Roslyn, Audrey and I lock gazes before I press the ‘answer’ and the ‘speaker’ options so that we can hear the voice of the caller and identify him.
But there’s silence.
We wait for the person on the other side to speak first but he doesn’t. He continues to listen while we do the same.
After a few seconds, Audrey starts to speak but Roslyn stops her and shakes her head.
The caller soon ends the call.1
“Why did you stop me?” Audrey questions Roslyn.
“We couldn’t let him know that we’ve caught his man. If we want to catch the man behind this call then we’ll have to do it when he’s least expecting it. We are one step ahead of him. We can’t give him an opportunity to get ahead of us,” Roslyn explains.
“He must’ve already sensed that something is wrong,” I state.
“Yes but he doesn’t know what has happened. And this gives us an advantage over him,” Roslyn says.
“What are we going to do now?” Audrey questions.
“We’re going to head back to the basement and we’ll give the spy the ultimatum.”
“What if he still doesn’t speak up?” I ask.
“I have a plan,” Roslyn says.1
After our discussion is over, the three of us head back to the basement. Since the spy is handcuffed, the silver is slowing down his healing.
“It’s good to see you again,” Roslyn says sarcastically.
The spy just stares at us.
“Are you enjoying getting tortured?” Audrey asks in a serious tone.
The spy is quiet.
We look at each other.
“Do you want to live or do you want to die?” Roslyn asks. At her question, the spy has a slight expression of surprise on his face. “Either you speak up or you die.”
After a moment of silence, Roslyn tells him, “Since you’re not speaking up, it’s clear that you’ve chosen to die.”
Roslyn leaves the basement and returns with the wolfsbane injection. The atmosphere becomes tense. I can feel the spy’s fear even though he’s trying his best to hide it.
As Roslyn approaches him with the syringe, he closes his eyes as he gets ready to accept his fate. Roslyn, Audrey and I look at each other. The spy has given up. He is ready to die to withhold information and to hide his master’s identity.
Roslyn is now standing in front of him. The spy still has his eyes closed, waiting for the needle to make contact with his skin.
“Do you have a family?” I ask in a calm tone. At hearing this, the spy opens his eyes suddenly and he gives me a sharp look. I continue, “You must be having parents and siblings probably. What do you think will happen when they will see your dead body? Do you want them to go through the pain of losing a loved one?”
The way he’s reacting is confirming the fact that he indeed has a family.
“Do you care about your family? Roslyn asks. The spy’s gaze shifts to Roslyn. “Do you want them to die?” She asks in a calm but menacing tone.7
The spy tries to pounce on Roslyn but he fails to since the silver handcuffs are making him weak.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Roslyn says dangerous. “After we kill you, we’re going to take your body to my pack and then I’ll call all the Alphas there. The Alpha from your pack will surely identify you and this way, we’ll come to know which pack you belong to. Then we’ll go to your pack and we’ll even find your family. After you get buried, we’re going to kill them in such a way that it’ll look like an accident. So, did you like the plan?”
“Don’t you dare touch them!” The spy shouts as his words convey a threat.
“What will you do if we touch them? You’ll not be alive to save them.”
“If you don’t want your family to die because of you then you need to tell us what we want to know,” I tell him.
The spy closes his eyes. He’s contemplating. He’s in a dilemma. After a long moment, he opens his eyes. “What do you want to know?”
Roslyn, Audrey and I share gazes before Audrey questions him, “Who are you and why were you following us?”
“I’m Evan and I was ordered to keep a close eye on you people,” he replies.
“Who ordered you?” I ask.
“Alpha Albert Smith.”43
I’m taken aback since I was expecting him to say Caleb’s name.
“How do we know that you’re telling the truth?” Roslyn asks.
“I’ll call him and make him speak. Then you’ll know that I’m telling the truth.”
I take out his phone from my pocket and dial the only number from the call history. I put it on speaker.
All of us hear the ring. When the call is answered, Evan is the first one to speak, “They have just returned to the motel.”
Roslyn’s and Audrey’s gazes are fixed on me.
“Why didn’t you say anything when I called you a few minutes ago?” Asks the person on the other side of the call. I close my eyes in disappointment. By my reaction, Roslyn and Audrey get the confirmation that the person speaking on the phone is Albert.
“Because he wasn’t available to answer your call,” I say calmly as I open my eyes.
“Elizabeth?” There’s shock in his voice.
“Hi, Albert. I would’ve said that it’s nice to hear your voice if the situation would’ve been different.”
“Elizabeth, let me explain-“
“Don’t worry Albert, I’ll let you explain. We’ll have this conversation in person,” I say in a firm tone and I end the call.
I look at Evan and say, “So, Albert is your Alpha?”
He nods.
“Why did he order you to follow us?” Roslyn questions him.
“Because he doesn’t trust you,” Evan answers while looking at her. “Alpha Albert told me to intervene if I sensed you being a threat to Luna Elizabeth.”
“So, Albert sent you as my bodyguard.” Even though it wasn’t a question, he nods.
“When we were going pack to pack to discuss about our vision, you were the one who were following us?” Roslyn ask.
Evan nods.
“Let’s head out. I want to talk to you guys,” I tell Roslyn and Audrey.
When we’re outside the cabin, I turn to Roslyn. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” She asks.
“For all this drama that was caused by my mate. I still can’t believe that he sent someone to be my bodyguard.”
“You don’t need to apologize. I can understand him. He doesn’t trust me. I get it. A lot of people don’t trust me.”
I don’t know what to say so I keep quiet.
“What should we do with Evan?” Audrey questions.
“We should let him go,” Roslyn replies.
The three of us head back to the basement. I uncuff Evan and he rubs his wrist in a soothing manner. I offer him water. When he drains the whole bottle, he asks us, “If I wouldn’t have spoken up, would you have really gone for my family?”
“No, we were bluffing. We said all those things just to make you speak. We don’t go after innocent people,” Roslyn tells him.
“Are you going to return to your pack with me?” I ask.
He nods.
“Do you want us to accompany you?” Roslyn asks me.
“No. There are things that I’ll have to do alone and this is one of them,” I say with a definite tone.
After landing, Evan and I take a cab. Evan goes to his pack while I go to mine. I enter the pack house and tell Lance and Steve everything. As soon as I’m done, there’s a knock on the front door. When Steve opens the door, I see Albert standing at the doorway.