-Adrian-
The stench of fear and blood hits me as soon as we enter the outer building. It's a familiar scent, one that used to make my stomach turn when I was younger. Now it's just another part of the job—another reminder of what I've become.
"You think this one will actually talk?" Killian asks as we head down the stairs to the basement.
"They all talk eventually," I reply, my voice cold and hollow, like the space where my heart should be.
You're enjoying this, Nox comments, not accusatory, just stating a fact.
I enjoy getting information that helps us protect our pack, I correct him, the justification worn and familiar.
Keep telling yourself that, he replies. But we both know part of you craves this. The violence. The control. It's what he made us into.
I ignore him as we reach the bottom of the stairs and turn right, heading down the dimly lit corridor toward the interrogation room. The main building's cells are for pack members who need punishment—a night to cool off after a fight, or a week of isolation for more serious infractions. But this place... this is where we keep the real threats. The rogues. The killers. The ones who deserve what's coming to them.
As we step into the interrogation room, I see a man hanging by silver chains from the ceiling, completely naked. His body is covered in slashes, blood and fluid oozing from the wounds. Jamison, one of my top warriors, tosses a bucket of watered-down wolfsbane on him.
The man screams in agony, his body convulsing as the poison seeps into his open wounds. The sound should disturb me, but it doesn't. Not anymore. And that emptiness inside me grows a little deeper.
"Alpha," Jamison acknowledges, stepping back and wiping his hands on a towel.
"Has he talked any?" I ask, circling the prisoner slowly, assessing his condition. He's still got fight in him. That'll change soon enough.
"Just his name. Eddie."
Asher steps forward, squinting at the prisoner. "Eddie? You wouldn't happen to be Eddie Linton, would you?"
The man is gasping in pain, but he manages a nod. My pack mates and I exchange a look, recognition dawning like a dark sunrise.
"Well boys!" Asher breaks out in a huge smile. "Looks like we got ourselves a traitor on our hands."
Jax walks up to Eddie, studying him with disgust. "Damn, almost couldn't recognize you with all..." he gestures up and down Eddie's body, "...that going on."
I cross my arms, rage building inside me like a gathering storm, dark and electric. "So tell me something, Edward. After you were caught, punished, and banished for raping the Omegas, you decided to go find my number one enemy and get in his bed?"
"He found me," Eddie manages, his voice raw from screaming.
"Is that supposed to make it better?" I ask, my voice dangerously soft, the kind of quiet that precedes violence.
Eddie's face twists with hatred. "YOU left me without a pack, YOU left me to die."
Something snaps inside me, a darkness I usually keep leashed breaking free. I lunge forward, grabbing him by the throat, my claws digging into his flesh. "YOU WERE RAPING BARELY OF AGE OMEGAS. YOU'RE LUCKY I DIDN'T RIP OFF YOUR DICK AND MAKE YOU EAT IT." I narrow my eyes, getting so close I can smell his putrid breath. "Tell me where Amos is."
Eddie gathers what little strength he has left and spits directly in my face. "Fuck you."
I don't bother wiping it away. Instead, I hold my free hand out toward my guys, not needing to say a word. They know exactly what I want. Jax steps up and hands me a silver blade dipped in wolfsbane.
"I was coming down here willing to give the prisoner a chance to talk before I laid a hand on him," I say conversationally, my voice at odds with the rage burning through my veins. "But seeing as said prisoner is worthless bear shit, I think we'll skip the niceties."
He deserves this, Nox growls in agreement. Make him suffer. Make him bleed for what he's done.
I start carving up Eddie's face with slow, shallow cuts. Each slice precise, designed to maximize pain without causing him to pass out. When I reach his eye, I pause for just a moment—not out of mercy, but to let the fear build—before stabbing the blade directly into it and yanking it out with a twist.
His scream echoes off the concrete walls, primal and agonized. The sound should satisfy me, but it doesn't fill the void that's been growing since I left her.
"Tell me where I can find Amos, and I'll make your death quick," I offer, my voice steady despite the rage pulsing through me.
Eddie's remaining eye is wild with pain, but his hatred hasn't diminished. "Fuck. You."
I shove him by his throat, sending him swinging back and forth on the chains. The silver sizzles against his skin, burning deeper with each movement. I turn to my guys. "Which one of you wants to play with our new toy? Jax? He did try to touch your sister. Killian? He's your cousin."
He's stalling, Nox observes. He knows something important. Something he's terrified to reveal.
Then we'll rip it out of him, I reply, the darkness in me spreading like ink in water.
"I think we should go find Carter," Asher suggests, a cruel smile playing on his lips.
A matching smile spreads across my face, cold and merciless. "Perfect." I turn back to Eddie, whose face has gone pale at the mention of Carter's name. "I agree with Ash. You belong to the man whose mate you raped and killed."
I mind-link Carter immediately: You are needed in the interrogation room.
His response comes quickly: Let me have Mrs. Hansley come watch Iris.
"Carter is going to love his gift," I announce to the room, my voice like ice. "He's been wanting to get his hands on this bastard for years." I nod toward Asher. "Why don't you warm Eddie here up for his... date."
Asher grabs a silver torturing tool from the table, examining it with appreciation. "With pleasure."
I stand back and watch as Asher gently slices Eddie's skin on his fingers and starts pulling it back, exposing muscle and nerves. Eddie's screams reach a new pitch, and I feel nothing but satisfaction. This is justice. This is what monsters like him deserve.