Chapter 6: Chapter 6

ETHAN

I feel the fear, confusion, and anger of my mate. I’ve felt the hunger and exhaustion, my throat and stomach burning.

I try to comb through financial reports, while my wrists feel like they are on fire. I clench my fists when my back suddenly feels a stab of pain.

My eyes stare down at a point in front of me as I begin to focus on my breathing, willing myself to concentrate on anything but my mate’s pain.

As I try to regain control, there’s a knock on my door.

“Come in,” I call out through gritted teeth before the door opens and a familiar blonde struts in.

Her tight skirt hugs her hips and thighs, her blouse unbuttoned to reveal her cleavage and black lace bra. She walks over and sits on the corner of my desk as if she belongs there.

I look up at her, not hiding my annoyance. Unfortunately, she doesn’t pick up on it. “Nicole,” I say in greeting. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Do I need a reason to come and visit you, Ethan baby? I’ve missed you! I haven’t seen you in over a week!” she exclaims as she reaches out and caresses my cheek before sliding her hand around the back of my neck.

I remove her hand and nod at the stack of papers on my desk. “Yeah. I’ve been busy.”

“Too busy for me?” she asks, pouting.

Then she gets up and slowly starts to walk around me. “You just need to relax, baby. Let me help.”

She stops behind me and puts her hands on my shoulders as she begins to massage them. Her hands then slowly start moving down my chest when another stab of pain strikes my back. I immediately jump up from my seat.

“Dammit, Nikki! I don’t have time for this!” I take a couple steps away from her and turn around before she walks up to me again.

“What’s your problem, babe?” She presses herself up to me and puts her hands on my biceps. I gently push her away and sigh.

“I can’t do this right now, Nikki. I need to get back to work.”

She pouts again. “You can’t take a break? Not even twenty minutes? I can make it worth your while.”

I give her a tight smile, hiding my disgust at the thought of doing what she has in mind with anyone other than my mate.

“Sorry. No. I need to get this done.” I gesture to the waiting heap of files. Technically, I’m ahead of schedule since I’ve spent so much time working lately, but she doesn’t need to know that.

“Okay, baby. I get it. I’ll see you later.” She grabs my hand coquettishly. I allow it but can’t help but picture my mate instead.

This little performance is nothing new. Before, I may have tried to behave more gently or perhaps even coaxed her, but now I only feel disgusted by Nikki’s pitiable act.

If I decide to accept Scarlet as my mate, I’ll need to let Nikki know that our agreement is over. I pull away and walk back toward my desk as she lets herself out, closing the door behind her.

~What am I going to do?~ I place my hands on my desk, leaning over it as I inhale deeply. A biting pain leaps from my back again, and the breath falls from my lungs. My chest aches like never before.

“~It’s because you want our mate. You know she’s hurting, and you hate it,~” my wolf says in my head. It’s the first time I’ve heard from him since leaving our mate in the dungeons. He still doesn’t agree with me, but it needed to be done.

I haven’t heard anything from Angelo about how her questioning is going. By the way I was feeling the pain, I’d assume it hasn’t been going well.

I wanted to check in with him, but I’ve been avoiding it. I knew that he would come to me if he found out who the guilty party was, but I didn’t want to know what my mate has been going through.

Not to mention if she was the guilty party, I don’t know if I will be able to follow through…and I didn’t like thinking about it.

I slump down in my chair as I heave out a sigh and scrub a hand through my hair. Looking down at my reports, I realize that there is no way I’ll be able to concentrate anymore. I pick them up and place them in a drawer before locking it and heading for the door.

After securing my office, I walk to the elevator and swipe my ID card before hitting the button for the top floor. Our office building doubles as our pack house. The top two floors are mine and below that is a floor of conference rooms that are rarely used by anyone except me.

I value my privacy, so only my siblings and my beta have access to my living quarters. Each of them has their own floor below mine. Beneath those are six levels dedicated to pack members. My office, along with Alex’s, Xander’s, and Beta Caleb’s, is on the lower floors.

It doesn’t take long before the elevator is letting me out into my entryway. I toss my keys onto the table sitting by the front door and walk over to the wall of windows that lines my living room. I can see all of Crescent City. The streets are busy as everyone else goes about their evening, completely oblivious to my inner turmoil.

