Suck... I mean, Adam

Scott had been useless, he knew basically nothing, so Caleb had been forced to interrogate the man who had referred to him as "Suck." He had spent two days torturing the man with different devices; the Judas chair had been just the beginning of his torture.

"Please," said the man hanging from the ceiling. "I will talk. But please, just stop..."

Caleb left him hanging there for a few seconds more, and then pressed the button to release him from his suffering. The man let out a whimper as his tortured body was moved back down. Caleb removed the chain that held his wrists and ankles in place and allowed him some time to rest.

Caleb turned around and grabbed a water bottle he had been drinking from and placed it in front of the man. The tortured individual grabbed it and drank from it with desperation.

Caleb had limited his meals and water intake for the last two days, as well as his time to rest; he made sure the man never had more than thirty minutes of sleep.

When the man finished the bottle, he licked his lips, desperate for all the water he could take.

"Why did you attack our Luna?"

"We didn't know she was a Luna," the man started. "All I was told was that the group we saw entering the mall was part of this pack. The attack was not exactly for her in specific."

Caleb had suspected that already, last night Alexander had called him to explain what happened when they got to the Midnight Pack.

"What was your goal then?" Caleb continued. He sat on a chair in front of the man and handed him another bottle of water. The man drank half of it before answering.

"They are growing in number. Better to have them eat others than us."

"They?"

"The crazed ones. You know them as scavengers," the tortured man pointed at the door where the other man had been placed. Communicating with the man was almost impossible, but Caleb decided to keep him alive to see the changes a wolf goes through until they transform completely.

"Tell me your name."

"Adam."

"Tell me more then, Adam."

Adam crossed his legs in front of him, looking at the bottle in his hands. He looked defeated. Caleb did not feel any pleasure in torturing another living person, so he was glad Adam had finally given in.

"Two years ago, I was kicked out of my pack for stealing something important. I became a rogue rather than suffering the consequences. In my mind, it was better to be free to do as I wanted rather than following a group of people I did not respect," He stopped to drink more water. Then he threw the bottle to the side. "If you want me to be a good storyteller, I would like to at least have something to eat."

Caleb nodded and informed one of the guards to bring something for Adam. They waited in silence until the guard returned with a plate of soup and crackers, as well as more water.

"You were saying..." Caleb waited for Adam to have a few bites from the crackers before asking him to continue.

"I was alright by myself until it became too dangerous to be alone. Scavengers started to appear in bigger numbers like they were forming small groups."

"Like packs?" Caleb interrupted.

"No," Adam shook his head and ate more of his soup. "Just small groups, no more than ten," That was news for Caleb. Scavengers usually kept to themselves, sometimes found in pairs, but it seemed that they were unable to form groups bigger than that. "Anyway, it started to become difficult to avoid them so I found a group of other fellow rogues and we formed something close to a pack. Like a socialist group, actually. And we were cool for about a year."

"But then one day we were attacked by a pack. We usually kept to ourselves, never entering pack lands and some even adapted to humans, trying to enter their society actually. We later found out that one of us had found their mate in one of the women of the said pack and both had eloped."

"Nobody knew anything about it, the dude just disappeared one day, and we never saw him again. Well, after that we were visited by the warriors and many people died. Whatever... so, I look for another group along with some of my new friends and we move all the way to the Canyon, thinking that the few packs in the area would not find out about us."

"We usually leave rogues alone unless they enter our lands," Caleb mentioned.

"Ya, noted," Adam said sarcastically and gulped down the rest of the soup. "We found more than what we hoped. Man, I was actually happy for like two weeks. And so, our small pack grew." He stopped and chewed the rest of the crackers, taking his time. Caleb remained silent. "And so did the mouths we had to feed," He looked at Caleb and raised both his hands. "I am not too soft of a guy, but I cannot let a child starve. Anyway, we became desperate for food, the few of us had no money to buy food in the human cities, and the packs around us had extensive territories where all the animals live, so... we took desperate measures.

