Ch. 261..265: Alpha King’s Lost Luna Chapter 261-265
Chapter 261 CASSANDRA
Helene didn’t utter a word on our way to the ladies‘ room but conducted herself very politely. Her pretty face remained smiling, and the expression was so fixed it was as if she had been born smiling. It was unnerving after a while, and | kept waiting for it to falter, but her face never changed.
Once the door to the bathroom was shut tightly behind us, | tried to talk with her and attempted to coax her out of her daze. “Are you feeling better?” | asked. “I heard that you were ill with some sort of sickness.”
“It was just a cold,” Helene replied nonchalantly. “It was nothing to worry about. I’ve fully recovered now.”
| nodded my head and after a moment of pause, | tried again. “I heard about your maid as well-”
“It was all just a rumor,” she cut me off before | could finish my sentence. “The maid resigned because her mother passed away. | suppose that someone wanted to use such gossip to demean my fiance, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
She turned to face the mirror and smoothed her caramel—colored hair down. My eyebrows creased together as | tried to make sense of it all. Her movements, her expression, her tone, even her words... it all seemed so rehearsed. It was so eerie and strange like she was a puppet or something.
| waited a little while and then decided to probe her further. “Helene, did something happen?” | asked directly. “You don’t seem like your usual self.”
She turned to face me and her smile grew even more exaggerated, as if she were putting on a show or something. Her berry— painted lips were curled into a chilling grin and after a second or two, | had to glance elsewhere.
“Don’t worry about me,” she assured me, and then she turned to face the mirror.
Something definitely wasn’t right. No matter what | asked, Helene answered me without much consideration, as if she had her answers prepared beforehand. Everything about her felt so fake, it was almost as if she were someone else entirely.
| wasn’t sure what was going on. Was she behaving this way because she didn’t want to risk being overheard? Surely this place wasn’t the best place to speak about the plan, but | began to wonder if she decided not to carry out her escape at all. Maybe she thought | was unreliable and didn’t want to follow through.
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As she touched up her makeup, | decided to try again. | took a step closer toward her, we were completely alone, and then scanned the marble bathroom to make sure..
lowered my voice to a whisper.
“Helene, is the plan still going to happen? Or do you want to cancel it?”
Helene suddenly stiffened and then turned to face me. Confusion painted her expression and she blinked her honey brown eyes at me in confusion.
“What are you talking about?” she asked as she stared at me. What was | talking about? It was my turn to frown, and | stared back at her in shock. Why did she seem so unaware of what we had discussed?
| had an impulse to clarify and ask Helene if she’d decided not to escape and find her freedom outside of Viokwell, but as | stared into her eyes, | realized that her confusion wasn’t feigned. It was real.
Ronald's fiancee had no idea of what | was speaking of.
Even the most skillful actress couldn't fake the pure look of innocence in her gaze. was incomparable. | knew in my heart that Helene was truly confused and didn’t know what | was speaking of. She had forgotten about our talks, and even worse, she may have forgotten about her plan to leave the country at all.
It As dread set in, | tried to make sense of her strange behavior.
Was this all related to the sickness that had left her bedridden for days? No, that couldn’t be possible. She would have had to be on death's door in order for her mind to be so completely scrubbed like this. No disease could eliminate people’s memories like
this.
As | frowned at her, Helene seemed to snap out of her haze and gave me yet another
smile.
“We should get back to the party,” she remarked. “Ronald is waiting for me, I’m sure. | don’t like to keep him waiting
She behaved as if she had no secret to hide, and the way she spoke of Ronald had me confused. She seemed so deeply in love with him, which struck me as odd because she had fully intended to run away on her wedding day.
What had changed?
While | wanted to keep interrogating her, | knew that Ronald was likely wondering where we were, and | didn’t want to keep him waiting for her sake, | wasn’t sure if he
11:58 Fri, 1 MartiO G
was hurting her and | couldn't risk her safety.
As we left the room and stepped into the hall, | smiled at Helene. 11%
35)
“Would you like to visit
like to visit my chamber tomorrow?” | wondered. “I would love to have you over so you can try some tea | brought from the South-”
“| would need to ask Ronald,” she cut me off. Her tone wasn’t aggressive at all. She genuinely sounded like she was content with his attention and didn’t want to spoil it.
Of course,” | replied.
| knew at once that Ronald would likely decline. Yet, when we arrived at the party, Helene asked for his permission to see me, and he agreed without hesitation.
