"Looks like our prisoner's awake." Mariah's comment brought my attention to the shuffling upstairs. First, there was the gentle rock of the chain. It grew louder as she, I could only assume, rattled it against the floors. Keeping that up was useless and frankly, irritating as fuck. As if having her here wasn't a pain in my ass already.

"Yeah, looks like it." I rotated the crook in my neck and clenched my teeth.

"She's pretty active for someone who's about to undergo a painful change." Mariah took the first step up, sliding her hands into her pockets. I followed behind her.

"It'll hit her when it happens."

"Do you think she'll survive?" Mariah threw me a glance over her shoulder.

"Don't know. She's lucky to be alive as we speak," I replied.

"Your father has no idea she's here, does he?" Mariah sighed. I shrugged.

As we neared the sealed gray metal door, Mariah stopped. "I guess that's a no. So, how long has she been out?"

"About twelve hours now. Claudia last checked on her a few hours ago. She was still knocked out cold. The bite nearly severed her entire shoulder. As soon as she's undergone the full process, there's no telling what'll happen to her. It's rare for a human to survive the turn. I'm surprised she didn't die on the spot. She's not as weak as she looks, that's for sure."

I undid the lock on the door. More shuffling echoed from the other end as I pushed the door in. My eyes locked with sparkling brown eyes that caused my throat to constrict. This was a major difference to when we found her.

There, she was the target of my anger. A random woman who was found beside my brother's cold, dead body. And I wondered if she was the reason this nightmare began. But here, she was a little thing. Scared and timid, hiding in the corner, as if she couldn't hurt a fly. A small part of me felt for her, and I buried that part deep into the chambers of my chest. She should be scared.

I couldn't afford to feel sorry for her.

At first glance, the chances of her being capable of murder was slim to none. But I knew first-hand how deceiving looks could be—how deceiving humans could be. I wouldn't trust someone first and regret it later again.

"Seriously, Vincent. What the hell are we going to do about this? Your father won't be happy if those people are given a reason to enter our territory again." Mariah sighed again. That was the push I needed to snap out of my bizarre internal conflict.

"Don't worry about him. I'll tell him when he returns and handle it from there. Besides, we've got bigger issues to worry about. Just do what I brought you here for, Mariah. Please." I cleared my throat and looked away from the woman—Genesis Anderson, I found out her name was—in the corner. Mariah resisted the urge to snarl at me—much deserved—and slid forward.

"D-don't take another step! Right there is fine." Genesis cowered back further into the corner, stuttering. Mariah cocked an eyebrow at her. I paid close attention to the bandage wrapped over Genesis' shoulder. Her body trembled. Clearly, she was in pain. But she tried her best to hide it in the false bravado she was putting up.

"Oh, I guess you don't want my help then. . . Are you sure? I'm the only one here right now who's capable of numbing some of your pain. I'm sure you must feel it by now. I can only imagine how much it's hurting," Mariah said, flashing Genesis a gentle smile.

Genesis remained quiet, observing. I remained to the side, watching over their interaction. It didn't look like I needed to intervene yet.

"I'm fine," Genesis tried to convince us.

"You're fine?" Mariah questioned.

"Yes," Genesis said.

"We're not going to hurt you if that's what you're worried about," Mariah said. Genesis glanced down at the chains then back at her with an incredulous, are you serious right now, look.

Mariah caught on immediately. "I know. I know. The situation is quite opposite from what I'm telling you. Trust me, I get it. If I were in your shoes, I'd be losing my mind too but there's an explanation—" Now, was probably the time for me to step in. This was going nowhere.

"Mariah, give us a minute please," I interrupted.

"What?" She gaped at me.

"It's okay. I just need a moment. This is my responsibility, not yours. I'll send you back in here later," I responded, calmly.

Mariah glanced between us for a few more seconds. The uncertainty clung to her face but I remained stoic enough for her to see I was serious. She obeyed and shuffled past me without another word. Before she could leave, I gripped her arm.

"Return to the pack hall to tell Bennett and Claudia we're moving forward with preparing things for the ceremony. The ceremony will be held exactly five days from now, per my father's wishes. This pack will not go on without an alpha.

"The burial will be held in two. Make sure they are aware they will be making rounds throughout town to inform everyone," I leaned closer to her, whispering for her ears only. Not that that did much, probably.

"Understood," Mariah responded.

She locked the door back and it was officially me and Genesis Anderson in the room alone. I leveled a glare her way. Just intimidating enough that I'd get answers. It usually worked like a charm. Something told me this wasn't going to be as easy though. I could only hope.

As she met my gaze, she buckled up and turned around, emptying the contents of her stomach in the corner. I withheld a sigh, then headed towards the other side of the room.

"Your symptoms are getting worse. Do you remember anything? Your name?" I stopped near the bookshelf and flipped the brown chair around backwards, so that it was facing her. As I eased myself down onto it, I noticed she'd turned back around.

I realized I wasn't going to get a response when the silence thickened. A low sigh slipped through my mouth. "I was hoping you wouldn't make this harder for the both of us. You need my help more than ever right now. And if you want to make it out of here alive, I'd suggest you work with me."

