*Maddox*
My mouth drops open as I stare at my Beta, unable to comprehend what I’ve just heard.
“Gone?” I repeat. “What do you mean they’re gone?”
With a loud sigh, Commander Fife says, “Sir, I’m so sorry. I stepped away for a few moments. Alpha Jordan was causing a ruckus. When I came back, my two soldiers whom I’d left in command were knocked out on the ground, and the keys were gone.”
“But… how?” I don’t even know how to ask the questions in my mind.
“It appeared that Zabrina must’ve lured them in close to her, and when they were standing next to her, she managed to knock their heads together hard enough to knock them out then took the keys.” Commander Fife is a smart man, a logical man, and all of the words coming out of his mouth are laced with doubt.
How could anyone be that stupid?
I am having a hard time believing him. Once I’ve been betrayed by one member of my staff, I find it very hard to trust anyone else.
I look to Seth, probably trying to gauge his reaction since he’s about the only one left in the castle I know I can trust for sure, other than Isla and Poppy. “Does that make sense to you, Beta?”
“Not really,” he says. “After all, Zabrina is not that strong.”
“She is beguiling, though,” Commander Fife insists, swallowing hard, and I almost have to wonder if she hadn’t pulled something over on him. Had she managed to trick this man I’d specifically chosen to put in charge to keep an eye on her because of his morals and dedication to his family?
I didn’t have a lot of time to stand around and think about that at the moment. “I assume Wylie is missing as well?” I ask.
Fife’s head rocks back and forth. “That’s right. And Alpha Jordan and his wife escaped, too.”
My eyebrows arch. “How is that possible? He is an elderly man who had just fallen down the stairs!”
“They were able to overpower the healers—the guards. Alpha Jordan’s guards.” Fife was sputtering now. “They all shifted and managed to escape through the windows. Their driver met them outside, or so it appears by the look of the video I saw from the perimeter. They hopped into a car and took off.
Running a hand through my hair, I mumbled, “Son of a bitch!”
“We can catch up to them,” Seth suggested. “We can send alerts ahead of them so that any pack they cross through, the Alphas can be on the lookout. If they show back up in Maple pack, we’ll have them arrested.”
“I appreciate your enthusiasm,” I tell my Beta. “But that won’t happen. Short of us sending a military presence directly to Maple pack, Alpha Jordan won’t be detained upon his arrival. He’s too powerful, too influential among his own pack members.”
“But you’re the king!” Seth declares, as if I may have forgotten.
“I know, but they’re more loyal to him than me,” I tell him. It’s not something I’m proud of, but it’s true. Alpha Jordan has been their pack Alpha for many decades, and over that time, he has convinced his pack members that he is an indestructible leader and all of them are superior to nearly all of the other packs.
He has allies, though, and I can’t forget that. He likely won’t go home anyway. “We need to see if we can stop them before they get to Duster or Green pack,” I tell Seth. “Send out messages ahead of them to all of the packs whose territories they’ll have to cross through in order to escape. I want patrols on every major road stopping every car. I want our wolves in pursuit in vehicles and on foot. I want a line of defenders from Hailstone pack blockading the border into Maple pack, and more soldiers between us and Duster and Green, got it?”
Seth nods. “I understand, sir. I’m on it.”
Turning to Fife, I say, “I want you to round up anyone who is left here from Maple pack. It sounds like not all of Zabrina’s friends got out, maybe some of the guards? Find them.” He nods, and I continue. “Is Mrs. Dixon still in her cell or did she manage to beguile the soldiers into letting her out as well?”
His face turns red. “She’s in her cell, sir,” he tells me.
I nod and head down the hallway toward where I assume Mrs. Dixon is being held.
She is in a cell, sitting on a bench, staring across the small space at nothing. When I approach, she doesn’t turn to look at me, but I can tell she’s been crying.
Mary Dixon has worked in the castle for decades. She is a hard worker and had served as the second in command for many years. When Mrs. Worsthingshorethinshire was let go, Mrs. Dixon was the logical choice to replace her. Now, however, I see that someone who was easily manipulated was put in that position, someone without the sort of savvy and common sense that had made Mrs. Worthingshorethinshire so good at her job—even if she was a raging bitch.
