Chapter 51 THE ARREST
VANCE POV
I had taken Sianna home and lulled her to sleep by my soothing touches. Fatigue was certainly all over her. As Luna, she felt the need to be there when something this grave had occurred in our pack, but I didn't want her to be stressed.
I could have concealed this from her if only she didn't feel the connection to the pack as strongly as I did. I wasn't going to lie to her but at least if she didn't know, she wouldn't have to worry. Was I overprotective because I wanted her to have an easy-going pregnancy? Goddess, she was beautiful
"Alpha, are you awake?"
"What's the news, Blayne? Did he make it?" Blunt and directly to the point, he knows if he stalled I'd be pissed enough to find him and punch the hell out of him. We carried the conversation through the mind-link.
"We lost him." His voice in the mind-link strained.
"Were you able to talk to him before he passed?" I asked while trying to drown in Sianna's scent. My heart sank at the tragedy.
"No, he never revived consciousness and they tried until his heart gave out." He sighed. "His mate came here and she was emotionally uncontrollable."
"Have Dr. Stone or Parker deal with that aspect of things," I ordered, "You should have the area checked out. Take Duke with you." I thought that was all but he continued talking.
"Vance, she's blaming the mountain rogue." He uttered with hesitation, knowing that his mate was being unfairly blamed. At least, he hoped.
"How would she know anything about that?" How unjust to accuse someone of something without concrete proof. She was perhaps one of the few who had a bias against rogues, in my opinion.
"She's in strong opposition of the rogues. She declares that the access we gave them is only creating a death wish for our pack members." Blayne paused. "I am worried that if she spreads this, other pack members might feel the same. Cleo might need to be protected."
I said nothing as I processed the scope of everything.
"Duke and I are on our way to your home."
"No, there's no need for you to do that." I reproved, thinking that having visitors would have me leaving my bed and woman. Holding her like this was keeping me calm.
"Our social media page is being flooded with protest, and they are petitioning for the mountain rogues to be sent away. They want the swear-in ceremony to be canceled indefinitely." By now his tone had gone mellow.
I understood his concern for his mate. As my best friend, I hoped that she wasn't the mastermind. The notion of her doing this because she didn't get things to go her way with the mountain rogues becoming a pack, had crossed my mind. But I wanted to be wrong for my Gamma's sake.
Reaching for my phone, I used one hand to bring up our social media page and scrolled through. Thirty thousand pack members opposed the current integration. Olivia, Jeffrey's mate, was rallying up a mass of people to protest. The venomous comments kept climbing, and damage control would have to be done.
"What is Cleo's status?" I had to be keen on her and the rogues right now.
"She is at the pack house but the atmosphere is not very good. I'm standing there right now." He sounded dejected as though it was Cleo that had died.
"Have her guarded. See what information you can get from her. If you can't manage the task, ask Duke to do it." I said that because it must be very hard for him because he was a brutal interrogator.
Having to cross-examine your mate, of whose heart he was so desperately trying to win over, would be a major drawback in the meager progress they had gained.
The mind-link closed.
Looking at the clock on the wall above the room door, it was almost dawn. I won't be getting any sleep at all. How dare Olivia cause a commotion in my pack? I recognized that she was overwhelmed with her grief, but her anger ought to be directed at the guilty person. It's immoral to go around discriminating against someone because of their circumstance rather than having solid evidence of their guilt.
My thoughts revisited every tiny detail of Jeffrey's death. The image of his helpless state froze in my head. The way that his blood had pooled into the dirt. Then I made an effort to recall the surroundings. What hints were there?
The attacker was skillful and it had me wondering if the mountain rogues were that adept at killing silently. If this was not the case, based on Jeffrey's inability to alert me or his Gamma, I would say that the murderer was a pack member. Someone familiar to him.
It was a little past four in the morning when I felt Blayne piercing through the mind-link.
"I can't get much out of her. She is a raging wild cat that won't even clear her innocence. She thinks that as her mate, I should trust and believe in her more." He was frazzled. "I was being questioned more by her than she was by me."
"Based on that attitude, she'd be in more trouble than we want her to be." I wished that she had been cooperative.
"What are your orders, Vance?" He was trying to be strong by putting his duty before his personal life. In this one question, he was telling me that he will do what he must.
"Arrest her. Take her to the cells so that we keep her in custody and away from the pack. Make the arrest unknown." I commanded, knowing that it must hurt him to do that to his mate. "It's her way of lying low so that we accomplish two things. One, interrogating her, and two, wait to see if any other injuries or murders occur while she's immobilized. Use the biomedical electronic pins to stop her ability to mind-link."
