The Demon and His Plaything

19| The prisoner

Samantha had spoken to all of the families on her list. Most wanted to be sworn into their pack. She tried to see if any of them knew anything about what had happened but it was all the same. The manual warning signal had been set off and they had booked it to the closest shelter, only leaving in the morning when no one came to tell them it was safe.

Those survivors that had been at the run, of which there were only a few, just said they felt like they had become deaf and then a brutal shockwave hit that knocked them off their feet–they didn't come to until much later, having been found barely alive. There were still a few in comas, the concern that their increased healing wouldn't be enough to survive.

Killing time while she waited to hear from Derek about how his conversation with his father went, Samantha wandered around the packhouse to see if anything else needed doing.

Samantha walked past the pack's Delta. He was striding swiftly and had a fixed look of concentration on his face as he made his way through the first floor of the packhouse. She'd never seen such an intense look on his face, agitation radiating off him.

“Delta Simon,” she called, jogging up to him.

He stopped to look back at her. “Oh Samantha, hi. I have to get to the prison real quick.”

“The prison?” She c****d her head at him.

He smiled briefly. “Your father thinks he has captured a Demon that was involved. He wants to interrogate him himself, but I have to get in there and make sure we get everything we need.”

Samantha felt a chill go through her. “What is their name?”

Simon pulled a face. “What does that matter?” He turned around without another word heading to the lift.

Samantha spun around and ran up to her mother's office–she had left your mobile there. She mindlinked Derek. “Derek, they’ve got a Demon in the prison. I don’t know who it is, but…”

“Dad just cancelled the meeting we were supposed to have…”

She grabbed her phone and messaged Godrick, Is everything okay?

We have a demon in custody.

I don’t know who.

Please tell me you are okay.

She sent it as four separate messages. Her hands shook as she waited for his reply that didn’t come.

“Samantha?”

“What if it’s Godrick?” she asked, panicked.

She ran to the stairwell and practically took a single leap for each flight of stairs on her way back to the ground floor. She punched out of the front entrance of the packhouse taking a sharp turn to run to the prison. It wasn’t far from the packhouse. As she angled towards it, she saw Derek come out of the packhouse, his eyes finding hers, yelling out for her to stop.

She ignored him. He caught her just as she was about to barge into the building. “Wait! Sam!”

She tried to pull from his arms. “He isn’t responding to my texts!” She shoved her phone in his face to show him that her last few messages were still unread.

“You can’t just run in there. What are you planning to do if it is him? What are you going to say to your dad?”

She trembled and looked up at him with huge eyes. He continued, “Let me go. Wait here.”

She reluctantly agreed and took a step back. “Please…” she said with a broken voice.

~*~

Derek couldn’t tell if her plea had been for him or the gods. He entered, noting that there weren’t as many guards as there were usually.

“You here to see the prisoner too?” One of the guards asked him. “We’re getting a lot of looky-loos, so don’t be surprised if Delta Simon cracks it.”

“I’m sure he’ll make an exception, considering they killed my sister,” he sneered.

The other wolf blanched. “Oh. Sorry…”

Derek pushed his way forward. He assumed they would have taken him straight to interrogation and he was right. He could hear hushed arguing down the hall. He followed the sound of it, recognising his fathers voice.

Benjamin was arguing with Delta Simon. It sounded like Simon wanted to take over as his rightful position in the interrogation and wasn’t happy that Alpha Andrew was not letting him in.

His father saw him approach and the look that came across his face set Derek on edge. He seemed put out that Derek was there. “Derek, you shouldn’t be here. Best you get back to the packhouse. Stay with your mum–”

“I need to see,” he interrupted. He pushed past his father, twisting out of his grasp easily. He barged into the room, a gasp coming from him as the badly beaten Demon looked up.

~*~

Samantha jumped as her phone started to vibrate in her hand. Her heart leapt as she saw his name come up on caller ID.

"Godrick!"

"Samantha, what's happened?"

"They brought a prisoner here. I was scared it was you." She glanced around but there was no one around.

He was quiet. "Just a second."

She chewed her lip, she quickly mindlinked Derek. "Derek. Godrick just called me."

