Chapter2:The Interrogation ‎

 Elena pulled hard enough to bite into her wrists to test the chains first. No one moved, including the man watching her from across the room. He seemed to have endless time to wait for her to finish her escape, which was infuriating.

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‎ He said, "The chains are reinforced steel," calmly. "For werewolves three times your size. You waste energy."

‎ You are who? Elena demanded, rattling the chains again to disagree.

‎"Dante Blackwood. Alpha of Blackwood and Blackwood Industries CEO." His steps away from the window were deliberate.

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‎ "The better question is, who are you? Dmitri Volkov's daughter shouldn't smell like wolf blood." Elena's mind raced through that statement but found nothing. "I don't understand."

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‎ Dante stopped at the foot of the bed and said, "Your mother." "She wasn't human?"

‎"My mother died when I was six," Elena said flatly. Indeed, she was human. Russian. Beautiful. Dead. I know nothing else."

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‎ Despite his tight jaw, Dante didn't argue. Instead, he removed her gun from his jacket and placed it on the dresser out of reach. "For three months, Victor Kozlov has destroyed my shipping routes. Burning warehouses. Killing my people. You arrive bleeding on my doorstep after someone fed you information about my operations. Handy timing."

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‎"You think I spy?" Elena would've laughed without her rib pain. I "literally crashed a motorcycle into you while fleeing."

‎"Could be an elaborate cover," Dante said, sounding skeptical. "Volkovs are known for theatrics."

‎"The Volkovs are practical," Elena corrected. "My father doesn't explain. When he wants someone dead, they die. No witnesses, no drama, no forest motorcycle chases."

‎ Explain why you're here."

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‎ Ellena reclined against the headboard, wishing she could press on her bandaged side. Viktor Kozlov wants to marry me to gain access to my father's empire. Viktor controls half of Eastern Europe's black market, so my father wants the marriage. I bind their partnership, but I'd rather eat glass than marry Viktor."

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‎"So you ran," Dante said.

‎"So I said no," Elena clarified. "Big difference. I told my father he could find another way to make his alliance work. I was advised to reconsider." She fixed her gaze on Dante. Three of his men entered my room two hours later with orders to fake a suicide. I fled after killing one."

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‎ Elena thought Dante was looking for a lie in her face after a long look. He finally said, "Show me."

‎"Show what?"

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‎"The tracker," Dante said. "You mentioned one last night before passing out."

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‎ Ellena overlooked that in the chaos. On my left shoulder blade. When I was 16, my father implanted it. Said it protected me."

‎Ellena tensed as Dante moved around the bed, but he just grabbed her bandages. His fingers were gentle as he peeled the gauze, and she felt him stop when he found what he needed.

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‎"There's a scar," he explained quietly. "Recently. Someone removed it."

‎"I did," Elena said. "With a pocket knife in a gas station bathroom 20 minutes before entering your territory. I flushed it down the toilet to buy time."

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‎ Dante turned to face her, and his expression changed. "Your father's men fled last night. About a mile from my border, they turned around and returned.

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‎"He thinks I'm dead then," Elena said, unsure if that was good or bad news. "Or he regroups."

‎"Or he knows you cut out the tracker and thinks you're dead from the wound," Dante said. Either way, you're in more trouble than your dad."

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‎Ellena was interrupted by a door opening and a tall man with a bandaged shoulder entering. She recognized a wolf last night. The one she shot.

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‎ The man growled, "She needs to go," at Dante. "The pack is talking. We can't keep Volkov."

‎"Marcus," Dante warned, but the man ignored him.

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‎"You bring her into our home after her family has tried to destroy us for months? Chain her up in the guest wing like a pet?" Elena recognized Dante's glow from last night in Marcus's yellow eyes. "She shot me.

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‎"You lunged at me," Elena said. Did you expect a handshake?

‎Dante quickly blocked Marcus's step toward the bed, making Elena blink. "That's enough," Dante whispered, but his words were steely. "Until I decide otherwise," she's protected.

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‎"Why?" Marcus demanded. "What's special about this?"

‎Dante tensed, and Elena saw something between the two men she couldn't read. Marcus backed down after an unspoken argument, but he looked furious.

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‎"I want a pack meeting," Marcus said. "Tonight. Everyone votes on her stay."

‎"Fine," Dante agreed. "She's my responsibility until then."

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‎Marcus gave Elena one last venomous look before taking off, leaving a heavy silence. Elena tried to read Dante's expression as he slowly turned back.

‎“He's right, you know,” she said. Keeping me here is risky. My father isn't stupid; Viktor will look. He'll realize I'm alive."

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‎ Dante said, "Let them come," with a feral smile. “I've been looking for an excuse to end Viktor for months.”

‎ What about my father?

‎"Your father tried to kill you," Dante said. "That makes you a refugee, a hostage. That's regulated in our world."

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‎

‎ Elena wanted to believe him, but she'd learned long ago that nobody did anything without a reason. Want what from me?

‎ Dante grabbed a thick folder from the dresser she hadn't seen before. "You claimed to know everything about your father's business. Every warehouse, dirty cop, and deal he's made."

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‎"I said that to prevent you from killing me," Elena said.

‎ Was it real?

‎ Elena remembered the nights she spent in her father's office memorizing shipping routes and police payroll lists because it was better than dinner with Viktor. "Yes," she said. This is true."

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Dante dropped the folder on her bed. This is my offer. Tell me everything about Viktor's operation and how he's linked to my pack's security breaches. In exchange, I keep you alive and away from your father."

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‎ What if I decline?"

‎"Then I let the pack vote tonight," Dante said. "And I guarantee they'll give you to Viktor within an hour."

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‎ Elena looked down at the folder, then up at Dante's blank stare. "Unchain me first," she said

. “I don't negotiate from weakness."

‎ Dante surprised her by smiling. "Deal."