~YULIA
I could tell that Pete felt the change in the atmosphere as he glared at me and Issa.
I understood how he felt. One moment he was this close to having his revenge and the next, he was disowned by his own father.
“This was not how you imagined it would pan out, did you?” Issa asked mockingly as he put his phone back into his pocket. He looked at the men behind Pete. “And because you all blindly followed him, I am curious, what did he even offer you?”
“Don’t tell him anything,” Pete ordered the men.
“Why should we listen to you?” One of them asked.
“Yeah, the way I see it, we have no reason to be here right now, we’re fucked because of you.”
“I can get us out of this!” Pete thundered desperately.
“I cannot wait to see how you do that,” Issa said as he watched. He was clearly entertained by Pete’s helplessness.
I was curious myself as I watched on. I had some questions for him.
“I know some things about you, Frostwood, some things you do not want to go public,” Pete said.
“Actually, you only know one thing, and it is not going to be a secret for long because I plan to make it public myself.” Issa replied. “Where is the box?” I asked.
Pete looked at me and a glint appeared in his eyes. I almost rolled my eyes in disdain. “You let us walk out of here and the box is yours,” He said.
“Really?” Issa asked. “You actually believe that you are going to walk out of here?”
“Can you really stop us?” Pete asked with a smug expression.
“I do not have to do anything, Pete.”
And that was when it happened. All at an interesting speed that I did not even hear them coming nor did I see them.
They moved silently out of the shadows, numbering up to thirty in wolf form. They were the largest wolves I had ever laid my eyes on. They were above my waist line. Growls and snarls filled the air of the warehouse as werewolves surrounded Pete and his unfortunate men.
Whatever leverage Pete believed he had was gone. He was cornered with nowhere to go and he knew it. It was over.
“I have some questions for you, Pete and how you respond to me tonight is going to determine if you will live,” Issa said and stepped forward. “But first, I want you to get on your knees.”
Pete glared defiantly at Issa without saying a word until something that surprised him and even me happened.
One of his men kicked him behind his knees so hard, Pete fell forward on all fours. He gasped in surprise at the attack and whipped his head around to look at the man.
Before he could speak, a vicious punch rocked his face and he fell on his side. “Do as you are told, you got us into this mess, you will get us out of this,” One of them coldly said.
Pete, still on his knees, raised his head and looked at me, in his eyes’ the look of someone who had been humiliated. He still had the stubborn glare but he looked defeated.
“Where did you get the bodies and the black roses?” Issa asked.
Pete refused to answer.
“How about we do a replay of what happened the last time with your father, but this time it will be your men doing all the breaking,” Issa said with a sadistic smile.
“Hold him down,” Issa ordered and Pete’s former men immediately went to work pushing him to the ground until he was flat on his front. “Get your fucking hands of me! You are nothing but a bunch of fucking traitors, every single one of you!”
“How does it feel, being at the mercy of your own men?” I asked Pete who was struggling against twelve powerful pairs of hands as they held him to the ground.
I was not asking him out of spite, I genuinely wanted to know how he was feeling.
“Fuck you!” He yelled back at me.
I felt sorry for him as I watched him.
“You have ten fingers,” Issa said as he crouched low to get a better look of Pete’s face. “With every question you refuse to answer, your men will break each finger and then when we are all out of fingers, I will start cutting things off.”
Pete went still with shock at the casual threat about torture.
“Where did you get the bodies?” Issa began.
Pete said nothing. Issa nodded at the men and one of them roughly grabbed Pete’s thumb before pulling back till an audible crack was heard. Pete’s scream of agony filled the warehouse.
“Fuck!” Pete yelled in pain.
“You know,” Issa said. “I just remembered something. You can heal from broken bones, so here is an idea: when all your fingers have been broken, I will wait for them to heal so we can start all over again.”
Pete shot him a wide stare. He knew that Issa was not joking and he meant every word.
“Tell me what I want to know, Pete.”
After seven broken fingers, Pete confessed.
“I was approached by a werewolf,” Pete said through the throes of pain. “She said she needed me to help her distract you.”
“She?” I asked and got closer. “What was her name?”
“She never said who she was,” Pete replied.
“Describe her,” Issa ordered.
“Red hair, grey eyes and old.” Pete said heavily breathing.
“Why did she want me distracted?” Issa asked.
“So, she could get to Yulia.”
“Where is the box?”
“With her.”
Issa stood up straight and turned to me. “Let’s go home.”
I heard the urgency in his voice. This was no longer a game. It had gotten real and I had a feeling he knew who exactly this woman was.
“What about them?” I asked him nodding towards the men that held Pete down.
“Kill them all,” Issa said in a loud voice.
“No! Wait!” One of the men yelled but it was too late.
The whole force of Issa’s wolves attacked and tore the men into shreds of flesh and bone. Issa and I walked away as it happened.
“They turned on their leader the moment they saw that he was no longer useful,” Issa said as we headed to the car. “I have no need for disloyal wolves, so they are better off dead.”
“Would you have spared them if they defended Pete?” I asked.
“No. They invaded my home,” He replied curtly. “They died the moment the entered my home uninvited.”