Eventually, I go to take a shower, throwing on a pair of sweatpants before climbing into my king-sized bed. I bend my arm behind my head as I stare up at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to take me.

“~How can you lie here like this while our mate is being tortured?~” my wolf growls in my head.

“~Will you just shut up! You don’t think this is eating me up? I would give anything to have her here with me!~”

~“Then go get her! What are you waiting for?~”

“~Angelo is trying to get answers out of her about what happened,~” I answer, though I’ve begun to lose my resolve.

“~Maybe she doesn’t know anything. Are you just going to leave her down there forever?~”

“~No…~”

“~Then how long are you going to wait, Ethan? Two weeks? A month? A year?~” My fists clench, and I try to push my wolf out of my head, but this time he won’t allow it. He refuses to be ignored any longer.

“~It’s been long enough. If Angelo hasn’t gotten anything out of her then he’s not going to. Her wolf is getting weaker… I can feel it.~” I squeeze my eyes shut as pain grips my heart. “~Go to her.~”

When I open my eyes again, it’s with a new sense of determination. My wolf is right. I can’t do this any longer. If Angelo hasn’t gotten anything out of her, so what? At least I tried. Now I just want my mate.

I throw my covers back before slipping some socks and shoes on. Grabbing a T-shirt from my dresser, I pull it over my head and hurry toward the exit. As I head through the door, I pick my keys up from where I left them not even an hour earlier.

The dungeons are below the basement, so I swipe my card for access and push the button with the letter B on it.

The ride down seems to take forever, both me and my wolf are impatient. Goddess, I hope she doesn’t hate me. I hope she understands why I had to do it.

As an alpha, my duty has to be for my pack first and foremost. My pack members were murdered, and I need to find answers. I need to get them justice.

“Come on, come on,” I complain out loud as I watch the numbers slowly counting down above me.

Finally, the elevator dings, and I rush out, sprinting down a long hallway to open the metal door leading to the cells. I rush down the stairs to reach the bottom, and I spot her lying on the cold, concrete ground with her back toward me.

Her clothing is torn to shreds in the back; Angelo must have felt the need to bring out the whip. My breath stills as I watch her. She isn’t moving a muscle.

I turn to Angelo. “Is she…,” I begin, unsure of exactly what to ask.

“She passed out about an hour ago. She hasn’t said anything useful yet,” he answers.

“I’m taking her with me. Unlock the door,” I remark as I straighten my back, trying not to show how much the sight of her is killing me right now.

He nods and does as I say. When the door swings open, I take a step toward her before Angelo grabs my shoulder.

I turn to look at him. “Her name is Scarlet,” he states softly as he looks down at her still form.

“Scarlet… That’s pretty. It suits her,” I murmur to myself.

He nods, clearly hearing my whispered words, before continuing, “Despite the dagger found in her possession having her fingerprints and the victims’ blood, she claims to know nothing, sir.”

I sigh deeply as I look at my feet. Then my gaze wanders to her. I don’t understand how she can be so closely entangled with what happened and be innocent. But Angelo has never been one to fail at getting a confession.

“Thanks, Angelo,” I reply without even looking back at him. I sense him step away until he’s against the opposite wall as I kneel and scoop Scarlet into my arms. I cradle her against me as I make my way back up to my living quarters.

I walk down the hall to one of the guest bedrooms and carefully lay her on her stomach. Reaching over, I turn on one of the bedside lamps and gently peel back the scraps of her shirt, revealing the long open slashes left on her fair skin from being whipped.

She’s still passed out, so I quietly go to the en suite and rummage through the cabinets before I find the first aid kit. With the kit in hand, I sit on the bed beside her. She has an arm curled up under her so that a fist is tucked next to her chin.

Her eyes are still closed, and her red curls are partially hiding her beautiful face. I take out a cotton ball and wet it with antiseptic before I begin dabbing it softly against her injuries. She lets out a whimper of pain, and her eyebrows furrow, but she continues to sleep.

My chest tightens as I continue my work, next I gingerly apply bacitracin to each of the wounds. Finally, I place a thin layer of gauze over each and lightly blow on it. A shiver runs up her spine, and my eyes travel up her body and back to her face.

Her eyes remain shut, but she looks more relaxed now, and a slight smile is placed on her lips. I reach for the covers and pull them up over her legs before leaning down and kissing her temple.

“Good night, Scarlet.”