7 DAYS TO PROVE MY INNOCENCE TO THE ALPHA KING

Valerie's POV

"GO, GO, GO!!" I screamed and looked back to see the trail of cars pursuing us.

My heart drummed in my chest as I thought of what might happen next. They were getting closer and if I was caught-no, if we were caught, we were as good as dead meat.

"Nana, drive faster. They are catching up with us!" I screamed at my younger brother.

"I'm trying my best. Stop yelling at me. I bet you can't even drive like me." He yelled back.

I sighed.

Shit.

I ran my fingers down my hair in frustration. My heart drummed faster in my chest as one of the cars pursuing was just at our tail.

"Nana!" I screamed worriedly and he drove into a corner unexpectedly causing us to lose the black car on our tail.

I sighed in relief.

The people in the area screamed and ran. It was unusual for a car to drive through that route since it was a market and always crowded.

But seeing our car and the speed it was riding, they cleared the way for us, running for their lives and screaming.

"I think we lost them." Nana said excitedly.

"Don't get too excited. We aren't safe yet."

"Alright, where are we heading to now?"

"The park. I need to make a call before we board a ship. We are leaving New York tonight."

"I didn't think it would turn out like this. I mean...we just got here."

"Shut up, Nana and just-" I couldn't finish my sentence because an unexpected force suddenly hit our car and sent it flying in the air before crashing down on the ground.

Our car had overturned and the only thing holding me in place was my seat belt. My sight was hazy, pain seared through my body and I couldn't move.

"Val...rie," I heard my brother call weakly, "They've caught us."

Those were the last words I heard before my eyes closed and my world turned black.

********

My ears twitched, hearing someone humming. My eyes slowly opened and the first sight I caught was Nana. He was sitting in a chair in front of me. The ropes around him forced him to remain on the chair despite his struggles for freedom.

"Val..." He called weakly and coughed out blood. My brother was beaten to a pulp. He was all bloody and wounded.

"Nana!!" I screamed at the top of my voice. I bursted into tears. He didn't deserve this. It was my fault. I made us come to New York. How would I have known that we would be caught?

"Shut up!" I heard a thundering voice and whimpered in fear. I looked up and saw a 5'3" man standing beside me. He poked my forehead, "Don't look at me with those eyes of yours."

I looked down.

The humming in the room didn't cease. It reminded me of someone. Someone who carried death and fear with him everywhere he went. Goose bumps rose on my skin and I shook the scary thoughts off my mind.

No. He can't be the one. Why would he come after me?

The humming suddenly stopped. The short man beside me laughed and fear gripped me. He turned my chair around and I met him. The most dreadful man on earth. The Alpha of death. He was sitting right before my eyes. He began humming again.

My heart pounded in my chest. Rumor has it that whenever he hummed he was ready to kill, to destroy.

I bowed my head quickly, "Alpha King, please spare our lives." I begged, tears falling from my eyes.

He stopped humming and I sensed his gaze on me. They felt like daggers.

"One reason. Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you both." His cold voice echoed in the room. My entire body shivered under his cold deadly aura.

My eyes moved quickly in its sockets as I thought of the best answer to his question.

"We've done nothing wrong, Alpha king." My shaky voice said the only answer I could think of. My face remained down, I hadn't raised my head since the bow.

The Alpha King scoffed and I blinked back tears. He didn't buy my answer. I became more nervous.

"You did nothing wrong?" He scoffed again and stood up. The short man behind me pulled my head up and I met the King's cold gaze.

A boy walked in bearing a large framed photo in his hands. He stood before me.

"Who is she?" The Alpha King asked.

"Luna Queen." I answered nervously, recognising the woman in the framed photo.

"What is her name, dummy?" The man behind me poked the back of my head and I cringed at the pain.

"Luna Margaret." I whimpered, looking down in fear.

The boy stepped aside and the Alpha King closed in on me. His cold aura paralysed me with fear. I was almost going to wee on my pants.

