A man cloaked in inky black marches into the bedroom, a large sword contained in a scabbard at his belt. His shirt is blood red, his trousers and leather boots midnight black, the heels clicking against the floor with military precision.

His hood is drawn up, casting a dark shadow over his hidden features; a large mask covers his face, only his eyes visible through a crimson visor. The pack's insignia is displayed on the cloak's clasp but it is ... different; the red sun is displayed in a small rectangular shield and as the man nears, I realise it is a sun, but it contains a wolf head, its face moulded into a snarl.

Jack snarls inside my head, her focus never shifting from the sword. Isaac is tense beside me, his arm firmly round my waist still, preventing any hostile movement as I attempt to twist out of his grip.

Stop struggling Iz. You'll only make it worse.

What? Isaac, who is this?

"Praetorian." He growls.

"Alpha." The man speaks, his accent odd.

"What calls you here?"

"Your ... mate." The man's voice says the word hesitantly as if he has forgotten how to, as if he's unfamiliar with the word. However, this does not lower the threatening atmosphere surrounding him, the sword a sinister reminder of the danger he has the potential to pose. "If she is to stay, she must be screened."

Isaac sighs in exasperation.

"Why?"

"She's a potential danger due to her past as a rogue. And as you refuse to fully explain how you met your mate, I must find out from her."

"No, she can be trusted."

"Can you guarantee that she never has and never will never harm the pack or its members?"

"Yes," he replies firmly, his body tense from anger at having his order questioned. A blatant lie and we all know it: I've killed pack members in the past.

"Why have you not shared how you met her then? Or is there some dark secret in her past you're not telling the pack?" I clear my throat in  order to get their attention, feeling left out despite being the subject of the conversation. They continue to ignore me.

"You're overstepping your bounds Praetorian." Isaac snarls ferociously, disliking where this chain of interrogation is heading.

"When it concerns pack security I have authority over you Alpha." He sneers, causing Nate to growl. "Now come with me Luna. You need to be screened."

He moves to seize my shoulder but I back away, Jack taking control. She growls at the Praetorian, giving him a warning. The Praetorian just sighs and unsheathes his sword, raising it to my chest, above my heart. The tip burns against my skin. Silver. The ease ane fluidity with which he draws the blade from its scabbard indicates that he is practiced in wielding it. Jack steps back, baring her throat in submission; we can't escape this.

"Praetorian, can you give us a minute?" Isaac interrupts, his voice cutting through the tense air like a knife through water.

"I'll be outside. 5 minutes, no more."

He leaves, closing the door behind him, and we sag, no longer pretending to not be scared. My back hits Isaac's chest and he wraps his arms round me. He lightly kisses my neck.

"It's going to be okay. He'll just ask you the standard questions and then you should be able to leave."

"Will you be with me?" He turns me and strokes my cheek. It will be bearable if he's with me - I won't mess up if he's with me.

"I can't be there because I'm your mate. I'm sorry Iz." I sigh, closing my eyes and leaning into him, his arms circling me tightly.

Isaac, this is your pack. You should be in control. Not the Praetorian: you. And who is he? Why does he have control?

I don't know who is under the mask. He worked with my father to protect the pack but when I became Alpha ...

Isaac mentally sighs.

He exploited my obedience to rules and I'm too afraid to break the rules to confront him.

It's not your fault love.

"Thanks Iz." He gives me a sad smile, kissing my forehead, just as the Praetorian returns. "You're going to be fine." I merely nod and turn my hack to him, suffocating the anticipation inside of me, following the Praetorian.

He leads me down to the cells, passing them, further and further from the surface, further and further from Isaac. Silence rules the entire journey, to an extent that I start to think I imagined him talking at all, or imagining this entire day. Alas, I'm not.

The clang of doors and the heavy tread of his boots makes me all too aware of the reality of the situation; I'm not escaping here until he's satisfied. I begin to unconsciously shake like a leaf, my hands trembling.

Jack, I can't do this. Please just take control.

Iz, I don't know what to do either.

