CASSANDRA My voice caught in my throat as the Alpha King glared down at me. His grip remained tight around my wrist and the intensity of his gaze was almost enough to make me collapse. He was finally here. For a moment, I nearly forgot myself. I was so relieved to see him that the rest of the audience in the corridor didn’t even matter. But that feeling was fleeting when I heard a chorus of whispers. Adalyn. The imposter. I was on a mission. I was about to protest Asher’s statement, but before the words could leave my lips, the Alpha King released my arm and stepped forward. His tall frame obstructed me completely and shielded me from view. “Release her at once,” he practically growled at the man, and I shivered at his powerful tone. “Asher,” Adalyn whimpered beyond us. I stepped out just far enough to see what was going on. Her amber eyes spilled over with tears, but this time, they were from happiness and relief rather than fear. Moments later, Oliver and Linda Moses pushed
ASHEROliver had been trying to kill the man. Of that, I was certain.I narrowed my eyes and studied my father-in-law, who was now checking on Adalyn with his wife beside him. Linda was sobbing but gave Cassandra the space to fully examine her daughter. Meanwhile, Oliver’s normally stoic face was even more stern than usual.Once I gave the order to bring her to the royal healers and Cassandra deemed her ready to be moved, the guards swept Adalyn up off of the ground. I watched the Beta family follow the guards out of the corridor, and once they were gone, I considered Oliver’s actions.The way the events had all unfolded was very suspicious, to say the least. Oliver hadn’t seemed even a little worried about Adalyn when he’d stepped forward to attack the imposter, nor had he waited for my orders. If I hadn’t interfered at the last moment, the Beta would have killed the man and kept us from getting the answers we so desperately needed.Curious. It was all so curious.I pondered it for
ASHER I froze in place and my blood suddenly ran cold. Five years ago? A weak spot? Did he… did he mean Cora? Did he know about her, about the inferno? How? “What are you talking about?” I demanded as I regained control over myself. Surely he was trying to rattle me, but what did he mean? “You know what I mean,” the imposter laughed cruelly, and then he shook his head slowly. “Poor, naive boy. There’s no way you believe that it was an accident. Or that the woman was stupid enough to set the fire herself.” The lightness of his mocking tone was enough to ignite my fury. I wanted to tear him apart for speaking about her like this. For a moment, I thought I was about to give in to my anger, but I managed to stay calm and smother my agitation. I rolled my shoulders back and narrowed my eyes. “What do you know about the inferno?” I demanded. “And Cora Felix?” The imposter grinned at me and tilted his head to the side. His sheer arrogance was enough to make me sick. “I know more a
ASHERI raised my eyebrow and stared at the man. A tidbit of information? He truly must have believed in what he had to say. Either that or he was a master of deceit. Regardless, I knew I had no choice. I had to take the bait.I had to know about Cora.“Fine,” I said, and I crossed my arms. “What do you have to say?”The imposter cleared his throat. He seemed just as surprised as I was that I’d agreed to hear him out. He took a second and then began.“Even back then I found the girl to be quite pitiful,” he remarked. “She looked so innocent. But there’s nothing I could do about that. It was a shame, really.”My stomach turned as I pictured Cora. From his tone, I could tell she had probably been scared.I wanted to strike him down.What had they done to her?“Get to the point,” I demanded.“I’m getting to the point, young Alpha,” the imposter said with a wave of his hand. “I’m simply saying that she was pitiful. She seemed so innocent, so precious. Well, innocent enough, seeing as she
CASSANDRA As Asher’s eyes locked onto mine, I tried to read his emotions, but I failed at the task miserably. I didn’t know what was wrong. His voice was coarse and cold, and his expression was intense, to say the least. Once again, I felt like cornered prey, and the feeling only heightened when he began to walk toward me. With every step he took forward, I took one back, until I accidentally found myself with my back against the far wall. My heart beat faster in my chest and my stomach twisted in knots. The Alpha King looked angry, but I suspected there was more to it than that. Something had happened down in the dungeon; I just knew it. But what did it have to do with me? We stared at one another until finally, Asher spoke. “Cora?” My eyes widened before I could stop them and a shiver ran through me at the sound of my true name on his tongue. Had he discovered the truth? Did the imposter tell him? It was the only explanation that made a bit of sense, however, it was impossi
ADALYN When I awoke, my vision was blurred, and I couldn’t make sense of my surroundings, but I could hear the sound of someone softly crying. I blinked a few times until finally, the shapes around me came into focus. My mother sat beside me, and the moment she realized I was awake, she grew overjoyed. “Oh, Adalyn!” she cried, and she threw her arms around me. “Oh, my sweet darling girl, you’re awake!” My voice caught in my throat, and her grip around me made me wince a little. My hand threw to my throat. Why did it ache? I looked around, and much to my surprise, I realized I was lying in a bed in the medical ward. I’d only ever been here a handful of times in my life, but I recognized the cold, sterile atmosphere right away. All of the furnishings were a mixture of soft white and stark metal, and no matter how many flowers they placed on the bedside tables, the ward was a far cry from homey. What was I doing all the way down here? My mother pulled away, and suddenly, it all be
CASSANDRA “You look really nice today, Cassy,” Becky remarked as I stepped foot in the lab, and her dark eyes trailed over me. “You’re practically glowing. Did something good happen to you or something?” Heat spread to my cheeks and I tucked my hair behind my ear. I’d taken a little extra time to apply some makeup and my wavy hair was cooperating for once, but there was more to it than that. Thoughts and images of last night danced in my mind, and I started to smile, but I shoved the memories aside and made up an excuse. “I think I’m just happy that the imposter was finally caught,” I said. There was some truth to my statement, but it certainly wasn’t the only reason. “Me too,” Becky agreed, and she set down the stack of papers in her hand. “It’s brilliant news. Hopefully, the man will confess quickly so we can start identifying the venoms. This whole thing has been so awful.” I nodded. “Definitely.” As I walked over to my desk and set my backpack down, I thought more about the