"Answer my next question correctly and I will let your brother live." I nodded quickly in response to him and he continued, "Who killed her?"

I stilled.

Who killed the Luna Queen? Goddess, how the hell should I know that?

My heart beat kicked up. What should I say? I don't know.

The man behind me poked the rear of my head again, "Answer the Alpha king now."

"I don't know, Alpha. I don't know." I cried out quickly.

"Oh dear, you shouldn't have said that." The short man behind me muttered. He turned my chair back to face my brother, and the next second blood splashed on me and I saw Nana's head drop to the floor.

"NANA!" I screamed with all my strength, struggling to free myself from the chair I was tied to so I could go to my brother's body.

My heart shattered to pieces as I looked from his head on the floor to the blood pumping out of his neck.

My hair was pulled back and I heard the King's voice in my ear, "How does it feel to watch your brother die? Your head will roll too after I make you suffer. Now tell me, why did you kill my mate?"

Alpha King Ethan's POV

"I swear on my brother's blood. I didn't kill your mate." She cried.

My claws gripped her hair tighter. "You dare lie to me?" I scoffed, letting her hair go and signalled Fynn, my beta, to hit her. He slapped her while I turned around, showing them my back.

"Did you possibly think you could run from me?" I asked, but didn't get any response, except her racing breath and quiet whimpers. I sensed her fear too. They erupted from her like waves.

"I wasn't running from you. My poor brother and I were on vacation." She answered breathily.

"Ha!" Fynn scoffed.

"Vacation?" I mused and laughed sarcastically before turning around and clutching her neck, "You killed my wife and kept running from one country to another, one city to another and you say you were on vacation?"

My eyes burned red as I glared at the woman who caused my pain, who ripped me of my only joy.

My claws tightened around her neck, her face colored tomatoes, her eyes popped out in fear. I didn't give a fuck if she was choking. This woman didn't deserve to breathe any longer. She deserved to die.

"Your Majesty," I heard Fynn call hesitantly. He was calling my attention to the fact she was choking. I pulled myself together and let go of the woman's neck.

She gasped out in breath.

"Did you know that she was pregnant?" I asked and she looked up at me in shock. I smirked, "I bet you didn't know. What did she do to you to deserve the gruesome death you gave to her?"

Maggie, my mate, was the most innocent, peaceful and gentle soul I've ever known. She was my solace. My medicine. And she was carrying my two months old pup in her womb until death stole her from me.

I looked at my mate's killer and instead of seeing a woman, I saw a monster. The woman before me was a monster, who ripped off the innocent.

She didn't deserve to live. No, not in our world. My gaze shifted to Fynn, my beta, and I signaled him to hit her until I asked him to stop.

"Bitch!" Fynn cursed and hit her face. He focused on her face, maybe to make it ugly, I didn't know why.

I raised my hand after five minutes, asking him to stop and he did. The woman's lips were busted, her eyes swollen and face bloody. She was breathing heavily.

"I understand your pain, Alpha. You lost your pregnant mate to the cold hands of death and your enemy. But...killing my innocent brother and torturing me for something I know nothing of..." She scoffed and glared at me, "That's more cruel."

Fynn slapped her again and she looked down.

"How dare you glare at the Alpha king?" He growled at her.

"Keep lying to me. Be rest assured that you will beg for your death." I told her and signalled Fynn to bring in one of the machines we used in torturing miscreants.

He left the room and returned a minute later with it. The woman's eyes widened in fear and shock as she recognised the machine.

"What are you doing?" She asked fearfully.

"Ha, what do you think, sweetie? I'm obviously not planning to kiss your feet." Fynn bursted into cold laughter. The kind that instilled more fear in her.

Killer, my wolf, was obsessed with the palpitations of her heart. It brought him joy. He loved it. Killer pleasures in the fear of his victims.

"Please, please, I beg you. Don't do this." She pleaded.

