Chapter 2

Eighteen Years Earlier

            “Craig, Jordan, it’s good to see you. I wish it were under better circumstances, though.” Alpha Bruce said.

            “You too, Bruce. We can’t tell you how much we appreciate your help.” I replied.

            “Nonsense. You’re family Craig. I thought I made that clear when I mated with your sister. Now, why don’t you fill me in on what’s been happening since you joined Jordan at the Castle?”

            I took a deep breath to steady myself. It had been two years since the royals made it clear that I would have to leave my position as Alpha of my own pack to join my mate at the castle. She was second in line for the throne until her brother assumed the role; she wasn’t free to live her life as Luna to my pack. Bruce had been kind enough to offer my pack shelter, many of them opting to join rather than remain in limbo waiting for our return, which could take decades.

            Things at the castle had seemed fairly boring. Jordan had to sit in on meetings occasionally; it was required of her that she learn the ins and outs of running the entire Lycan kingdom. I spent most of my time training with the royal guard or finding various things to keep me busy. I had decided to look at the royal family lineage to keep me busy one day when I noticed something odd.

            There had been a string of deaths among the royals, but nobody had thought too much of it. Maybe the king did, but he never told anyone. It wasn’t until I was looking at Jordan’s family tree that I realized every death was of someone in line to the throne. I wasn’t too sure what would happen once all of the blood heirs were wiped out; it was something that had never happened in the history of our kind. Unless you count bloody coups that replaced one dynasty with another, but this seemed like something else was afoot.

            I didn’t want to alarm Jordan. All of the deaths had appeared to be of natural causes on the surface, though it was highly unusual for illness or disease to take out a wolf. Our species was generally healthier than humans, untouched by things that would take them out easily, but it did happen on occasion. I decided to investigate deeper into the deaths. I wanted to know if my mind was creating suspicion out of boredom or if there was actually a plot unfolding under our noses.

            I spent the next few weeks sneaking around, gathering information. I had tried to go directly to the royal physicians, but they had refused to give me any information. My status as an Alpha held no bearing in the royal court. Here I was simply Jordan’s mate. I tried to use her own Alpha status as leverage, she was after all, the oldest, but since the crown passed first through the male line, that hadn’t helped either.

            Without assistance in gaining access to the deceased royal’s medical records and autopsy reports, I had been delegated to sneaking into offices after hours. In order to avoid my activities being detected, I had stolen the files one at a time, making a note of anything that seemed important. By the time I had sorted through all of the records, there was one thing that stood out to me in my notes. All of the dead royals had been the picture of health prior to their deaths.

            With the exception of a handful of the deaths, all of them had been labelled accidental. They had consumed a deadly amount of wolfsbane. The royals were known to consume small amounts of wolfsbane in an attempt to inoculate themselves against being poisoned with the stuff, some of them taking it in small doses with their evening meal. Even so, the amounts detected by their toxicology reports were well over what they would have consumed. They had been intentionally poisoned. I would need to talk to their omega if any were still working at the castle after the demise of their masters.

            Making a note to look into the location of the omegas, I turned my attention to the few deaths that weren’t from wolfsbane poisoning. They seemed straightforward, a training accident, a run in with a vamp, a heart attack. All fairly mundane and not so unusual in the general wolf population. These were, however, royal wolves, all in line for the throne should anything happen to Jordan or her brother. They should have been heavily guarded and undergoing regular physicals to detect and treat any ailments. I knew I wouldn’t get anything from the physicians, I had needed to steal the records to learn anything in the first place, but I might have some luck with their personal guards, if I could track them down. Before I could decide how to proceed with getting information on them, Jordan burst into the room, panic written across her face.

            “What’s wrong love?” I asked, rushing to her side.

            “Ezekiel.” She sobbed. “Ezekiel is dead. He was found in the gardens with his throat slit.”

            I wasn’t certain what that meant for my suspicions, but I wasn’t about to have us stick around the castle and find out. I hurriedly packed our belongings, explaining what I had found and what I thought it meant to Jordan as we raced along the highway toward Silver Moon pack lands. Jordan agreed that it looked like someone was trying to kill off the royal line, but her grief was so fresh that she couldn’t think deeper into it to offer any insights. I had called Bruce on the way and we found ourselves in his office a few days later.

            “We need somewhere safe to hide out while we figure out what all of this means.” I told him as I finished explaining the things I had found.

            “Well, we have an empty compound on the edge of pack lands. It’s registered under the Silver Moon pack, of course. I expect your pack members that haven’t joined here will be more than happy to move there under their Alpha. None of your soldiers have joined us officially so you will have plenty of protection.”

            “My royal guard will join us as well.” Jordan interjected. “Even if this is some plot and not a coincidence, they are loyal to me and me alone.”

            I nodded in agreement. Jordan was right, her guard was extremely loyal to her and they would relocate in secret with just a word from her. With the existing warriors from my pack and her guard, we would be well protected. We could remain hidden under the guise of being an extension of the Silver Moon pack as far as anyone in the royal court was concerned. It would help conceal us further as we tried to find out just what had been happening. We could deal with Jordan being the sole remaining heir to the lycan throne once this mystery was solved.