Chapter 6: Interrogation

Aura’s POV

I blinked in disbelief. Was that really Atlas?

Atlas was the thief?

Sorren and Angelo were in a deep discussion about the photo and how to find the perpetrator. So I took the opportunity to silently creep away.

Thankfully, I was unable to get away sight unseen. My heart hammered in my chest as I rushed towards my parents’ old house.

Maybe I hadn’t seen the picture correctly. I mean, it was entirely possible that I was someone who just LOOKED like Atlas. I opened the front door, expecting to see Atlas lounging on the couch.

But the living room was empty.

“Hello? Atlas?” I called out. To my dismay though, no one answered.

My heart sank. Where was he? What if he’d been caught? He was my mate. He’d marked me. Would I ever see him again? What would Sorren do to him? What had stolen? My mind spun as I sunk down on the couch, his scent still thick in the air.

“Aura?” I heard a voice from outside. It was Jackson. He wheeled himself into the living room. “I thought you might be here,” he said. Then he took one look at my disparaged face and rolled himself closer. “What is it, Aura? What’s wrong.”

But before I could tell him, I heard a knock on the door.

Atlas? I thought to myself.

I rushed to the door, hoping to see Atlas’s green eyes shining back at me. It was Sorren though. His brows were furrowed and he looked visibly upset.

He moved past me, entering the house.

“I saw you come in here,” Sorren said in his low, steady voice. “Why are you at your parents’ old place?”

“Oh, I’m um, I was just tidying it up,” I lied. I glanced around the room, hoping Atlas hadn’t accidentally left anything behind.

“Hi Sorren,” Jackson said brightly. He didn’t know yet that I’d broken up with Sorren.

Sorren disregarded Jackson’s welcome. Instead, he turned to me abruptly. He unfolded a piece of paper and help it up in front of my face.

It read it. It was a wanted notice…with a picture of Atlas. He was wanted for grand theft. Anyone with any information was to report to Alpha Sorren or Beta Angleo immediately.

“Have you seen this man?” Sorren seethed at me.

“No,” I shook my head. I wasn’t a very good liar at the best of times, but I did my best to appear innocent. I couldn’t believe this was happening. The morning after I was marked by my mate, that same mate was wanted for theft?

Was my mate a criminal?

“Don’t lie to me, Aura,” Sorren warned. “Someone said they saw you two together, last night. Walking down the street late at night.”

My blood ran cold. Someone had seen me with Atlas? I bit my lip and shook my head again.

“They must have been mistaken because…”

“Enough,” Sorren snapped at me. Then he grabbed me roughly by the wrist. “You’re coming with me.”

“Wait,” Jackson exclaimed from his wheelchair, his eyes wide. “Where are you taking her?”

Sorren whipped his head towards Jackson. His hands dug into my wrist, cutting off the circulation. “She’s coming with me,” Sorren told him. “To the interrogation room. We have reason to believe your sister knows this man.”

“She doesn’t,” Jackson said quickly. “She was with me last night. I swear. Neither of us know this man.”

Jackson was lying for me. He wheeled his way around the coffee table, reaching out for me.

“I don’t believe you,” Sorren said, his tone dry. He began dragging me towards the door. I struggled against him.

“Sorren, no,” I cried out, trying to wrangle my wrist from his grasp. Jackson’s eyes were frantic.

“Let go of her,” he said.

I fought against Sorren, but I wasn’t strong enough to fight him off. And Jackson, confined to his wheelchair, couldn’t stop him either. We were both powerless.

“Stop struggling,” Sorren hissed. We were at the front door now. He was going to drag me out onto the street. It would be humiliating. My heart raced.

“Please,” I begged him. “I don’t know anything. I swear!”

I couldn’t let him take me to the interrogation room. If he did, they’d torture the truth out of me. “I’m innocent,” I cried.

“We’ll see about that,” Sorren said, throwing daggers at me with his eyes.

But then, before I knew what was happening, Atlas appeared.

He towered in front of us.

“Release her,” Atlas said. But Sorren refused so, with one hard shove, Atlas pushed Sorren off of me. Altas stepped in front of me, shielding me from Sorren. Sorren, confused at being treated so brashly, narrowed his eyes.

His voice was low and dangerous as he growled at Atlas: 

“Who the hell are you?”