“You could even go shopping with Cassandra out of town if you want,” he said with a smile, but Helene took his hand. “| don’t want to be too far from you,” she mused dreamily, and then the pair kissed sweetly. Though | smiled, | was chilled to the bone.
Something wasn’t right.
l invited Helene to my room in the afternoon, just after Ms. Benn dropped Lila off for her medicine. It was a deliberate arrangement, as | needed Lila to help me.
| half-expected her to decline my request, but to my surprise, Lila put forth no conditions for her cooperation. She sat across the table from Helene, and as we sipped. at the tea Erika prepared for us, Lila’s face grew pale.
Though Helene was kind to us, | noticed Lila was shaking. Her big blue eyes were locked on Helene’s pretty face, and her expression was both confused and horrified. When Helene addressed her directly, Lila would reply politely, but her entire body tensed up. She was clearly scared, but | couldn’t tell why.
| wanted to ask, but | knew | had to bide my time.
Helene stayed for about an hour. She mentioned numerous times that she didn’t want to leave Ronald for too long. In this hour, we talked about our memories of the South, but surprisingly, Helene didn’t mention her family or the trauma she’d endured even once. She kept saying that she found the North to be much better than her homeland because that’s where she’d met her love. It was all so syrupy and sweet, not to mention completely unlike the Helene | knew. She sounded like a lovesick teenager, not a grown
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“It's a great honor to marry a royal lord,” she mused as she smiled absently. “I’m quite lucky.”
Even though | wanted to shake her and snap her out of her daze, | knew it would be no use, so | simply played along. After she left, | turned to face Lila.
“What did you read?” | wondered. “Did you pick up on anything strange?”
The little girl didn’t answer at first. Her gaze was distant and her hands shook as if she’d caught a chill. Finally, she shook her head mechanically.
“| couldn’t see anything,” she said quietly. | frowned. “Does that mean that Helene is a sorceress? Or that she has abilities like you?”
Lila shook her head again and then blinked at me. “Unlike you, Miss Cassandra... all | saw in Helene was darkness. Pure darkness. There was nothing in her mind. It was like she was trapped in blackness.”
Chapter 262
CASSANDRA
My heart dropped suddenly in my chest as | stared at Lila in shock. Had | heard the little girl correctly?
“What does that mean?” | managed to ask as my belly began to ache from nervousness.
Lila shook her head and tugged at a strand of her hair anxiously. Her big eyes stared off in the distance for a moment and then
she turned back to face me.
“It could mean that Lady Helene doesn’t have any thoughts in her mind,” she mused, and then she took her head. “Sometimes
it's hard for me to read people’s minds when they have complicated thoughts. If there’s too much going on in their thoughts, the pictures | see are like a mosaic. But I’ve never seen complete darkness before, Miss Cassandra.”
| considered the information for a second and then a thought crossed my mind.
Mind control.
Ayear ago, | never would
that there concept any of my time. It sounded so preposterous, so
strange and fairytale-li ave given the
magic-users and heard the tales of possibilities.
was no reason to take it seriously. But now that I'd seen the orcerors, | knew that nothing was out of the realm of
What if Helene’s mind was being controlled by Ronald?
Was it even possible?
| took a brief pause to gather my ideas and concerns, and then | voiced them to Lila. The little girl thought about it for a moment and then spoke.
“Some of the books my mother keeps hidden away describe different psychic abilities and magical powers,” she explained as her eyebrows crinkled together. “She’s been trying to uncover what | can do. I’ve read a little about mind control in one of them.” My lips parted, and | nodded my head to urge her to continue.
Lila searched her mind and then spoke. “The
are two types of mind-controlling, but both can take away people’s wills. One is like hypnosis. By brainwashing, a person would act according to the new concepts they’d been introduced to. History books have mentioned that many great sorcerers could practice it. Another kind, however, is more like a legend. | read that with certain talismans, one could control another’s mind and make them do exactly what they wanted. But no one has practiced that before, at least no one that’s been recorded.”
I stood there, bewildered, impressed by the
amount of knowledge Lila had stored away. Though she was just a little girl, she was quite intelligent. Lsupposed she had to be in order to survive Ms.
Benn.
“I've just spent a lot of time reading,” she said quietly, and she tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Especially the books my mother has kept hidden from me. | want to fully develop my abilities and get away from this place one day, so | need to learn all | can.”
