Alpha King Ethan's POV

"I swear on my brother's blood. I didn't kill your mate." She cried.

My claws gripped her hair tighter. "You dare lie to me?" I scoffed, letting her hair go and signalled Fynn, my beta, to hit her. He slapped her while I turned around, showing them my back.

"Did you possibly think you could run from me?" I asked, but didn't get any response, except her racing breath and quiet whimpers. I sensed her fear too. They erupted from her like waves.

"I wasn't running from you. My poor brother and I were on vacation." She answered breathily.

"Ha!" Fynn scoffed.

"Vacation?" I mused and laughed sarcastically before turning around and clutching her neck, "You killed my wife and kept running from one country to another, one city to another and you say you were on vacation?"

My eyes burned red as I glared at the woman who caused my pain, who ripped me of my only joy.

My claws tightened around her neck, her face colored tomatoes, her eyes popped out in fear. I didn't give a fuck if she was choking. This woman didn't deserve to breathe any longer. She deserved to die.

"Your Majesty," I heard Fynn call hesitantly. He was calling my attention to the fact she was choking. I pulled myself together and let go of the woman's neck.

She gasped out in breath.

"Did you know that she was pregnant?" I asked and she looked up at me in shock. I smirked, "I bet you didn't know. What did she do to you to deserve the gruesome death you gave to her?"

Maggie, my mate, was the most innocent, peaceful and gentle soul I've ever known. She was my solace. My medicine. And she was carrying my two months old pup in her womb until death stole her from me.

I looked at my mate's killer and instead of seeing a woman, I saw a monster. The woman before me was a monster, who ripped off the innocent.

She didn't deserve to live. No, not in our world. My gaze shifted to Fynn, my beta, and I signaled him to hit her until I asked him to stop.

"Bitch!" Fynn cursed and hit her face. He focused on her face, maybe to make it ugly, I didn't know why.

I raised my hand after five minutes, asking him to stop and he did. The woman's lips were busted, her eyes swollen and face bloody. She was breathing heavily.

"I understand your pain, Alpha. You lost your pregnant mate to the cold hands of death and your enemy. But...killing my innocent brother and torturing me for something I know nothing of..." She scoffed and glared at me, "That's more cruel."

Fynn slapped her again and she looked down.

"How dare you glare at the Alpha king?" He growled at her.

"Keep lying to me. Be rest assured that you will beg for your death." I told her and signalled Fynn to bring in one of the machines we used in torturing miscreants.

He left the room and returned a minute later with it. The woman's eyes widened in fear and shock as she recognised the machine.

"What are you doing?" She asked fearfully.

"Ha, what do you think, sweetie? I'm obviously not planning to kiss your feet." Fynn bursted into cold laughter. The kind that instilled more fear in her.

Killer, my wolf, was obsessed with the palpitations of her heart. It brought him joy. He loved it. Killer pleasures in the fear of his victims.

"Please, please, I beg you. Don't do this." She pleaded.

"Oh, dear, don't spoil the fun now." Fynn muttered, fixing her feet and hands into the machine, "Do you rather prefer we use a knife?" He asked her, "Trust me, that's slow and inevitably more painful." Fynn laughed at her, enjoying the fearful look on her face.

He looked at me for confirmation to start and I nodded. He turned to her with excitement and pressed the red button that triggered the machine and the next was the woman's painful screams echoing through the basement.

Fynn loved the pain he was inflicting on her. Killer loved it. I loved it too. But it wasn't enough. This was just a tip of the iceberg compared to what I have planned for her.

She should know by now that killing my mate was her biggest mistake. And she would pay painfully for it.

Fynn paused the machine, allowing her to catch some breath before he resumed. My gaze was fixed on the floor, near the machine, where her chopped pinky toes were.

"Please..." She begged weakly and I signalled my beta to continue. The machine started its freaking noise again and I saw the horror in the woman's eyes.

"Just kill me!" She screamed.

"Ha! We haven't even started." Fynn sneered at her and I waved him to stop the machine.

He did.