"Oh, dear, don't spoil the fun now." Fynn muttered, fixing her feet and hands into the machine, "Do you rather prefer we use a knife?" He asked her, "Trust me, that's slow and inevitably more painful." Fynn laughed at her, enjoying the fearful look on her face.

He looked at me for confirmation to start and I nodded. He turned to her with excitement and pressed the red button that triggered the machine and the next was the woman's painful screams echoing through the basement.

Fynn loved the pain he was inflicting on her. Killer loved it. I loved it too. But it wasn't enough. This was just a tip of the iceberg compared to what I have planned for her.

She should know by now that killing my mate was her biggest mistake. And she would pay painfully for it.

Fynn paused the machine, allowing her to catch some breath before he resumed. My gaze was fixed on the floor, near the machine, where her chopped pinky toes were.

"Please..." She begged weakly and I signalled my beta to continue. The machine started its freaking noise again and I saw the horror in the woman's eyes.

"Just kill me!" She screamed.

"Ha! We haven't even started." Fynn sneered at her and I waved him to stop the machine.

He did.

"It took me ninety days, six hours, twenty minutes and fifty seconds to finally catch you and you want me to take your life so soon? Whilst I commend you for being able to run from me this long, I can't give you a quick death. My conscience will torment me for doing that."

I went close to her and whispered in her ears, "I've just got you. I won't end your life so easily. There's no fun in that."

I stood upright and glared at her, "I gave your brother a quick death because he was of lesser evil. But not you. Your toes and fingers will be chopped off one after the other, and then, your feet and hands, before your arms and legs, and finally I will throw you into a big water tank where you would swim to save yourself.

But since you won't have arms or legs, I wonder how you will be able to save yourself. Oh, and don't worry, if you bleed out and faint during the first process, there are doctors to take good care of you. You will have the best medical treatment so that you can live long to experience all I have planned for you. Because you don't deserve an easy death." I nodded to Fynn to continue and turned to leave.

"What if you find out after my death that I was innocent of your wife's death?" I stopped in my tracks and she continued talking, "What if I can prove my innocence now that I am alive?"

"Hey, bitch! what are you saying?" Fynn scolded.

"What if I can bring you the real killer of your mate?"

Alpha King Ethan's POV

I scoffed, "Nice one. Are you trying to strike a deal with me?"

"No, Alpha. I'm just...I'm just trying to tell you that I'm not the real killer of your wife."

Fynn hit her. "Shut up! You conniving bitch! You killed Luna Margaret. You dropped her body on Sky blue pack's road two days later to make us believe they killed her."

I turned around, facing Fynn and the she-wolf.

She bowed her head to me, "Alpha, I didn't kill your mate. I'm just a servant girl. Kidnapping your wife and dropping her body by the roadside was my master's order."

I smirked, I will be damned to believe her.

"And who is your master?" I asked.

"Colin Heather." She answered and I chuckled.

"HEY! How dare you?" Fynn scolded her and tried to hit her when I signaled him to stop.

I walked to the she-wolf.

"Did you say Colin Heather?"

She nodded quickly.

"And what do you know about him?" I asked her.

"He's my master. He recruits weak wolves and even rogues and trains them to become high end assassins." She answered quickly, her face looking down.

"So you're an assassin? You're even more deadly than I thought." I concluded.

She looked up at me nervously. "I'm not an assassin, Alpha. I don't have a wolf. I'm as weak as a day-old pup."

"Liar. Don't believe her, Your Majesty."

I turned to look at Fynn. He didn't need to tell me. I didn't believe anything the woman was saying.

Colin Heather, whom she claims is her master, was my half brother. He died thirty two years ago.

I clenched my jaw. Anger rising in me. How dare she try to fool me?

"Continue Fynn." I ordered my beta and turned around, leaving. Fynn started the machine and its creepy sound vibrated through the basement.

"My car! You'll find a flash drive in a black bag in my car." I halted and she continued speaking and breathing heavily, "The flash drive contains the video record of my master and all he did to your wife. Also his conversations with her before he killed her."

