50

The storm clouds seemed to have blown further east and bypassed DoubleEdge territory, leaving only small patches of mist to lazily scurry across the sky.

Ariella stumbled upon the carpeted path of leaves and small sticks, her foot catching in an exposed root, but before she hit the ground Knight caught her arm.

"Thanks," she brushed off her knees. "So how far until we reach wherever it is you're taking me?"

"You'll see," Knight replied enigmatically.

"Is it your cabin?"

"Nope." They skirted its border, the small box hedge and row of pencils pines that shielded the small yet sturdy structure that nestled in the forest.

"The ledge that overlooks the ravine? If so, I've been there with Mal—"

"No, it's not that either. Just you wait and see."

Ariella huffed and sighed dramatically, pretending to dislike the suspense but in reality, she was enjoying the walk.

"So," she began to say presently. "Knight, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"It about your previous Alpha, Dennison."

He took a sharp intake of breath. "Alright, I'll try to answer it best I can."

"Did he really kill himself?"

"What gave you that idea?" Knight looked at her with a shocked expression.

Ariella shrugged, trying to lighten the matter but she knew nothing could. "Some of the pack members talk. They say he drove his car off a cliff."

For a moment, Knight was silent, and she feared he'd either confirm the tragedy or berate her for believing such an awful story. Then he spoke, "They're not wrong. But it wasn't suicide. Another car was involved with the accident. We believe he swerved to miss and ended up going over the edge of the steep ravine. There are multiple tyre skid marks that were found during the investigation."

"That's too bad," Ariella kicked at a loose stone and sent it skittering down the path, where it bounced over the edge and thudded down the small gulley. "Better than what I had been expecting, though. With the way some people talk, I was expecting the worst. Some sordid tale of self-destruction."

Knight nodded sadly "Rumours are apt to run wild when the truth is so uncertain."

"Truth." A heavy sigh escaped her chest, and she burrowed her hands into her pockets. "How I wish to know the truth. All this mystery is making me dizzy."

"Sometimes the truth isn't what you want to hear."

"That doesn't mean we should ignore it. Or hide it."

"They say ignorance is bliss for a reason."

"No can afford to be ignorant. Not even fools. Don't you know that simpletons who turn away from wisdom will meet death, and fools are destroyed by their own complacency? But whoever listens to wisdom can live in peace, at ease and without fear of disaster." As soon as she'd said the ancient words she'd read somewhere, Ariella wondered if she herself were being foolish, holding onto a perfect image of her mate Malachi when so much wisdom and reality was telling her to run.

Run from the monster he could become.

"You think too deeply, Ariella. Philosophy isn't a very popular topic these days, in case you didn't know."

"Oh wow, thanks. And here I thought you were cheering me up."

Knight laughed loudly, his deep timbre rumbling against the otherwise quiet forest around them.

The languid wind shifted, growing stronger, and carried a scent that prickled Ariella's nose. "Is that—"

A body slammed into her, tackling her to the ground before she even registered the movement in the trees around them.

Fighting the dirty rogue off, she clawed him in the eyes and regained her feet, only to be snatched up by two more. This was the second time she'd crossed rogues today, and she wasn't about to end up like the dead bodies that Rahul had left rotting across the borders. She had more life to live. More love to give.

"Hey! Let me go! Put me down, you filthy mutts!" She screamed as loud as she could, but a hand clamped over her mouth and cut off her cry. Opening her eyes wide, she frantically looked for Knight, and saw him grappling with another wolf, their bodies rolling to the ground and becoming covered in mossy bracken.

Twisting her arms, she jabbed her elbow into her attacker's ribs, and was allowed a moment of freedom with which she then spun around and slashed her claws along his neck. With a gurgled scream, the rogue sunk to his knees before collapsing, but before Ariella could celebrate her victory, another beefy arm snaked around her neck and held her tight.

With vice-like strength around them, her lungs cramped and her throat was crushed, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

"Well, darn all, Borin! This isn't the Alpha!" one of the rogues called out in a rough voice, and Ariella could see that he had knocked Knight unconscious and had yanked up his head by his hair to examine his face. The pale light of the moon danced on the bruises now marring his usually handsome features.

The rogue holding her cursed loudly. "Too late now to go back. The guards are comin', I can hear 'em. Let's go. We got the girl and that will hafta do for now."

Ariella squirmed and kicked with her legs, but though her heels met his shin, the rogue didn't seem to care and only gripped her tighter, his other arm pressing into her stomach and expelling all air from her body.

Her lungs began screaming for oxygen, as her mouth gaped with no ability to take a breath. Her vision began to darken, bright spots appearing on the edge, before everything went completely black.

Her only hope now lay in the possibility that Beta Knight would come to and send for help.

"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 some 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 eagerly.

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 gave a shaky chuckled and 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 more... 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 her 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. Everyone knows the protocol for trespassers."

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 weaklings 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 bowed and her shoulders heaving as she choked on silent sobs.

"This is all my fault."

Ariella heard the muffled admission, 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 weaseling 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 some barbarian. You're disgusting!" she snarled at him, tugging on 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 throa--?"

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 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 by 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 hang around 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 reached them. 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 and 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.