Chapter 55
Chapter 55
Gideon’s POV
A rainstorm was rolling in as I marched across the village to our holding cell once more. I pulled up the collar on my coat and squinted into the night rain.
If Tegan’s intel was correct…
I needed to hear it from the prisoners themselves.
They were somewhat shabbier than when I had seen them last. The interrogations over the last few days had left them exhausted, with dark circles under their eyes.
I could tell from their dull expressions that they expected us to kill them.
I suppose most Alphas would.
I stepped forward and addressed the warrior who had overseen their confessions.
“Report p>
“Alpha,” The warrior, whose name was Quinn, nodded her head and began, “The rogue wolves have revealed the instructions they were given initially p>
She held out a notepad to me, covered in scribbled notes, but three words were written at the bottom in thick ink and circled repeatedly.
I read them out loud, “Moon Goddess Heir p>
“Yes, Alpha.” Quinn verified. “They claim that they were told to look for a girl, approximately aged 19, worth immense value due to her bloodline p>
So that was why they had been kidnapping women and girls. They had been looking for a girl carrying the legendary moon goddess lineage.
“Isn’t that a myth, nothing more than a legend?” I asked. There were many stories in werewolf culture ab the Moon Goddess, the ancestral deity of werewolves according to lore.
Like most wolves, I saw those stories as nothing more than fairytales. The Moon Goddess was a figure that mothers prayed to for protection for their children, but nothing more.
I had long ago come to believe that the gods were all dead.
Why else would they abandon us so?
Quinn paused, “Yes, Alpha. While I cannot confirm the person they are searching for, they definitely are true believers that she exists p>
“Exists and must die!” one of the prisoners spat.
I quirked an eyebrow at Quinn.
“Sir, the man who is organizing these kidnappings has been killing the girls he finds. At first we thought this
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was rage at not finding who he was looking for, but now we believe he is killing them deliberately p>
“To what end?” Ice was forming in a pit in my belly. If they were killing who they captured…
Maybe that was why I hadn’t felt my mate.
Maybe she was dead.
Grief for a love I’d never had a chance to grow swept over me like a wave.
“We don’t know what his motivations are. We don’t even know who he is. All they can tell me about him so far is that he is a rogue with one eye, who styles himself as The Rogue King p>
The Rogue King.
So my instincts that there was a mastermind behind the rogue incursions had been correct. There was a singular entity pulling the strings.
I spun to the men who were chained to the wall.
“What did he give you to perform these kidnappings?” I demanded, looming over them. They cowered away.
“Nothing, Alpha p>
“Nothing? No payment p>
“Some of the girls he allowed us to spare and keep as slaves and servants.” one admitted, “It’s the legend that makes us do it. The prophecy p>
“What is this prophecy?” I growled.
“If the Moon Goddess Heir is killed, the Packs will fall!” one of the prisoners shouted fervently. “No more hierarchy! No more pack in-fighting! Just wolves looking out for wolves without rules p>
“You want anarchy.” I summarized dryly. “How novel. Let me guess, he finds angry, rejected wolves like yourself and convinces them that the packs are responsible for all their problems. That society and its institutions are actually bad, and that if they just overthrow the Alphas, they will have all the women, mon food, and prestige they could want p>
“Well…” the man blinked at me, surprised, “Yeah, that’s about the gist of it. How did you know p>
I cursed and rubbed my temples, “Because, it’s the same playbook used by every demagogue in history. He’s jus playing to your prejudices and sense of personal injustice p>
I handed the notebook back to Quinn and gestured for her and Tegan to follow me out of earshot of the rogues p>
“I doubt these men will know anything more of use. Whoever this Rogue King is, he wouldn’t have told them his true reasons for looking for the girl p>
“We did manage to get the locations of some of their hideouts, sir.” Quinn said hastily. She handed a map to Tegan with several areas circled in red.
I glanced at the map as Tegan unfolded it. Most of the hideouts were located in Silvermoon territory.
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Of course. Ryan was a weak new Alpha, he would be lax in patrols, making it a perfect place to set up a rogue infestation.
What a fool. He was going to lose his territory before he ever truly controlled it.
Tegan looked at me, “Do you want us to clean out these areas, Alpha p>
I pondered the question. If left unchecked, Silvermoon might be overrun. While I wouldn’t personally be sad to see Ryan overthrown, their weakness could quickly become our liability.
“We need to clear those areas.” I said finally. “Although if Silvermoon can provide the supplies and reinforcements to hold them, that would be preferable, to keep us from overextending our warriors p>
Additionally, that was Avery’s birthplace. I didn’t want her homeland to become a wasteland.
“There may be kidnapped women and girls that we can rescue.” Tegan pointed out, “There’s a small chance that one of them is your mate p>
Quinn’s eyebrows rose at this, and she turned to look at me. I wished Tegan hadn’t talked about it so openly. There was a part of me that was starting to believe that my mate had never existed at all.
I didn’t need it to become gossip fodder for the whole pack. It was bad enough that some were already trying to sow dissension against Avery as Luna, and my leadership as well. The less they knew about my missing mate, the better.
“Prepare strike forces immediately. I’ll arrange a meeting with Silvermoon to coordinate the attacks.” I frowned. It wasn’t going to be fun having to negotiate with Ryan, but a part of me was looking forward to the chance to eviscerate him again.
The dude just had a very punchable face.
The fact that he was Avery’s ex had nothing to do with it.
If my mate still lived, if she was still out there, then I needed to get these distracting thoughts about Avery out of my head. The relationship we were building was that of co-leaders, nothing more.
I needed a strong Luna to lead Nightwolf, until my mate returned to me. That was the only reason we were getting as close as we were.
No one, not even my distracting Luna, would stop me from finding my true mate.
And if my mate truly was dead, then… well.
She couldn’t be.
If my mate had been killed by this Rogue King, then nothing in this world would be able to stop my vengeance. I would burn this entire forest to the ground, crush every rock he tried to hide under.
If my mate is dead, then he better pray for the Moon Goddess’ mercy, because she was the only one who could possibly save him from me.
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