32. The Betrayal

                                    

                                          
Archer
Drip, drip, drip. Drops of blood dripped from Keira's head. Ironically, she was injured in the same spot as my mate. Right now she is in the dungeon in a separate cell from Max,  but he knows she is hurt and begs for mercy.  Mercy?  I don't think I will be able to do that, especially if I don't find Annabelle. I'm waiting for her to wake up. 
"I was hoping you would bring her conscious so I could interrogate her immediately. " I said to Roman a little pissed off at the situation. 
"You told me to bring her alive and I did." He replied and I heaved an annoyed sigh. 
"Don't you think I want her dead as much as you do? I have to find her, Roman! We don't have time to waste with this crap, the clock is ticking." I snarled at him and he guiltily lowered his gaze. 
"I'm sorry, the run wasn't as effective as I thought. " He apologized and I nodded my head when we heard a whimper and our heads turned toward our captive. She winced in pain again as she touched her head. She started to look at her surroundings when our eyes met. There were expressions of confusion and disorientation on her face as if this was a mistake,  but I don't buy it. 
"Alpha!?" she said in a trembling voice. 
"Cut the crap, Keira. I respected you and you betrayed me, you betrayed the pack. You will answer my questions or I WILL MAKE YOU. " I roared and she flinched, then suddenly changed her expression. It wasn't fear, no, she was showing her true face. 
"You took your time, Alpha." She said with hatred at the end. Her expression was full of detestation and disgust. 
"How dare you?" Roman cut in with equal hatred. As much as I'm glad my brother was on my side, I have no time to lose, so I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him. It was clear that this woman has hated us for a long time, so I will play along with her. She has to brag and I have to listen to her. 
"Roman leave us alone! " I said to my brother, and he looked hurt. He didn't like what I asked, but I'm glad he complied with my request. I know my brother, if he hears what this woman has to say,  I'm pretty sure he will not be able to control himself anymore. "Why Keira?" I asked her after Roman left us. 
She laughed, it was a cruel laugh, but I didn't let this get me. When she finally stopped, she became serious again. 
"You are a funny one, but you asked the wrong question. Isn't your mate more important than me?" She asked,  but she was sarcastic. It took all I had not to rip her head off.  I choose to remain silent and look at her. "I hate you and your family. Respected me? Oh, please don't make me laugh. Your parents betrayed me first. Unfortunately, they are dead,  so you needed to pay for it instead." I looked at her confused.  It was obvious that I had missed something. 
"Your son," I whispered. Before Roman found her I went to her house with Jack. There were lots of pictures of her son Michael. He died on the same day as my parents.
"It seems you are not so stupid as you look." She said and I growled at her. I couldn't help it, containing my wolf was hard when she was disrespecting us so openly. 
"Your son died because that alpha attacked us. Shouldn't you be on our side? " I gritted between my teeth. 
"My son died because your father wanted another alpha's woman. She had a family, but he took her, and instead of making sure to protect us,  he put us in danger. No one wanted to make a deal with our pack. Everyone knew that it was a matter of time before war broke out between the packs, including your parents. That's why you were sent to the training camp, but when Max asked your father if we were in danger, he lied. My Michael also needed protection." She shouted at first and started to cry at the end when she mentioned her child.
"But I found hope. The same day of the funeral I saw him. He was older than Michael, but I didn't care. Derek lost everything as I did. Michael was everything to me, but Derek lost his parents and his pack. He was a child and a rogue, he didn't deserve that. The world was cruel to us. I took care of him and worked out our plan. Someone had to pay for what we lost, and who was more guilty than you?"  She affirmed and it was clear she didn't feel like she had done anything wrong. 
Derek?  So that's my brother's name. 
I took a deep breath. There are so many versions of this story that I'm not sure what to believe. One thing is for sure, my parents didn't take care of their problems as they should have.  
"We were kids too Keira. I don't excuse my parents for what they did, but things would have been very different if we had known from the beginning what was going on. Make us pay for our parents' mistakes? Is that what you wanted?" I asked her hoping for some reaction, but she merely smirked. 
"Children carry the faults of their parents on their shoulders, Alpha. At first, I doubted my actions,  but the day we killed your brother's mate ..." She paused to laugh. " I knew we did the right thing." I really want to kill her right now.  I keep saying my mate's name as some sort of spell to control myself.  I did the right thing to chase Roman out. He would have killed her and I wouldn't have been able to stop him. 
"Where is she? Where is my mate? " I pinned her against the wall after losing my patience. 
A victorious smile daubed her face. "In the same place where your mother died." I was confused by her words,  but I didn't want to show it. I dropped her to the floor and walked out of the cell. 
"Wait for me, Annabelle!"