The Wolves and the Vipers

Chapter 69 - If One of Them is Dead

Only one chapter left after this one, folks :o

The old Beta's cell was not what I had been expecting. He had a table and a chair, a proper toilet and a basin of soapy water. He was wearing his own clothes, rather the standard prison issue ones. Imprisoned pack members were afforded a better quality of life than the rogues upstairs.

But the man himself looked worn to the bone. His hair was combed and his shirt was uncreased, but he had lost weight since I had last seen him. His cheeks were hollow, there were dark circles under his eyes, and he was pale. He was living under the threat of a death sentence.

He climbed to his feet when he saw me, a frown line etched deep in his forehead. His eyes immediately flitted past me, to the empty corridor, where I was sure he was expecting Jace to appear. But as the seconds past and it remained empty, he started to realise I was alone, and that frown line deepened even further.

"Luna," he said.

It was a greeting and a question. I wasn't in any hurry to answer it.

"How are you?" I asked him.

The Beta stared at me for a moment, because it was a stupid question. His shoulders rose and fell once in a shrug of sorts. "I haven't slept much these last few weeks."

I acknowledged that with a small nod. "Are they treating you well?"

"Well enough," he murmured. "But they've been ordered not to speak to me, so it's been a long time since I had a conversation with someone. I worry I'll go mad down here."

"Then why stay?" I asked him.

His mouth thinned, and he looked around himself pointedly, his gaze lingering on the bars. "Is that a joke?"

I'd annoyed him, and it hadn't been my intention, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. So I didn't bother to soften my tone. "No. It's not. You're down here because you lied. If you tell Jace the truth, he'll let you out."

"And if the truth is that I'm guilty? Will he let me out?" he mused.

"I know you didn't do it," I told him. "I also know who did do it. I haven't told Jace, for obvious reasons, but I think I should."

It was important not to say it explicitly. As long as it was all vague, as long as it was hypothetical, he would keep talking to me. He would confirm every suspicion.

"No, Emma, you shouldn't," he said sharply. "Let it be. You have no idea what it would do to the pack, if they ever found out. It would tear us all apart. Everything that Jace worked for, all these years ... it would be wasted."

My chest hitched. He had almost confirmed it, because what else could that mean?

"Yes, of course it would tear the pack apart. Their Alpha burned his mate alive," I said. And I watched the Beta flinch at the words. "But they don't need to know. Jace does."

I didn't dare look to my right, where Jace was standing and listening to all of this in total silence. I didn't dare brush against the bond to find out how he was coping with it. I needed to get through this conversation without wavering or faltering, and without the Beta suspecting anything was wrong.

He ran a hand through his hair now. "It wasn't like that. He didn't burn her alive."

"How do you know what it was like? Did you help him?" I asked, eyebrows raised.

Carl shook his head vehemently. "Help him? Goddess. No, Emma. If I'd known what he was planning, I would have stopped him."

I narrowed my eyes. "But you did know something, evidently."