“That’s very wise of you,” | praised her, and then | shifted the subject back to the mind-control. “Now, I’m wondering if Lord Ronald used the first one-”
But Lila shook her head at once. “I don’t think so. I’ve heard that Lord Ronald doesn’t carry one of those great sorcerer’s blood. His mother was just a low-ranking witch who could play small tricks and illusions.”
My eyebrow shot up in surprise. | had never thought about the different rankings of sorcerers, but it made a great deal of sense. Thus far, | had only witnessed small acts of magic from Ronald, such as the business with the enchanted rose at the party.
Was it too much to assume he was capable of mind control?
Suddenly, a realization hit me and a small gasp escaped from my lips.
Raven.
| recalled the conversation I'd witnessed her having at the party with Helene and Ronald. Ronald and the sorceress were speaking quietly and closely with one another.
Could Raven have done this to Helene?
| didn’t want to think that the dark-haired young woman was capable of such a thing, but | recalled the sight of the prisoners in the tower... the “gui nea pigs” as she’d so cruelly and callously called them. | remembered the look of apathy in her blue-green eyes, her expression emotionless as she walked past them in their cells that day when she’d performed a health exam on me. The wretched, putrid stench of blood and death in the air hadn’t even seemed to affect her as she'd led me to her
lab and back.
While there was certainly a level of detachedness one would have to have as a scientist, | had to wonder how wicked she truly was beneath the surface. She had been kind enough to me, but her treatment of others had me questioning her character.
n
One thing was clear enough. Raven couldn't be trusted. Not right now, when things were so precarious and dangerous.
Though it was only an assumption that she was involved in this mind control business, | saw the risk behind it all. If Ronald had won Raven’s support and favor, his alliance with me would have been rendered useless. But at the same time, this was also an opportunity to exaggerate the conflict
between cousins.
What would happen if | brought this up to Kaleb? This had the opportunity to distract attention away from me, which might increase the chance of carrying out my plan smoothly. The more
chaotic Yurene was, the more time | could win for Wegalla and Asher.
The very idea excited and intimidated me at the same time. | was never a person of tactics, nor was my father and brother. The Felix family had always done everything in a clean, honest way.
But loyalty and honesty hadn’t saved them. It destroyed them entirely.
So now, | had to do anything in my power to survive. | owed it to my family to endure.
After Lila left my chamber, | asked Ms. Benn to escort me to Kaleb’s study. Though she seemed reluctant about it, she agreed to take me there.
Once we reached the corridor, she bowed her head and excused herself, leaving me alone. | quietly approached the door and lingered outside of it for a moment, taking in the grains of the dark wood. Part of me wondered if | was making the right choice. | wasn't fully convinced that | should do this at all. Kaleb may have already known about all of this, which would make it impossible to leverage things in my favor. He was much more cu nning than | gave him credit for.
There was also a chance that my words could bring up suspicion toward me. The king of Yurene might wonder why | would want to suddenly help him out, with good reason.
| summoned the courage to knock, but just as | raised my hand, | heard a woman’s voice from the inside of the room. | paused and leaned in closer.
It was Raven's voice.
“You're going to lose if you keep doing this,” she practically growled at him, and then she huffed. “You're getting boring, Kaleb. Weak, even.”
| waited to hear Kaleb’s voice, but Raven’s words were followed by a long silence. | leaned in closer, but | couldn’t hear anything. Either they weren’t speaking or they were whispering so low that | couldn't pick up on it through the door.
Suddenly, the door opened abruptly, and | jumped, completely startled.
Raven walked out with an unhappy expression on her pretty face. Her bluish green eyes glanced at me briefly and then she strode away in irritation.
What was that about?
What had they been speaking of?
Before | could think about it too much, Kaleb’s voice called out to me from inside the room.
“Enter.”
Chapter 263
KALEB
Much to my surprise, Cassandra walked into my study with a smile on her lovely face. As she approached my desk, though, | could sense that there was nervousness beneath the surface, like she was cornered prey. She seemed prepared to run at any given moment, and the sight of it, as well as the very idea, made me feel strange.
| remembered the first time I’d met Cassandra in the village square in Anemond, in the back alley behind the pet store. When I'd saved her from the kidnappers, she’d thanked me while wearing the same expression. Smiling, but nervous.