Had the mountain rogues learned about Cleo's arrest, who knows how they might choose to retaliate?
His silence confirmed that he didn't like it one bit. He must be struggling to carry out that order. "Blayne this is for her good. She'll understand as a leader, but you must know that I understand your feelings."
"Alright, Alpha." He forcibly replied.
"Have her guarded properly so that no one harms her."
"Thank you, Vance." His voice became stronger, "I'll have Wade and Malik as her guardians."
The mind-linked closed.
Sianna shuffled and rested on my chest in our king-size bed. I wasn't going to leave her until daybreak. Miriam's words came back into my head. Was this the danger that existed towards Sianna? Was it a message where Sianna was the true target? And if the perpetrator was Cleopatra, wasn't Sianna too close to her right now?
Arresting her was the best thing for everyone. If she was guilty, with Blayne as my best friend, how do I deal with this? My pack would want an execution. A head for a head.
"Duke, wake the fuck up!" It was time to get my Beta working too.
"I'm up, Alpha," He vocal fry like a girl, "What's the problem?"
I scoffed and retorted, "A pack member died on our hands and you ask what is the fucking problem?"
Now he scowls and I want to head slap him. "Sorry, Vance."
"I need Keisha to put her public relations skills on the social media rave. I want all rantings ceased by morning. "I drilled into him. This was not the time to play.
"Sure thing, boss," He closed the mind-link.
I should talk to Olivia tomorrow to ensure that she didn't cause an upheaval. I can imagine the loss of your mate, I'd die if anything happened to Sianna. I wouldn't rest until I killed whoever took her away from me. God forbid!
How did Blayne's life get so complicated? This was sometimes the issue with being mated to a rogue. It was now that I decided to close my eyes, finally. A dream festered as I slept deeper............
"Alpha, please give me justice." Olivia barged in, falling to the ground, wailing for her mate. "Since the mountain rogues came I lost my mate. For years no one has died on our lands until they arrived here. Please give me justice. Please!"
A crowd of wolves was on the outside of the pack house. They joined the women asking me to arrest the mountain rogue woman, accusing her of being the culprit in sneaking into our pack under pretense. They had linked her to Hank, they wanted her blood for taking one of ours.
I didn't foresee this protest evolving. Cleo could no longer move around freely because of the number of pack members who wanted her head. I had no choice in the matter but to think of her safety until the investigations were concluded and the true culprit executed.
"Blayne, arrest Cleopatra Carr now." I turned to my people to calm them. I wasn't going to resort to using an alpha command, though I could. They wanted justice and so did I. Cleopatra and her rogues were my first point of speculation but no evidence was present to punish her. The apprehension would be done to have her in custody until we had more evidence to guide our discretion.
Blayne stepped down to an angry mate. Her little girl, clinging to her leg, refused to be parted. Duke gripped Zoe by the shoulders and lifted the fighting and screaming child away from Cleo so that Blayne took her hands behind her back in silver cuffs.
"By order of the High Alpha, we place you under arrest as the main suspect in a murder investigation. You have the right to remain silent until the Alpha approaches you. Resistance will result in punishment and will be used against you, so please come
quietly."
"I hate you! I hate you!" Zoe yelled at Blayne.
"Go home. We will take things from here. Trust that your Alpha will get to the bottom of this." The crowd dispersed as we went back into the pack house. Blayne took her to the cells. I empathized with my friend.
.................... awoke from that awful dream. My poor Gamma, his mate situation just got worse. Perhaps it was him that took me out of my slumber.
"Alpha?"
"Yes, Blayne."
"She is in custody and the child is placed in the care of an omega. An elite will monitor the child and her babysitter daily, as well as guard the cells." He disassociated himself by not using names to get a grip on his emotions.
"How did it go?"
"The child hates me more than ever, she bit me during the process of making the arrest. I made her unconscious just to have things go smoothly." I felt his wolf whining through the link, "And of course, Cleo says she is going to reject me on the day that her innocence is proven."
"I am hoping that the mountain rogues have nothing to do with this." I felt like I needed a drink. "But if that's the case, wouldn't we be looking for the culprit to be a pack member?"
"I might be heartless to say this, but I pray that it's a pack member." He seemed to want me to say something but I didn't. "At least that I could live with."
His words resonated. That's an order that he wouldn't be able to do. I'd have to execute her myself. He would probably hate me for the rest of his life. Maybe not Blayne the man, but his wolf certainly would detest me. I wasn't prepared to think deeper about this because he was my best friend who stood loyally at my side ever since we were kids. I shook off every thought and said, "We will find a way, we always do."