The Howling Heart's Forgiveness

Chapter 138

The first man gasps awake, his confused eyes looking around the room until his gaze lands on his companions. The look of defeat that follows brings such joy to me that I wonder if he truly understands just how fucked they truly are.

“Why didn’t you just kill us?” He asks, sounding defeated.

“Because that’s not how we operate.” Asteria answers, stepping close and using her index finger to lift the man’s head from under his chin. Their eyes meet and for a moment I wonder if he is going to try and lunge for my Alpha, but he just sits there, no fight left in him.

“Alpha Asteria, I assume?” The man asks, getting a smirk out of Asteria.

“The very same.” She answers back, letting go of his chin and stepping back. The man sighs again. His eyes shifted to the unconscious woman. I see the look of longing in his eyes, the look of worry and fear. Not fear for himself, but fear for her.

“Is she your Mate?” I ask, stepping out from the side so that the man can see me. Rune reaches out to stop me, but I sidestep his grasp, sending my Mate a warning glare. Gale pulls him back and shakes his head, his eyes glazing over. Ricky and Caspian roll their eyes at Rune trying to keep me at his side but stay silent. They are here as guards; they need to stay as stoic and unmoving as possible while we interrogate our first captive.

“She is.” The man answers, looking back at Rune and then at me.

“I know you two. Rune and Brynlee. Valor really wants you two dead.” He laughs depreciatingly at the end of his statement and leans back against the chair as best as he can.

“That man is a fool. I even told my Alpha that joining up with him is a death sentence.” The wolf continues, his laughter dying down.

“I will tell you anything you like and accept any conditions you have, just let my Mate and her brother live.” Shocked but this wolf's honesty, I look to Asteria who stares at him thoughtfully. She signals for all of us but Caspian and Ricky to leave the room.

“What do you think we should do?” Gale asks once we are in the hallways. Asteria leans against the wall, her eyes deep in thought.

“Sounds like he hates his Alpha. So we should hear him out and see if we should use him.” Asteria answers, looking at Rune and I.

“What do you two think?” She asks. I think about our options. We can use this wolf to our advantage in learning why they came here as well as who escaped. But leaving them all alive could become a risk.

“If we let them live, we will need to have them turn Rogue first.” Rune says from beside me, his voice a grumble.

“As long as they are still part of their Pack, we aren’t safe.” He adds, turning to look at me. What he means is Ebony and I aren’t safe.

“Rune is right, but we need to learn about their situation first. It’s clear these three are family, but what we don’t know is if they have pups or not still in that Pack. If we can find that out first, we can come to an agreement with these wolves.” Gale chimes in. Placing a hand on my stomach, I think about what I would do if I was captured and my pups were waiting for me at home. I know I would do anything in my power to get back to them, even if it means giving up on my Pack to become Rogue, so maybe we can use this to our advantage.

“When we go in, can I take the lead?” I ask, looking at Asteria. She looks at me, her eyes searching mine for a moment before she nods her head.

“Go ahead. It seems like you have a plan.” She answers, a soft smile on her lips. With our talk over, we return to the interrogation room. The man is still the only one awake and as everyone spreads out around the room, I stand in the middle of all three of them.

“Have you all made a decision?” The man asks with his head hanging down, his words were neither overbearing or servile. He seems resigned to his fate as long as his Mate and brother-in-law lives.

“We have.” I answer, giving him a small smile.

“But first, may I know your name. You already know ours so it seems unfair to not know yours.” I probe. The man’s head jerks up taken aback by my request. It seems he did not expect us to be so polite to prisoners.

“I am Hawk Davenport.” Hawk answers with a low voice.

“The she-wolf is my Mate, Misa Davenport, and the male is her brother Andre Elliot.” I nod, keeping my eyes on the man as I open a link with Gale.

[See if Holten can find out who these wolves are.] I inquire, catching the slight nod Gale sends my way.

“No need to have someone look into us. We are members of Flaming Canine.” Hawk says, his eyes meeting mine. Taken aback by his honesty, Gale links me and says he will ask Holten to see if what Hawk is true. To just keep him talking as it might take ten minutes.

“Well, Hawk.” I begin, watching his body for any signs of dishonesty.

“Do you and Misa have any pups?” Hawk’s eyes widen again before he turns to look at his Mate. The sadness returns for a moment and I wonder if maybe he lost a pup. I cannot imagine the pain he is going through if this is true and decide to wait for him to answer.

“We have one. A girl.” He answers with a sigh of defeat, tears welling in his eyes.

“Right now our Alpha and Luna are holding her hostage while we work on this mission he sent us on. It’s been just over a week since we last saw her.” A growl ripples through the room and Rune strides out. His anger is palpable as I instinctively place a hand on my stomach. To think someone would hold another wolf’s pup hostage just to get them to do their bidding.

“I am guessing you are with pup by the way Rune reacted to this news.” It’s a statement, not a question. I find myself turning to look at Hawk who gives me a small smile and for a moment I wonder just how I should answer. There is no way to deny it from how Rune and I acted, but I also don’t want to confirm it and have the news sent to our enemies.

“If you can help me save our pup, I promise to tell you everything I know about the alliance Pine Moon, Flaming Canine, Snarling Spruce, Midnight Rain, and Fanged Growl have between each other. I will even identify the bodies of the dead and let you know who escaped the fight alive.” The deal Hawk provides is too good to be true. We have gained a lot of our information from the hacked message channel we managed to get into, but having first-hand experience from a wolf before us is a boon for our battle ahead.

[Holten says the three of them are indeed from Flaming Canine. He also confirmed that they have a daughter.] Gale calls out through our link. I figured as much as I have yet to feel any form of dishonesty from the wolf before us.

[So what should we do then?] I ask, keeping my gaze on the hopeful eyes of Hawk.

“We accept your terms. I will send a team to save your pup as long as you help us starting now.” Asteria calls out, stepping away from the walls to stand beside me.

“We just have one condition.” She adds, letting her Alpha power radiate off of her towards Hawk.

“What is that condition, Alpha Asteria?” Hawk asks. The door slams open and Rune walks inside. In his hands are similar collars that Devlyn wore around his neck and I sigh with relief.

“I won’t ask you to become Rogue as your Alpha will feel it and it will put your pup in danger. But I insist that you all wear these collars. It’s the only way we can trust you.” Asteria states. Rune stands beside her, his jaws clenched and anger radiating off of him. I know that anger is partially directed at Hawk due to them invading our Pack. But the majority of it is directed at the Alpha of Flaming Canine. I have a feeling that we will need to take out the Alpha and Luna of that Pack after we deal with Valor and Tanya.