Chapter 122

Carol’s POV

I gasped loudly at hearing the fact that Morgan was dead.

How had this happened? Was she killed?

Looking at Aiden, I saw he was just as confused and shocked as I was.

“She’s dead?” The King asked after a moment of silence.

“Oh my Goddess,” The queen said, covering her mouth. “Are you sure it was Morgan that you found?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the Gamma said, lowering his gaze. “We have pictures as well if you’d like to see for yourself.”

The gamma in front pulled out his phone and swiped across the screen a few times until he found what he was looking for. A grim expression fell upon his face and he stepped toward the king. King Bennet flinched at the sight on his phone and then looked away.

The queen stepped up next and gasped at the image. I couldn’t even imagine what they saw, and I honestly didn’t want to. I curled up next to Aiden and let him wrap his arms around my body, burying my face in his chest and stifling a sob that desperately wanted to escape my lips. I couldn’t believe after all of this, Morgan was dead.

That meant we were never going to get real answers from her. We were never going to find out who she was working for. We were never going to find out the truth.

“Where is she now?” King Bennet asked.

“The coroner,” the gamma answered.

He nodded thoughtfully.

“I will head there now,” The king said, motioning for Beta Luca to get the car prepared.

Luca nodded and headed outside.

“I will go with you,” Queen Elizabeth said.

The King took her hands and pecked her on the cheek lightly.

“We have a murderer on the loose. I would feel better if you stayed here until the gammas could patrol the area and find out who killed her,” The King told her softly. “I hadn’t even realized she was back at the empire yet. Which means, whoever killed her is in my territory.”

Queen Elizabeth gave him a pointed look.

“She was my handmaiden,” she said, her brows furrowed together. “Not to mention a dear friend. Morgan practically raised me from a little girl. I have every right to see her.”

“And I agree. You will see her; just not right now. Not until I know for certain that it’s safe. I don’t want anyone to leave this palace tonight. Let us patrol the area first,” the king ordered.

He glanced over his shoulder at Aiden and me and I couldn’t help but stiffen. His message was loud and clear; we aren’t to leave either.

Aiden tightened his hold around my body, and I peeked up at him.

He didn’t like this any more than I did.

“I will return soon,” The King announced before going outside with the gammas, leaving the rest of us behind with our thoughts.

Aiden took my hand, and we walked back up the stairs and toward our bedroom. His phone started to ring just as we reached the door and he sighed when he saw who was calling. He answered it, but he put it on speaker so I could hear the conversation.

“Mom,” he greeted into the phone.

“Why are you not home yet? I thought you were only staying for a couple of days. I assumed he would be home today,” his mother said, sounding miffed.

“We ran into some problems here at the empire,” Aiden confessed. “It doesn’t look like we will be leaving today or tomorrow. But hopefully soon. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

“Your father still hasn’t woken up yet and Oliver can’t continue being the acting Alpha. His uncle had fallen ill and is unable to help him as well,” Miranda said, a growl to her tone.

“David is ill?” Aiden asked, raising his brows. “He was fine a few days ago. Why is he suddenly sick? Is it serious?”

“We aren’t really sure and he’s so stubborn he refused to go to the hospital. That old man is going to be the death of us all,” she muttered. “Anyways, he’s been incognito for days and Oliver is drowning over here. He can’t do this on his own. I know you are trying to figure out who poisoned your father, but at this point, it doesn’t matter anymore. I just want you to come home and take on your responsibilities. I’m hoping your father will wake up soon and I’d you here for when that happens.”

“It does matter, Mom,” Aiden argued. “We need to figure out who attempted to murder the Alpha. They can’t continue to walk this earth free without any repercussions. What if they tried to hurt me or you next?”

She was quiet for a moment and then she sighed.

“I know…” she whispered. “I Just wish there was another way besides having you practically live at the empire.”

“I’ll be home soon,” Aiden assured his mother. “Just hang tight. I’ll call Oliver now.”

“Okay,” she murmured.