"It took me ninety days, six hours, twenty minutes and fifty seconds to finally catch you and you want me to take your life so soon? Whilst I commend you for being able to run from me this long, I can't give you a quick death. My conscience will torment me for doing that."

I went close to her and whispered in her ears, "I've just got you. I won't end your life so easily. There's no fun in that."

I stood upright and glared at her, "I gave your brother a quick death because he was of lesser evil. But not you. Your toes and fingers will be chopped off one after the other, and then, your feet and hands, before your arms and legs, and finally I will throw you into a big water tank where you would swim to save yourself.

But since you won't have arms or legs, I wonder how you will be able to save yourself. Oh, and don't worry, if you bleed out and faint during the first process, there are doctors to take good care of you. You will have the best medical treatment so that you can live long to experience all I have planned for you. Because you don't deserve an easy death." I nodded to Fynn to continue and turned to leave.

"What if you find out after my death that I was innocent of your wife's death?" I stopped in my tracks and she continued talking, "What if I can prove my innocence now that I am alive?"

"Hey, bitch! what are you saying?" Fynn scolded.

"What if I can bring you the real killer of your mate?"

Alpha King Ethan's POV

I scoffed, "Nice one. Are you trying to strike a deal with me?"

"No, Alpha. I'm just...I'm just trying to tell you that I'm not the real killer of your wife."

Fynn hit her. "Shut up! You conniving bitch! You killed Luna Margaret. You dropped her body on Sky blue pack's road two days later to make us believe they killed her."

I turned around, facing Fynn and the she-wolf.

She bowed her head to me, "Alpha, I didn't kill your mate. I'm just a servant girl. Kidnapping your wife and dropping her body by the roadside was my master's order."

I smirked, I will be damned to believe her.

"And who is your master?" I asked.

"Colin Heather." She answered and I chuckled.

"HEY! How dare you?" Fynn scolded her and tried to hit her when I signaled him to stop.

I walked to the she-wolf.

"Did you say Colin Heather?"

She nodded quickly.

"And what do you know about him?" I asked her.

"He's my master. He recruits weak wolves and even rogues and trains them to become high end assassins." She answered quickly, her face looking down.

"So you're an assassin? You're even more deadly than I thought." I concluded.

She looked up at me nervously. "I'm not an assassin, Alpha. I don't have a wolf. I'm as weak as a day-old pup."

"Liar. Don't believe her, Your Majesty."

I turned to look at Fynn. He didn't need to tell me. I didn't believe anything the woman was saying.

Colin Heather, whom she claims is her master, was my half brother. He died thirty two years ago.

I clenched my jaw. Anger rising in me. How dare she try to fool me?

"Continue Fynn." I ordered my beta and turned around, leaving. Fynn started the machine and its creepy sound vibrated through the basement.

"My car! You'll find a flash drive in a black bag in my car." I halted and she continued speaking and breathing heavily, "The flash drive contains the video record of my master and all he did to your wife. Also his conversations with her before he killed her."

I snorted and walked out.

"Come to my office now." I mindlinked Fynn and as soon as I walked into my office, he walked in behind me.

"Are you giving what she said a thought? You know she's just trying to buy time for herself."

I turned and faced him. "Get the flash drive."

Fynn's face showed with shock, "What? You believe her?"

"That's not the point, Fynn. We can't afford to act blindly at this time. If she's lying, she just earned herself a slower gruesome death."

"Okay, Your Majesty." He bowed and left.

Fynn returned hours later with the flash drive and we watched the video it contained. It was as the shewolf said. But I doubt the man in the video was my step brother. He didn't look anything like the brother I remember.

Colin died when he was just eight years old. He drowned in the pack river. I saw his body before it was cremated. I still have his ashes.

The she-wolf was lying about her master. She was playing a game with me.

Fynn and I returned to the basement.

I excused the guards, allowing us a lone time with the she-wolf.

"Why did you record your master?" I asked her.

"I knew he was going to pin your mate's death on me. He was done using me and was going to use your mate's death to discard me. That's what he always does."

"Let's say I believe you, where do we find him and how?"

