Veritas

Chapter 72

After speaking with Aislinn, who'd put urgency into her plan, Gwen found herself stalking the King's mother. She had taken special care to forge a talisman for herself long ago that was described in her mother's book, and it provided her the ability to move around undetected. Although the talisman had its limits, such as a timer she couldn't extend, she had never before needed it for more than a few hours. As she followed Shaela, hoping for some idea of what the plan was for Rei and Ryan, she hoped she'd have enough time.

Gwen assumed that Shaela would want Rei and Ryan close by, to avoid anyone discovering the flaws in her story. So, she reasoned that by following her, she'd find her friends.

At the moment, Shaela was marching down a hallway with her personal guard close on her heels. "This stupid mutt, can't he be useful for one minute?" Shaela muttered to herself, stopping in front of a door that she proceeded to try to open. Finding it locked, she banged on it repeatedly. "Open this door, you miserable excuse of a man!" She shouted through the door angrily.

The door was wrenched open, nearly being ripped off of its reinforced hinges, a fuming former Alpha King standing in its place. "What do you want, wench?" He snarled, golden eyes glowing in fury. "Due to your lack of oversight, which you insisted I give you, my son is lost. Yet you refuse me access to the prisoners so I may interrogate them" he said, continuing to snarl. His words were coming out clumsily due to his fangs continuing to grow, while both man and wolf struggled for control. "You are either brave or stupid to face me after such incompetence. Tell me why—" he continued, only growing more enraged the longer he spoke.

Recognizing this, Shaela cut him off, although she only served to anger him further. "Get control of your mutt, you pathetic dog" she snarled back. "You will have your interrogation; but, it will be in front of the pack. And it will be as Derek, not your manic mutt" she insisted.

Derek grabbed the doorframe, clearly waging an internal battle. The wooden frame splintered under his grasp as he growled and snarled, his eyes flickering between green and gold. After what seemed like forever, where Shaela's slippered foot tapped the floor impatiently, his eyes settled on green, and his fangs began retracting to a more human look.

"Why do you antagonize him?" Derek demanded angrily. "You know I struggle for control at the best of times...It's as if you want to be attacked" he said, frowning at her.

Shaela merely gave him a smirk, then turned on her heel to walk away. "After dinner, we will have an interrogation and execution" she called back to him.

Derek stared after her, a strange look on his face. Gwen considered staying to chat with the former King; but, decided against it. Shaela had done a good job of ruining any respect the pack would have for him, so until that was restored, he'd be a useless ally. So, Gwen chased after the she-wolf in hopes she'd pay her prisoners a visit.

After a few hours of Shaela merely roaming around, preparing for a grand execution, Gwen was beginning to worry. She wanted time with Rei and Ryan to help them escape; but, was beginning to think she'd have to settle for a spur-of-the-moment rescue. As she was coming up with a plan, she followed Shaela into her parlour and was ecstatic to find that inside her parlour, there was a doorway with guards posted.

"Step aside" Shaela ordered, and the two armed guards robotically obeyed. Ignoring them, without so much as a thanks, Shaela proceeded through the doorway they were protecting and down a spiralling staircase. Gwen was hot on her heels, certain that she was about to find her missing friends.

Instead, to her confusion, she found the Captain of the Royal guard. He was shackled to the wall with silver chains, and looked like he'd been beaten more than once. He was unconscious until Shaela grabbed a bucket of icy cold water and threw it on him.