Zara's POV

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I can't stop touching him. My hands glide gently over his face, his head, his shoulders, his chest, his arms—his own hands doing the same to me—relishing in the moment of knowing that he's here and alive when I thought he was dead.

In the next few minutes, as my hands continue their caresses, I blurt out everything that has happened since I was kidnapped. How Kairo is my father and the alpha of the Shadow Rogues and that he had taken me and Emily away "where it was safe," but I had no idea if we would ever see our pack again or not. How Ryan used us as added bait at the meeting even though Kairo didn't want to hand us over to him. How quick Kairo was to "claim" me and Emily in some kind of twisted way to protect us.

"All of his kids—my brothers and sister—they're all off-limits to the other rogues. They're not allowed to touch us. Aside from Jade—Keith's mate—I get the feeling that he thinks of us as his pack and everyone else is just extras he picks up," I tell him. "I'm not entirely sure who is in charge of what, but I think Kairo is helping Ryan to reclaim his territory and position as alpha. I think he intended to take Emily and I away with him after this war ended—and he was certain that Ryan would win."

"We have allies from other packs helping us," Evan says, cupping my cheeks with his palms. "We can win this. Whatever happens, I'm not letting them take you away from me again."

I smile at him before our lips meet for the first time in days.

Just in time for Derrick to return.

He clears his throat in the doorway and we pull apart, pink flushing Evan's cheeks. I stand in front of him to conceal his nakedness.

He hands Evan a cold compress and some clothes before we sit down on the floor and he begins to clean my injured wrists.

"What's going on upstairs?" I can't help but ask Derrick.

Those hazel eyes are trained on the task of treating my wounds. He doesn't once raise them to mine or Evan's.

He looks maybe thirty and bears the same scars across his chest like the other rogues.

"An Inquisition."

Not the talkative type, it seems.

"Did Ryan get away?"

"No. Alpha is extracting information from him right now. When he's done, he'll hear your side. I'd be careful if I were you. He's very protective of his claims. No one has ever gone against him the way Ryan has."

Yeah, Kairo didn't seem like the kind of guy you'd want to cross, never mind kidnap and kill his kid.

I didn't say that though.

"What happens now?" I ask.

"Don't know. That's not my decision to make."

So helpful.

He finishes wrapping my wrists and gets up. "Stay here. He will send for you when he's ready."

Leaving, he closes the door but I don't hear him lock it.

We could technically escape—if we felt up to it.

Looking down at my hands, I try shifting, but still can't.

Heaving a sigh, I snuggle up with Evan on the floor instead. It has been so long since I felt his touch, heard his voice, saw those golden eyes, and smelled his signature scent. We couldn't make a run for it even if we tried, so I held him to me and for the first time in ages, I felt like everything was going to be okay.

He tells me the latest at his end, the war, the allies, how he was supposed to run across the territory with the other runners to distract the focus of the rogues for our warriors to take them out. When he smelled the blood in front of the house and thought it was mine, that forced him to stop and confront Ryan and was nearly strangled to death.

"If it hadn't been for your father—"

"Kairo," I tell him.

"—I'm sure Ryan would have killed me." He hangs his head.

I hold him tight as he buries his nose in my neck.

"Were you two close?"

He nods. "We were as kids. But... things change. People change. I know that, but it's still hard."

"I never had siblings growing up," I say, "but I bet it was hard."

The level of betrayal, of your brother trying to kill you, is heart-wrenching. I can't begin to comprehend how hard it must be for him.

It had to be even harder for his parents.

As much as I don't want to think about it, I can't help it. The silence that follows as we hold each other lengthens until the door to our cell opens and Muse stands on the other side.

"Let's go, Zara," he says. "Father is waiting."

I kiss Evan's forehead before I get to my feet and walk out of the cell. Muse closes and locks it as I leave the enclosed holding area and walk through the basement gym. Muse follows closely behind, his movements graceful for someone as tall as he is.

Climbing up the stairs, the scene before me hits me.

