Darius was determined that Harry keep his mouth shut, even if it meant that Poppy would have to die. Sol glared at him one more time as he closed the cell door and stepped aside, watching to make sure that the guard had locked it correctly. That human could not be trusted, not even for a moment. He was sure that if given the slight chance, he would run and save his own life, leaving everyone behind.

Sol followed Artemis as she guided Harry into another cell that was a few doors down, not wanting the other humans to overhear. He trailed behind her, signalling for the Alpha and the elders to join them.

Poppy wouldn't stop crying hysterically so it seemed that the best option was to transfer Harry to another cell for questioning. They may have untied his feet so he could walk, but his hands remained tied. Just because he was cooperating didn't mean that he could be trusted.

Artemis was a genius. Her plan had worked like a dream.

Within a few minutes they had Harry sat on a chair in his new cell, surrounded by two Alphas, three elders, a Beta, a few pack warriors and Artemis whom was sat directly in front of him in a chair of her own. Everyone else remained standing.

Harry was smarter than Darius, he didn't go around pissing off werewolves who could potentially kill him in less time that it would take him to blink. But that didn't mean that Artemis would go easy on him. The other humans were not cooperative making him their best chance at getting some answers.

"Just remember," Sol spoke from over her shoulder. She watched as Harry's eyes trailed away from her to a little above her head, presuming that Sol was stood right behind her. The human gulped at the menacing look the werewolf Alpha male was sending him. If he were wearing boots then he would be shaking in them. "If you don't answer our questions, or if we feel like you're lying to us and wasting your time, I will personally bring your girlfriend," he sneered. "Over here and make you watch as I kill her."

The human gulped, believing every word the werewolf was throwing at him.

"Who are you?"

The human coughed. "I'm Harry."

Sol growled behind her, the sound vibrating her chair as he was stood so close behind her.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." She growled herself, her eyes blazing in anger as she watched the human closely. "Why did you guys break into our cabin?" She asked. "And why did all those other humans attack all those packs?"

Harry's eyes ran all over the room before they finally returned to Artemis whom seemed to be the friendliest face in the room despite her scowling at him menacingly.

The human sighed and closed his eyes. He was sure that if he didn't speak then he would be killed along with his human. And if he didn't speak, then there would be nowhere for him to go after the werewolves were done with him, and that's only if they were to release both him and Poppy alive.

"I'm ready to talk, but please, can you guarantee my safety for my corporation?"

"What do you mean?" Artemis asked quickly before any of the other werewolves beat her to the chase and denied it.

"All those other humans know that I'm speaking to you, that I'm answering your questions. If even one of them manages to make it out alive and back to the base, they're going to rat me out and then there'll be targets on my head which means that my wife will be in danger too."

She wasn't too happy about it but she agreed nonetheless. If easing his fears helped him to answer the questions better, then that was what she would do even if there was a bit of compromising involved. "Yes, we'll make sure you and your wife are protected." She promised him with the full intent of seeing through with her promise even if she had to argue with one of the pack leaders behind her.

"Thank you," he exhaled with a sigh of relief. "What's the first question?" He asked, his eyes on Artemis, not daring to look at anyone else. He knew that if he were to get on their nerves then he would be dead before his brain could even comprehend it despite what Artemis had promised him. He was sure that she meant every word of it but he wasn't willing to take any chances with the others, especially since they all seemed to be glaring daggers at him.

Harry was sure that his knowledge was the only thing that was keeping him alive at the moment.

"Why did you and the other humans infiltrate all these packs all of a sudden?"

"It's not all of a sudden," the human shook his head. "This is phase one of the plan that has been in the works for over a decade now."

She nodded her head. "You've heard a little bit about my past," she paused, only continuing after the human nodded his head, confirming that he knew exactly what she was talking about after having heard about her past when she was discussing it with both Sol and a few of the elders earlier. "Was I taken by the same humans that have attacked all these packs tonight."

Artemis knew her answer before he managed to reassert her suspicion. "Yes, it is. You were one of the first pups to be taken."

"You knew me?"

"I didn't know you, but I used to be one of the people that used to test your blood."

A hand landed on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, placing a hand over his, thankful that Sol was there behind her every step of the way.

"Why did they take all those pups?"

"They're trying to build an army of werewolves."

"And what will this army be used for?"

"The plan was to use this army to wipe out all the werewolves?"

"What?"

"The pups were trained and medically tested and, in some cases, medically enhanced to destroy the werewolf nation." Harry hesitated before he sighed and continued speaking. There was nothing left for to lose now. He had already said too much. There was no way that he would be able to get himself out of this situation now. "The organisation consists of a group of humans whom absolutely detest werewolves. They want to wipe them out completely."

"Why do you hate wolves so much?"

"The organisation started out as a group of humans who hated how much power werewolves had and how they could easily overpower us humans just because they felt like it. It's not right, for a person to have much power, and for there to be a complete nation of people whom had this much power, that's just dangerous. I guess you could say that they couldn't stand the idea of being vulnerable."

"It sounds a lot like jealousy."

He nodded, affirming what she had voiced aloud. "Me, personally, I dislike werewolves because my brother was killed by a rogue." He bowed his head, staring down at the floor in remorse, a few tears strung to his eyes as he remembered his brother's mangled body after he had accidentally come into contact with a feral werewolf in the woods.

Artemis could understand his pain, but just because one werewolf had lost his mind and gone on a rampage, killing an innocent human, that didn't mean that all werewolves were bad.

"That doesn't mean we're all bad."

"I know, I know." He shook his head. "I know that now." He sighed.

