GIVEN TO THE TWIN ALPHA KINGS - Chapter 47: Chapter 47

Alpha Kai
After Ronan and Elias left, I took a walk around the compound until I found myself at the quarters, right outside where Carter was being held. My wolf was barely talking to me, detached after Delaney's words of rejection. He was clawing incessantly, wanting to teach Carter a lesson he wouldn't ever forget. There were two guards outside his room, manning it, ready to take action if he tried anything funny.
"Alp-ha Ki-ng," Carter stammered when I got in, attempting to scoot further. His wrists were bound by silver chains, attached to the headboard to limit his movements. The inside of the room smelt like burnt flesh, where the silver chains had penetrated his skin.
"Who are you working for?" I went straight to the point, managing to keep my voice calm.
His lips trembled as he looked at me, then at the slightly open door behind me. "No-body, I swear."
"Who sent you?" I added, trudging closer, clenching and unclenching fists on my side. I wanted so badly to smack him, but I held back.
He swallowed hard, his eyes widening when I stood at the edge of the bed. "I swear by the goddess, I am not working for anyone," he answered, this time confidently. His heartbeatwas normal, not even a slight fluctuation, and that raised a lot of questions inside my head. He wasn't afraid, not even of me, and that was not normal.
"Mmh, are you sure if I do some digging I won't find anything tied to you?" I pointed out, trying to connect with my wolf, who wanted his blood.
"N-o," he stammered. The problem was, his outward actions were not really matching with his internal reaction. Given his shaky exterior, wide eyes, and stammering, his heart should have been pounding harder, louder, and faster, but it remained calm. He was trying to portray fear, which he wasn't feeling at all, trying to convince me that he was scared. That showed one thing: he was a professional liar and a good actor, and I knew just how to play his game.
"Alright," I shrugged. "I believe you," I lied, even though all I wanted was to strangle him and not let go until he breathed his last. Goddess, I wanted to end him, but building his trust was of more importance. His eyes lit up briefly, lips stretched into a brief smirk. If I hadn't been trained since I was a child to be observant, I would have missed it because he masked it quickly with a cough.
"I will have the guards free you." I turned to leave, certain that he had led Nyra and my mate to a trap that would have worked had Elias not followed them.
"Thank you," he stated, without pretending to stammer this time round.
"Oh, one more thing," I stated, right at the doorway. "Ronan does not know about this. He might be hostile to you, so bear with him until I can convince him that you are not a threat to our mate." With that I left, chastising myself even though I knew holding off my anger and ego would come in handy.
The morning came by quicker after spending the entire night outside the mansion doing rounds. By the time Ronan and Elias returned, they found me in the study.
"You look like you didn't sleep at all," Ronan pointed out, slumping on the office couch, while Elias sat in Ronan's chair.
"So do you. Did you find anything?" I asked, rotating on my chair.
"Yes, a hideout to the north of the capital," Elias answered, scratching his brow.
"It was empty, but it looked like whoever had been there hadn't stayed there for long. We have reason to believe that it was the rogues. Remember the camp outside Delaney's pack?" I nodded at Ronan.
"And the patrol team and the guards we sent?"
"They found nothing. But Jeriah and Commander Vex are on it. I was thinking we have a meeting at the headquarters later today," he suggested.
"But Nyra and Delaney are coming with us," Elias said. "We can't trust that they won't repeat what happened yesterday."
Ronan and I agreed, we were absolutely on board with the idea. Then I went ahead and told them about Carter and how we were going to pretend that we believed him. That way he would let his guard down and reveal exactly what he was up to.
"For it to be believable, Ronan, you will have to show him that you don't believe him. Oh, and Nyra and Delaney can't know this," I stated, hoping that my plan would work.
Just then, the door was knocked, followed by Maribel walking in. It was good timing since we needed answers about Delaney's sense of smell.
"Let me guess, you didn't get the answers you went looking for?" She looked at us, studying us. Gigi could see through us, even more than our parents did when they were alive.
"More like we hit a wall. We need your help with something," Elias beat me to it, getting up so she could sit. She, however, chose to sit beside Ronan, making Elias pout.
"If it's about Del's sense of smell, she just told me." She paused, tapping her foot once, as if in deep thought. We watched silently, waiting for her to speak, to come up with any explanation whatsoever.
"We can have an experiment just to be sure," she resumed.
"What experiment?" Elias asked.
"You are a witch, Elias. So this is what we will do: I will cook up some meat, dip it in paraffin, and have you mask the smell with your magic."
"Then we will serve Delaney and see whether she can smell the paraffin while it's masked," I finished, sitting upright.
"If she smells it, then we will know that her red wolf is so powerful that not even magic can mask a scent from her," Gigi answered, smiling briefly.
"That will mean that there is no magic in this world that can surpass her wolf. None that can stay hidden in her presence," Ronan whispered, taking in a loud deep breath.