SWNOVELS Chapter Hidden secret
Ch 11
Tanook pov
Tessa and I drive with three guards as fast as we can down the road heading for Matecor’s territory. What could he possibly have given her wolf to make her act like this. I’ve never even heard of such a thing! A wolf trying to kill their own pups. I feel a hand on my arm and look over at Tessa.
“We will figure this out sweetie, we have to for Jessara’s sake.”
I nod when I see the exit sign to turn off the highway. I take it and know we have a few more miles to go before the turnoff for the territory. I just keep playing over in my head what to do when before I know it we are coming up to the territory edge, and see guards standing around. I pull up slowly rolling down my window when a guard named Jax walks up.
“How can I help you?”
“When did you guys get new guards?”
“After you left we had a pack meeting with the elders to figure out what we would do from here and we made some decisions.”
“I see well the situation is this, the Queen is very sick and we think the answer lies somewhere in the pack house.”
“Shit! Ok it’s still there the only thing that has changed was the carpets pulled out that had blood on it, that’s it. No one has been in since!”
“Perfect!”
He lets us through so we slowly drive in having people just stare. No doubt they thought they would be putting this drama behind them. When we pull up to the pack house there is a crowd gathered watching us. I quickly exit the car walking up and get bombarded with questions. I quickly raise my hands gesturing for everyone to settle down. When it becomes quiet I start talking to address everyone.
“Folks, we’ve had an issue arise at the palace. The queen is very ill and we believe whatever Matecor gave her wolf has caused dire consequences. We need as much help as we can get to try and find anything here inside that could give us the answers we need.”
They all start nodding and when the doors are opened you can still smell the stench of the lingering blood. A few women run back out covering their mouths but the men stay and start searching everywhere. Tessa and I head upstairs to the main bedroom and when we open it we see the hell Jessara went through for the few days she was here. I hear Tessa beside me gasp and start sobbing. I just grab her, pulling her to me to comfort her. Even my wolf is bouncing around trying to understand how someone could do this kind of shit Matecor did.
Once she calms down we set about searching through every drawer, every nook and crannie that we can find. When we don’t find something immediately she leaves to look in another room while I stay. I keep staring at this door on the wall by the bed and think I’m going crazy. I open it up and it looks like a simple closet. I only see a couple things hanging on the sides but nothing else. I figure I must be crazy, but my wolf is bouncing up and down frantically pacing. I walk up to the back wall and place my head against it while I knock and hear emptiness on the other side.
I quickly backup and start running my hands along the back wall feeling for anything, but find nothing. I start looking around the other walls and soon find a button along the side edge. When I push it I hear a rumble of gears and the door slowly opens, and I just stare in shock.
“What the holy fuck is this shit!”
I slowly step in when Tessa appears behind me with guards and I hear nothing but shocked gasps. I tell everyone to stay at the door while I slowly make my way around to a desk with a book on it. I look down all it has is a ‘J’ on the front and have this gut feeling that I don’t want to open it. I look up from it and see what looks like a chemical lab with syringes laid out that are empty and some still filled. Against the back wall is a table with devices on it that look straight out of midevil times. I look at Tessa who has tears running down her face, and cannot believe what we are witnessing.
I focus back on the book and slowly flip open the cover and close my eyes quickly. I can’t even look any further and quickly close the cover. I pull out my phone taking photos of everything that’s in the room and how it is placed. I find some bags laying around and quickly bag the book, syringes. I turn to see a bookshelf with more books lining the shelf. I hand what I have to Tessa telling her to not look inside. I walk over to the bookshelf and pull down a book with an ‘A’ on it. I brace myself and when I open it I see the same kind of shit that is in the book with a J on it. Book after book is the same.
I gather them all up, setting them on the desk calling for the main guards to come in with the elders of the pack. I wait for a few minutes and when they enter they stare in shock at what is in the room. The elders come up to me looking for answers.
“How many she wolves came through this pack house?”
They just looked at each other wondering why I’m asking such a question when they all look back at me. I have Tessa and our guards go downstairs and when I know they are far enough away I start flipping open the books. They instantly gasp and turn pale as book after book after book is flipped open. Pictures are spilling everywhere and it isn’t long that some are running out throwing up.
