Born in Fire

Chapter Eighteen

*Caspian*

I led Kalama to her office, sitting her down in a chair. She wiped her face, getting straight to business. “Any fatalities?” Neal shook his head.

“Only a few wounded. All expected to make a full recovery. Thanks to you.”

“Good.” she said, dismissing the last part with a wave of her hand. “What do we know?”

I sighed, “Apart from it being Elliot Hayes…not much.” Neal chimed in,

“However, we might have someone who does.” Kalama looked at him. Her eyes blazing with a flame that was all Alpha.

“And who might that just be?” A mischievous grin tugged at the corners of Neal's mouth.

“Oh, just a couple newly made outcasts trying to sneak off when you came out blazing fire balls.” Kalama chuckled.

“Good work Neal.” Neal put his hands up.

“Not me. It was all the Warrior Siblings, particularly Sam.” Kalama stood.

“Very well. I am in serious need of a shower and some actual clothes so gi…”

“No.” I cut her off. She looked at me surprised.

“What?”

“I said no. Neal, John, and I will handle the interrogations. You will go upstairs and rest.” I felt her body tense. She opened her mouth. “I will not have my Luna in the cells. In fact, you shouldn't be a part of any of this anymore.” Anger swirled in the flames of her eyes. When she spoke, her words leaked venom.

“It is because of me that this pack is in this situation in the first place. I will not sit back and…” My own anger leaked out, my Alpha voice shaking the frames on the wall.

“You will!” The hurt on her face broke my heart but there was no way I was going to subject her to the practices of an interrogation. Especially when her control over her flames was so new. If her emotions grew uncontrollable, so too would the fire. She stepped close to me, the hurt that was on her face a moment ago had turned to anger. Heat rolled off her body.

“Do not forget who you are speaking to my Alpha.” Her voice was soft, but full of determination. “I know you are worried about me, but I met what I said to our Pack and for me to do that I have to be there for every part. Do you understand me? I will not have them thinking I am weak…or worse, a lier.” She took my hand. “Please, Caspian.” I let my shoulders sag, sighing.

“Very well. We will go to the cells in two hours.” She smiled, kissing my lips.

“Thank you.” The door closed behind her as she went to get ready. I let out a real sigh this time, looking at Neal, John, and Julie.

“We need to go now. I do not want her down there.” They both nodded, not willing to deny their Alpha. I turned to Julie, “You will not tell Kalama. Understood?” She did not answer right away. I frowned. “That is an order Beta Julie. Do you Understand.” She swallowed,

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Good. Let's go.” Neal and John made to follow me out.

“Alpha, there is someth…” Dr. Barker started. I threw up a hand,

“It will have to wait Doctor.” I said, without looking back.

*Kalama*

A mindlink came through my dreams. Luna, you wanted awoken in two hours. The Warrior's voice flowed through my mind. I thanked him.

Is the Alpha still in there?

Yes, Luna. I thanked him again, getting out of bed and headed for the stairs.

I knew Caspian wasn't going to allow me in on the interrogations, he'd just feigned his response, probably hoping he'd have answers when I came down to meet him. I also knew he would have forbidden any of the ranked members to tell me, so instead I'd sent a mindlink to Jackson, asking who was on guard duty at the cells. He'd sent me the name with no questions asked. It was the same with the guard, Max, when I'd asked him to wake me in two hours.

I made it down to the cells in no time. I flashed Max, a large wolf who took up most of the door frame, a smile. He stepped aside, nodding his head. “Luna, glad to see you up.”

“Glad to be up. Any updates with our…guests?” He shook his head.

“No Luna.” I nodded. He opened the door for me. I smiled my thanks and headed down into the cells. As I got closer to the bottom, I could hear the sound of fists hitting flesh.

“This is your last chance.” I rounded the corner. Caspian stood over a large figure that was strapped to a chair. His bare torso glistened with sweat, the muscles in his shoulders contracted as he drew back his arm to throw another punch. I winced as it landed. I took a few steps over, getting a good look at who sat in the chair. I wasn’t sure why, but I was surprised to see Deborah strapped to the chair. Her face was nearly unrecognizable, one eye was completely swollen shut, her nose flattened against the right cheek, and her face bruised and bloody. Neal and John stood by the wall. They too were shirtless, sweat dripping off them. “Dammit! I will not ask again.” Caspian’s Alpha voice boomed. I watched Deborah, not even a wince. A werewolf could not fight the call of an Alpha for more than a couple minutes, seconds depending on the Alpha’s strength. The fact I was a Luna, and had Alpha blood running through my veins, was the only reason I hadn't been quivering in fear when he'd use it on me in my office.

Deborah though, did not cower. She barely flinched. I’d only seen it once, a werewolf, unmoved by an Alpha. Deborah was Rogue. John looked away from Caspian, his gaze falling on me. He elbowed Neal, standing at attention. Neal did the same, trying to get Caspian’s attention,

“Alpha.” His voice was quiet.

“Not now.” Caspian growled, drawing his arm back again.

“But Alpha, I think…” Caspian snarled, whipping around on Neal.

“I said, not now Gamma.” Neal shrunk back, but pointed in my direction. Caspian turned, his mouth coming open as his eyes landed on me.

“Kalama. I thought…” He tried to recover from the surprise but failed.

“That you could trick me. That you could get answers without me.” He finally recovered. I grinned.

“Julie.” He growled. I started shaking my head, before he could get her name out.

“No.” I said, walking up to him. “See, sometimes, I think you forget I am your mate. That means I know you. I know you better than yourself, just like you know me. So I knew you were only trying to pacify me when you agreed.” I gave him my sweetest smile. Neal and John shifted nervously. “So, I figured I'd give you your two hours.”

