The White Wolf Chapter 111: Like Breathing

Surprisingly, Harley was absent. After being ordered to rest, she would join the Queen before luncheon. After luncheon, she would work on making sure the tea in the afternoon was ready as the Queen would host the females in the palace to come and have tea with her.

During this time, they would be able to get to know the Queen as well as make requests. While the females sipped tea, the males were to enjoy a round of golf.

Arriving at breakfast, the royal were greeted by friendly faces causing a genuine smile to grace Alexia’s lips.

“Good Morning everybody” Caspian greeted the room as he let go of Alexia’s hand to pull out her chair.

A chorus of good morning replied to him as he took his seat. Since it was just family, formalities were forgotten and no one bowed to the royal couple.

“I trust you all slept well, without further adieu let us eat.” Caspian motioned towards the table allowing for breakfast to begin.

A beautiful breakfast spread had been laid out on the table. Dishes were passed around allowing everyone to choose what they liked. The only job of the footman was to refill the beverages and dishes as well as clear empty plates.

Morgan excitedly told the group about her evening. Most nodded and hummed along as they did not have her young energy.

Missing from the table was Abi, who Luca reported had not been feeling well and had a tray brought to their chambers. Sympathies were passed around the table and Alexia did her best to keep any jealousy she possessed at bay.

Shelia and Judy gossiped constantly about the night before about old acquaintances. Squeaking in delight at their nemesis gaining weight or having too much work done to their bodies.

They toasted each other with mimosas and how the liquid sloshed around the rims indicated that the mothers were still exhibiting some effects from the night before.

Morgan tried to join in the fun but her father simply moved her champagne flute away as she reached for it.

Surprisingly Gabe looked quiet chipper at the table eating his breakfast and talking to his mate giving her his attention. Alexia’s surmised his tolerance must be outrageously sky-high.

Also in a good mood was the king, as Prince Dristan had sent word apologizing for his absence as he was feeling under the weather and would be unable to attend his tour with the queen today. The beta had delivered the note before promptly leaving after offering his apologies which Caspian accepted with a smile.

Caspian motioned for coffee to be given to the mothers who ignored his insistence.

While the older females toasted the downfall of their rivals, Caspian entered into a serious discussion with the males at the table.

“Did you see the way, they spoke to each other?” Jacob asked about to alphas from the night before. “Something is amiss there.”

“I agree,” Gabe added.

“Very well, make sure you look into the matter.” Caspian decided to act on his advisor's suspicions.

Truthfully, he had been rather distracted during the dinner with his annoyance towards the prince so he would trust those closest to him if they said something had happened.

He believed them that alphas were scheming but they tended to do that as much as they breathed.

Gabe agreed with the king’s decision, “I’ll have my intelligence begin working on what they can uncover. Alpha Dennis is up to something.”

“That’s like saying the sky is blue,” Jacob interjected. “What would be odd is if he wasn’t up to anything.”

“What could he be trying to gain?” Luca asked.

“He’s so interested in the Eastern Kingdom, there must be something there,” Edmund added.

“His trade is solely here in this kingdom as he makes most of his money selling to the packs. If he were to venture abroad, I don’t see how it would be successful for him.” Jacob spoke to the group.

The males looked to Caspian and waited for his thoughts on the matter “We will watch him for now and try to get him to play his hand. After breakfast let us continue this conversation in the study.”

It would be too easy for a spy to slip in disguised as a servant with all of the commotion in the palace, therefore they would need to be careful of where and what they spoke of.

They switched the topic to the dinner itself praising Alexia for her hard work. She tried her best to maintain her calm composure but a blush crept to her cheeks at their praise.

“Did the Gamma give you any trouble with the security?” Caspian asked Enzo who was staring at his food.

Waiting for a reply that never came, the king asked again. Startled from a nudge from Gabe he sat up straight. “I’m sorry, what were we talking about?”

“The gamma, did he give you any trouble.” Tilting his head, he studied his friend.

“No, none at all.” Eyes of confusion looked back at the king as if he did not comprehend what he was saying.

“Good.” Caspian ended the conversation seeing how distracted Enzo was.

Caspian shot Gabe a raised eyebrow who shrugged as if to say he did not know what was with Enzo.

Later the King would ask his Gamma what was bothering him. Since he had not said anything to himself or Gabe, he knew it was something personal. When he was ready to, he would talk but if he tried to push him before he was ready, he would not speak willingly.

With the conclusion of breakfast, the males went straight to Caspian’s study to have a further debrief of the night before while Alexia took the opportunity to inspect the palace with Morgan in tow.

Their mother had returned to her chamber to sleep off her alcohol consumption so that she would be ready for the night before.

As they walked through the palace halls, Morgan told her older sister everything she had seen the night before.

She shared the squabbling that occurred between Alpha's Henry's daughters. Apparently, Ruby and Jade had their eyes on wearing the same diamond that evening. Jade ended up winning the argument but Ruby would not let it go.

What caught Alexia's ear as Morgan shared her gossip was her suggestion that Alpha Lennon was headed for ruin.

Coming to a full stop she turned and looked at her sister. "Why do you think that? Gabe has not found any evidence to suggest otherwise?"

"The shoes." She replied matter of factly.

"What shoes?" Alexia asked perplexed as they stood in the hall.

"His mate's shoes." Morgan looked confused.

"What about them?" Completely lost, she could not understand what her little sister was getting at.

"The shoes she wore, were old, worn, and a little dirty."

"And how does that mean ruin?" Alexia did her best to understand

Morgan sighed before beginning "Because they would have less worn items if they were not struggling. They've probably had to begin selling things and shoes do not show under long dresses. Next will be the jewels if they have not already replaced the real ones with fakes."

Alexia contemplated what she said before responding "There is no intel to suggest that.."

"That's because they are trying to keep up appearances but it's coming." Morgan seemed so certain of herself that Alexia found herself just staring before beginning their journey again.

Just as they rounded a corner they almost ran into a distracted female who startled when she realized what happened.