"It was a moment of weakness, really. This guy everyone loved," he rolled his eyes. "Returned one day with a bunch of meat. Nobody questioned where he got it from, but almost everyone ate it, including the dude. Soon, some people started to change."

Adam need not explain. Caleb understood where the story was going, and still, he listened.

"At first it was just a lot of people getting angry for no reason. A shit ton of hormonal bitches everywhere. But nobody really knew the reason why it was happening. Some of us noticed the signs and some characteristics of scavengers, but it is well known that the only way to become a scavenger is to eat the flesh of your kind or get infected by one, so we thought it was something else."

"I went out to hunt too many times and even stole from the human, but it was not enough to feed all of us. Finally, the rest of us gave in and ate the same meat he offered us. Hunger does that to you," He grinned, a dark expression on his face. He glanced at Caleb. "You know where this is going, right?"

Caleb nodded.

"I am getting an idea, yes. But I want to know, was it a scavenger, or one of you..."

Adam laughed, his voice sounding broken and humorless.

"I would like to know as well. That fucker is the only one who knows," he stopped laughing, and then said in a hushed voice. "He brought more meat and soon, more rogues joined us. I have no idea how many, but every day I saw different faces."

"We found out too late what he was doing. It was not until the people who ate the meat started to transform into scavengers that we realized what was happening. But still, he was not affected by it... not really."

Caleb had more questions than answers now.

"Let's stop here for today," he told Adam. "I will be back tomorrow. I hope you cooperate again."

"Eh, sure. My asshole can only take so much... I cannot help but think you have something with sodomy."

Caleb left the torture chamber and informed one of the guards to allow Adam to sleep, as well as a pair of pants. The man had been naked since he was brought into the dungeon.

He left the building and walked back to the packhouse. Alexander and the refugees were to return later that day and he had to make sure there was enough for everyone. Nora had been a lot of help to him, like always. She was a good leader as well as a good friend.

Food, clothes, and a place for everyone to stay. He made sure everything was taken care of.

He found Nora in the Alpha's office, seated behind the desk, and clicking away on the keyboard. She was dressed in a white pencil skirt and a pink shirt. She noticed him but continued whatever she was working on.

"Anything new?" she asked.

Caleb spared her the gruesome details but explained the story Adam told him. When he was done, Nora's expression matched his own.

"That is disgusting," she pushed the keyboard away and pulled the chair back. "Is that it?"

"No. but I needed a break so I will let him get one too. Looks like my methods work still."

"Took you long to make him talk though," she teased him.

"I knew that chair would work," he laughed. Nora shook her head in disbelief. He was a weird man. "I knew investing in that would work one day," Nora glanced at him, her mouth twisting in disgust but he ignored her. "Anyway... is everything ready?"

Nora nodded and stood up, fixing her tight skirt and shirt. Without a word, she walked past him and out of the office. Caleb followed behind and closed the door when he was out. The two of them then made their way to the kitchens, where a few pack members were making sandwiches for the refugees as well as the warriors.

Nora was packing the sandwiches and placing them inside boxes. Caleb assisted by carrying out the boxes full of food and arranging them in order along the wall by the entrance.

They left the kitchen about an hour later, when the meal boxes were done and ready to be served. Caleb's phone rang as he was wiping his hands after washing them, Alexander's name popped up on the screen.

"Alpha," he answered his phone. Nora heard him and stood next to him, making Caleb put the phone on speaker so she could participate in the conversation.

"Babe," her voice was full of relief. "Where are you?"

"We are close. About thirteen miles from the border."

"Why are you calling then? Did something happen?" Caleb understood that Alexander wouldn't call him just because. He had his mate's number on the speed dial for that.

"No..." he hesitated. "I need you to ready a defensive line. I do not like how it's looking back here."

Caleb took the phone and placed it on his ear, no longer on speaker, and started giving orders in the pack link. Nora left the kitchen, her role as Luna was to protect the rest of the pack.

"What's going on?" Caleb asked, jogging out of the house and waiting for the warriors that stayed behind to go to their assigned positions. He saw as over one hundred warriors spread out in all directions.

