Chapter 42

Sebastian

Miranda was right. Moonlit Labs was not founded by the head Alpha of the Silvertail pack. He lied to me and had his wife and daughter join in on his cold deception.

Anger bubbles inside of me. My fists clench on my desktop, messing up the old newspaper articles that my Beta brought me from the archives.

Moonlit Labs Grand Opening! Will There Finally Be Peace Among Humans And Werewolves?

The headline mocks me. I should have seen through his lies from the beginning. How can I, the Alpha King, allow such lies and deception to cloud my judgment and the truth? I should have done research to ensure the information that he was feeding to me was correct instead of blindly giving in to him.

The flurry of information that Miranda caused at the Silvertail banquet has all turned out to be true. I’ve been fooled. I’ve been made into a mockery behind their closed doors.

I slam my fists against my desk, rattling many items that sit atop the wooden structure.

Lily isn’t his first and only daughter. She was born out of wedlock, staining his shiny image as a leader among the Alphas, so he hid the truth. Covered it up with grand banquets and events to divert peoples’ attention away from the truth.

He has buried any evidence of her mother existing. She’s become an unknown phantom; her memory only haunts a few compared to the whole of the high society we live in.

I am ashamed to say that I am one of the many people he’s fooled into believing his tricks and lies.

He’ll pay. Him and that dreadful wife of his and his less than satisfactory daughter.

I know that there’s more to the story. There has to be! I can’t push Miranda for more information, though. I can’t come off as selfish, demanding to know things that never concerned me in the first place.

But they do concern you, my wolf growls, she’s your fated mate. Your destiny and future, the mother of your children. We must get revenge for her!

I pluck the newspaper clipping from my desk and lift it into the light. Miranda’s mother stands front and center in the photograph, a dazzling smile on her face. Miranda looks just like her except for one keen detail: her purple eyes.

The Miranda I know doesn’t share this trait, however, Evan’s eyes are the exact shade of purple that her mother has in the photograph.

Does Miranda share the same shade of purple? Is this something she’s hidden from the world? It would make sense. After all, Healer M does have a secret formula known to change a person’s eye color…it’s something I’ve coveted for Evan.

Lily is to blame for Evan’s insecurities about his eyes. Yet another thing we can all blame her for causing.

There’s a knock at the door. The anger dissipates in my hands. My fists unclench and I stare at the dark red marks that my fingernails made into the palms of my hand. I sigh.

I slide all of the Moonlit Lab materials and papers back into the folder they came in. I slide open the drawer below the desktop and sweep it inside, pushing it closed.

“Enter,” I call out. My Beta steps inside, holding a folder and tablet in his hands. I frown, raising an eyebrow at him, “What is it?”

“Sir, there’s been a report of the Rogue King on the eastern outskirts of the city.” My Beta hurries to my desk.

He sets down the tablet that has a clip from CCTV footage playing on a loop. He opens the folder and sets down printed-out screenshots from the clip next to the tablet. I straighten my back and inch closer to the desk, picking up one of the pieces of paper.

A figure in dark clothing is a blur, running past the camera. Down his back, though, is a thick line; it’s a sickly and off-putting green color, a color of the Rogue King. I shuffle through the pages, trying to see if there’s even a glimpse of the figure’s face.

“Is there any ID on him?” I ask, barely looking up from the pages.

“No, sir. We’re working hard on finding them if they are still inside our borders,” the information he feeds me doesn’t bring me any relief. If anything, it heightens my anxiety.

“Is there anything else?” I finally look at the tablet, picking it up. The figure is fast and his movements are decisive. It’s as if he knows exactly where to go.

Could he be a defector? Someone from my land before deserting for the Rogue King’s? The possibility of there being a mole or a double agent fills my mind. I frown and lean back in my chair. I stand and face the window, overlooking the bustling city below me. I shove my hands into my pockets.

“Heighten security around all government buildings and the borders. Label this information as top secret. We can’t let the people know that the Rogue King is a viable threat to our country.” I turn to my Beta. He nods in response. “Send a troop or two to do reconnaissance, or a few Delta officers. We need to know what he has planned for us.”

“Yes sir. Is there anything else I can do for you today?” The Beta asks. I pause.

Should I gather more information on the Silvertail pack and its head family? Is there more corruption and evil that has yet to be revealed?

“Yes. I need information on the Silvertails…their origins, current leadership…any skeletons they have in their closet,” the words flow out of my mouth way too easily. My Beta nods and turns on his heel, exiting my office.

I grab the back of my chair, fingers digging into the leather material.

The Rogue King has been a thorn in my side ever since I came into power when my father died. I’ve known that he poses a threat to my reign and power, but I never actually thought he’d try to come for my land and influence.

He is the one who decided to try and stage a coup against my father during his prime. It’s not my fault, or my father’s, that he lost and ran away in disgrace. Now he wants to come back for round two in his old and fragile age.

It’s too good to be true. On the surface level, it’s an easy fight. He has only a small amount of wolves who loyally follow him. How could he possibly get an upper hand over me? The noble packs below me have all sworn fealty and loyalty to me. What could I have possibly done to get them to turn against me?

Wait…

I feel even more uneasy with the Silvertail Pack being in charge of my country’s medicine. They’re the biggest pharmaceutical company and my armies rely on their medical support whenever they get into nasty skirmishes. Moonlit Labs, under the Silvertail Pack’s control, provides medicine and pharmaceutical help to the citizens of the country as well.

Without them and their help, my country will come crumbling down in a matter of months, no…in a matter of weeks.

A dull pain forms behind my eyes; it is buried deep inside my brain. I drop into my desk’s chair, closing my eyes.

Trouble is brewing and I don’t know if I have the means to save everyone, especially Miranda and our children.