The 5-time Rejected Gamma & the Lycan King
Chapter 90

Chapter 90

At around 3 a.m., Helena Tanner's phone screen lit up. Being careful to not wake her mate, she shifted slowly to reach her phone on her night stand. Her eyes squinted in the dark as she read the message from a number she was careful not to add into her contact list but knew by heart. She threw her covers and stood, which was when her mate asked groggily, "Where are you going? What happened?"

She tried to mask her worry and responded in a flat tone, "Just work. I have to check on something."

"Now?" Her mate asked in disbelief as he checked the illuminated figures on his alarm clock next to him.

Helena forced a smile and kissed her mate on his cheek before explaining, "It's urgent. I'll come back as soon as it's done." Her mate groaned in annoyance before falling back onto his pillow.

Helena put on a sweatshirt over her singlet and didn't bother doing anything with her pants. When she was outside their bedroom, she re-read Greg's message, and her chest started to feel uneasy. Your garage. Ten minutes.'

Thank Goddess her garage was far away from everyone's bedrooms. She left through the backdoor, and immediately recognized the Duke's back. She quickened her pace to make sure she was in front of him before her ten minutes were up.

He didn't turn when she was right behind him so she whispered the greeting, "Your Grace."

"Do it." Greg said flatly.

In a flash, two large-sized men appeared from behind Helena and one of them held her in place and covered her mouth before the other injected something in a syringe into her bloodstream from her shoulder.

The Duke then turned indifferently and muttered, "Strangle."

Helena tried to scream but realized that she couldn't. She opened her mouth and exerted the air in her lungs but she couldn't be heard. What happened to her voice?!

Her eyes screamed fear as it met Greg's onyx orbs in the dark. When her vision blurred and she thought that she was going to die, Greg said, "Let her fall." The man holding her threw her against the wall of her garage and let her body fall to the ground as she took in large breaths of air, still voiceless.

When she caught her breath, she tried screaming again but it was to no avail. Greg scoffed darkly and lifted her himself by her neck and pinned her on the wall like he did with Livia the other night.

His onyx eyes bore into hers as he asked rhetorically, "Did you think I'm as careless as you are, Tanner? Did you think I won't take necessary precautions before launching an attack? The substance we just injected in your system blocks your vocal chords so I don't see why you're still trying to scream. You're not getting out of this."

He threw her to the ground with force, and Helena tried to crawl away but she was backed into a corner. Her mouth moved, like she was pleading with Greg, begging him for mercy. The Duke's growl sent a shiver down her spine when he said, "You wanted to kill her."

Confusion crept into Helena's fearful eyes as she mouth, "Who?"

Greg lost his patience and took her by her ankle before slamming her body twice against the floor. He only stopped when one of his men said, "Your Grace, we're in no position to tell you how to do your job but if you want to keep her conscious, you'll have to aim less of her head. Anywhere else is fine. Just leave the head."

Lycans heal quickly. And Helena's bleeding head was already recovering though her vision was still a little blurry from the impact. Greg didn't give her time to recover fully before he pressed her knee against the floor, and bent her lower leg upward, breaking her kneecap with the sound of a crack as Helena screamed voicelessly. Cold sweat appeared on her face, and tears flowed in steady streams from her eyes.

The sight didn't make Greg any less merciful. He was still enraged. "I told you to do nothing. I told you to not trigger the Queen. Not only have you tried to trigger her, you wanted to kill her. And with poison. Hal Pathetic!" His voice broke at the word 'kill' and the words after that didn't mask the hurt and pain he felt.

Despite Helena's agonizing pain, she shook her head and repeatedly mouthed, "I didn't."

"I know how to do my research, Tanner. Stop denying it." Greg said before bending her leg even further. Her features squinted in pain, and she was sobbing in agony. Tanner kept shaking her head as tears streamed down her cheeks, her mouth kept repeating the words 'I didn't'.

Greg scoffed darkly again and suggested, "How about this? The plan was to inject the very same concentration of Oleander you gave to the Queen into you. But now that you're so persistent in denying it, maybe we should give it to your mate and kids instead."

Her eyes widened as she pleaded inaudibly, "No. No. Please, no."

Greg pressed, "Then admit it. You tried to kill the Queen."

"No." She mouthed, and Greg was left conflicted. Normally, when threats were made to the victim's family, they'd give in and tell the truth. Some would even lie and admit to his accusations just to protect their family. Tanner was insisting that she didn't try to kill Lucianne. Did his contact screw up on the Harrison Brown research? He let go of her leg and let it fall as he stood to think. He leaned casually against the wall as he pondered on his predicament. His men opted to say nothing, and just watched Tanner to make sure she didn't try to run away. It wasn't as if she could. Her kneecap hurt unlike anything she'd ever experienced in her life.

Greg had a plan. But he didn't really like it. It felt too merciful. He approached Tanner in slow steps. The click of his shoes was the only sound echoing through the walls of the large garage. He stood before the fidgeting woman and said in a low voice," Here's what's going to happen, Tanner. I'm going to give you an antidote for your vocal chords. When I start hearing that irritating voice of yours again, you'd better be talking about only what I want to know. If you say anything irrelevant, I'll kill your family. And if anyone hears us, I'll kill your family. Is that clear?"

Tanner nodded. It wasn't like she had a choice. Greg then uttered his men's way, "Do it." And they did. One held her still while the other injected another substance into the same area. In less than a minute, Tanner found her voice again when she could hear her own heavy breathing from the pain that Greg had just inflicted upon her.

Greg then started, "Who is Harrison Brown?"

Tanner shook as she stuttered in a whisper, "I-I hired him t-to g-go after s-some f- former employees. It wasn't the Queen, I swear!"

"What former employees?"

Tanner kept her three employees' absence from the Duke, thinking that she could eliminate them and cover her tracks before he found out, got mad and came after her for being unable to keep them in place. She stuttered again, "T-They d-do the au-audits."

Greg's eyebrows furrowed. He squatted and looked her dead in the eye as he asked," THE audits?" She nodded.

"So, the people who know what we've been doing are NOT within your reach anymore. Is my understanding correct?"

Tanner nodded in dismay, and the gears in Greg's head started turning. He replayed whatever little he knew about what took place in Tanner's office when his cousins and Lucianne went there. The employees were manipulating the audits for years but they never disobeyed Tanner for the King.

Greg doubted Xandar used the King's Authority on them to get the real story. His cousin was too much of a chicken to ever wield that power. That pathetic second-in- command is just a mindless upper-rank servant to the King. There was no way he got them to blurt it out either. The only reason that the employees decided to give in after all these years was "Lucianne." Greg subconsciously muttered under his breath, and he sought some comfort in saying her name.

Tanner was depleted but she was still shocked at the Duke's softened features when he said that name.