Alexander gave him a short explanation about their trip back home. It was not until a few minutes ago that Adira had sensed others following them. The smell was stronger the closer they got to the pack land, the scent coming from both directions, behind and ahead of them.

"Alex, we should start running," Caleb heard Adira's voice on the other side of the line.

Something happened between the two of them all Caleb could hear was movement and orders being barked by who he thought was Rose in the background. A baby started crying.

"Do not send help unless they show up first," and he hung up.

They were still too far to talk through the link, so they had to rely on technology to communicate. Caleb took his shirt off as he made his way to the border where the large group would be coming from. He saw a few of his warriors already there, monitoring the perimeter, and stayed behind.

Alexander had given him instructions to stay inside the pack lands for a reason, most likely to prevent an attack in case whoever was following them had set a trap to enter the land. Regardless of anything, he felt nervous as he waited to feel anyone from the outside close enough to set a link of communication.

Out an hour later he sensed them, Alexander and a few other warriors, and then the rest of the group.

"Are you still being followed?"

"Yes, but not as close. How is it going over there?"

"No movement over here."

They had to be about five miles away as they were able to communicate. It was unfortunate the link could not go past that distance.

"Keep your eyes open. They are approaching," Caleb warned the warriors spread out across the land. As the minutes passed, he continued getting status reports from his warriors, but there were still no intruders nearby.

A few minutes later, the large group of warriors, accompanied by the refugees were visible. The group was running, most of them in wolf form. Caleb noticed a smaller group running in human form in the center of the group, carrying infants in their arms.

It was faster to run, even in their human form than taking cars. Due to their supernatural strength, speed, and resistance, werewolves could keep running for long periods of time and still be fit for battle.

When the large group crossed the line, the warriors in the middle, those in human form, continued running taking with them the rest of the refugees. Caleb saw Adira and Rose at the head of the group. The warriors that had stayed behind incorporated themselves along the line of defense, making it tighter now that there were more bodies to protect the border.

Caleb smelled the air, sensing a group of rogues in the distance. He tried to estimate their numbers, but all he was able to get was the distinctive smell of scavengers hidden among them.

"How many are there?" he asked his Alpha.

"Adira was unable to tell me, and I can only guess is over one hundred," He replied. Adira was the best tracker in the pack, with such a developed sense of smell, that she could tell how many and how far something was. If she hadn't been able to give an exact number, that could only mean it was too many for her to point out.

They stayed there for the next hour, but nothing changed except the scent in the air. Alexander stood there next to Caleb, both man and wolf waiting for an attack.

Another hour passed.

Then another.

"I don't think they plan on attacking tonight," The moon started to rise in the sky. Alexander ignored his Beta's comment. Caleb noticed the fur on his back standing, he was on edge.

When midnight came, nobody had moved yet. Caleb knew there was a large group of rogues and scavengers, at the very least those transitioning into scavengers. "Go," he told Alexander. "You are tired and so are the other warriors. Come back in the morning."

Alexander commanded the warriors who had accompanied him to rest but he stayed with Caleb, who knew better not to argue with him.

They were inspecting the perimeter when Alexander finally spoke, "What did you find out?" Caleb informed him as he had done with Nora.

"So... do you think these attacks are just random?"

"I am not sure. I don't think they are," Caleb tried to look at what Adam told him that morning from different perspectives. "Scott doesn't seem to know what was really happening. All I got from him was that their leader" he emphasized the last word. "Recruits rogues and brings them into this safe haven, away from scavengers and other packs hunting them down. On the other side, Adam tells me he was there from the beginning, and it looks like he is aware that he will also end up becoming a scavenger."

Alexander paused, "We'll go talk to him tomorrow."

The following morning, after a nap and a shower, Caleb found Alexander in the kitchen talking with Nora. The two of them were way too close, making Caleb feel uncomfortable with their public affection.

"... be just a few hours. Two, max," a playful Alexander held his wife by the waist with two fingers in front of him. She nodded and kissed his cheek before he let her go.

"Morning," she greeted Caleb.

"Hi," Alexander passed him a cup of tea while he drank from his cup of coffee. "Ready?" he asked Alexander.