Genesis gripped the chain tight. I could practically feel the unease radiating off of her. "Take this chain off of me. Then, we'll see."

"So, you do speak," I said, arching one of my eyebrows, "I can't do that."

She let out a hard laugh and scoffed. "Oh, don't give me that bullshit. You can, but you won't."

I folded my hands over the chair, a blank expression plastered over my face. "Genesis, you're not in any predicament to be making any demands. And if you value your life, I'd recommend you stop making those demands."

"Unbelievable. How can you claim none of you want to hurt me but then you treat me like a prisoner after saving my life!? You should've just let me die then! I'm not telling you anything until this chain is off," she spat with venom in her tone.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, my jaw muscles compressing in irritation. She flinched. As she should. This wasn't up for bargaining and I was losing my patience. A growl seeped along my breath—my wolf obviously in agreement.

I kicked off the chair, sending it forward. It fell with a loud thud. My hands were balled into fists at my sides, my veins nearly throbbing through my skin. I could see her chest rising and falling, as her breath hitched in her throat. Were my eyes glowing golden-yellow? Probably. Most people, including my own kind, reacted like that when they saw an Alpha's eyes glow.

A dark chuckle rumbled under my breath. "I'm trying to be patient with you. But you're starting to push it. Choose your battles wisely, Anderson. You're right. I should have let you die. But I have questions. And you have answers. This is me, trying to keep you alive, so I can get those answers. The faster you give them, the faster I can figure out a way to discard you.

"I want nothing more than to punish the person responsible for my brother's death, and you're not giving me much weight to decide that you're innocent. Do we understand? You do not want to test my patience again, Genesis. It's already thinning." I stopped in front of her, glaring down at her. Her throat bobbed. Good. The reality of this situation was weighing down on her.

"W-what? Innocent? I-I don't know what you're talking—" she slapped a hand over my mouth before chunks of puke flew out. She then clenched her eyes shut, moaning in pain.

"Shit. It's already started," I sighed, muttering under my breath. "I must have miscalculated how much time we had. The wolf genes are running through you heavily. At this rate, you won't survive the interrogation either."

She frowned and shook her head. "I-interrogation? What does that even mean? W-what is happening to me?" She gasped for air.

"You're changing. The wolf that bit you last night"—I paused—"do you remember?"

"I-I . . . I do. . . What does that have anything to do with this though!?" She scowled.

I studied her for a moment. Of course, she was hellbound on arguing against me. Just what I needed on top of all of this shit. My tongue clicked against the root of my mouth.

"This won't work." I scoffed and clenched my fists tighter. Before she could retort, I spoke up again, "You're in denial, already. And I haven't even laid it all out for you."

"Hey!" she protested.

"How the hell did Amaury manage to get himself in this mess?" I murmured to myself.

"Your human genes are combating the wolf genes. You feel it pulsing through you, don't you? How does it feel? Excruciating? Like your bones are aching inside out? I need you to understand something; once the change happens, you can't turn back time, and you can't get rid of your wolf.

"What you're feeling is your body trying to survive. Human bodies aren't compatible with shifters DNA. Are we on the same page, here? The pain will only get worse. It's only so often a human gets bitten by one of our kind. After that, there's nothing more we can do for you."

She blinked. Once. Twice. Slowly processing what I said until it sunk in.

"Shifters? As in werewolves? Or a sub-species of humans who turn into wolves? B-but no. I don't believe you. . ." She gritted my teeth, trembling more. "Werewolves don't exist. Y-you . . . you guys must've done something to me while I was out!"

I growled again; this time less gentle than the first. "Listen, I don't care what you believe. Believe what you want, matter-of-fact. But if you continue to refuse our help, we'll just have to continue with a decision as you are."

"A decision? Wait, the interrogation. You said something about an interrogation. . . I-I don't understand. What am I being accused of?"

"Murder," I replied simply.

"M-murder?" Silence. Then laughter. She laughed so hard she almost choked on her saliva. Was she serious? How the hell could she laugh right now? Hell, there was nothing funny about this. "You can just kill me now. I've had enough. This is enough torture," she added.

I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that either. It would be against our laws. At least, without a proper investigation. Then, I can kill you"—a wicked smile clung to my lips—"that is, if you're not at all innocent. Until then, you are being held captive here under the suspicion of the murder of Alpha Amaury. And you will be tried as such."

"You're . . . serious? I'm being tried for murder? And wolf laws? Alpha Amaury? What the hell is this!? This is all ridiculous. Y-you can't do that! This is kidnapping! I'm human—!"

"Not anymore," I said, flatly.

She laid a hand on her chest. Again, it rose and fell. Panic ensued on her face and the urge to help her was there, but not strong enough for me to step forward. So, I watched. Simply giving her a moment to compose herself and comprehend.

She stumbled to her feet, stretching on her toes.

"No," she whispered.

She was feeling what I felt when we stumbled upon her and Amaury. Pure denial as she realized this was her life now—a fucking nightmare—and it was just getting started until someone paid the price.