"Yeah, it's not him…"

Godrick came back to her. "I can't get a hold of Grim and he didn't arrive for work today. s**t Samantha this is bad. s**t. His dad's a real bad guy… if they want a scapegoat they've picked the wrong one… they'd have been better to nab me."

"Is it Grim?"

"Yeah…"

Samantha could hear he sounded strained. "Is he okay?"

"No."

"s**t…" She breathed out. "I'll call you back."

"Wait!"

She continued to listen but started moving to enter the prison.

"What can I do?"

"Make sure they don't attack in retaliation. Who is Grim's dad?"

"Barkora. They refer to him as an Aerchdaemon, which is a Netherland title for a Duke-level Demon."

"Okay. Let me see if we can get him out. Message me if you hear anything."

They said goodbye as she was heading to where interrogations happened. She ignored the call of the guard trying to stop her from going through. Raised voices directed her to where she needed to go, the pressure of her father's Alpha aura was radiating out, felt even as far away as she was.

She ran to find Simon in the hall, pressed against the wall by the weight of the aura. She angled into the room, taking a deep breath at the scene. Grim was chained to the table and was gagged. He had his head resting on the table, one of his eyes was swollen shut and the other looked on its way. Both Beta Benjamin and Derek were on their knees baring their necks, to her father.

"Dad!" She cried out to him. He looked crazed. "Stop."

His eyes swung to her and she staggered under his power. "Leave now!"

Bile rose in her throat as she fought against his command.

"No!" She screamed so loud it hurt her throat. "You stop all of this now!"

She was surprised to see him react to her counter aura. He blinked in surprise. He eased off her but he didn't release the two betas. They growled low, small painful sounds punching through every few seconds.

She stuck her head out the door. "Simon get out of here and evacuate the floor." He looked like he was about to object but he took in the look on her face and hightailed it out of there.

She turned around and stared at her father. "We know."

Something flickered across his face, too fast for her to understand it.

"Samantha. I told you not to interfere."

"Well, I did. He didn't do anything." She motioned to Grim. He was watching her and he looked scared. "You have to let him go."

"You don't understand–"

"I understand that you made a really stupid and horrible decision and you're making another one that will hurt our pack."

"They attacked early," Beta Benjamin croaked out. Samantha looked at him, he was still kneeling and baring his throat. "We told them to postpone it when Tracy moved there but they still went ahead." Tears started to stream down his face.

"We need someone to punish." Her father took a step towards the table. Grim flinched but couldn't pull himself away, restrained as he was.

"Well, do it another way." Samantha darted between her father and Grim.

"What do you care?" Her father roared.

"I know him… and a friend of his, I believe you met him also."

Alpha Andrew had a confused look on his face. "This the chatroom friend you mentioned to Rachel?"

"Yes." She glanced at Derek. "And that was kind of a lie. Let Benjamin and Derek up."

She backed up so she could take the gag off Grim while still having her father in her line of sight.

"Thank you," Grim gasped as the fabric was removed from his mouth.

"We can't let him go," Benjamin said with effort as he stood. "We need to make them pay."

"We'll find another way, right Grim?" Grim nodded in agreement. Samantha could feel her father's eyes boring into her. She noticed he had mindlinked someone. She guessed it was her mother.

"He stays until we have justice," her father spoke in a deadly voice.

She pressed her lips together and she could see Derek was struggling not to explode with the same fury she felt. "Let me see what can be done. I need to be alone with Grim and I need his restraints removed."

There was a tense moment where they all just stood there.

The Alpha and his Beta mindlinked for a moment. Benjamin sighed and moved to remove the restraints.

"You have fifteen minutes. After that, we'll go ahead with the public execution we've planned."

She heard Grim gulp at the words.

The two older men left the room, Derek closing the door behind them.

"Holy s**t," Grim exclaimed as he put his forehead against the cool tabletop. "You got some balls, lady…"

"You're dad's crazy important, yeah?" He nodded at her question. "What can we do? If we call him, is he going to flip and just wipe our pack out?"

Grim thought for a second. "Maybe… and I'd avoid telling him I was, well, kidnapped. I'm his favourite son. " He grinned at that, wincing as he did.

She nodded. She called Godrick, placing him on speaker.

