Page 95 of Fated to the Rogue

“I know. I’ll be the one making sure of that,” she replied firmly. A smile lit up my face at her boldness.

I kissed my mate’s forehead quickly before turning to Rhys with a frown. “The I.N. Elder Council will be seeing you in the morning, but I’m sure they won’t care if I go ahead and start interrogating you.” I looked down at him as I approached him. “Let’s start with a simple question. When did you and Ryder become part of the Fallen?”

“What makes you think I’ll answer any of your-” Before he could finish his sentence, my Beta struck him with a wolfsbane-infused whip.

Rhys’ screams could probably be heard all across the territory as the poison burned his flesh. In just a few seconds, the skin around the welt left by the whip looked like a second-degree burn. I was pretty sure Malin had never tortured anyone before, yet his attitude could easily make me believe he had been doing it for years. Considering how sweet-natured he was, it was quite surprising to see him so ruthless.

“Are you ready to answer me now? Or do you need more incentive?” I spat, at the same second Malin raised the whip again.

Despite the discomfort Rhys was certainly under, he growled. “I told Ryder to make a pact with the Fallen after he was defeated by yourbitch!” His choice of words made my she-wolf stop humming to snarl at him, letting anger get the best of her.

“Is that when you joined them, too?” I asked, not missing the way he only mentioned his son.

This time, it didn’t seem like he was going to say anything. With Dawn now growling inside my head, I was starting to lose my temper. Thankfully, Malin didn’t need a command to act. His nails turned into claws and he dug them into Rhys’ neck without hesitation. The bastard groaned loudly as his blood oozed out of the wound, flowing down his chest. Although the pain certainly wasn’t comparable to the whipping he had gotten, he knew we had way worse torture methods; that was just my Beta’s friendly reminder that he should start talking.

“No,” Rhys replied at last, a sick smile playing on his lips. “I changed sides a long time ago. You were still wearing diapers when I sold my soul, foolish boy!”

“Alright. When exactly did that happen?” I tried my best to keep an unamused tone after his shocking revelation.

“Seventeen years ago.” His grin grew wider as I furrowed my brows. “I was the first rogue to be recruited by the original Fallen.”

“Why would you do that?”

“To take over Silent Rivers Pack.” To my surprise, the one who answered me wasn’t him, but rather my Luna. When I turned to her, there was a mix of fury and realization in her golden eyes. “Or rather, Diamond Stream Pack.”

“Smart little girl!” Rhys laughed. My stomach turned as I watched him scan Tina with his eyes. “What’s your name again? You look familiar.” My mate remained quiet until his voice broke the silence again. “Oh, that’s right. You’re the daughter of those traitors. You see, I used to be an Omega, just like you are. I’m sure you know how enraging it is to be the lowest of the low. The Goddess thought I would clean floors and bow my head insilence for my entire life, but she was wrong. I was meant for greatness!”

“How did you find the original Fallen?” I continued, clenching my fists to contain my desire to punch his face after hearing how he dared speak to my Luna.

“It wasn’t easy.” His eyes darted to me again. “I searched for him for almost an entire year after I heard about the man who denied the Goddess and chose his own destiny. When I found him, it turned out he was also looking for someone like me.”

“What do you mean?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Like I said, I was the first wolf he ever recruited. Back then, he didn’t know what his bite would do to a shifter. He needed someone with the right ambition.”

“Someone with nothing to lose, you mean,” I scoffed. As a thought occurred to me, I shot a side glance at Cass. “The bite of the original Fallen is supposed to bind your soul to his, yet it seems to me you were living your life freely until very recently. How?”

“We made a pact when I agreed to be his experiment. He let me go, saying he’d call me back when the war began. So, I left to conquer and leave my own legacy.” Rhys puffed his chest proudly. I wondered how he could be so confident when he was bound by silver chains, being tortured by a man who was half his age.

“And your target was Diamond Stream…” I observed thoughtfully. “Why?”

He shrugged. “It was a small pack without heirs. No one would care what happened to their Alpha. I killed him and his Luna, then changed the pack’s name, just to be safe. Didn’t wanna risk having anyone looking into my past.”

“If you wanted power, why didn’t you claim other packs as well?” Tina asked with fury in her eyes, her fists shaking with wrath.

“Because I’m not dumb,” he huffed. “The news of an unknown rogue going around dethroning Alphas would spread like wildfire. I did work to expand Silent Rivers, but slowly. The real growth was supposed to start with Ryder, but he lost his first battle to a female!”

“You seem to have thought about everything, Rhys. Except you were wrong about one thing…” Valentina’s aura was so strong, even I was intimidated. Still, her voice was calm. “The real Alpha and Luna of Diamond Stream Pack did have an heir.”

“What? That’s impossible!” The prisoner laughed, thinking that she was joking. “I killed them both. I would know if they had pups,” he argued, but my Luna’s impassive expression was slowly draining him of his certainty. Frustrated, he asked the one question he should have kept to himself, “What would an Omega know anyway?”

That was it.

Before I could even react, Valentina used her werewolf speed to close the distance between her and the murderer of her family, shoving me out of her way in her blinding rage. Her fist closed around Rhys’ neck, her black claws coming out to pierce his skin. He started coughing, struggling to breathe, as his crimson blood ran down her arm. She had his life in her hands, and she had kept her thirst for vengeance bottled up for too long.

“I’m no Omega! Even though you made me believe so my whole life!” I could see the reflection of her sharp canines in Rhys’ terrified eyes. “I’m an Alpha by blood, and the true heir of Diamond Stream Pack!”

“It can’t be… You carry traitor blood! I had your parents executed for treason, but I let you stay in my pack! I fed you and gave you a home!” he snapped, only further angering my mate.

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