Girls, we won't be able to talk soon. The first stage, you won't be able to contact eachother. Then -

Suddenly, the Praetorian spins round and stabs me with a needle in the arm, causing me to cry out in pain and alarm. He is not gentle in the slightest, only focused on getting the liquid inside into my system. At once, my connection with Jack is cut off and I can't hear her inside my head anymore, her voice muffled like it's being suffocated by a cloth. I stare at him in shock.

"No using your wolf to get out of this. Only you can answer the questions or the interrogation results will be invalid." He growls, causing me to shake in terror even more.

Interrogation. What's he going to do to me? Lock me up? Starve me? Torture?

I stumble along behind him through the dark corridors, my nerves becoming more and more fragile as we near our destination. My foot catches on a nail on the floor and I fall to the floor, landing heavily on my arms. There is a small crack as pain shoots through my collarbone; I must have broken it. I wince in pain and wait for it to heal.

It doesn't. Without Jack I can't heal. Without Jack, I'm defenceless. Without her I'm as good as dead.

The Praetorian doesn't bother helping me up, simply stopping and watching me struggle to get to my feet again.

Somehow, I do. I nearly pass out from the pain in my shoulder but I cling onto consciousness. I musn't black out or I'll be here even longer. I force myself to stumble after him, ignoring the sense of impending doom.

I-Isaac?

Iz! What's he done to you? I can feel your pain.

I fell. I think my collarbone's broken. He's given me-

A wolf suppressant, I know. I'm sorry about this Iz but I can't stop him or he'll find a way to hurt you even more.

I understand.

Thanks Iz.

I focus on the direction the Praetorian is taking me, realizing he has stopped and is gesturing for me to enter through a large iron door.

Reluctantly, I step into a room, wincing as I encounter an unexpected small drop, jolting my body and causing a flash of pain so violent I nearly black out. The room is mostly empty save for a steel table heavily bolted to the floor and two chairs facing eachother, alongside a pair of silver cuffs.

"You know what to do, rogue."

He gives me a none to gentle shove towards the chair with the cuffs and I nervously sit down as he seats himself across from me.

"Hands on the table."

I obey and place them on the material, only to quickly retract them with a hiss; the rim of the table is also silver.

"Hands on the table. Now." He abruptly orders and I feel Jack rise up inside me.

Wait, the wolf suppressant is wearing off already? The pain in my collarbone has slightly decreased, not by much, but enough to inform me that Jack has started to heal me. Or is it just my imagination?

"We will begin. Where did Alpha Isaac find you?"

"The valley east of here."

"How did you meet?"

I must not tell him I'm the rogue that Isaac came after. He hasn't told anybody for a reason.

"We ran into eachother."

"Lie. Try again," he replies immediately, not pausing for a moment.

"We ran into eachother. It's the truth." I protest.

"You're lying. There are consequences for lying. The more you lie, the longer you spend down here." How does he know?

"I'm telling the truth! Why would I lie?"

"Because you're the rogue Isaac was sent to find, and if captured, killed."

"I'm not." I can't keep lying like this. I know I'm a decent liar: he shouldn't be able to tell that I'm lying.

"My job is to root out lies. And you are clearly lying."

"I-"

"If you aren't the rogue that Isaac was sent after then prove it. Tell me your full name, prove to me you have nothing to hide."

"No."

"You're staying down here until I get the answers I want."

He pushes back his chair and steps towards the door.

"Wait!" I hurriedly scramble upright, standing on my own two feet and walking towards him.

He turns to me expectantly.

"Are you going to tell me your name?"

"No."

"Then you. Stay."

He sounds like he's talking to a pet hound, his words oddly disjointed. The Praetorian leaves the room, bolting the door and I hear a key click in a lock. I sink to the floor in defeat, avoiding putting weight on my collarbone.

Isaac?

He can't hear you. I can't either. I've been trying to talk to him but I can't reach him.

This must be stage two of the suppressant. Jack, how are we going to get out of here?

Not by killing the Praetorian. There is more to him than meets the eye I think. He doesn't smell right. He smells familiar but I can't pinpoint why.

Is there anything you can smell for certain?

Something unfamiliar. Unearthly even. Instead of his blood.

She pauses for thought.

Something is very wrong in this pack.

We just need to find out what.

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10 days since I last updated. Sorry. 🤗. I don't know what else to say so I guess this is it.
WORxxx

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