"You can't find him if he's in his hideout. And you can't go there either. The massive technology and security system will kill you with just a step in. You will have to lure him out. And there's only one man on earth who can do that."

"Who is that?"

She looked into my eyes. "His father. Houston Macduff. Don't bother searching for him on the internet. You will never find him. Only I know how to reach him. Well, of course, if they haven't logged me out of the system thinking I'm dead."

I scoffed and looked deep into her eyes. I saw the confidence in her.

"How can you give me this much information when you're not sure that you will live?"

"I just gave you some information. You can't do anything with the information because you can't find Colin or his father on your own. You don't even know where they are. I bet you, I'm your only ticket to finding them. You need me alive more than dead."

"Are you striking a bargain with me?"

She smiled, "Maybe, it's up to you, Alpha. Keep me alive and after I get you the killers of your mate, let me go."

"And who are you to strike a deal with me?"

Fear filled her eyes but she mustered up courage again.

"I am no one. In my pack I was an ordinary omega. With my master, a servant. All my life I've been a nobody. I'm in no position to strike a deal with you because you can kill me at any time.

But if you kill me, you will be killing an innocent girl and you will never find the real killers of your mate. Mind if I tell you that my former master wasn't really after your mate, he is coming for you and your pretty kingdom."

I chuckled, looking at her keenly. She amazed me with her bravery. No one dared to speak to me like she did.

"Fine."

"What?" Fynn drew closer to me, "Your Majesty, you can't trust her. She's a liar and you know that. Colin is dead. She's just blabbing. This could be a trap."

I looked over my shoulder at him, "Who says I trust her?"

She glared at Fynn. "You think I'm lying?" She scoffed, "I only have my life to lose if it turns out that all I'm saying is a lie. But if it's the truth...your throat will be slit before your eyes and you will lose your awesome kingdom. Worse, your king might lose his life."

Her gaze shifted to me, "And you won't be able to avenge your wife's death before you die."

"You dare speak death upon the Alpha king?" Fynn growled at her and she shrunk in fear.

I signalled him to stop.

"Alpha," She called desperately and I looked at her, "I just need seven days. Seven days. And I will bring you the real killer of your mate. I won't try to run away. I won't try anything stupid. Please..."

I fixed my eyes on her hazel ones, "You're quite interesting. And your boss is even more interesting that I've become curious. You chose this mission by yourself so if you succeed, you get to live and if not, you face your judgment for killing my wife."

She breathed deeply in relief, "Thank you, Alpha king."

"Your Majesty," Fynn called in concern. He didn't like my decision.

"Untie her, Fynn. Henceforth, she's my personal maid."

"What?"

I turned to look at him.

"Find somewhere else to fix Holly." I ordered him and left for my office.

Valerie's POV

I stood nervous in the king's room. He was arguing with his beta.

"Your Majesty, I don't get why you would let this girl sleep in your-"

"Why can't she? She's my personal maid afterall." The King cut him off.

"Ethan." The short man called, surprised.

"Go away. I want to sleep." The King laid on his bed and the short man stood watching him silently. He turned to me, giving me a cold stare before leaving the room.

I rolled my eyes.

He shouldn't have looked at me like that. I didn't want this either.

I felt very uncomfortable sleeping in the Alpha king's room. So many ugly thoughts ravaged my mind. Thoughts like him transforming in the midnight and digging out my heart out of my chest while I'm deep asleep.

Aish!

I shook my head as if shaking the thoughts from my mind. They've succeeded in making me feel eery. And now I'm scared to close my eyes even though I know I need some sleep.

The past days have been horrible. I stayed awake for seventy two hours, tied to a chair and watching my brother's innocent blood dry on the cold floor of that damn basement.

The ugly short man, Fynn or whatever he was called, had wanted to destroy my pretty face. He didn't hit me anywhere else aside from my face, making my face all swollen and full of bruises and it would take days for me to heal since I didn't have a wolf.

"You'll be sleeping on the couch. Get some rest. Your work starts tomorrow." I heard the King say.

I walked to where the couch was and laid down. I closed my eyes afterwards and sleep took me in no time.

