Chapter 48: Chapter 47

“Where is he?”

A stinging slap jarred through her body, the pain originating from her face, and Ariella jerked upright. The question rang in her ears, yet she couldn’t figure out who said it or what they were talking about.

“Let me ask again, princess,” a hand grabbed her hair roughly and pulled her head up, hot breath fanning her face as the voice spoke again. “Where is the Alpha?”

Slowly opening her eyes, Ariella took a deep breath of air to refill her lungs, remembering now that she had passed out after being strangled in the forest.

They’d been attacked by rogues. Knight had been unconscious last she’d seen him. She’d been carried off by faceless men who also wanted the Alpha.

The Alpha.

Malachi.

“I can’t tell you,” she mumbled, her blurry vision taking in the scene around her. She was sitting on the ground of a dirty building, perhaps a barn they used on farms with dried grass strewn everywhere and old machinery lined against the walls and taking up most of the floor space. A man was crouched a few feet in front of her, wearing a grimy jacket and an even grimier smirk on his face.

“I think she wants another slap,” he rasped between a missing front tooth. His disheveled appearance disgusted her, and fortified the belief that rogues were wild and crazed creatures. Their aversion to pack mentality manifested in more than just their mindset--their behaviour became erratic and unreasonable the more time they spent away from the secure fold of company.

And she was now at their mercy, miles from home.

“I’m not saying anythi--”

A hand whipped towards her face with such a fast movement that she couldn’t even turn her head. The force of the hit snapped her face sideways and now her other cheek bloomed with stinging pain.

The rogue behind her stalked in front and knelt to her level. His dark brown eyes may have once been handsome, but all spark was now lost in this wild animal. His black hair hung limply over his forehead and he pushed it back with a greasy motion. “Such a pretty face you once had. No wonder the Alpha hasn’t yet paraded you around the country as his Luna. He wanted to keep the prize all to himself,” he chuckled, a sound that churned Ariella’s stomach. “When I saw you walking through the woods with only that pathetic old wolf as protection, I knew we needed to make a move,” he drawled, a slow smile tilting his crooked lips.

“Knight!” Ariella gasped, her mind racing with concern for her friend. “What have you done to him? Where is he?” Squirming on her seat, she tried twisting around but her arms were held securely in place with tight bindings to a post at her back.

“He won’t be coming to your rescue. We put him out of his misery before bringing you here. Such a useless excuse of a Beta. No one will find his body either.” He cut off her protests with a warning glare.

Her heart sank.

It couldn’t be possible. Beta Knight dead? And all because he was protecting her. She needed a distraction and he’d agreed to take her for a walk when they both knew that rogues were currently near the borders, lurking and waiting for the opportunity to cross. She’d already seen them that day, seen Rahul tear their bodies to shreds, yet she’d still risked going out into the dark forest and now here she was.

Helpless.

“Now, are you going to tell me what I want to know, or are you going to prove as useless as your friend over there?” the rogue leaned in again and trailed a long nail down the side of her face.

“What friend?” Ariella pulled back and tried to keep distance between her and this filthy wolf.

“Oh, just someone else we found wandering alone, in the dark forest, begging for excitement that we were all too happy to provide.”

The first rogue she’d seen stepped up and opened a door that led into another room of the barn, and if Ariella craned her neck just far enough, she saw a sight that made her stomach sink even further to a pit of hopelessness.

Alpha Chesca was bound by her wrists and ankles, tied to a heavy contraption of rusting steel. Her arms were shielding her pregnant belly as much as she could, her hair falling over her face that was twisted in concentration and agony.

“Aunt Chesca!”

“So you do know her? Isn’t that just wonderful,” the wolf chuckled and rubbed his hands together.

Chesca lifted her head at Ariella’s cry, and focused her pained gaze on her. “They got you too? But why? What do they want--”

“Shut up!” an angry voice from someone out of Ariella’s line of sight shouted, and she watched as a hand reached out to grasp Chesca’s neck. She didn’t struggle against him, just glared at the rogue yet her gaze was enough to send shivers down even Ariella’s spine. If it weren’t for the bonds of her wrists or the baby in her womb, Ariella knew Chesca would be tearing the throat out of anyone who treated her so. The female Alpha was just as deadly as she had ever been, but the instinct to protect her unborn pup put limitations on her that even the strongest wolf couldn’t ignore.