“I will ask again! How many women and girls passed through here?”
“We don’t know? We didn’t keep tabs on the Alpha. He did his own thing, but he took care of the pack.”
“You saw an Alpha bring in she wolf after she wolf and didn’t wonder what was goin on? He was performing science experiments, and torturing them and you guys did nothing? Where would he go outside of this pack house?”
“He had a bunker that was locked up and no one could go near. It’s a ways from here.”
“Take me there now!”
I follow when the guards go running and we quickly cross through a field into the forest and run for a mile or two when I see a metal door chained and locked up on the side of the hill. I run up yanking on the chains but they don’t budge. I yell to find bolt cutters and within minutes a wolf runs up holding them in his mouth. He quickly drops them and I start quickly cutting the chains away. When I throw open the door the smell of rotting bodies hits us like a ton of bricks.
I quickly strip my shirt tying it around my face so I can see while I look inside and find a light switch. I look back and yell at the elders to follow me in. It is their responsibility to keep their Alpha in check, and report when things aren’t right. They reluctantly cover their faces with their shirts when I flip the light on illuminating the hallway. We see another door and make our way to it, opening it slowly.
When we walk through we see cell doors lining to the left and right. I turn to the left first and while we make our way by the cells we see dead women chained up lining every fucking cell. I run down and see no movement and hear no heartbeats. I run down the opposite way and find the same. I turn to say something but guess the elders have seen enough as they are no longer inside. I take out my phone and start snapping pics. They will answer for their crimes of not intervening.
I make my way out, and mind link Killian.
“Tanook, tell me you found something!”
“Oh we found something alright! We will be heading back with all the elders from this pack. They have to answer to you for not reporting to you!”
“What did they not report?”
“Their own women being used as science experiments, and bing tortured!”
“Tell me Jessara wasn’t a part of this!”
“I wish I could! I will send pics that I took and bring what we found.”
*****
Killian pov
Once I get my answer Tanook cuts the mind link. I just stare through the window at Jessara and my heart breaks. She seems to have told me only a fraction of what happened. While I just stare the doctor walks up asking if I’ve heard anything. I nod when I feel my phone buzzing. I’m beyond scared to even look at them, but this is my mate who is sick and I’m the king. I have a duty to her to bring justice where it’s needed and a duty to fix this.
I pull out my phone, and take a deep breath trying to steady myself. I know Milak and I will go batshit crazy, but we have to remain strong. I bring up my texts and the doctor and I start scrolling through the photos and I can hear him growling. We try and study the office when he can see the syringes and what chemicals were out to make it. He starts writing stuff down when I scroll slowly. Then after the photos I see Tanook write ‘brace yourself’.
I look over at the doctor who shrugs his shoulders when more photos start popping up of cells and women chained up all dead. Some are already decomposing, and I lose it. I shove my phone to the doctor, turning back to the window to just stare at my mate. That could have been her in those cells. Why after years upon years of doing this would he have a moment of clarity to end his life. No wonder all his men killed themselves. They probably knew what was going on but said nothing.
I hear a “what the fuck!” From behind me and see Rikar now flipping through the photos. He stares wide eyed and looks up at me with pure hate in his eyes.
“That could have been mom chained to those walls! All because you were so worried about the fucking crown! You wouldn’t let me fight for her and now look at her! Laying in a fucking bed pupped by that fucking bastard, and her wolf is on the edge of ending the pups and her!”
“Don’t you think I realize now how bad I fucked up! Now I’m paying for it! I have a mate who I didn’t protect, who can barely be around me, and still has no clue about everything that happened to her! Why? Because she is still trying to protect me even after everything I didn’t do!”
I watch while Rikar growls at me storming off and I know I screwed up. If she doesn’t survive this what am I going to do then? I know Tanook will be on his way back and first we will deal with these elders while hopefully the doctor can figure out what is in the syringes.
I feel my phone buzz again and I just stare at the message.
“He had books he kept on what he did to each girl. He had one he was keeping for just the Queen.”