Prologue - Unawakened Fate

My muscles twitch imperceptibly as I shift the claws on my dominant hand. The thin patience I had when arriving today has long since evaporated. The room stinks of all forms of bodily fluids and will require a good hosing down. The constant screaming, sobbing, and crying coming from the huddled, tied-up lump on the floor causes a dull ache between my temples as I pace the room, trying to let some pent-up aggression out.

This interrogation is taking too long.

A threatening growl escapes my throat.

We haven't gotten any information on the location of our missing tech, and time is running short for us to get it back before it can be used against us.

Someone leaked information that we have some bleeding-edge technology we were about to release. Before going to market, a single encryption key was transported out of the city to get the data certified. That key was stolen in transit, and our courier was slaughtered. After hours of backtracking, we traced the leak to a wolf from Deacon Marlo's pack in Reno, his nephew Kole.

We granted Kole access to our territory to study at UNLV at the special request of his Alpha and Uncle. He is a guest here, but he isn't one of us. And now, after fourteen hours of interrogation, he is playing dumb and not spilling the information we need. Dante, Alpha for our Vegas Pack, believes Kole is holding back on us.

None of us will be safe if this shit gets into the wrong hands. It could out us as a species, which would tear down not only our pack but all of them.

The sniveling and whining continue, "Please… I don't know anyth…." The loud crunch of bones breaking under a strong foot abruptly stops the calculated groveling and opens the door to more outright screaming.

"We know you leaked the information on our route. What we need is who gave you the information and who you told?!" Jake shouts over the cries, turning the heel of his steel-toed boot on the mangled hand and throwing another solid punch to the nose for good measure.

Jake likes to do the dirty work, sometimes too much. By giving him the ability to be our top interrogator behind the scenes, he gets to quench his need for doling out pain in a controlled way. This arrangement benefits us because rather than having to clean up after an outburst, Jake works out his aggression here, where we need the answers anyway. Jake has demons, but he is good at what he does, so we sometimes overlook the means when he gets us the ends.

Today's session, however, is dragging on longer than anticipated, and the fluorescent lights overhead begin to turn on automatically with the sun setting. The addition of the bright light shows off the work Jake did over the past few hours. Blood splatter covers every surface from the early hours of breaking Kole in. The stench of sweat, urine, and vomit hang in the air as Kole wheezes trying to pull in air through what must be at least one punctured lung that accompanies several broken ribs.

Jake rarely allows Awakened to shift during his interrogations due to our species" rapid healing when we transition. In this session, he graciously allowed Kole to shift, only once, to heal his injuries, which might have killed him by now. I doubt Jake will be giving second chances at this stage, but killing the Reno Pack Alpha's nephew will be a declaration of war. A war we aren"t ready for, especially considering we just lost our competitive edge in transit.

Jake lifts his boot, yanking a handful of blood-matted hair, and crouches lower to whisper, "If you"re so set on lying to us, I will be sure to send each and every piece of you to that sister of yours up in Reno. Don"t make your family pay for your incompetence."

The gasp that escapes his mouth would have been inaudible if it weren"t for our heightened sense of hearing. Kole slumps, exhausted, all the fight leaving him at that moment. Jake's moss-green eyes meet mine, and he gives me a sharp nod which tells me he finally has him. Now it is just a matter of time until we know everything. I return his nod and exit the metal door at my back.

Maybe the day is looking up after all.