“Let her go. She has nothing to do with Malachi. Just leave her alone and deal with me only,” Ariella pleaded, hating to watch the pain they were inflicting on her Alpha.

“Really? You’ll tell me what I want to know? You’ll tell me where your precious Malachi is? Because I’ve been dying to meet him.” The rogue’s eyes gleamed with vicious intent.

“Is that it? You just want to know where he is? Well, I can’t actually tell you because I don’t know.” Ariella spoke the truth, because at this very minute she didn’t know if he was still at Alpha Asa’s pack or on his way home already. He could even be vacationing at the beach, miles away from her and her nagging persistence to understand him.

He could have run away, for all she knew.

“I happen to not believe you, sweetheart.”

“It’s true.”

“Perhaps you just need a little… motivation, shall we say? Oscar, you know what to do.” The rogue stepped up to the doorway and spoke to his partner.

Ariella didn’t know what he was talking about until the man with Chesca produced a syringe that was filled with a silvery liquid. When he ran a finger down Chesca’s arm and stopped at her elbow, his fingers caressing the vein in a sensual manner, Ariella thought she might throw up.

As the needle hovered over Chesca’s skin, the rogue looked at Ariella intently and asked again, “Tell me-- where is Malachi?”

“I don’t know.”

The needle was instantly jabbed through the skin and quickly emptied. Chesca writhed in pain, her muscles contracting and her face screwing up from the agony of the poison now injected in her. Ariella felt her own heart beating in sync to the suffering of Chesca.

“That’s for killing my brother, Alpha of SteelHeart,” the rogue she still couldn’t quite see leaned in and whispered to Chesca’s ear, his hands pulling her close before pushing her back. She fell against the rusted steel and Ariella heard the muffled grunt. Chesca was strong, refusing to scream out and give them satisfaction for their torture, but Ariella knew it must be eating her up inside, protecting her baby from the deadly toxin now in her system.

“You son of a snake,” Chesca seethed at him, her eyes flashing fire. “I was only doing my job. You probably sent your brother to his death by sending him across my border.”

She was ignored, but Ariella felt the leader rogue kneel behind her and whisper menacingly. “There’s more where that came from. She’s pretty strong, that ridiculous female Alpha, but I wonder if she’d survive one more dose of silver. I doubt her baby would.” The rogues all chuckled at this, their eyes dancing to find out. “But I’m too kind for that. I’ll give you one more chance.”

Ariella watched as the rogue in the other room began flipping a silver knife in his hand casually.

“Where. Is. Alpha. Malachi?”

The knife was gripped tightly and brought down to Chesca’s neck, and Ariella noticed the dried blood streak already tracked across her skin. These rogues weren’t afraid to kill, as already proven. And if the knife were pressed against her own neck, Ariella would refuse to give in. But her bond with her Alpha was undying. She couldn’t bear to have the deaths of Chesca and her unborn baby on her head, so she did the only thing she could do.

“He went to the Justice Pack, to meet with Alpha Asa...” Her eyes blinked, trying to keep the tears from blurring her vision.

Just as the knife dug into Chesca’s skin, it stopped, and every rogue stood up. The leader jerked his head behind her. “Let’s go. Grab everything you need. Borin, stay here with these wenches until we know if her word is good or not. Don’t let them escape.”

The left and the one called Borin, with the missing tooth, settled on the ground in front of her. Ariella could see Chesca slump to her knees, her head was bowed and her shoulders heaving as she choked on silent sobs.

“This is all my fault.”

Ariella heard the muffled confession, and watched Chesca with a growing sense of heartache.

“God, please help Kaiden find us. I’m sorry for making another royal mistake. Ariella, I’m so sorry for dragging you into this.” Her green eyes, rimmed in red, lifted to meet Ariella’s startled ones.

“What? I’m the cause of this, not you. These rogues have been testing Malachi’s strength for months. They’ve been pushing his boundaries, trying to find a weakness….” she stopped when Chesca kept shaking her head.

“That sick two-faced traitor was no rogue. He’s been weaselling his way into our lives again, and though I knew from the outset that we couldn’t trust him, I didn’t put my foot down hard enough. And here I am, paying for my mistakes, my innocent children suffering because of me.”

“Who are you talking about? And what did you do--”

“Enough chit chat!” The rogue who was guarding them spat to the floor. “Shewolves make me sick. Only one thing you’re good for, and it ain’t talking!”

His crude words sent a shiver across Ariella’s skin, renewing her determination to get out of there.

