Reclaiming Herself—Completed

Chapter Sixteen

Patrick.

The two men stared quietly at Caleb as he took a break from his information dumping monologue. There was so much to tell about the horrors of the Silver Sliver Pack that they’d already been talking for an hour about how Alpha Richard had his pack set up. Caleb was able to divulge all the ins and outs of the pack grounds, most of Alpha Richard’s operations, and how he connected with the black market.

“When Alpha Richard isn’t wiping out other packs for product–”

Matthew frowned. “Product is women, right?”

“Yes. Women and, well, anyone he can sell. If there’s a pricetag, he’ll see it. Human, witch, werewolf, vampire. All of them. Though, submissive she-wolves are always in high demand.”

“Disgusting,” Matthew spat.

Patrick nodded. “Go on, please.”

“When he can’t easily take over another pack, he’ll sometimes hunt for rogues and put them in a program he has that will essentially teach them pack life again, and he’ll keep them until their scent changes so that he can sell them too. Otherwise, he has three teams that he sends out to kidnap an ideal product or special requests.”

“So, how did Danielle get caught up in all of this?”

“Her pack was wiped out, and she was collateral,” Caleb replied matter of factly.

Patrick’s heartstrings pulled. “Tell me more about her, please. Tell me everything you know about my mate. I need to know how bad it was for her. I feel like I’m missing something. When we discovered we were mates, she seemed terrified of the idea.”

“Well, if you think what I’ve already mentioned has been bad, you’re going to lose your mind over what I say next.”

“I know.”

“Okay. I just want you to be warned.”

“Thank you, but I need to know.”

Caleb took a deep breath and seemed to steady himself before launching back into his narrative. “As I just told you, I was made a slave of the Silver Sliver years before Dani. However, I’d never seen Alpha Richard react to a recuit the way he did to her before. She passed all of his tests almost like they were nothing. She was graceful and caught his attention early on. Had I known all she’d be made to endure, I would have tried to warn her beforehand. But, the hindsight is always 20/20, right?

“Anyway,” Caleb continued after a moment of awkwardness. “It was common knowledge among us that Alpha Richard and his men can partake of the inventory before they’re sold, and when Beta Antonio claimed Dani, Alpha Richard lost his s**t. He tore into his beta and made a declaration that she’d only be his, and that none of his men were allowed to touch her. To show his dominance, he r***d her in front of everyone and then chained her to a post like a dog until the next day. However, when he went out to collect her, she wasn’t there. In a rage, he murdered every slave he came into contact with until one of his warriors confessed to taking her. Alpha Richard murdered his mate as punishment.

“After that, he decided to lock her up in a silver cell.”

“Yes, I saw that,” Patrick growled, barely keeping himself together.

“Over the last year, Dani and I have cultivated a sort of friendship. We would tell each other to keep going, and we often had to tell each other to live for each other. Both of us wanted to end our lives multiple times, but the other just wouldn’t let it happen. I’d say, it’s a common thought running through slaves’ minds.

“I became her sort of caretaker when Alpha Richard finished a session with her or just needed someone to look over her. I obviously couldn’t touch her in the way he was worried about, so naturally, I received the role. It became my job to keep her healthy enough and alive. He was pretty firm with the idea that if she lived, I lived.”

Patrick paused Caleb before he could continue. “Tell me about the sessions.”

“Alpha,” Matthew warned. “I don’t think–”

“Tell me about the sessions, Caleb. Please.”

“Why, Alpha? Why put yourself through that?” Matthew questioned.

Patrick sighed. “Her pain is my pain. If I know just a little bit about what she’s gone through, then I’ll be that much better at helping her heal. She’s my mate; it’s my duty to help her however it looks like.”

Caleb briefly looked between the two before agreeing. “Well, I’m pretty sure he’s a sadist. Every session included torture and r**e. Usually he tortured her while he r***d her.”

Patrick began working his jaw, trying to calm Aero down, who wanted to break through and run straight to Alpha Richard’s pack and tear out his throat.