I snorted and walked out.

"Come to my office now." I mindlinked Fynn and as soon as I walked into my office, he walked in behind me.

"Are you giving what she said a thought? You know she's just trying to buy time for herself."

I turned and faced him. "Get the flash drive."

Fynn's face showed with shock, "What? You believe her?"

"That's not the point, Fynn. We can't afford to act blindly at this time. If she's lying, she just earned herself a slower gruesome death."

"Okay, Your Majesty." He bowed and left.

Fynn returned hours later with the flash drive and we watched the video it contained. It was as the shewolf said. But I doubt the man in the video was my step brother. He didn't look anything like the brother I remember.

Colin died when he was just eight years old. He drowned in the pack river. I saw his body before it was cremated. I still have his ashes.

The she-wolf was lying about her master. She was playing a game with me.

Fynn and I returned to the basement.

I excused the guards, allowing us a lone time with the she-wolf.

"Why did you record your master?" I asked her.

"I knew he was going to pin your mate's death on me. He was done using me and was going to use your mate's death to discard me. That's what he always does."

"Let's say I believe you, where do we find him and how?"

"You can't find him if he's in his hideout. And you can't go there either. The massive technology and security system will kill you with just a step in. You will have to lure him out. And there's only one man on earth who can do that."

"Who is that?"

She looked into my eyes. "His father. Houston Macduff. Don't bother searching for him on the internet. You will never find him. Only I know how to reach him. Well, of course, if they haven't logged me out of the system thinking I'm dead."

I scoffed and looked deep into her eyes. I saw the confidence in her.

"How can you give me this much information when you're not sure that you will live?"

"I just gave you some information. You can't do anything with the information because you can't find Colin or his father on your own. You don't even know where they are. I bet you, I'm your only ticket to finding them. You need me alive more than dead."

"Are you striking a bargain with me?"

She smiled, "Maybe, it's up to you, Alpha. Keep me alive and after I get you the killers of your mate, let me go."

"And who are you to strike a deal with me?"

Fear filled her eyes but she mustered up courage again.

"I am no one. In my pack I was an ordinary omega. With my master, a servant. All my life I've been a nobody. I'm in no position to strike a deal with you because you can kill me at any time.

But if you kill me, you will be killing an innocent girl and you will never find the real killers of your mate. Mind if I tell you that my former master wasn't really after your mate, he is coming for you and your pretty kingdom."

I chuckled, looking at her keenly. She amazed me with her bravery. No one dared to speak to me like she did.

"Fine."

"What?" Fynn drew closer to me, "Your Majesty, you can't trust her. She's a liar and you know that. Colin is dead. She's just blabbing. This could be a trap."

I looked over my shoulder at him, "Who says I trust her?"

She glared at Fynn. "You think I'm lying?" She scoffed, "I only have my life to lose if it turns out that all I'm saying is a lie. But if it's the truth...your throat will be slit before your eyes and you will lose your awesome kingdom. Worse, your king might lose his life."

Her gaze shifted to me, "And you won't be able to avenge your wife's death before you die."

"You dare speak death upon the Alpha king?" Fynn growled at her and she shrunk in fear.

I signalled him to stop.

"Alpha," She called desperately and I looked at her, "I just need seven days. Seven days. And I will bring you the real killer of your mate. I won't try to run away. I won't try anything stupid. Please..."

I fixed my eyes on her hazel ones, "You're quite interesting. And your boss is even more interesting that I've become curious. You chose this mission by yourself so if you succeed, you get to live and if not, you face your judgment for killing my wife."

She breathed deeply in relief, "Thank you, Alpha king."

"Your Majesty," Fynn called in concern. He didn't like my decision.

"Untie her, Fynn. Henceforth, she's my personal maid."

"What?"

I turned to look at him.

"Find somewhere else to fix Holly." I ordered him and left for my office.