Chapter 8: Interrogation

**Elliot’s Point of view**


Now she knows. 
I see a thousand emotions in her eyes. Surprise. Joy. Pride. Anger. Sadness. Happiness. Love. Desire. And anger again. And more desire. Then nothing.
It goes so fast I feel like I've imagined half of it. 
I can see she's trying to keep a neutral face to not give us away and I'm trying to do the same. It's really hard to pretend I don't feel anything when I actually do. 
I want her. Now.
If she was anyone else, I would have said it out loud already. This is our way of claiming our mate. As long as the word mate hasn't been said out loud, it's like we haven't accepted our mate but we don't reject him or her either. It's like a time of reflection.
Most of the time, both people say it as soon as they meet, since there is not much rejection. But the first time Alice and I met we were in our wolf form, which is unusual, and I can't say it now because the rogues would love to hurt her in front of me.
But we're going to die here. There are so many of them, we can't hear our wolves, and we're tied uptight. I don't see any way out. 
I used to hesitate. But that moment we just had before the rogues came in reminded me that I know her. Even before I knew she was my mate I liked her. Her courage, her humor. Her ferocity in battle.
She is perfect.
I was so afraid that it would be impossible between us, but now I am reassured. She admitted that she came back because she cares about me. Me, her friend Cop. So as a mate she can only accept me. 
I smile to myself. 
Yeah. I want her and I will get her.
We just have to survive.
"Ooh but look at this piece!" Says the blonde that Alice insulted earlier, glaring at me.
She walks over and touches my chest. It makes me want to vomit but I don't move. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alice show her teeth before she gets her act together. 
Jealous? Good.
"Tell me handsome, do you have a name?"
At the mention of my new nickname, Alice and I burst out laughing before pulling ourselves together. In front of their incomprehension, I feel obliged to find an excuse. "Private joke sorry. My name is Cooper and this is Saphira." I add while pointing to Alice with my chin.
"Do you expect us to believe you?" The chief asks me.
"Boss, I think he's telling the truth." Says the rogue who escaped us the last night we hunted. "I heard them call each other that when we fought."
"All right Cooper. What pack do you belong to?" 
Ah. That's the question I fear the most. Fortunately, Alice comes to my rescue. 
"White Claw Pack."
"Liar! This pack is located in Canada! Do you think I'm an idiot?" As he steps forward, ready to punch her, she continues.
"We're on a mission."
"What mission? Who sent you?" He yells.
"I'm afraid you're not authorized to know that."
He slaps her with the back of his hand, cracking her lip.
He's so dead.
"I advise you not to hit us again. You might get in trouble."
He turns to me.
"You sound more talkative than she does. Speak up!"
I sigh and lower my shoulders. I'd deserve an Oscar.
"We're on a royal mission."
"Cop!" Alice snaps, getting into my game.
"We're from the White Claw pack, but we're in training to join the Royal Guard. We've finished our training and our first mission is to solve the rogue problem in this area."
"The rogue problem?" He throws his head back and explodes with a terrifying laugh, followed by the rest of the rogues. "Is that what they call us at the castle? And so I guess the two of you are supposed to make us leave? Two against an army? I'm afraid you've been sent to your deaths."
"They're lying." Says the blonde. "If the King really wanted us gone he would have sent a lot more people. My guess is they wanted to be heroes and came on their own. No one will look for them. No one will notice they are gone." She adds, a big smile on her face.
"We're not stupid. And we would never go against an order from the King" Alice interjects. "Given the ... delicate situation in this region, he preferred a discreet operation. The three packs are quite tense on their border and an intervention of the royal guard in the center, on neutral ground, could aggravate the situation. I guess that's why you chose these territories. Because even though the packs are strong, they're alone. Right?"
To my surprise, it was the rogue who touched Alice who answered. "We didn't choose. We were told to attack here."
"Shut up!" Screams the chief while hitting him. But it is too late. I exchange a look with Alice and she understands as I do. These attacks are not random and they were orchestrated by someone.
I would have thought that it was the Blues who put this strategy in place to get rid of us but they are as much under attack as we are, and Alice is as surprised as I am. 
Is it an enemy pack that has made a deal with the rogues? Or is there an Alpha among the rogues? No, that's impossible. It's against their nature.
I call the chief's attention. "Listen, we are here to find a solution. So tell us what you want and maybe the King will be willing to give it to you."
"We don't care about your King! He's not ours!" Screams the blonde.
"Get a reality check. No matter how many of you there are, you don't stand a chance against the three most powerful packs on the continent. For now, they are defending themselves but if they attack you are all dead."
"But they can't attack us." The leader smiled viciously. "They have no authority outside their border. And if we only attacked the Red Moon pack, for example, the Blue Moon pack would watch us kill them while eating popcorn." He says with a chuckle. 
He's not wrong. I know that if the Silver pack was attacked we would go and help them, the Blue pack too I think and they would return the favor. But if it was my pack that was attacked, the Blues would almost go and help the rogues to destroy us. 
And I know my dad would set up a chair to watch the rogues smash his worst enemies to bits rather than help the Blues.
So why don't they focus on one pack? They keep spreading their forces around, attacking everywhere, when a big hit on one pack might be a game-changer. 
Alice resumes. "You say it was someone who told you to attack here. It's unusual for rogues to gather. You are quite solitary and at best you stay in small groups. But I really don't see what you gain from this."
I smile. That's clever. We're the ones who are tied up but we're the ones who interrupt them. 
And with that pretentious look on our faces, they can't resist enlightening the poor fools that we are.
"We win the territory of course."
"That doesn't make sense. The reason you were hired to attack the packs is to eliminate the competition and take over the territories, not to give them to your boss afterward."
They exchange evil looks and turn to us with a smile. The leader grabs my sword and walks over to me while the blonde puts a dagger to Alice's throat.
"We can't afford to have two troublemakers around. But for what it's worth: we're not suicidal."
"You still lost quite a few people." Says Alice between her teeth.
"Less than we'd estimated. Don't worry about us, everything is going according to the plan. A new era is coming and it will be glorious! And you won't be here to see it."
Suddenly a rogue enters the room, "Boss. Phase 2 is on."
I see Alice try to get my attention and then look toward the window closest to us.
I frown.
Then I see her eyes glow dimly, a sign that she can transform again. 
And her hands are free.
I shake my head to tell her I still can't hear Leo. 
I can see her hesitating, but we have no choice. 
While the attention is focused on the rogue who has just entered, Alice takes the opportunity to slit the throat of the blonde with her claws, gets up, slits the throat of the one who had touched her and manages to seriously wound the leader before the others react. 
She leans over me and we both pull on my cuffs, making them give way.
"Go!" She says, pointing to a big box under the window.
There's no way I'm leaving her. 
I take my sword and fight alongside her against the rogues in the room. Some of them run away and we take the opportunity to go out by the window by climbing on the box.
*"Elliot!"*
*"Leo at last! What took you so long?"*
We transform immediately after our exit and we run in direction of the nearest territory, the Blue one, without turning over. 
When we reach the border I stop. If I go any further, Alpha John will know and he won't hesitate to kill me. Alice, or rather her wolf, looks at me hesitantly. She finally disappears behind a tree and comes out a few seconds later with a pair of shorts for me.
I take them and hide behind a tree to change. 
When I come out, I see her wearing a loose T-shirt that reaches halfway up her thigh, her hair is messed up. The moon gives the impression that the scene is in black and white.
She has never been so beautiful.
But it is spoiled by the blows she received. Her lip is still bleeding.
"Are you okay?" I ask as I walk over and caress her split lip with my thumb.
Strong electric shocks run through me and we both jump.
"Mine."