“Take a seat,” | requested. Once she sat down in the chair opposite me, | cleared my throat and continued. “How was the part at Ronald's residence?”
She smiled politely. “It was quite lovely, thank you for asking.”
My lips drew into a thin line. She was speaking to me as if she did not know me in the slightest, and | wasn’t a fan of it at all. Why was she behaving this way in front of me? Was she truly so scared of me that she was going to act like a stranger?
| let out a soft sigh and rolled my shoulders back.
“What brings you here, Cassandra?” | shifted the subject and then | smirked at her. “We just met yesterday. If | didn’t know any better, | would think that perhaps you've truly fallen in love with me after all.”
Cassandra bit her full lower lip and her cheeks flushed scarlet. My words had practically fallen out of my mouth, and the moment they did, | wished | could unsay them. She was clearly feeling awkward about it, but she managed to quickly compose herself.
“| wanted to talk to you about something,” she said, and she tugged on a lock of her long copper hair. “I discovered something strange that | needed to bring to your attention.”
Truth be told, | wasn’t surprised by this in the slightest. Here in Viokwell, weird things happened daily, if not hourly. There were loads of people who came to ask for a meeting with me, claiming that they found a traitor or unearthed a conspiracy. Some of them might be true, but most were not. Many sought attention or desired to use me as a tool to banish their enemies. All it took was a simple accusation to open up an investigation, and many in the castle were well aware of this fact.
But Cassandra... | had never expected her to say such words to me. What did she want to report to me? What did she want? Was this some sort of attempt at deceiving me?
“What is it?” | asked.
She took a breath. “It’s Helene. She’s acting... strange.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
| had heard about all of the fusses caused by Ronald lately. Rumors had spread around Vliokwell saying that my cousin had confined his fiancee, who'd allegedly lost her mind and persuaded a maid to take her own life. | also knew that Ronald, in an attempt to halt the rumors, had held his little party to clear his and his fiancee’s reputations.
| had little reason to care. Ronald would be dead after the wedding, so | didn’t care or feel troubled
at all.
| took a moment and contemplated the best way to go about this. | obviously couldn’t let Cassandra in on the truth, so | needed to play along and act at least halfway interested.
“I've heard about the things that happened to Helene,” | offered, and | leaned forward in my seat and rested my hands on the table. “I assume that most of them are nothing more than rumors. She might just have premarital anxiety. I’m sure Ronald will be able to handle it.”
“| don’t know,” Cassandra countered, and her eyebrows knitted together as she shook her head politely. “I think there’s more to it than nerves. She’s acting like a completely different person. It’s like she’s been hypnotized, Kaleb.”
| laughed before | could stop myself. “Hypnotized?”
She nodded her head and | laughed again.
“Ronald isn’t capable of something like that,” | assured her and then | reached my hand out toward her. “You might be over- exhausted these days, Cassandra. Maybe we could go on a trip after this so you can get some air.”
Cassandra hesitated for a moment and then spoke again. “I don’t think it’s Ronald. What if... it's Raven? | think she has something to do with this, Kaleb.”
Well, that had certainly been a surprise.
| hadn't expected Cassandra to put things together so quickly. I’d been so absorbed in other business these days. Roxy and Anubis’ delayed returns, necessary arrangements for the wedding, and the other issues that occurred amongst the other high- born lords in Yurene... all had consumed my mind so completely that things had fallen through the cr acks. | had forgotten to keep an eye on
Raven.
It seemed | needed to thank Cassandra for what she had told me, though none of it was surprising in the least. Unlike her sister, Roxy, Raven had always been interested in these evil games. She enjoyed manipulating people and loved the idea of using sorcery against people. She had always been difficult to keep under control, and it was clear that she was up to something. There was a time when she was obsessed with the idea of hypnotizing lords who came to meetings in the castle. She had great fun making them do things that they never would have done by their own will, like taking off their trousers and other shenanigans like that in front of the other lords. There had been several high-born court members who had asked me directly to execute Raven for
| had strongly considered taking such an action to show that | didn’t allow such-foolery to take place in my own home, but the cons outweighed the pros. | knew that Raven had so much more to offer than these childish pranks. She was a talented sorceress and had a lot of potential to do great things. She just needed strong supervision and observation.
It wasn’t until | let her research the living dead plan that she finally stopped such mischief. She ceased all childish pranks and focused all of her time and energy on research and theorizing what poisons and magic could really do. She’d seemed dedicated to the idea of using mind control for Yurene’s gain, but now that | knew she was up to more than just that...