CASSANDRA After a long, hard day of working in the lab, Becky and I parted ways and I made my way back to my room. I was tired after sorting through so much research, but I started to grow more and more excited with every step. Finnick was returning today, and every ounce of me was thrilled to see my son again. Though it’d only been a couple of days since I’d seen him, I missed him greatly. I didn’t like to be separated from Finnick for long periods of time, and he didn’t like it either, especially now that we lived here in Anemond. Back in Wild Crawler, he had sleepovers at Dominic’s quite frequently. He was always a welcome guest in Alpha Gareth and Luna Sofia’s home. But here in Merliscire, I didn’t like Finnick being so far away from me. Things were too dangerous and there were too many shady characters. Lancel followed behind me, and I did my best to ignore him. I’d tried telling him earlier in the day that I didn’t need his assistance any longer since the imposter had been
CASSANDRAIt was a sunny day, the first one in a long time.After the long winter and cold spring, summer eventually came, and it was hotter than it had been in forever.Sunlight streamed in through the clinic window, and I was a little distracted as I stared out at the window at the kids in the yard.Finnick, Lila, Marley’s boys Eric and Adrian, and Dominic were all chasing each other, playing a game of tag with one another. Marco was out there with them too, but he was sitting on a bench alone, meters away from the rest of the kids. He looked lonely and didn’t move as the others played around him.It had been a month since the chaos in Merliscire and Adalyn’s death. I supposed it was still hard for Marco to accept the fact that his mother was gone. She had killed herself right in front of him after holding him hostage and threatening to hurt him. The poor little boy had endured so much trauma in such a short amount of time.He wasn’t a bad kid. He had a mean disposition at times, bu
ASHERIt had been a while since Cassandra entered the building, and with every passing minute, my nervousness and anxiety grew stronger. While I knew she was capable of handling herself, I didn’t like the idea of her being in the House of Moses without me.I began to feel restless. It was a mistake to let her leave with Adalyn alone.I pondered my options for a minute and then decided I couldn’t wait out on the grounds any longer, not when my mate could be in danger. I started to walk toward the building, but before I could get too far, the soldiers guarding us stopped me.At first, they were polite but quickly, they became rude. They shouted and told me to back up. I wasn’t allowed in, not until Lady Adalyn said so.I considered pushing past them but didn’t want to escalate the situation, so I nodded and retreated ever so slightly. All around me, the councilors grew restless. They too, wanted to leave, only they desired to go back to Merliscire. However, when a group of them tried to
BECKYAfter our conversation with Oliver Moses, Dickson and I had been seized by the Moses guards and taken into a room that appeared to be used for interrogation. The door was crafted from iron and there were no windows, so the room was dim and quiet. There were only a pair of chairs, each a little rickety and old-looking. It was a pathetic, desolate sort of place, which was surely on purpose.Time didn’t make much sense in there and I soon couldn’t figure out how long we’d been locked in. My body ached and my mind was spinning out with a million thoughts as I absorbed all of the information I’d heard in the past couple of days.I had thought Oliver Moses would quickly find out the truth or ask me to confront Adalyn again, but Dickson thought the opposite when I presented the idea to him.“Look at this place, Becky,” he said, his voice gloomy and negative. “No one is going to visit us any time soon.”Sadly, he appeared to be correct, and his point was only proven as time went on. Tho
ADALYN Ada. How long had it been since I’d heard that name? My parents had never referred to me as Ada. They had never given me a single nickname or pet name. Mother had always said it was improper to call a child by anything other than their name and Father had never given me enough affection to bother. There were only two people in this world who had ever called me Ada. Asher. And Cora. I tensed as I tried to understand how Cassandra knew this. Had Asher told her about our close friendships when we were young? No, there was no way. Suddenly, I was hit with a realization, one I couldn’t ignore. I stared at Cassandra and studied her carefully. I searched her features, scrutinizing her nose, her mouth, the shape of her eyes. None were familiar, but as I stared at her deep emerald green irises and recognized the hue of them, it all began to make sense. I’d never understood how Asher could fall in love with a common healer. Cassandra wasn’t ugly by any means but to care so deepl
CASSANDRAAdalyn’s golden eyes narrowed and then locked on mine.“Why would that wicked woman come with us?” she demanded as she continued to shoot daggers in my direction.“Those are my terms,” Asher insisted. “You want an audience with me? Those are my requirements.”It was a bold assertation on his behalf. As long as Adalyn had Prince Marco in her grasp, she had the upper hand, but she was far too weak to realize her power. Asher was still the Alpha King, after all, so I supposed that subconsciously, she felt compelled to obey.Silence hung heavily in the air and then finally she sighed.“Fine,” she huffed and then she flashed me a sneer. “Let her come. Perhaps we’ll have some fun with your little plaything once we’re there.”“You won’t harm her,” Asher growled.“We’ll see,” Adalyn said with a shrug. “Come. It’s time we left this musty room.”Her big eyes scanned the room and then she addressed the councilors. “The rest of you shall come as well. Might as well make an event of it.”