The low growls in the room woke me up. And suddenly there was silence. As if it knew I was awake. I sat up and looked around in fear. I noticed the King's bed was empty.

My eyes darted to the wall clock. It was 12:03 a.m.

My heart beat raced. Could it be...?

No, no, no. It can't be.

That was just my thought. The King wouldn't try to kill me in the middle of the night.

The low growls started again accompanied by low whimpers. The noise was coming from a corner of the bedroom.

I trembled.

What could be there?

I forced myself to my feet despite my panic and tip-toed quietly to the corner the growl was coming from.

I stopped before a door that was left ajar and peeped into the room. It was a closet and the king was in there, lying on the floor and holding a photo to his chest. The low growls were from him. His eyes were tightly closed and tears trekked down his face.

He was in deep pain. I could see it from where I stood.

My heart melted seeing him like that. He was the Alpha king, a mighty Alpha who earned himself the name Alpha of death because of his brutality.

Everyone believed he had no emotion whatsoever. He would kill like it was nothing, tear down packs and alliances like they didn't matter.

But now he was right before my eyes in tears and pain.

I sighed and turned to leave when his next word stopped me on my track.

"Maggie..."

Maggie? Luna Margaret?

I turned again and looked at him. I pitied him. He was in this much pain because he lost his mate.

He moved slightly and I realised the danger of him catching me looking at him in his weak state. I quickly tip-toed back to the couch and laid down.

He walked into the room minutes later and I closed my eyes quickly. It didn't take long for me to sleep off.

I jolted awake at the cold hands that tapped me. It was the king.

"Get up, lazy bone. I'm hungry." He said.

I stood up quickly and bowed my head to him. I rushed out of the room, headed to the kitchen even though I didn't know where it was. The sky was bright and blue and thankfully, I met a guard who directed me to the kitchen.

"Who are you?" An elderly woman whom I met in the kitchen asked.

"Uhm...I'm Valerie. I'm here because the Alpha is hungry."

The woman chuckled.

I didn't know why.

"And who is Valerie?" She asked further.

"I'm the Alpha's new maid." I answered.

Her brows furrowed, "New maid?" She frowned, as if realising something, "The king would have told me if he got a new maid. You're a spy. Guards!"

I shook in fear and panicked as the guards rushed in.

The woman pointed at me. "Take her. She's a spy."

"No, I'm not!" They paid deaf ears to my words and grabbed my hands, pulling me along with them.

"Please, I'm not a spy! You should talk to your Alpha. Or take me to him at least." I told the guards.

"And who are you to see our king?" One of the guards holding me snarled at me before pushing me into the dark cell.

The guard who snarled at me earlier smirked as he locked the cell gate. "Your beauty isn't going to save you, little spy. But if you warm my bed tonight, your punishment will be less."

I scoffed and looked away from him.

"It's a good deal, right? Think about it." He left.

I took a deep breath and crouched down. I was angry and frustrated.

I sighed.

"My life is a total disaster." I mumbled.

I stayed long in the prison before Fynn walked in with the stupid guard. The guard had come earlier asking me to reconsider his stupid offer and I ignored him again.

"I'm sorry, Fynn. She was a new face. I had no idea she was the king's maid."

"Now you know. Open the cell."

The guard quickly did as the short man had said.

"Follow me." Fynn said to me and I followed him to the king's bedroom.

The king was eating and chuckled when he saw me.

"I asked you for breakfast not to be locked up in a cell."

"The woman in the kitchen mistook me for a spy." I told him.

"Don't blame her. Not many people know I changed my maid. Fynn, remind me to introduce her to the castle workers later so that what happened today won't repeat itself."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Have you eaten? Come, join me." The king said to me,

"Thank you, Alpha. I'm full." I lied. There was no way I would dine with the Alpha of death. The food would taste like death.

"You wasted your first day in the cell. Don't blame me if you don't meet your seven days deadline of finding my mate's killer."

"I know. That's why I need to go clubbing tonight."

The king looked up at me. He was surprised.

"It's not what you're thinking, Alpha. I'm only going there to look for someone. Someone who can tell me where and how to find Houston Macduff."