"Just about," he nodded, drinking the rest of his coffee. "We'll be back," he told Nora and kissed her lips.

They walked to the interrogation room together. They found Adam, with a pair of shorts on, eating from a tray on the floor while laying on his side. He was healing from the previous torture Caleb had put him through, but surprisingly, his sassy personality remained unbroken.

"Good morning," Alexander greeted him. Adam ignored him and kept eating his meal like they were trying to steal it from him.

Caleb was aware that Alexander had not as much patience as he did, and Adam was testing him by ignoring him. Caleb held his arm when he saw the Alpha move towards Adam and shook his head. Caleb was a better negotiator than Alexander, that was one of the reasons why Caleb always took care of the interrogations.

When Adam was done with his breakfast, Caleb took the tray and handed it over to one of the guards who took it out of the room, leaving the three men alone. "Back for the rest of the story, kids?" Adam asked the two men.

"It was very entertaining I even brought a special guest with me today," Caleb continued with his façade.

"Nice! Well, sit down," Adam pointed at the chairs against the wall. "I'd sit too, but as you can see," he pointed at his behind. "I can't."

Caleb couldn't help but smile. Although Adam looked like he was talking to an old friend, he could not hide the hate in his eyes as he spoke.

"Tell us who is the guy who gave you the meat."

Adam's expression changed to rage, but he quickly hid it behind a thoughtful one. "Hmm... His name is Miles," he told them. "He showed up one day and started making friends left and right. You see, we do not have a pack system as you do, we have something like a socialist economy. It works very well," he leans back against the wall, flexing one of his legs. "Everyone pitches in, nobody holds all the power nor the last word; damn good."

"Anyhow... Miles started a little council where people could go and ask for extra aid, a favor, food, water, and even sex. This council started gaining power, but people saw no problem with it because they help supply good meat; the one I told you about last time."

"Adam? I sense you did have a problem with it," Caleb offered, raising his eyebrow.

Adam did not reply, his eyes wandered around the room with anger growing in them. His posture changed and he sat with his legs crossed in front of him, a hiss escaping his mouth as he applied pressure on his injured butt.

"Well, is not like you have your friend being passed around like a town bicycle."

Caleb leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "Are you saying he is forcing you to attack packs?"

Adam's eyes met his own. "I don't know about the rest, but I am not being forced to do anything," He looked away. "I just don't want to be the one to leave her like this."

"If you care so much about her, then why are you even telling us all this?" Alexander asked him. Caleb turned around, disbelief pouring out of him. Was he really trying to make him stop talking?

Adam laughed humorlessly. "Is not like she's my mate for me to risk my life," he explained. "Did you even hear what I told this guy yesterday?" he pointed at Caleb. "I ate the meat. It's not like there is hope for me, but I was hoping to at least prevent Miles from feeding her the meat too," he shook his head. "I know my situation, your Beta had no problem torturing me, and I know I will die either way if I go back or stay here. It's futile to fight back at this point for me."

"What the fuck did you do to this man?" he hear Alexander's voice in the link. Caleb smirked and did not respond.

He was just good at his job.

"So, this council keeps sex workers?"

"Yes. Resources, mateless people to exploit, and as far as I know, information too."

"And what is their goal?" Caleb asked.

"Dunno for sure," Adam shrugged his shoulders. "The typical shit, I'd guess; people to fuck, kids to eat, lands to conquer... But I could help you find out more," he offered.

"You are aware I am not letting you go, right?" Alexander asked him, Caleb crossed his arms as a sign to confirm what he was telling Adam.

"I've been gone for too long, they'd know I've been trapped, and if I return they'd just kill me on sight to avoid guiding enemies to them," he explains with a hint of annoyance.

Caleb thought about it, and after getting a confirmation from his Alpha, he replied to the man on the floor. "What do you have in mind?"

"For starters, I have a friend who is close to the man in charge."

Caleb knew this friend was the woman he tried to help. And maybe this friend could help them find out more about what they were up against. "Who is this friend?" he asked.

"Dalia."