Alpha Brandon stepped forward now and Harry's eyes immediately went towards him, scared what the Alpha would do to him. "So, what you're saying is that this organisation of humans are hunters?"

"Yes," he confirmed.

"And they want to wipe out all wolves?"

He nodded again, yes.

"Just because they're jealous of the power and strength we have?"

"Pretty much," he shook his head. "I know it sounds childish but it's difficult being on the receiving end of when one of you decide to go on a rampage or throw a tantrum."

Both the Alpha's growled in the room.

"I would watch what you say," Clark chimed in, not wanting to deal with a blood bath. The human could be overlooked for one ignorant statement he had made, especially since he had been so forthcoming with useful information. It probably helped that they had his wife under their captivity and had threatened to kill her if he didn't adhere to whatever was asked of him. "Just because a few of us werewolves are bad and have killed humans or innocent people, that doesn't mean that all werewolves are bad. The same way with humans. Just because a handful of werewolves are murders and rapists, that doesn't mean that all humans are like them and need to be wiped out."

"You don't know what it's like," the human shook his head, dejectedly. It seemed that the consequences of his action, even if they weren't direct, were now catching up to him. "Once you get in you can't get out."

A series of snorts ran around the cell. It was safe to say that the human wasn't very well with playing the sympathy card.

The human turned back to face Artemis. "You know exactly what I mean, right?" He asked, his eyes growing in desperation when she didn't answer him, rather looking at him in confusion. "You must know what I mean! You were kept prisoner in those cages for a decade and a half. That's a part of you now and whatever or wherever you go in life, that will always be dragging you down."

Artemis shook her head and ignored whatever he had just said. Now was not the moment to dwell on the past where there was nothing but pain and misery, even if it had led her to Sol at the end.

"Why did Sol find me in the forest?" She asked the burning question, her eyes following his eyes movement, his every inhale and exhale as she waited for an answer. She didn't want to admit it but she was desperate to learn as much about her past as she possibly could, even if what she learnt would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"He wasn't supposed to find you. You were supposed to be found by the Lupine Woodland pack and taken there. The hunters that had dropped you off hadn't realised that there was a cabin just outside of the woods, let alone that an Alpha wolf lived there."

"What do you mean the Lupine Woodland pack was supposed to find Artemis?" Sol asked, his voice level and gruff as he spoke, seemingly calm and collected. But Artemis knew better.

"A few months ago, some of the older werewolves that we had in our captivity were released, all with their memories erased." He began the story. "They were all dropped out near a pack, one for every pack. None of these wolves were able to remember anything about their past so they couldn't communicate anything to the werewolves that found them. They were all sent to infiltrate the packs and to learn as much information about the guard schedules and border patrol as possible. We kind of spread out the release of the werewolves so no one would suspect anything or figure out a pattern."

"How could you guarantee that these werewolves would relay the information back to you?" Elder Jackson asked, confused as they waited for all the pieces of information to slot into place.

"All the werewolves had chips embedded into their necks which when activated, would gain the user access to their brains and recent memories without the person even knowing about it."

"I have a chip?" She asked, her body freezing when the human nodded his reply.

"Did you do that to Artemis?" One of the elders asked. Artemis was spaced out too much to realise or even care which one it was but as soon as the question was asked, she could feel multiple pairs of eyes staring into the back of her head.

"No," the human denied. Artemis watched him closely, willing for him to be telling the truth. When he maintained eye contact, she believed that he was being truthful. "We're thinking that either the chip is fault but that's probably unlikely. I think the most plausible explanation would be that since she was constantly around Solomon, an Alpha. We had spoken about this many times and the hunters think that his Alpha power blocked out control, rendering her useless."

Sol tensed at that.

"We had to replace her with another wolf."

"My pack has a spy in it?" Alpha Brandon asked, concerned for the well-being of his pack.

"Yes," the human nodded. "But they wouldn't know that they were playing the role of a spy."

Artemis couldn't bring herself to listen to anything else the human said. She seemed to zone out of it as the elders and the leaders of the Lupine Woodland pack continued to interrogate the human for information, none of them realising that she had gone quiet.

Her past was more colourful than she ever thought it would be.

She couldn't remember anything of being kidnapped by a group of hunters as a pup, only to become a weapon of mass destruction, moulded with the sole purpose of wiping out the entire werewolf nation; her own people. She was forced into this war before she was old enough to consent to it, having various drugs and concoctions forced into her system without her knowledge to enhance her abilities. She had been forced to fight others like her as a form of training for the war that the humans were initiating, none of them caring about who was hurt or if anyone died during the sessions.

All they cared about was killing as many werewolves as possible even if that meant using werewolves to fight werewolves.

Artemis had, had her memory wiped along with a handful of other werewolves she was now slowly starting to remember.

She had gotten lucky.

Sol had saved her, his Alpha power that resonated from him despite how much he tried to contain it rendered her useless to the humans. As long as she was around him, they couldn't control her.

Sadly, she couldn't say the same about the others like her. They had all been sent to packs just like she had, except she had been freed while they remained imprisoned, the situation so bittersweet that they enjoyed their freedom, celebrated it even, not once suspecting that they were merely pawns in the bigger picture.

The only relief was that they wouldn't be able to remember their past while she, having spent so long wishing she could remember what her previous life was like, would do anything to go back to being just like them even if it meant never knowing.

They must have finished interrogating because the werewolves all started piling out of the cells and then out of the dungeon. Just like Artemis had been doing her whole life, she was forced to get up and follow.

-

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Layla Knight

23.09.18