Godrick made a relieved sound when he heard Grims' voice. "Oh, man. I didn't know what to do. Mos called asking where you were. I lied and said you'd shacked up with someone. f**k… you okay?"

Grim grimaced as he moved. "For the moment."

Samantha quickly brought him up to speed.

"We've got ten minutes left," Derek piped in.

"Don't worry," Samantha said to the beaten Demon. "He's not taking you."

Derek gave her a look. She was being very confident she could actually take her father.

Godrick was quiet for a moment. "What would appease him?"

"He needs a perpetrator," Samantha stated.

"f**k…" Godrick and Grim said in unison. Grim tried to sit up straighter, wincing as he did.

"My dad was super pissed about the job so he might be willing to," he swallowed, "offer up a sacrifice but there'd need to be long-term benefits… Not for nothing the Demons here have tried to get business agreements with Wolves before. That'd sweeten the deal."

"Well," Godrick said, "Tyler was the one that keyed up the thing. Krig told me this morning."

"Anyone that was part of the attack directly?" She glanced at Derek as she said that. A muscle pulled taught in his neck as he clenched his jaw.

Grim shook his head. "This is really f****d up. And what because they killed a bunch of people earlier than they should've."

"You're right," Samantha said thoughtfully. For Samantha, this now needed a calculated solution. Who had a blame worth dying for?

She mindlinked her father. "Who did you communicate the hold on the attack to?"

She nodded to herself at the name addressing the three men. "Okay. These are the options I see. One, and just getting it out of the way. We just create a path for you to run."

Grim shook his head. The idea of being chased down by werewolves was far from appealing. "Yeah, nah. Next."

"Two, we tell my dad who your dad is. He wouldn't let you go. He wouldn't kill you but he might try to use you against your dad. Making demands, a request to trade you for Tyler would alert your dad… the fall out literal hell crashing down on us." Grim nodded agreeing that would be the outcome.

Samantha nodded. "Or three," and she said it in a way that it was clear this really was the only option, "we speak with your father and say that as an apology for the attack, which we have evidence was ordered by rogues, they pass over the Demon that had organised the attack." She added for them only, "Who also didn't delay the attack as requested."

She tried not to look at Derek, she could feel his scrutiny. She was being very alpha and cold. She had noticed his reaction when she was like this. It threw him.

"Tyler?" Grim asked. Godrick remained silent.

Samantha continued, "We make it look like a swap but you're just going home in your dad's eyes."

"Let me call my dad." Grim ended the call with Godrick promising to call him back straight away and punched in his dad's number.

Samantha stood over by Derek. "You doing okay?" She asked him with a low voice.

"I can't believe they're calling for a token villain. They did this and they only care that someone close to us was killed too." He shook his head. "I don't think I can stay here."

She looked at him in shock. "But in a few years, you'll be Alpha…" She stopped realising that might not be his future anymore. Because of her. "Oh."

She turned slightly and concentrated on Grim's conversation.

"I know Dad… yeah well they're super pissed… of course-." Grim quickly put himself on mute. He whispered to them, although his dad couldn't hear. "He's not scared about retaliation from your pack so doesn't see the point in helping."

Samantha grabbed the phone off him. Grim looked at her horrified as she unmuted the phone and brought it up to her ear. "Aerchdaemon Barkora?"

"Who the f**k is this?" The voice on the other end made her skin crawl.

"I am Samantha Ravencrest of the Crescent Moon Pack."

"That so?" There was a scoff there.

"An entire pack was obliterated. Fifteen hundred people. Only two hundred remain, fifty of them now orphans." She paused. When the man didn't say anything she continued, "We know the Demon who organised and executed this abhorrent act." She paused again. "We are giving you the opportunity to work with us here and hand him over. I believe this will also serve you well as a reminder to those in your organisation what is and isn't acceptable."

She tried to relay that this was just a courtesy without being obvious.

A horrid laughter came from the phone. "My oh my." More laughter. "Keep my number Samantha. He'll be at your front gate by nightfall."

~*~

Godrick was pacing. He'd just got off the phone again. They were waiting for Tyler to be deposited and then Grim was going to message him. He was hoping he'd see Samantha tonight but it was unlikely.

