Chapter 30 - Ace imprisoned.

Author POV - 

While Brian, Mark and the others are fighting and detaining the rogues along with Maddie and her father, Jack and Dave make their moves, Dave fades into the trees and makes his way around the clearing, following the path Ace has taken. Thankfully, Ace's scent is strong and Dave is easily able to pick it up and follow him. Jack steps into the clearing and makes his way over to the woman lying on the floor. Crouching down beside her he pulls her attention away from her wounds. The fear in her eyes at his sudden appearance is palpable. She had not heard him approaching and had had no sense of anyone watching her in her misery and pain.

"Please," she practically begs, "I didn't want to, I never meant to cause anyone harm. He saved me, you have to understand, please" Jack frowns, since she has worked with Ace to thwart them, he struggles to trust his own instincts, how can he trust what she says. How can he believe anything this witch says, stories of old have taught him witches are conniving, they are tricksters and are only ever out for themselves. Which means that everything she says is said with the hope of saving herself, he can't trust her. 

"I need to restrain you, I can't take you onto my pack lands without knowing you can't harm any of my wolves, do you understand?" His tone is kind, as if he understands and knows that his request will cause her distress which he regrets. But in truth he doesn't trust her, he senses she is being honest, but that doesn't mean she doesn't mean others harm, it only means that she helps Ace because he saved her, she could have grown to believe what Ace told her about himself, about his mate, he would not risk Cassie or their pups. He would never forgive himself if something he did put them in danger. 

"I understand," She pulls herself to her feet laboriously, breathing heavily, "I'm Emma by the way, I'm grateful to you, Alpha Jack, truly."

Jack starts at this, how does she know his name? What else does she know? He ties her hands behind her back, tight enough to prevent her using them for her magic, but not so tight that it strains her injuries and causes her more pain. He may not trust her, but he has no intention of angering her or giving her a reason to want revenge.

"I will take you back to my pack and though you will be a prisoner, I will question you myself rather than having any of the guards do it, I will keep you safe, I'm not sure I can trust you yet, but I'm willing to try."

"Thank you Alpha, it may not mean much right now, but I promise you I am not a bad person." Her voice is soft and carries a conviction that encourages Jack to trust her a little more.

"Let's go," Jack says, he doesn't want to be stuck out here any longer than he has to, he wants to get back to his mate, he knows his men are all OK, his wolf can sense them all and offers reassurances.

They make their way back to Rival River pack and Jack leads her a small meeting room that is housed close to the pack house entrance. He doesn't want to take her down to the dungeons until he has a better understanding of who she is and the interrogation rooms would scar an innocent, his father before him had been brutal in his questioning and though Jack could appreciate the need for force in some cases he didn't enjoy the torture so he left that to the prison guards. He could be violent, almost sadistic in his torture when it was necessary, he never shirked the responsibility that came with being the leader, but he didn't relish the task. With the state of the interrogation room in the back of his mind, he had decided that he would question her, with a guard present, in one of the smaller meetings rooms. Hopefully the more comfortable surroundings will encourage her to relax. Relaxed prisoners slipped up more if they were lying, which would help them get to the truth that much quicker.

Meanwhile Ace was running, he was running through the forest clearly trying to confuse his follower as to where he was headed, when in actual fact, he knew exactly where he was going, he had a back up plan to help him survive the camp being compromised, he intended to hide himself away in a second spelled location that nobody except him knows about, not even Maddie and her father knew about this spot, he didn't trust anyone. He just hoped the injuries he had inflicted on the witch before they were spotted were enough to kill her, or to at least prevent her from talking. He knew he was pinning a lot of his chances for survival on hope, but he didn't have anything else for the moment. Stopping short Ace realised that his secret hideaway was the worst place he could go, if he went there now he would be leading his would be captor to the one place he had left. No, he couldn't go there. Ace's mind was spinning, what could he do, where could he go? Why was she being so difficult, why couldn't she just submit to him like she was supposed to and then none of this would be happening. He would be Alpha if she just did as she was told, he would have her in his bed, and Maddie on his arm, and everything would be as it should be. Anger coursed through Ace as he came to the realisation that all of this, everything, was all because of Cassie, the bitch just couldn't do as she was told, wouldn't submit to him, and that thought had driven him to madness over the last few months. 

While Ace had all of these thoughts clouding his mind he didn't realise he had been stationary for too long. Dave had caught up to him and had been standing watching him, Dave was watching Ace curiously, wondering why he hadn't moved a muscle for the last couple of minutes, but he shook himself, Ace not moving made his life easy, he could question it later, for right now he needed to over power the deranged Beta and bring him in for the justice of his pack and for the justice of his friends. Without any further delay, Dave pounced on Ace and had him secured beneath him before Ace even realised what had happened. To Dave's surprise, Ace did not put up a fight, he remained pliant underneath him. Dave had expected a fight, instead he had found the man who had been tormenting his friends and the man had basically let himself be caught.

Not wanting to jinx himself, Dave wasted no time in securing his prisoner and escorting him to Twin Lakes where he would be questioned and brought to justice before all he had wrongfully treated.