The White Wolf Chapter 74: Someone is in the Palace

She ran through the halls in alarm, and her depressing mood evaporated. Servants moved out of her way in haste. the scent led her to Caspian’s office, without knocking she walked right in stopping when she saw who was in the room.

The voices in the room stopped and the eyes turned to look at her. Caspian was seated at his desk with Jace standing behind him against the wall with his arm crossed. His serious demeanor made Alexia worry. It was the person standing across from her mate that sent her into alarm.

Standing in front of the king was Luca. He looked tired with the circles under his eyes as evidence. The dirt that littered his clothes and shoes also concerned her as it would suggest that he had been outside doing goddess knows what.

Caspian gave no indication that anything was amiss but instead looked back to her brother waiting for him to continue speaking.

Impatiently Alexia spoke to her brother "When did you get back?"

"About five minutes ago." He answered his sister with a voice that was filled with exhaustion.

"Are you ok? Did something happen? What did you learn?" She rapidly fired questions at him ready for answers as she crossed the room to stand next to her twin across from her mate. Her head swiveled between the two males, waiting for an answer.

"If you will calm down, I will tell you. As I was speaking with your mate." Luca tried to be patient but his fatigue was getting the better of him.

Alexia sat in the armchair in front of Caspian's desk with a hmph. The sound of the door opening had her craning her neck to see who entered the room. At the sight of Enzo entering with an unalarmed expression on his face, she sat back in the chair and waited.

Luca began looking at Caspian who sat patiently waiting in his seat. "As I was saying, we arrived at the pack and Alpha Howard seemed ok. A little on edge but I figured he was nervous and was probably hiding something. I tried to get him alone before he could hide or cover up anything."

"He has never been known for his clean conduct." Caspian threw out.

"Is there not anything we could charge him with?" Alexia asked wanting to be done with Alpha.

Gabe added from his spot "I've been trying to nail him on different crimes for a while but he skirts the rules like the pro he is. As much I would love to lock him up and throw away the key, it was caused by internal angst amongst the other Alphas. Too much flexing of the crown's power and people start to get on edge and talk about rebellion." Enzo nodded in agreement.

Caspain let out a sigh. "It would make life a lot easier if I could get rid of those who cause me headaches." He said with a laugh that lacked humor. "I trust you did not go easy on the beta."

Nodding Luca said "I had to grab the beta and almost threaten him within an inch of his life to get him to talk. He said the alpha had been quite busy and had other guests to attend to. He seemed confused as well. I think He did not know where his Alpha was either or what he could be up to,"

"What other guests?" Gabe asked. "Someone affiliated with Alpha Dennis?"

"There was another guest at the pack when I arrived. I did not see them interact and only saw him from a distance. They were not from alpha Dennis though. I did learn though that he was from the Eastern Kingdom."

"The eastern Kingdom?" Alexia sat up in alarm.

"Yes. I did not interact as I did not want to cause any problems there politically."

Caspian nodded "Technically, we are at peace but to say that would not delight in our misfortune would be a lie."

"What disputes do we have with the eastern kingdom?" Alexia asked and made a mental note to study politics more in-depth. She would have Harley pull as material as she could and would speak to the Queen Mother on the matter.

"None. But we have a long history of drama and past grievances over the centuries." Caspian said with a wave of his hand as if the matter was of no consequence. "However, we should be cautious in our interactions with them. If the beta does not know what he is up to that could mean he was not the mastermind but more of a pawn."

"I wanted to report back what I found immediately, so I left a warrior behind to monitor the situation to watch and report back," Luca told them earning a nod of approval from the other males. They had been playing the game longer than the twins but they were learning quickly.

"What did after you spoke with the beta?" Caspian asked wanting him to continue with his report.

"The only thing I could think to do. Track him. His scent was hard to pick up. So last night, I spent the night scouting the entire pack. I must have turned over every stone on those lands. I tracked him to the southern perimeter in a rural area. There was no trace of another look." He told them what he had done and Alexia surmised that was how his clothes had become so filthy and he probably had not bothered to clean up before reporting back.

Alexia's head spun still on edge as her brother's early return.

"Well did you get anything from Alpha Howard?" Alexia asked impatiently.

"He did not talk." The frustration was in his voice as he looked away as if he had failed at his task.

"Why would he not talk? Did you not find him?" Caspain asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"Oh, I found him," Luca said with a heavy sigh.

"Then where is he?" Caspain asked getting a little annoyed.

The room went still as Luca spoke "He's dead."