CASSANDRAAdalyn’s face twisted again at Karsh’s cold and daring question, only this time, she didn’t recover and lost any sense of calm within her.“How dare you demean the future king’s mother?” she roared, her golden eyes flashing with anger as she bared her teeth.Despite her outrage and fierce expression, the councilor remained as cool as ever and didn’t even flinch. It was an impressive sight to behold and it made me respect Karsh even more. Adalyn had always been a brat but I had the sense that her ferocity wasn’t something to take lightly, at least not today.“I’m just stating the truth, Lady Adalyn,” Karsh said with a slightly raised chin, his eyes locked on hers. “The king is alive, I can assure you-”Before he could finish his statement, Adalyn motioned with her hand and gave a signal to the soldiers behind her.“Seize that traitor!” she ordered, and her men launched into action at once.My heart raced in my chest as I saw the soldiers approach Karsh, but before they could
CASSANDRAThankfully, Adalyn’s proposal wasn’t as convincing to the councilors as she’d expected. It was clear from the glint in her golden eyes and the proud expression on her beautiful face that she assumed all would accept the idea of Marco’s ascension without complaint, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The room dissolved into whispers and gasps at once.One of the councilors I didn’t know the name of cleared his throat and all fell quiet.“Pardon me for my bluntness, Lady Adalyn, but it’s absurd to announce a new Alpha King when there is no evidence showing that the king is dead,” he pointed out, his thick dark eyebrows furrowed at her. “We have nothing of the sort before us-”“The forensic report will explain everything-” Adalyn began to say but the councilor waved her off with his hand.“A report means nothing,” he stated boldly, and then he glanced around the room to garner attention from the other councilors. “If the Alpha King is dead, we need to see his co
CASSANDRAOne thing was absolutely certain amongst Asher, the councilors he trusted, and I.Whatever Oliver Moses wanted to do at the council meeting, we needed to stop him. We were in complete agreement but knew we needed others to agree to our cause. We needed the support of other Packs in order to bring him down, and knew we wouldn’t get far without it.“Oliver Moses has quite a number of soldiers stationed in Anemond, especially around Merlisicre,” Karsh revealed solemnly. “If we want to confront the Moseses, we will need a troop of good soldiers of our own.”Though I didn’t want to admit it, the councilor was correct in his assessment. Despite having support from Alpha Gareth, Wild Crawler on its own couldn’t provide enough soldiers. If we wanted to gather real numbers to stand against the Moses soldiers, we needed to contact other Packs and ask for their support.“Your Majesty, it would be best for you to remain in the darkness before the meeting,” Jacoby advised after a moment
ADALYNThis girl was stupid and annoying, to say the least.Yet, despite these facts, I regretted that I had underestimated her. I should have dealt with the tiny redhead girl right after Cassandra Keller had disappeared. Now, she had become a big problem, one I wasn’t sure how to handle.“I was hiding in the room next to yours when you spoke,” Becky chimed in.Father’s face changed when she mentioned the meeting. His complexion paled and his hazel eyes widened, but when he ran his hands through his graying hair, it was clear that he seemed convinced by her words.I had to hand it to her.Placing herself at the scene of the crime was a bold move, one I wasn’t sure how to work around. This was damning to be certain but I had to remain collected if I wanted to make it out of this and continue my plans without interruption.Silas’ little kitten was a true thorn in my side.Father studied the girl’s expression like a fox studying its prey. “I hope you acknowledge that you will be punished