she actually did it. The only person that allegedly saw her do the deed you claimed is your mate, who is dead and also has much to gain as you? And from this you all decided an eleven year old girl is a murderer? ”
Seems pretty too convenient.
He shrugs.
“How did your mate die?”
Magnus looks at his daughter who looks away. “I’m not going to rehatch the death of my wife in front of my daughter.”
He is lying Shadow paces in my head. He reeks of it
I know……I can smell it too.
Auren finally lifts her head then. “I don’t remember any of that,” she whispers. “I don’t remember killing anyone.”
“Of course you don’t,” Magnus says, waving her away. “I’m telling you Dravik, she did it. Listen, you don’t care about all this and I really want us to have a strong alliance, we’re practically family now. I know there is bad history between me and my niece but you might not know this, but I do love my niece.”
“Love her?” I yell at him. “You call this love? You made her life a living hell.”
I look at Auren, shaking and looking so small and all I see is a child who was thrown into hell and told she deserved it.
My hands curl into fists.
I suddenly have this overwhelming need to kill every last wolf in Silverveil……for her.
And I know exactly who to start from......