“Examples,” he said through strained teeth.

“Uhh,” Caleb hesitated, looking at Matthew, who only shrugged in defeat. “He had a, um, silver dagger made specially for her. He had their initials carved into it. Often, Alpha Richard would stab her or slice her open while he was in her or just before he, uh, used her. Oh, he always used wolfbane on her to keep her weak and pretty much only fed her dry bread and old, leftover soups. He didn’t want her gaining her strength back. I know that she mentioned not shifting once since she got there.

“Now that I think about it, I remember him saying that he visited her pack years before he attacked it and watched her fight. He said she was marvellous. I believe it was then that his obsession began. I mean, I’ve never seen anyone react like he has towards Dani.”

“How do I save her?” Patrick then asked softly, crushed by the information he heard.

Caleb drew in a deep breath and then slowly let it out. “If you want to save her, you’ll have to save everyone else in the pack at the same time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Alpha Richard always uses the other slaves as a means to control her. Hewould often threaten to murder them in front of her or let his men do what they wanted if she didn’t comply. It didn’t take long to see just how real his threats were. Alpha Richard knows how to manipulate her into getting what he wants, and it always includes the threat to harm others.”

Patrick stood and began pacing. His body was welling up with energy that was dying to escape. He felt like he was going to explode. Though he logically knew he needed to hear what Ca;eb had to say and what Danielle had endured, his emotions were fighting for control. They were fighting to send him off to Silver Sliver and tear Richard to shreds for his crimes. However, once again, his logic would take over and tell him that he had to go through the proper channels in order to free Danielle and the others. If he murdered Richard in cold blood, he’d have a much harder case to present to the New Council. Instead, he needed to buy time, gather the evidence, and show that Richard was a piece of trash.

“How do we get to Richard and expose him? Matthew asked, breaking Patrick of his thoughts. “I mean, I know you already gave us the specs on his grounds and layout and all that, but we need a game plan. We need to catch him in the act. We need irrefutable proof.”

Caleb grinned. “You need to get an invitation for one of his auctions. Then, you’ll get all the evidence you need.”

“And how do we get invited to that?” Patrick asked.

“This will be the tricky part. Alpha Richard is very careful about his guest list, since he knows that what he’s doing is illegal. I was thinking of making a profile for you. Someone from overseas and only in town for a bit.”

Patrick’s eyes lit up. “You can do that?”

“Oh, it’s easy. I used to run all the tech in my old pack. In fact, if you have the money to spare, I could recommend some really good upgrades for you.”

“That'd be great. If you’re interested, you can have the position here.”

Caleb was quiet a moment. “Are–are you sure? I mean, you don’t know me from Adam.”

Matthew coughed, “Actually, Adam is a very nice guy. We do know him rather well.”

Patrick only rolled his eyes, ignoring his beta, though he couldn’t help a small smile. “Yes, I’m sure. I’ve always opened my doors to those who’d like to enter. This pack is growing quickly because I always offer the people I save refuge if they so choose it.”

“I’d love that. Thank you, sir,” Caleb said quietly. “I’ll work hard for you, and I won’t let you down. I promise.”

Patrick gave a wide grin to him. “I’m sure you won’t.”

“Okay, well, give me access to a computer and I’ll start creating a profile that I’m sure will interest Alpha Richard.”

“Absolutely. Matthew, you have an old one he can use, yeah? At least until I can buy you a proper one.”

Caleb’s face whitened. “That won’t be necessary, sir. I-I’m happy with an old one.”

“Nonesense. Tell me what kind and anything else you’ll need. Always tell me what we’d need for better security and any other upgrades. I have the funds, so I might as well invest.”

“That would be amazing. Thank you so much. Oh, and one more thing, Alpha. There’s something else about Dani that you should know.”

“What is it?”

“I need to warn you that, uh, Alpha Richard…he, uh, marked her forcibly,” Caleb said, inching away from the man in a knowing manner.

Patrick saw red before Aero burst through his control and charged out the door.