Since | had objected to her crazier ideas and the research had reached a bit of a block, she seemed to want to resume these st upid games and pranks. Perhaps Ronald had taken note of her restless behavior and appealed to her more immature side to use her for his own nefarious schemes.
Anger swelled within me at the very thought of it all.
Ronald was not the innocent, kind-hearted man that people believed him to be. | had a strong feeling that he had offered his fiancee up to be Raven’s pet and puppet. | knew he coveted my power. Maybe he thought this would bring him closer to bringing me down.
Either way... this wouldn’t stand.
Ha
Chapter 264
After my meeting with Cassandra, | escorted the healer back to her chamber, and once she was back there, safe and sound, | made the decision to pay Raven a visit. As | rushed straight to her laboratory in the prison tower, my hands balled into a fist at my sides. | was angry, more angry than I'd been in quite some time.
| couldn't let Ronald take my throne from me.
| couldn't let anyone take my power from me. Not after everything I'd been through to become the king of this country. I'd made too many sacrifices, shed too much blood, and cried too many tears in the quiet of my bedroom, to allow someone as terrible as Ronald to take my crown from me.
No.
This ended now.
When | reached Raven's laboratory, | wasn’t the least bit surprised to see her goofing around. She was playing with a pair of blood samples, combining them with some unknown chemicals and potions, and seeing how they reacted. | wanted to swipe them off of the table and throw them on the floor. She was behaving like a child, which only made me want to do the same. Why was no one content with following orders lately?
Had they forgotten who | was?
It wasn’t until | walked up behind her that Raven even noticed me. She looked up from her scientific materials and raised an eyebrow at me.
“Kaleb,” she said unenthusiastically. “What are you doing here?”
| angrily confronted her about everything Cassandra had told me. It took all of my restraint to keep from strangling her as | repeated everything about Lady Helene, and once | was finished, | was surprised to see how calm her expression was.
“It's true,” she said with a small shrug. “I did it all.”
My eyebrows shot up and a low growl escaped me. “Why would you do that, Raven?”
She shrugged again. “I just wanted to have some fun. Besides, | was doing it not just as a favor to Ronald, but to Yurene as well. Lady Helene didn’t want to get married to Lord Ronald. They quarreled all of the time. If she continued to protest, the wedding would have been postponed. Wouldn't something like that bring shame to Yurene, since Ronald had invited so many guests? Besides, it was nothing more than a little manipulation. | wasn’t going to leak any information about our research to Ronald.”
| rubbed my temple as she blabbered on rapidly. | knew there was no use in arguing with Raven.
She was so unbelievably stubborn and didn’t listen well. The only one who might have been able to get her under control was her sister, Roxy.
Astrange feeling surged within me.
Roxy.
Where was she now?
“You should be more concerned about the whereabouts of your twin,” | speaking. “Aren’t you worried at all about Roxy?”
marked once Raven quit
Raven grimaced. “Why would | be worried? | know my sister better than you do, Kaleb. Who could defeat a warrior like her? Moreover, Anubis is handling things, isn’t he? There’s nothing | can do about it all, so who cares?”
| opened my mouth to speak, but Raven wasn't finished.
“| don’t understand why you care about small things like this when there are more important things for you to consider,” the dark- haired sorceress rambled on. “You’re wasting time. Once we succeed with our great sorceries, the rest of it won’t be an issue. Ronald, the lords who conspire against you, Wegalla... none of it will be a problem anymore. The world will be at your hand, Kaleb. What are you so afraid of?”
| frowned as her words set in. She’d said plenty in such a short amount of time, and truth be told, | needed a moment to absorb it all.
| began to wonder... what was | afraid of?
What was | scared of?
| couldn't explain it, not in words that would make sense to anyone else.
Yesterday, when | dreamt of my sister, Eleanor, she asked me the same question. She was in support of Raven’s opinions and urged me to do whatever it took to keep my power.
In the dream, my older sister had been covered in thick, ruby blood. Her eyes glared at me sharply, and she laughed at me cruelly. The sound was grating and filled my mind with a terrified feeling. | hated every second of her laughter and wanted nothing more than for it to cease completely.