Ryan is sitting tied to a chair. Kairo stands over him, his fists clenched at his sides. A gag is in Ryan's mouth, silencing him, with fresh bruises popping up on his cheek and eye. His nose is broken with blood encrusted on his upper lip. Blood stains his shirt and shorts and my eyes jerk up from the gnarled, unnatural twist his feet have taken.

I avoid looking at his face because I feel the burn of his eyes on the side of my head. The amount of hate and rage is staggering and makes my heart thunder in my chest.

Another chair a few feet away waits as Muse comes to stand next to it holding a rope.

"You have one choice, Zara," Kairo tells me. "You can sit and co-operate or Muse will force you down."

I take my seat and give Kairo my full attention, ignoring Ryan and the rope in Muse's hands.

"Good," Kairo grunts. "I will ask you a series of questions and if you fail to answer them with the truth in a timely fashion, I cannot be held accountable for the injuries inflicted upon you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Father," I say, feeding him the bitter word.

If the word appeases him, he doesn't show it. He's trying to control himself despite the fact he looks ready to kill something.

"Tell me everything that happened the moment you stepped into that van," he commands.

I relay everything as it happened, pausing momentarily when I get to Ben's murder and look down at my hands. Dried blood is encrusted in the lines of my palms and I stumble a bit over my words.

I tell him about Jade being knocked out and tossed into the bushes. Ben losing control of his wolf and getting shot. Carrying him to the house while Burk ran and was then hunted down and killed behind my back. I tell him about being tied up upstairs and Ryan pinning the blame on me. I even begin to tell him of my mate downstairs, but he silences me immediately.

"That's enough. Tell me, what you know about this Burk guy."

"He is—was—a member of the Silver Star Pack just north of here. He hit on me a few days ago. I don't know if he was still with them or if he was a spy at the time, but he sustained injuries after the first battle."

"What do you know about Ryan?" Kairo asks.

"That he's Evan's older brother. That five years ago he went crazy with rage when he caught my mate and his out on a date—not that Evan or the girl knew she was Ryan's mate. Ryan lost it and killed her in front of Evan before taking off and never returning. Evan and his family thought he'd been killed or something because they never heard from him again. The loss was hard on their parents, so they appointed new alphas to the land. They're shocked by his return and devastated by the turn of events."

"Described these 'turn of events,' as you call it."

"Well, the attack on the Silver Stars, used as a diversion for Ryan to steal the land. His threats to join him or die were another. That's not the way they raised him, I guess."

"You guess?"

I frown at him. "They're good wolves, not bloodthirsty killers."

He doesn't respond to that.

"Do you know what became of Burk?"

I swallow. "Ryan shot and killed him. But what he did with his body, I don't know."

"Do you know what became of Ben after he was killed?"

My hands squeezed together. "I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

"I wasn't there. Ryan had me tied to a chair upstairs."

Kairo breaks eye contact with me and looks at Ryan. "Do you know why Ryan disobeyed my orders when I told him not to touch what is mine?"

There was that possessiveness again, but the growl that rumbles up his throat keeps me in line.

I hesitate. "I'm his brother's mate. He wants... revenge? I don't know what he wants, exactly. I'm just guessing. I know he wants his title and land back. I'm guessing he wants to get back at his brother for the death of his mate."

"What do you think, Muse?"

Kairo hasn't taken his eyes off Ryan while I talk, but Muse has been watching me closely.

Muse nods. "Her story checks out with me. Details are the same as the ones she told me before."

"Take her back to the holding cell and bring me the omega," Kairo says. "Omegas hold all the pack secrets."

"Don't hurt her," I say as Muse steps close to me.

Kairo turns to me, his jaw clenched and eyes narrowed.

"She's not the one I want to kill right now. I'm only after the truth."

---- Author's Note ----

One down, one more to go. Time to finish this bad-boy (story) like I finished Heart of Stone last week.

Sorry that most of the pictures have disappeared. Photobucket (the site I was using to post and share pictures) is now charging a ridiculous amount for the ability to share images on other sites. I don't honestly remember now which images I used for which chapter. *sighs*