Forty

The new day rolled in without incident.

Daniel hadn't found himself in a guest room again, but Eva had not come to bed that night, leaving Daniel frustrated and restless. By morning the alpha's mood had darkened with no sign of lifting any time soon. His head pounded in protest against his exhaustion and him being up before the sun had even breached the horizon; throbbing with each step or slight movement.

Having seen Kade off, Daniel silently made the trip up an old dirt track hidden at the back of the packhouse grounds. Young light began to creep coyly through the network of the branches and spring foliage of the forest as the alpha walked away from the packhouse, slowly burning away the nip in the air that settled at night when temperatures still dipped into single figured. Up ahead, about a mile away and settled deep into the forest, stood a square concrete building void of windows. The bunker-styled structure had been used by the pack as cells and for interrogations for generations and was just one of several dotted through the territory all used for nefarious means such as the one Daniel suspected would occur shortly.

Two guards were stationed on either side of the large metal door which served as the only entrance and exit out of the building. Further away, skirting the perimeter were more guards either standing or resting against trees and rocks. It was easy to assume they were flaking out on their duties but the stony silence that filled the forest let Daniel know that every wolf had their eyes and ears open. Everyone was alert.

The rusted door screeched and groaned like an enraged monster as it was pulled open to reveal a dimly lit passage leading into the belly of the moss covered prison. Stairs descended at the end of the narrow passage leading to another set of metal doors that required a passcode to be typed into a keypad to open. A soft click and hiss of the hydraulic mechanisms broke the tense silence before the doors gave way to bright sterile light and non-descript grey walls.

A row of four metal doors with small viewing hatches lined the left side of the wall. There were two more doors on the back wall with keypads neatly mounted onto the wall next to them and then another two doors adjacent to them on the left and right walls. A single desk in equally uninspiring grey stood in the middle, curving almost stylishly with displays lined along it and a single guard sitting behind the wall of grey and screens. A dour silence filled the space, pressing into every corner of the room and sucking out any hint of good feelings that one might have before entering the building.

"Alpha." The guard stood, bowing his head respectfully to his leader. "The prisoner is in interrogation room one."

"Thanks, Lucky." Daniel muttered as he passed the man, walking unhurriedly to the door in question.

Sure enough, the man that they had apprehended was sat in the small airless space, wrists cuffed to a bar that was welded to the surface of the table. The scent of werewolf was stronger now. The suppressor had nearly worn off and Simone had given the prisoner an antidote to reverse the strange concoction that had prevented the wolf from shifting and healing. Even now the male was still struggling. His arm that Eva had crushed was still bandaged, fingers limp from nerve damage. A bruise the colour of crushed blueberries painted his right eyes that now swollen shut, puffed and shining.

Daniel said nothing as he let the door shut behind him, sealing him in the small windowless room with the man who had shot his mate and his beta. He took the lone metal seat on the opposite side of the table from the wolf, letting the strained silence hang for just a little longer. Steel blue eyes settled on the prisoner, boring into him, void of emotion or any hints of what the alpha might be thinking. The power, the carnal darkness that rolled off of Daniel in unrelenting waves soon had the wolf squirming in his seat, crumbling under the weight of Daniel's superior presence.

"If you're going to kill me you might as well get it over with." The wolf blurted out, his one open eye darting inside it's socket nervously. The sclera was stained the colour of Flanders poppies, draining the dirt-brown iris of any light but the fear was still clear to see, Daniel just couldn't work out what exactly the wolf was afraid of. "I'm not talking."

"I just need you to listen." Daniel finally spoke, his tone calm and yet barbed with the purpose of pricking the last shreds of the prisoner's arrogance and resolve. "You didn't make it hard for us to find out who you are. Ian Keeley, originally from the silent moon pack until you were kicked out for gambling away all of the Pack's money. You were third in command to retired Alpha William Hues who entrusted you with dealing with the accounts for the pack. Since then you have been bouncing around, stealing mostly and you've been arrested five times. Lucky for you the human authorities don't have the time or resources to deal with low-lifes like you so you never spent more than a night in jail.

"Last year you had a run in with the South Downs pack when you made the mistake of cheating at a game of poker and tried to steal ten grand. I heard they gave you quite the hiding but you managed to escape any further punishment which brings us to now where you shot two wolves on my land and by the sounds of it, got screwed over by whoever it was that convinced you to try and kill my beta."

The pregnant pause hung heavy between the two men. One was dangerously calm and the other shifted and wriggled uncomfortably under the cold gaze piercing into him.

"It would seem that you were double crossed, Ian." Daniel spoke again, tilting his head in mock curiosity. "First, whoever convinced you to do this poisoned you so you couldn't rely on your wolf, most likely hoping you'd be killed before you could get away. Then to add insult to injury, your partner left you for dead when you were caught."

The silence stretched but Daniel remained steady. The prisoner's bravado was folding like a house made of paper in a storm. In just a few short minutes his shoulders had sagged and his twitching stopped, his one good eyes downcast and despondent. Daniel was in no rush. He had known Ian would take very little time to cave based on the information he had learnt about the man. There was no thrill of the hunt this time, he would not get to enjoy turning the screws and making his prey squirm but for once, Daniel didn't mind.

"What did they offer you?" He asked this time genuinely curious. "Money? Enough for you to have a bit of fun with feeding that nasty addiction of yours?"

Ian shook his head, not meeting Daniel's gaze.

"Then what?"

"They'd make me their third in command and give me a mate. A young one." Ian muttered.

"They?" Daniel frowned. "Who are they?"

"I don't know exactly." Ian replied. "Look, I don't have anything against your pack but being packless is pretty fucking shitty and I was desperate. Shooting the female was a mistake. We were only meant to kill the beta."

"Why?"

Silence settled in again but this time Ian seemed to be wrestling with his thoughts. A war of emotion swirled in the brown eyes as he pursed his lips into a thin line. Daniel wanted to force Ian to spit it out so he could hand him over to the guards to be disposed of. Yet he remained still, stormy blue eyes never once leaving the prisoner as he wrestled with whatever it was that had him so quiet.

"Okay," Ian finally relented, sighing in resignation. "I will tell you everything but you need to take me somewhere. It's not safe here and I ain't telling you anything until you get me somewhere they can't find me."

"How do I know you won't try and escape?" Daniel raised an eyebrow. "I will need assurances here, Ian."

Ian snorted at this, frowning at the Alpha. "If I escape where would I go?" He pointed out. "You'd be hunting me not to mention whoever hired me. I have no money so I can't leave the country and no one is going to help me. I'm a dead man if I try."

Daniel had to admit Ian wasn't as dumb as he looked. Ian had burned all his bridges.

"But as far as your boss is concerned, you're already dead." Daniel countered.

"Hardly." Ian shook his head. "They will know I'm alive. I don't know how but they will, so until you can get me out of here and some place safe, I'm not talking."