He heard a knock on his door. Grumbling, he stalked over to it.

He opened it without checking and froze as he saw the man on the other side of the door. "Barkora!"

The Demon was a large barrel of a man. He appeared as a middle-aged white man, but Godrick knew most of it was a glamour. Godrick didn't need any special abilities to know something dark swam within the humanoid being.

He had two of his bodyguards with him. Non-distinct men.

The large Demon barged into his apartment, his entourage following. "Tell me Godrick, why is my son consorting with wolves?"

"Errr…" Godrick was so taken aback by his presence his mind raced to catch up. "We heard about that attack and–”

"You told Mos he was bundled up in a love nest with some woman. Is he involved with an alpha she-wolf?"

Fuck. Godrick didn't want him to think Samantha was Grims. "No, I lied to Mos because we were in contact with a few pack members–”

"And who told them Tyler was the f**k up that organised it?"

"So it was him?" Godrick feigned ignorance. "They already knew. They came looking for Tyler and Grim offered to help. He thought maybe they had the wrong intel…"

"Well, they have it right. And now that punk is tied up in the back of my car. You're coming with me."

"Oh, I'm supposed to–” Barkora gave him a look that killed the words he was going to say. He nodded and grabbed his keys.

~*~

Samantha had told her dad it was going to be a straight prisoner swap. She confirmed neither older men had met Tyler personally and he didn't know their position or the pack they were from. She tried to talk them into letting her and Derek handle it but they would have none of it.

They'd applied some ice to Grim's face but he was still looking bad.

"s**t," Derek whispered. "I don't know how we're going to do this and make it look like you're a prisoner to our dads but not to your dad."

Grim looked at himself in the mirror. He gave a look of concentration and his bruises and swelling faded.

"Whoa," both wolves exclaimed.

"I didn't know Demons could heal like that." Samantha touched his face and he pulled back hissing in pain.

"Not healed, glamoured. All the bruises are still there and my dad will be able to sense it.”

The risk felt worth it. Grim styled his hair a little differently, aiming to give reason for the glamour being in place.

They used a car to take Grim to the front gate. "Stay by my side," Samantha told him. She body blocked any chance for her father or Benjamin to manhandle him. They needed to just switch them out quickly and minimise any talking.

"Oh s**t," Grim whispered in fear. "He came himself. f**k, be careful Samantha."

Samantha eyed the large Demon as he got out of the car. She could feel her father stand straighter, his wolf responding to the threat of this man.

Her eyes widened slightly as she saw Godrick exit the car as well. Their eyes met and she could see his fear as well. This could go very bad very quickly.

Grim stiffened next to her. Derek was standing on the other side of him.

Samantha saw her father and Beta Benjamin recognise Godrick. Her father looked back at her for just a second.

"Grim, get over here," his father hollered.

Samantha felt her father start to speak so she grabbed Grims arm and walked him towards the Demons, remaining on their side of the border. "Where's Tyler?"

Grim's father looked her up and down. She had her hair out, an apricot knee-length summer dress with cap sleeves on. "You're Samantha?" He grinned. It was disgusting.

She just lifted her chin as an answer. His grin grew wider and she felt for a moment this was not his true face.

He glanced over at one of the other men who had fanned out behind him. The man went around the back of the car and opened the boot. He dragged out an unconscious person, unceremoniously throwing him at the ground just over into the pack territory.

Samantha looked at the man at her feet. He was tall and lanky with dirty blonde hair. She looked at Grim who nodded that this was the right person.

Samantha released Grims arm. The Demon barely kept a civil pace as he walked over to where Godrick was.

Barkora looked over at her father. "You're the current Alpha?"

"Yes, I am Alpha Andrew Ravencrest."

"You got a husband for your daughter yet?"

Derek took a step forward at the same time Godrick started to. Grim stopped Godrick but Derek walked until he stood next to Samantha. All three men were appalled by the question and what it implied.

Alpha Andrew just nodded.

"Pity," Barkora looked her up and down again. Derek growled low in his throat. Samantha could see the anger in Godricks eyes but neither of them were stupid enough to do or say anything.

"I look forward to doing business with you again." With that Barkora climbed back into the car, the rest of the Demons following.

~*~