They hung up without another word. Like with his mother, Aiden put Oliver on speaker so I could hear the conversation. I grabbed a pillow and hugged it to my chest as I curled up on the bed. I couldn’t shake this nasty feeling and for once, I was agreeing with Aiden, I just wanted to go back and leave this place behind me. But I also feel as if we are so close to getting answers.

“Hey, Man,” Oliver said as soon as he answered the phone. “Any news?”

“Why didn’t you tell me your uncle is sick?” Aiden asked, ignoring Oliver’s question.

Oliver was quiet for a moment and then I could hear him sighing.

“You spoke to your mother,” Oliver muttered; it wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” Aiden answered. “Why didn’t you tell me? Is he okay?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Oliver said honestly. “He was fine for a while, or at least he told me he was fine. Then he started to cough up blood. He’s pale; he has no appetite. He refuses to see a doctor because he’s so stubborn. It was sudden, so I’m not entirely sure what’s happening. I didn’t think it was too important, so I didn’t bother saying anything.”

“You should have told me,” Aiden said simply. “I wouldn’t have put so much pressure on you to investigate on your end if I knew you were drowning over there. If I had known, you didn’t have your uncle to help you—”

“Don’t do that,” Oliver snapped. “I can handle things just fine. Your mother just wants to guilt you into coming back. You know how she is. Don’t listen to her.”

Aiden ran his hands through his hair.

“Maybe I can speak to the healer here and see if there’s something we can give David to help him with whatever sickness he has. If he won’t see any healers or doctors there then we can figure something out from here,” Aiden suggested.

“Convincing him to take anything might be difficult. But yeah, it’d be nice to have the option,” Oliver stated. “Thanks.”

“Of course.” There was a pause for a moment before Adien said. “Morgan was found dead this morning.”

“What?!” Oliver gasped. “Are you serious? Who killed her?”

“We aren’t sure, but the King is investigating it now.”

“Keep me updated on what you find out,” Oliver said.

“I will.”

Once they hung up, I put the pillow down and stood up.

“Okay, let’s go to the infirmary” I suggested.

“Right now?”

“What else are we going to do? It’s not like we can leave the palace,” I reminded him.

“That’s true,” he agreed.

On that note, he took my hand and guided me out of the room. Together we went back down the stairs and across the palace until we reached the infirmary. It was empty with only Candance seated at her desk across the room.

She looked pale and very upset. She was staring down at her hands, deep in thought. When we entered, she quickly jumped to her feet as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been doing.

But when she saw that it was only us, she sighed and relaxed.

“I thought you were the council coming to punish me,” she murmured. “The King said he wasn’t going to look me in the dungeon right now, but he ordered that I don’t leave the infirmary. He sent an order that everyone needs to report to the clinic if they have any health issues or injuries. He basically shut me down. “

She wrapped her arms around her body like she was trying to hold herself together. She looked so frail and upset, it broke my heart. But at the same time, she shouldn’t have kept that poison here after she was ordered to get rid of it. I couldn’t wrap my head around why she would keep something so dangerous in this palace.

“Sorry to bother you; we won’t be long,” Aiden assured her, pulling me further into the room and toward her. “I just had a question.”

“I already told you, there’s no cure for the poison. It’s amazing your father is even alive. That gives me hope that he might actually survive it.”

Aiden shook his head.

“That’s not what this about,” he told her. “My friend’s uncle had fallen ill and I was wondering if there's something we could give him that might cure him.”

She raised her brows.

“I am a healer I have all sorts of potions. What are his side effects?”

She walked over to a big glass case of different colorful potions and opened it, glancing at all the different bottles.

“He was fine one minute and the next it wasn’t. It’s a random illness,” Aiden explained. “He’s pale and has no appetite. He started to cough up blood too.”

Her hand froze while she searched and her back went stiff.

“Blood?” she asked, turning to face us, her face getting paler by the second. “And this illness was random?”

We both nodded.

“Yeah, do you know what could have caused it?” Aiden asked.

She looked between the two of us and then nodded.

“The only thing I could think of to cause something like that out of the blue without any prior health issues is exposure,” she explained. “It happened to me too… after I created the poison.”

My heart fell deep into my stomach.

“Are you saying the cause of his illness is exposure to the poison?” I asked.

She looked at me and then nodded.