Chapter 111 Kaden's POV
I stood abruptly, my chair scraping against the floor. Every instinct screamed to hurt this man to make him pay for threatening Elara.
But he was right. If I pushed too hard, he'd die just like the guard hand and we'd lose any chance of getting information.
"Take him back to his cell," I told the guards. "We will try a different approach later."
Ethan followed me out into the hallway. "That went well."
"He's right about one thing: the failsafe spells mean we can't use traditional interrogation methods. The moment we get close to breaking them, they will die."
"So what do we do?"
"I don't know but we need to figure it out fast. If they really do have people inside the pack house, inside our inner circle, then no one is safe."
We tried interrogating the other four prisoners. Got the same results defiance. Threats about Elara references to traitors we couldn't identify.
By the time we finished, I was wound so tight I felt ready to explode. I was walking back to my office when I heard footsteps behind me.
"Kaden."
I turned. Selena stood there, carrying a tray of food.
"What do you want?" I asked coldly.
"I brought you lunch. I know you've been busy with the council meeting and interrogations. I thought you might be hungry."
"I'm not."
"Please. Just take it. I'm trying to-" She paused. "I'm trying to call a truce between us for the good of the pack."
I looked at her with careful makeup and styled hair at the calculated expression of concern.
"A truce."
"Yes. I know things between us have been... difficult. I know I have made mistakes but we both want what's best for the Blue Moon Pack. Maybe we can work together instead of constantly fighting."
"You threw a rock through my car window while Elara was inside, you tried to poison her. You hired rogues to kill her and now you want a truce?"
"I was jealous and hurt that I did things I'm not proud of. But I've had time to think and realize that my behavior was unacceptable."
She held out the tray. "Can't we at least try to coexist peacefully?"
I looked at the food then back at her. "No."
"Kaden-"
"No truce, no peace, no cooperation. I don't trust you. I don't want anything to do with you and the only reason you're still in this pack is because the elders forced my hand."
I stepped closer. "Stay away from me, stay away from Elara, stay away from anything and anyone I care about. Because if you come near us again, I won't wait for council approval or political considerations. I will exile you myself."
Her mask slipped just for a second, I saw the rage underneath then it was back to the concerned, reasonable expression.
"As you wish, Alpha." She set the tray down on a nearby table.
"But you should know not everyone in this pack agrees with your choices. Not everyone thinks that omega is fit to be Luna. Sooner or later, you're going to have to choose between her and the pack's respect."
"I've already chosen every single time I choose her."
Selena left without another word.
I stared at the tray of food she had brought. Then I called a servant to dispose of it. I wouldn't put it past Selena to try poisoning me too.
That afternoon, I made a decision.
I called four of my most trusted warriors to my office. Men I had known since childhood men who had proven their loyalty a hundred times over.
"I need you to do something for me," I said once they were assembled.
"Something that needs to stay completely confidential no one can know about this, not the elders, not the council, not even Ethan."
"What is it, Alpha?" the lead warrior asked.
"I need you to search for someone who went missing fifteen years ago."
I pulled out an old photograph, the only one I had left of Kira taken a month before she disappeared. "My sister. Kira."
The warriors studied the photo.
"We thought she was dead," one said carefully.
"So did I. But there's evidence she might still be alive. Might have been taken the same way Elena Silvercrest was taken hidden, her memories suppressed kept somewhere all these years."
"Where do we start looking?"
"I don't know that's what I need you to figure out."
I pulled out maps of the surrounding territories. "Start with the area near the old Silver Moon Pack lands. That's where Elara was found. If there's a pattern to where Erebus keeps the daughters he steals, that might be it."
"And if we find her?"
"You bring her home immediately no matter what condition she's in, no matter if she doesn't remember who she is, you bring her home to me."
"Understood, Alpha."
"One more thing. This mission takes priority over everything else except direct threats to the pack. You have unlimited resources. Unlimited authority to go wherever you need to go and do whatever you need to do to find my sister."
"We will," the lead warrior promised. "We won't stop until we do."
They left to begin preparations.
I stood at my office window, looking out over the pack lands. Somewhere out there, Kira might be alive. Might be trapped like Elara had been trapped might be waiting for someone to find her and bring her home.
I'd failed her fifteen years ago when I didn't go on that walk with her.
I wouldn't fail her again whatever it took, however long it took, I would find my sister.
And I would make Erebus pay for every single day he'd kept her from me.