Chapter 108

Olivia POV

Dearest Olivia, Mate, and Luna,

I would be running with you in the moonlight right now if I could. It shines above our makeshift camp as though chastising me for not being at your side. All is quiet for now, but in the morning we will reach the walls, and I have chosen the vanguard to search for the RK.

I sighed in relief. He was all right, and the march was on schedule.

Sam tells me the weather will be clear for the next few days, which should speed us on our journey. I have heard news of Denis, but the reports conflict, and I am determined to remain on my present course. There’s no way of knowing just how many he has corrupted in his schemes, but first we will cut off the head before we dispose of the body.

Please let the council know I will be calling upon the Eclipse Pack reserves for my soldiers. Also, Eloran has fallen ill, and I have arranged for him and his mate to stay with an apothecary in Karinth. I will miss his counsel.

I miss you too.

Elroy

I read through the short note again, ignoring that final line for now, and nodded to myself. Confirmation had come that Denis “knew” I was at the Winter Palace and was headed in that direction. I was to continue with the plan as scheduled for now.

It was quite a risk to tell me that much in the letter, I knew. The code we’d devised wasn’t particularly clever or complex, and the part about poor Eloran was just a plain truth. The beta was loyal and sometimes startlingly clever, but his health was almost always poor, Elroy had told me.

I miss you too.

I read it again.

I miss you too.

Did he? I desperately wanted him to miss me back. I actually longed to see his face with a passion that surprised and unsettled me.

I was startled at a knock on the door before Annette walked in with another letter in her hand. I frowned. Had Elroy written again?

But no, as she passed it over without a word—she rarely spoke, I had learned—I saw it was from Jordan.

I nodded to Annette and opened it. I smiled at the name we had agreed she would call me if she wrote. She had her own cover as a harmless beta to maintain, after all.

Pattikins,

L came by, can you believe it? I was so shocked. After all that drama with D, I couldn’t believe she’d show her face around me. She asked after Olivia, but she knows our Luna is carrying a pup, so she shouldn’t have been surprised I had nothing to tell her. Did she think she’d get to help decorate the nursery, or something?

Louisa came to see Jordan? Was this right? I supposed she must have been there to see me, and Jordan saw her instead. What was Louisa doing at the Winter Palace? Jordan herself was evidently confused by her daring.

I thought she’d try her usual poison pen nonsense, but she seemed oddly sincere. I have no idea what to make of it all, to tell the truth. But she says G has hooked up with the birds, which I guess means he’s playing it fast and loose, as usual.

I nodded to myself. Yes, I could see my stepfather striking a deal with Ravencrest. But I could never trust the source of this, whether Louisa had refrained from poisoning Jordan or not. I hoped whatever Jordan had done to give Louisa the opportunity to hurt her hadn’t been too dangerous.

But the real shocker is those flighty Dellwolves. One of them, a cute little omega, has asked to walk with me to the market tomorrow. Can you believe it? I just about died when he asked. I’m sure he’s lying to me about thinking I’m pretty. I’m sure he’s set his sights on someone much higher than I am, just a little beta servant.

More soon. Lots of love, and may the Goddess bless you.

Jordan

The Dellwolves Clan, whatever did they have to do with this? Jordan had needed to abandon our code to get that name in the letter, so it had to be important. And whatever was going on was aimed at someone “much higher” than a beta, which meant an alpha, which probably meant Elroy.

The Dellwolves were after Elroy? That didn’t make any sense.

And then, as I sat there scowling, I realized it made perfect sense after all.

I rang the bell for Annette, who arrived promptly.

“I need to get out of these rooms and be seen by only one person,” I told her.

She just nodded, of course.

After I had given my orders to Annette and she returned from her errand, I put my gray cape back on and pulled the hood down low.

Cautiously, I left the Lily Room and walked behind Annette through the hallways near the council chambers. My heart was pounding. If I played this wrong, I could jeopardize the whole plan, to say nothing of putting Elroy’s life in further danger, but if the Dellwolves Clan were truly involved with Ravencrest, my stepfather, and Denis, I needed to know it for certain.

The palace was quiet, which made sense. Elroy had not just left with his soldiers and commanders but had also sent many of those who saw to the daily operations of the city out of the palace in case of an attack by Denis or some unknown ally. As we neared the wolf I suspected was the Dellwolves Clan’s insider, I heard my footsteps echo as if in warning, and I asked myself

We approached his office quietly. I was prepared to go by his apartments if need be, or perhaps by some meeting room, but he was working, and I heard his voice booming down the corridor. Annette slowed just slightly, and as we approach the open doors we saw an omega messenger scurry out with a look of alarm on her face.

Was I too late? I felt my steps slow.

Then Councilman Lucas came out into the hallway and looked directly into his face. His eyes went wide as his body froze, and in that moment I was beyond certain we had found the traitor in our midst.

“Guards!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Guards! Attend me!”

The dagger seemed to materialize in Lucas’s hand, and even as the hallway filled with guards, he snarled and lunged at me. Annette was suddenly between us, and she screamed in pain as the blade went into her side. I smelled the blood before I saw it, and in a moment three guards had Councilman Lucas on the ground and I was rushing to Annette’s fallen form.

“Get the Apothecary!” I shouted, but as I looked at the wound even I could tell it was mortal. My last sight of Annette’s life was the shine in her eyes before it dulled and her body went limp in my arms.