Trap of the King Alpha Triplet
Chapter 15 Under Interrogation

Content warning: This chapter contains violence and language.

Leo.

The rogue's blood splatters across the floor as my fist connects with his jaw, a sickening crunch echoing through the room. He slumps in Luca's iron grip, his head lolling to the side, barely conscious.

"Had enough, you bastard?" I snarl, my wolf prowling just beneath my skin, hungry for more violence. "Or do you need another reminder of what happens when you fuck with what's mine?"

A wet, rattling cough is his only response, blood and spittle dribbling down his chin. Pathetic. To think this wretched creature dared lay hands on my mate, dared to defile her with his filth. "I... I didn't know," he wheezes, his one good eye rolling wildly in its socket. "She was... asking for it, the little tease."

White-hot rage sears through my veins. I lunge forward, ready to rip his throat out, but Luca's hand on my chest stops me short.

"Easy, brother," he murmurs, his voice low and tense. "We need him alive. For now."

I bare my teeth in a vicious grin. "Alive doesn't mean intact."

I crouch down, seizing his jaw in a brutal grip. "Where's your pack now, huh? Where are your brothers, your Alpha?" I bare my fangs in a mockery of a smile. "That's right. You don't have any. Because you're a fucking coward who preys on defenseless females."

"W-Wait," he chokes out, good eye wide and rolling in its socket. "I-I didn't... She wanted it, the little cock tease. Strutting around in that dress like a bitch in heat, begging to be put in her place."

Red. I see fucking red. My fist cracks across his jaw, snapping his head back with a sickening crunch. Before his skull can rebound off the floor, I've got him, wrenching him up by his throat until we're eye to eye.

"You shut your filthy mouth!" I roar, my claws sinking into his flesh.

"Leo!" Luca's voice cracks like a whip. "Drop him. Now."

I realize I'm shaking, my grip on the rogue's throat perilously close to crushing his windpipe. With a curse, I release him, letting him crumple to the blood-splattered floor.

"He deserves to die," I rasp, my chest heaving. "For what he did to Emily, what he tried to do. It's our right as her mates to demand retribution."

Luca sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I know, Leo. Don't you think I want to rip him apart just as badly? But he's not ours to punish. Not without Father's judgment." He glances at the rogue's battered form, his face a mask of cold disgust. "Besides, I think you've made your point quite thoroughly."

"What's your name, uhh?" Luca demands, his fingers digging into the man's shoulder. "Who sent you?"

The rogue remains stubbornly silent, his split lips pressed into a bloodstained line. I stalk forward, seizing his chin in a brutal grip.

"Answer the question," I growl, my claws pricking his skin. "Before I start peeling you like a fucking grape."

"D-Dante," he stammers, his breath coming in short, panicked pants. "I don't... no one sent me. I work alone."

I share a glance with Luca. "Bullshit," he says flatly. "You couldn't have gotten past our security without inside help. Tell us who your contact is, and maybe we'll let you die quick."

Dante shakes his head frantically, his eyes darting between us. "I swear, I don't know anything! I just... I saw an opportunity and I took it. That's all."

Dominick prowls in the back of my mind, his hackles raised. He's lying, the wolf rumbles. I can smell his deceit, his fear. We need to make him talk.

I know, I snap back. But we can't just rip him apart, no matter how badly we want to. Father will want to question him, to find out how deep this conspiracy goes.

As I'm debating with my wolf, something catches my eye. A flash of ink, barely visible beneath the torn collar of Dante's shirt. I reach out, ignoring his flinch, and yank the fabric aside.

There, etched into the skin of his collarbone, is a tattoo. Faded and distorted with age, but still recognizable. A jagged crescent moon, the points dipped in what looks like blood. My lips curl into a humorless smile. "What do we have here?"

Luca leans in, his eyes narrowing as he studies the mark. "Is that...?"

"The symbol of RiverFang," I confirm grimly. "Looks like our boy here isn't a lone wolf as he claims."

RiverFang. The name sends a chill down my spine. They're a notorious pack of rogues, known for their savagery and their disregard for werewolf law. Thieves, murderers, rapists... the dregs of our society. And now, apparently, would-be kidnappers.

"I'm not... I left them years ago," Dante protests weakly, his voice thready with pain and fear. "I swear, I'm not with them anymore."

I press my thumb into the tattoo, hard enough to make him yelp. "But you were," I say softly, dangerously. "And once RiverFang, always RiverFang. Isn't that their motto?"

Dante's silence is an answer enough. I exchange another glance with Luca, a wealth of understanding passing between us. This is bigger than we thought. If RiverFang is involved...

"Leo, Luca." Logan's voice filters through our mind link, uncharacteristically tense. "We have a problem. It's Emily."

Ice slides down my spine. "What's wrong? Is she alright?"

"She's awake, but..." A pause, heavy with unspoken dread. "Her wolf, Eartha. She's gone silent. Emily can't feel her anymore."

No. No, that's not possible. A werewolf's inner beast is as much a part of them as their heart, their lungs. Especially since she had just begun to shift.

It's unthinkable.

I see my own worries reflected in Luca's eyes. "We're on our way," he says tightly, already hauling Dante to his feet. "Tell Joe to do whatever she has to. We're not losing her."

He doesn't need to say it twice. I'm moving before he's finished speaking, my feet eating up the distance to the door. Dominick howls in my mind, a desperate, keening cry. Our mate.

I know, I snarl back, my own fear a living thing in my chest. I know.

We burst out of the room like men possessed, leaving Dante to the tender mercies of our father's enforcers. They'll get the truth out of him, one way or another. Right now, all that matters is Emily.