“But how did…” The smile still on my lips,

“You didn't order the Warriors to not tell me your plan. Only Julie.” He stiffened, clearly unenthused that I had outsmarted him. He opened his mouth to say something, but I put up a hand, cutting him off. “We will talk about who you use your Alpha tone with later in bed.” He close his mouth, lust swirling in his eyes. A mischievous smile on his lips. “But first, let's deal with this.” I motioned to the still form of Deborah in the chair.

“Nothing is working, Luna. They both have taken round of all three of us and neither has cracked.” John said. I walked to stand in front of Deborah.

“Of course nothing is.” The three males looked at me, their questions thick in the air. I smiled looking back at Deborah. “See, Debbie here has been trained by one of the greatest Gammas Green Grove has seen. She is not going to buckle with brute force.” Neal puffed his chest a little. His eyes were full of pride. “and if I'm to guess so has the other traitor.”

“They're immune to the Alpha also.” said Caspian. I nodded, turning to Deborah.

“That's because they have denounced this pack.” I felt the males surprise.

“Rogue.” Neal whispered. I nodded, still looking at Deborah.

“That's why they're going to take some…extra coasting.” I looked at Neal and John. “Go get the other traitor.” They both jumped to carry out the order. Caspian came to me.

“What are you planning?” I didn't say anything, meeting his eyes. His eyes widened in understanding.

“You can't. I…” I stopped him with a kiss.

“I can, Cass. You have taught me that I can. This Pack has taught me I can. And I will. For you and for them.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, kissing him lightly on the lips. I knew he didn't like it and neither did I, but I was prepared to, if needed. Neal and John came in, half carrying, half dragging a badly beaten Joanna.

I nodded at them. “Good. Grab that chair and sit her down.” They did as I asked and stepped away, going back to their spot on the wall. Caspian stepped back too. I started pacing in front of the two traitors. “You two have done a wonderful job. Not many would be able to last this long with the three top members of this pack.” They didn't say anything. Their one good eye trained on me as I continued to pace between them. I grinned at them. “Delilah should be very proud.” They swallowed, nervously. “Yes, I know Delilah has joined Elloit Hayes. You see, I had someone run to her cabin after I'd woken up. Imagine my surprise when they reported the cabin ransacked and Delilah nowhere to be found.” I scoffed, no surprise really.

Delilah hated me. Hated me because I was Caspian’s mate. Hated me that I had beat her in our fight for Luna and even more that I had deranked her to Omega, the lowest rank in the pack, and sent her to live on the outskirts of the territory. So no, it wasn't surprising that she had gone to the wolf that wanted me dead, perhaps more so than even her. “But you see, I have something that can make you talk.” They shifted in their chairs. I grinned, “Something that no one in this pack has. Or no one in any pack really.” I snapped my fingers. A flame ignited in the center of my palm. I felt their heartbeat quicken. I let a malicious grin spread on my lips. “It's simple really. You tell us what we wanna know and I won't burn you.” I stopped pacing. Standing in front of Joanna. She stared at me. She growled, her brows drawn down in determination,

“You won't.” I c****d my head at her, letting out a soft chuckle.

“You see. This is where your precious Delilah has steered you wrong. She believes me weak. Just another one of Alpha’s bitches.” I lend in, the flame in my hand inches from her face. “She's wrong. And you two should have realized that the day I broke her nose in the dining hall.” Before she could flinch I sent a small flame up the long sleeve of her dirty shirt. It wasn't enough to burn her and fizzled out well before it got anywhere. I had to give it to her, even looking fire in the eye, she manage to look at me,

“f**k you.” Though the words didn't match the terror in her good eye. I sighed.

“I didn't want to do this.” I said, and grabbed her hand. Her screams hurt my ears and the smell of her burning flesh turned my stomach, but I ignored it. I released her hand, turning to Deborah. “How about you Debbie? Do you have anything to say?” I turned my flame to her, sure not to burn, just for her to see it. She tried jumping away, but only managed to topple her chair. Caspian moved to sit her up, but I threw up a hand, crouching down beside her. “You know I really should thank you. It's because of this stunt you, and Delilah and that bastard Elliot tried to pull that I can finally control my power. Who would've thought seeing my mate and pack attacked would finally lift whatever was keeping it unhinged.” She started to breathe heavily, panic setting in. I had gambled with Joanna and was right. She was stronger than Deborah, or maybe dumber, either way I didn't have to burn Deborah. She told us everything. How many wolves he had. That the plan had been to capture me, kill Caspian, and take his pack. That they at been his way in. That he had set up headquarters somewhere in the city. Her panic had become sobs at this point.

“Please, don't burn me.” I smiled at her.

“Very good, Debbie. I'm not going to burn you, as long as you tell me one more thing.” She nodded.

“Who was on the inside?” She looked at me surprised. I felt the surprise from the three males that had been watching me this whole time. I turned to them. “There had to be someone at the Ceremony who was in on it. How else would Elliot’s warriors know when to attack? Delilah was outcasted so she wasn't there and Debbie's already told us that she and Joanna were at the gates on guard duty.” The males nodded, understanding. I turned back to Deborah. “So, who was it?”

She didn't say anything. “Come on, Debbie. You've done good so far.” She looked at me, swallowing, but remained silent. I sighed. “Alright. I didn't want to do this, but you left me no choice.” I frowned and ignited the end of her short braid. She held firm as the flame began to climb. The smell of burning hair filled the room. Then the flame touched her scalp, sizzling as it burned her skin. She screamed,

“Blake! It was Samuel Blake.”