“Mary,” I say, and she slowly turns her head, an absent look in her eyes. “What happened?”
“Your Majesty!” she says, as if she has just recognized me. “I’m so sorry, sir. I thought I was helping.” Tears spring into her eyes again. “That woman, she told me she was meant to be the next Luna, and you had given her permission to go into the Luna’s suite so that she could start planning remodels.”
I sigh and rest my head against the bars, thinking Mrs. Dixon probably isn’t going to come and bash my head against anything to knock me out…. “Why didn’t you come to me or Beta Seth and ask if that was true, Mary? After all, you’ve worked here long enough to know my feelings on taking another Luna.”
“Yes, sir, I know,” she says. “I’m sorry. I should have. But I wanted to prove that I was a good choice for my new job. That woman threatened me, saying she would have me fired if I questioned her. So… I just did it, sir. I’m very sorry. I didn’t know she was going to hurt anyone. The other girl, the little blonde, is she all right?”
It was clear to me that she was genuinely remorseful for what had happened. I don’t think she meant to hurt anyone. I think she just got caught up in the lies of a very manipulative, psychotic bitch.
I should’ve done something more to stop Zabrina before, when she tried to poison me, and when she obviously slit the throat of her own maid. I thought that Isla and my other friends were safe because we were in my own home.
But obviously, I was wrong.
“Guards!” I shout, and the closest guard rushes over. “Release Mrs. Dixon.”
“Yes, sir,” he says, pulling his keys from his pocket and hastily following my direction.
When the gate swings open, she slowly walks toward me. “Thank you, Alpha King Maddox.”
I nod. “Now, have you heard any discussion about where they were going once they left? Or what their plans were at all?”
She shakes her head. “No, Alpha Maddox. I’m sorry. They never said anything in front of me. All I did was unlock the door for them. Then… they’d go in there for a few hours and come out laughing.”
“And… did you ever unlock any other doors for them?” I ask.
She shakes her head, but I can tell by her face that that’s not exactly true.
“Mrs. Dixon?” I ask, sternly.
She sighs. “Well, I did unlock the healer’s supply closet for her yesterday.” She drops her head and stares at the ground.
“You let her into Mystica and the other healers’ supply closet?” I clarify.
She says, “Yes, she said she needed some medicine for an injury.”
“What injury?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
I can’t believe anyone would do something so reckless and irresponsible.
But I have a feeling it wasn’t just the wolfsbane that was stolen from the healers’ closet. I’m just glad Mystica is wise enough to keep the antidote to wolfsbane somewhere else—at least, I assume she is, since she had some to treat Isla with.
I rush to the closet and realize the door is locked. I don’t have my keys. My master keys are still in the broken-down car.
Using the mind-link, I call for Mrs. Dixon, whom I had just left standing there in the dungeon. It takes her a while to get there, but when she does, she is breathing heavily.
“You sure about this, sir?” she asks, pulling a bobby pin from her hair. I have to think the guards were stupid not to have taken those from her.
“I’m sure.” As she unlocks the door, I realize I won’t know what I’m looking for. I call for one of the secondary healers, Chester, and he hurries over from the infirmary.
The door opens, and I step inside, turning on the light, still waiting for Chester. My eyes scan the shelves, and I immediately realize there are two spaces that are completely empty.
When Chester gets there, I ask him, “What goes here and here?” pointing at the two spots.
“Oh, no,” he mumbles, shaking his head. “This isn’t good at all.”
I turn to look at him, my heart racing.
“Well, this shelf contained red wolf’s blood, and that one contained… wolf shadow.”
My eyes widen as I realize what this means.
Zabrina and her friends have stolen the same aphrodisiac they poisoned me with the first time and a powerful sedative.
“What the hell do they have in mind?”
“I have no idea, sir,” Mrs. Dixon tells me, but when I look at the healer, he has a grim look on his face.
“Sir, when you mix those two concoctions together, you get a very deadly drug called red wolf’s shadow—I’m sure you heard of it. Some of the enemy forces used it against us in the last war.”
I take a deep breath. I know exactly what he’s talking about. I have heard the stories about what happened to people who were inflicted with that particular drug, and I can’t even imagine the pain they must’ve suffered.
I need to find Zabrina and those drugs—and I need to find them now.