“| knew you were a ba star d with no guts,” she accused me. “What are you waiting for? Isn’t this what you wanted? You betrayed everyone to get power. And now, you want love and mercy? You're pathetic, Kaleb. You'd be a complete idiot to consider even for a second that that healer would ever love you. Why would someone love a scu mbag like you? Even if you became the king of the world, no one would ever truly respect/or love you. Ba star ds are ba st ards. You were born with low blood, and you'll die that way too. Lowly and pathetic.”
As she broke into another fit of cruel, evil laughter, | reached out, grabbed Eleanor’s slender throat, and squeezed tightly, killing her again to make her stop her cursing.
Unfortunately, her death lasted only a matter of seconds, and she resumed her laughter soon after. She wasn’t able to be killed in this dream. No matter what | did, how hard | squeezed, how much | anguished, she wouldn't perish.
“You have never changed,” she chided me sternly. “You want to have a soft heart. You want to use glorious excuses to disguise your bad intentions. But nothing can change the fact that at your core, you're truly evil, Kaleb. You’re not worth
of love. Who could ever love a monster like you?”
As | stared at Raven, Eleanor’s words repeated in my mind, and my hands balled into fists at my
side.
“| told you before that if you keep being like this, anyone could easily defeat you,” Raven reminded me. “Including Ronald.”
For a moment, reality began to blur and Raven sounded exactly like my dead sister. Unfortunately, they were both right. Like it or not, | had already done far too many cruelties. | couldn’t be redeemed. | was a king and | needed to play the role. Too much had happened for me to ever live a normal life again. | had to keep my power no matter the cost.
So, | needed to stop being weak and behave like a king.
Asilence lingered between us for a while until | heard a noise out in the corridor. | walked to the door of the laboratory.
“Who is there?” | demanded with irritation.
When | opened the door, | was surprised to see two guards attempting to stop a man in black from getting close to the lab. | recognized the man from his costume. He worked for Anubis.
“What's going on?” | demanded.
The man knelt on the ground. “Your Majesty, | need to speak with you in private.”
| glanced at the guards. “Leave us at once.”
The guards stopped at once, nodded their heads, and then turned on their heels and left. Once they were gone, | turned back to the man.
“What's going on?” | repeated myself.
Raven suddenly walked out into the hallway. The man opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word, his gaze lingered on her.
“You can speak freely,” | urged him. “She is of no concern.”
The man nodded. “Your Majesty, Anubis is dead. And the Southerners have captured Roxy.”
Chapter 265 BECKY
Before Rayden departed for the king's cousin’s wedding in Yurene, he came to visit us in Anemond. When he arrived at the clinic, he was disguised as one of the businessmen who had swarmed the city in the hopes of attracting the attention of Oliver Moses. They wanted to show their loyalty to the Moses Family since they now controlled all of Anemond.
In the Alpha King’s absence, they had taken over the capital of Wegalla, and much to my surprise, as well as Dickson’s everyone seemed to forget about the king. | wasn’t an optimist in the slightest, but to see the citizens of Anemond switch up their loyalty so quickly only added to my dislike of this place. While the Alpha King and | didn’t know each other outside of our interactions at the clinic, he seemed like a nice enough man, one who didn’t deserve any of this.
We accepted Rayden into the clinic and then escorted him to the meeting room in the back. Dickson prepared us some fragrant tea, and once it was ready, we all gathered around the table.
Wild Crawler’s Alpha took a moment to relax after his long journey, and once he was more steady, he shared with us some news.
“| have two messages for you both,” he announced as he wrapped his hands around the mug. “One is good, but the other... it's decidedly not. Which would you like me to share first?”
Dickson and | exchanged glances. “| suppose the good news first?” | spoke up.
Rayden nodded and then ran a hand through his thick black hair. “The good news is that the medicine is working very well. Patients’ conditions are improving day by day and no major side effects have been detected. If things continue like this, you and Dickson should be clear to come to Wild Cralwer and see the progress for yourselves. If all goes well, the medicine should be able to move to mass production.”
| lit up at the idea and it took all of my effort to remain composed. This was incredible news! | had spent many a sleepless night tossing and turning, wondering if the medicine was working as I'd theorized it would. Knowing that the people of Wild Crawler were getting relief and their conditions were improving filled me with joy for the first time in a long time.
But before | could get too excited about this, | remembered that Rayden had also expressed that he had bad news. | couldn’t let myself forget the reality of our situation. My hands began to shake at the prospect, so | tucked them beneath me and steadied my breath.