“Yeah? Well I can’t see much that you’re good for either, except torturing pregnant women like the barbarian you are. You’re disgusting!” she snarled at him, tugging on the ropes that bound her hands and trying her hardest to look fierce.

“You wanna know what disgusting looks like?” the rogue knelt down and grabbed her chin between his filthy fingers. “I can show you something really dirty,” he smirked while his other hand snaked down her neck to her shoulder and started tugging of her jacket.

“Leave her alone!” Chesca called from the other room, smelling his intentions with her Alpha senses. “If you touch her in any way--”

“What are you going to do?” he called over his shoulder. “Slit my throat--”

He never finished his sentence as something came whizzing through the air, barely making a sound to cut through the heavy veil of the quiet room. But it caused a red line to appear on the rogue’s neck, and his eyes grew wide as the line gaped. Ariella watched in horror, nausea almost overwhelming her, as the rogue crumpled in front of her, his life seeping out onto the stone cold floor. She tore her eyes away, to her left where she’d heard a soft thud moments before, and saw a knife embedded in the timber wall.

The weapon that had killed the rogue.

“Ariella! Finally found you!”

The sound of the familiar voice sent a surge of hope through Ariella, and she nearly cried in relief when Luci scurried into the room and pulled her hunting knife from the wall. She kicked the rogue to make sure he was really dead before kneeling behind Ariella and cutting the ropes that bound her.

Ariella rubbed her painful wrists and winced at the red marks that weren’t healing fast. The rope must have been threaded with silver.

“What are you doing here?” she asked her friend, who had taken hold of her arm and was helping her up.

“I’m here to rescue you, what’s it look like?” Luci shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You aren’t very bright tonight, are you? And to think, I crossed rivers and canyons to get to you and all you can do is ask why.”

Ariella let the comment pass but resisted when Luci pulled her towards the door.

“Wait. Alpha Chesca is in the other room.”

“What? They got her too? Those grimy devils,” Luci swore under her breath and kept heading towards the exit. “You get the Alpha. We got more incoming rogues and Gabby can’t handle them all herself no matter how strong she thinks she is.”

“Gabby’s here?” Ariella wondered how on earth they found her, but she was thankful they had.

“Just hurry! We can’t stay here all night!”

Ariella caught the knife that Luci threw to her and hurried to Chesca. She cut the ropes free but had to work harder on the chains around her ankles. A few grunts and snarls reached them from beyond the walls, and Ariella knew the other rogues had arrived. Prayers soared upward from her lips as she hoped her friends remained safe.

“Who is it? Who’s here?” Chesca helped to break the chains though her own fingers were cold and numb.

“My friends, Gabby and Luci. You didn’t just see Luci untying me? She even killed that rogue who almost….” Ariella trailed off and dismissed the thought of what almost happened had Luci not come at that exact moment to rescue her.

“I couldn’t see much from this awful position.” Chesca finally was free and able to move. She stood on unsteady legs, leaning on Ariella for support, then clutched her stomach as a stab of pain ripped through her core. Her teeth clenched, her hold on Ariella tightened, and her eyes squeezed shut against the aftershocks.

“Are you okay?”

When Chesca didn’t answer, just looked at her with agonised eyes, Ariella knew it was a dumb question. As if she was okay. Her body had been pumped with pure toxins that were this moment trying to kill her baby. Already Chesca was nearing her due date, and this trauma tonight would complicate things exponentially.

“We’ve got to get home,” Ariella stated firmly, to comfort herself and the Alpha, and crept carefully out of the building. Throwing out all her senses, she listened and smelled for rogues, but the overpowering stench of metallic blood that was spilled everywhere kept messing with her head.

“Which way do we even go?” Chesca leaned her weight on Ariella who still supported her, and tried focusing on the scene outside the old building. A few rogues lay dead, strewn on the ground, around more rusted machinery and open tool sheds. The clearing gave way to evergreen trees, and in the pale light, Ariella could see more shadowy figures lying face down in the dirt. Luci or Gabby weren’t anywhere close by, but Ariella had a pretty good idea of what went down.

