Kano's War

Chapter 33

KANO

The scent of blood and stone filled the underground cells. A sharp, bitter mixture that burned my nostrils and set my wolf on edge.

I stood just outside the bars, my arms crossed over my chest, jaw locked so tight I thought it might snap. The two surviving attackers sat slumped against the wall, shackled and bruised but still alive—barely.

I wanted them dead. My wolf demanded it.

But answers came before revenge.

"Talk," I growled, voice low and lethal.

They didn't move.

Rourke stepped forward first, cracking his knuckles beside me. "You heard him."

Still, nothing.

Then Elias, calm as ever, tilted his head. "Perhaps you'd prefer we let the Gammas in here? Let you explain yourselves to them? You hurt they're Luna and they'll give you even more of a beating to make up for the way you hurt her."

The younger of the two men looked up, his face paling. "No. Please. I didn't know—about her. We weren't told—"

"Told what?" I snapped, stepping forward, gripping the iron bar so hard it groaned. "Told what, exactly? That you'd be sneaking onto claimed land and attacking my mate?"

The older man, likely the scout leader, lifted his head. His mouth was bloody. "We were ordered to observe. Not attack."

"And yet arrows were flying," Rourke snarled beside me.

"They came from Rouge territory," I added, pacing slowly now. "Don't play the victim. I want to know who sent you. Who ordered this."

The silence that followed didn't last long—because Galen, quiet in the shadows near the entrance, finally spoke. "They're Kingdom-born."

I looked at him sharply. "How do you know?"

He nodded toward the older one. "His accent. His boots. And that sigil on the shoulder stitching—it's old, but it's royal guard."

Elias stepped closer to the bars now. "So, who is calling the shots these days? Or did the royals finally burn with the palace?"

The man hesitated... and that was enough.

"You're going to talk," I said, voice calm but colder than the steel underfoot. "Because if you don't, I'll hand you to the wolves who found you. The Luna's guards. They don't care about answers. I do."

A beat passed. Then the older scout finally spoke.

"The Prince... is alive."

The words hit the air like a slap.

I felt Galen still behind me. Even Rourke went quiet. It had to be true after all. I had never saw him die since he poofed into air.

"You're lying," Elias said slowly. "The royal line was wiped out—"

"He survived the war, somehow. He didn't die in the siege."

I narrowed my eyes. "It's true." I admitted, "Last I saw him he vanished. I almost handed him death, and right before, his body flashed away in front of me. We could never confirm where he vanished to."

"He took the throne rightfully, but the Kingdom's fractured. Divided between remnants of the court and border lords. The death of the King and the truth of the war coming out has caused it."

"True mates?" I confirmed. And the wolf nodded. "So it's true?"

Galen's voice suddenly popped, "What are you talking about."