“That’s wonderful,” | said. “I’m glad to hear it’s working.”
Dickson nodded in agreement and then adjusted his glasses. “Now, what's the bad news?” Rayden gulped and then leaned forward.
“| heard from an Alpha | know that Cassandra is going to marry the King of Yurene.”
“What?” | gasped, and | nearly fell out of my chair as | stared at Rayden in shock. “No, there’s no Chapter 265
way!”
Rayden nodded solemnly. “I wish it wasn’t true, but it seems that the king of Yurene is forcing her. I’ve heard that she’s been literally confined in his castle, unable to leave.”
Anger swelled in my belly and | wanted to cry in anguish at the idea. I’d known all along that Cassandra was likely having an unpleasant time in the Northern country, but | hadn’t expected her to pracucally be a prisoner there. That conniving, terrible king!
“Anyway,” Rayden said with a small sigh. “I intend on meeting with Cassandra in person. She never should have gotten involved in business like this, and | have every intention of bringing her back with me. None of this would have happened if she’d stayed in Wild Crawler.”
His last sentence was said so low that it was nearly a whisper, and he stared off into the distance as he said it.
| felt as if my heart had been clenched by a large hand. Cassandra must have been suffering a great deal in Yurene. | was both fearful and angry. | feared the possibility that my friend might not be able to come back, and | was angry with myself for not stopping Cassandra from meeting Kaleb alone.
If I'd been there too... things could be different.
“Do you know anything more about Cassandra?” | asked. “Did your Alpha tell you anything else?”
The Alpha shook his head. “That’s all | know.”
| nodded and then swallowed hard. “Please be careful, Rayden.”
“| will,” he swore. “I promise I'll bring her back, even if it means my own death. I'll do all in my power to get her back to Wegalla.” “| don’t want anyone to die,” | replied, and then | reached out and touched his arm. “We need both of you to come back alive.” Rayden nodded.
We chatted for a while longer and then the Alpha of Wild Crawler departed. We wished him luck lon his mission and then watched his car drive away. As he continued down the street, | said a small
prayer to the Moon Goddess for his and Cassandra’s safe retur
to Wegalla.
Allittle while after he left, | heard a noise outside of the door, followed by a series of loud knocks. “Open the door!” a deep voice demanded and my heart dropped in
my
chest.
Who was on the other side of the door?
Dickson rushed over to me and held me back.
“Get behind me,” he insisted and | did so without question.
Was it Oliver Moses.
Cassandra? Or perhtside of the clinic? Was he here to execute’me for my closeness with Cassandra? Or perhaps my mate bond with his son?
THE
83% Chapter 265
Though Di ckson was shielding me, there was nowhere for me to escape. So, | took a few deep breaths and then told him to answer the door.
Dic kson didn’t want to, but after | urged him again, he agreed.
He opened the door and revealed a guard wearing the uniform of the Moses family. The guard fixed his dark eyes on me and then spoke.
“Where is the royal healer?” he asked sharply.
My heart stopped in my chest and | forced down a gulp.
“She isn’t here,” | answered through shaky breath. “She isn’t in Anemond.”
The guard frowned at me. “Are you a royal healer, then?”
| frowned, confused by the intention of his question. “I’m not officially a royal healer. What do you need?” The guard looked impatient and rolled his eyes. “I just need a healer.”
| was a little surprised by his answer. He didn’t seem to be looking for Cassandra specifically, so | wasn’t sure what was going on. As | tried to make sense of things, he reached into his pocket, retrieved a paper and pen, and scanned the list on the note. It was a list of location names, and Kellers was listed at the bottom.
“Stay prepared and don’t leave this place,” the guard said sternly. “You might be summoned at any time.” “Summoned?” | repeated back in surprise. “Sir, what's going on?” The guard stashed the note back into his pocket and then glanced down at me.
“You haven't heard anything?” he asked and when | shook my head, he frowned. “The Beta Silas has returned to Anemond severely wounded and on the verge of death. Lord Oliver demanded the best healers for his son, so all of the royal healers are being summoned. If any let his son die, they will face a death sentence as well.”
| felt my blood freeze. The guard frowned further as | stiffened in place and then huffed.
“There’s no need to worry,” he said. “You aren’t a royal healer. But you’d better pray that Silas lives. There’s no telling what Oliver Moses will do if he does.”