“We head in the opposite direction of the trail of bodies. Come on.” Tucking the knife in the waistband of her jeans, she gripped Alpha Chesca around her waist and headed south, her eyes adjusting to the shadows under the trees, her vision trying to see more than the layer of reality they walked in. What were her senses telling her? Was this the right way? Chesca groaned, and her quick sharp breaths were an indication of the amount of pain she was in from the stress she was under. Without her Alpha’s guidance, Ariella realised it was up to herself to get them out of this mess. If she could just reach ForgedHearts or DoubleEdge territory without running into any rogues, they would be okay.

Everything would be okay.

Repeating this mantra in her head, she remained alert and watchful. Following a narrow track that was barely visible amidst the dense underbrush, she kept thinking about what Luci had said. She’d crossed rivers and canyons to find her, and she knew that the north of the ForgedHearts territory was bounded by Falcon River which flowed from the foothills of the Stone Ridge mountains. She’d never been up there, but Ariella knew from geography lessons that canyons abounded on the slopes before they morphed into switchback paths that only the bravest wolves traversed.

Is that where they were now? On the slopes of Stone Ridge? The path descended before them and rocks skittered out from under her feet. She was glad she had her boots on still, with good tread to keep traction. Chesca wasn’t so well off in thin slippers.

“What happened back there? Who was the rogue who was hurting you, and why did it sound like he knew you?” Ariella asked, thinking back on what the man had said before injecting the poison into Chesca.

“He wasn’t a rogue. He used to work for Kaiden as his head guard. You probably wouldn’t remember, because you were still young when he was exiled from the pack.” Chesca panted hard and followed Ariella with absolute trust.

“Why? What did he do? He sounded pretty angry about something.”

“He hurt Miranda big time, and had no respect for her. But that wasn’t his grudge. Apparently I killed his brother, another guard in Kaiden’s pack, many years ago. Back when Elbert was trying to take over my pack. He was the enemy and trespassing onto my territory, so of course I killed him. But Caleb doesn’t see it that way. I hate that we’re still paying for decisions made long ago. The enemies we’ve made. The actions that seem right at the time, but have consequences we could never have anticipated.”

“As Alpha, there’s always someone who’ll disagree with your decisions, right or wrong.” Ariella thought of Malachi and his dad, both of whom had suffered from pasts beyond their control.

“I guess. That doesn’t make it any better for our children. All I’m trying to do is protect my family and those I care about most.”

Ariella nodded, knowing all too well the price of love. But did she?

They reached the base of a small valley, and pulled up at a thick tree trunk when Chesca tugged on her arm.

“Ariella, I can’t go on like this.”

“What are you saying?” she looked closely at her Alpha, her face covered in the dark shadows of swaying leaves, but she didn’t miss the twist of her features.

“The baby…” Her hand pressed tightly against her abdomen, and she leaned against the tree heavily.

Realisation washed over Ariella like a cold wave of dread. “Oh no. Don’t tell me… don’t tell me you’re in labour!”

Chesca nodded and took deep breaths as she fought off another wave of pain. “My waters broke back at the barn. I don’t know how long until…”

“But you can hold on, right? We just need to keep going. Alpha Kaiden is probably on his way, and we’ll meet him--”

“No, Ariella,” Chesca gripped her hands, her emerald eyes boring into hers with tenacity. “I need you to help me. This baby won’t wait. He’s fighting against the silver too. My body is pushing him out, protecting him from me.”

“You can’t just give birth here!” Ariella shook her head frantically. “In the middle of nowhere, with nothing, and nobody--”

“I have you.”

“I can’t do it. No, Chesca, please, we have to keep moving,” she tried tugging her Alpha up the other side of the valley, but Chesca remained firm.

“Ariella, I have you. You’re Lexi’s daughter, and you’ve helped with a dozen births.”

“But that was with her there! And other women. And sterilised scissors, stitches, equipment. All the proper tools--”

“Ari, listen to me!” Chesca growled and gripped her hands painfully tight, and Ariella knew the contractions were coming on closer together. She really was going to give birth in this God-forsaken forest. “I need you. My baby needs you. You are honestly the person I trust most to be with me right now. You can do this. We can both do this. I just need you to commit and--” she gasped and doubled over, clutching her hand to her stomach. Her knees hit the leaf-covered ground at the foot of the tree, and she took out her pain on the bark, her nails digging in and scraping down as she bore through the contraction.

“Okay. Okay, I’ll do my best. We can do this.” Ariella conceded and rubbed Chesca’s back in support. She really had no choice. They’d already come so far tonight, and if she let her Alpha and new pup die here, Kaiden and the pack would never forgive her.

She’d never forgive herself.