Julius P.O.V.
"You're never going to believe what we found!" Mandy perplexed "I mean...this wasn't even on our radar but... this just explains everything!" she says giddy as she types away on the computer.
"What is it? What did you find?" I ask curious about what was making her so agitated.
"Okay. So, you know how you asked me to look into every rogue or human that came into the pack in the last three decades?" At our nod she continues "So I got like a bunch of hits but then our history buff, Chris here, she remembered an attacked that happened 15 years ago right here on this pack. So with that information I went back to the list of suspects and narrow it down to those that worked in the palace or work in the pack security."
Two photos came up on the screen. One belonged to an older woman, in her fifties maybe, the other was of a young man, mid-twenties perhaps, he was wearing a pack guard uniform in the photo.
"These are Belinda May and Miller Hale." Maddy explains
"What's their story?" I ask her wanting to make sure we were on the right track.
"Belinda May, 53 years old, human. She came into the pack when she was 21 years old. And guess what? She was admitted into the pack because she was pregnant by one of our residents."
"That is still not enough to be incriminating." I tell her. We had to be sure before we start poking at viper's nest.
"Yeah but that it where it gets interesting." Dave intercepts "So I did some digging, talked to some of my people and found out that Belinda May was transferred from the Mercant's pack before coming here. Apparently some of our pack was there for a meeting and she shacked up with one of the guys during their stay there."
"Still there is nothing wrong with that." I tell him with a frown
"Except when you take a look at who the father was."
Another photo comes up on screen, right next to an obituary.
"Meet Ashen Stormfield."
"He's..."
"Old? Yeah that surprised us too." Mandy says with a chuckle "Yeah I mean I know everybody has their kinks but this seemed a little farfetched even for us. I mean the guy was in his late fifties and what he was still getting it on with girls barely out of legal age?"
"Okay, I admit it his suspicious but it still isn't a smoking gun."
"AH! But then take a look at this!" she pulls up a medical report.
"What am I looking at?" I ask confused
"This is a medical report of 27-year-old Ashen Stormfield. He was severely injured by a rogue attacked and well...basically it says his baby making machine was severely damaged and after several surgeries he gain full functionality except it would be near impossible for him to have children."
"And somehow he still got a girl pregnant after a one-night stand?" I ask very suspicious "Do we know if the child is really his?"
"They did DNA tests at the time." Madeleine informs us "He's the father alright."
"Okay...so we have a 21 years' old who sleeps with a 53-year-old who has a condition that makes it nearly impossible to get someone pregnant and somehow she gets knocked up and transferred into our pack."
"And that's not all there is to the story." Maddy interjects "Check out where she works."
"She works at the palace."
"That gives her opportunity." Hayley speaks for the first time. "She's a cleaning lady, right? That's the perfect cover to get into places without anyone finding it odd and spy for the organization. And as for the pregnancy thing, well...there were rumours at the time I was in the academy that the scientists had a way to increase a girl's chances of getting pregnant. That might have been the case here."
"And we found footprints of the palace of the pen drive you gave us. It has all the common areas except the royal suite. That's the only place she doesn't have clearance to go in."
"So she's definitely involved." I comment happy that we finally got to find one of the bastards.
"What about the young man? Who is he?" I ask wanting to know who the other suspect was.
"Okay...this one is a long stretch, even I admit to that. His name is Miller Hale. Rogue. He came into the pack when he was 7 years old. Our pack destroyed a rogue camp not far from here and he was the only survivor. They let him live since he was a child and had been born in the rogue camp instead of kicked out of a pack."
"So they brought him into the pack."
"That still doesn't excuse the fact that the pack killed his family." Hayley says "He might be looking for revenge and the hunters could have taken advantage of that"
"And that's not all. He works as a Junior Guard in the pack."
"Which means he has easy access to security plans and codes." Jordan speaks for the first time since we got here. "He's too young. There is no way he was all the access required to plan an attack."
"No." Hayley says staring at the screen in focus "He's being trained..."
"What do you mean?"
"There must be another hunter in the guard. A senior one. One that was around 15 years ago at the time of the attack and that still remains in the guard today to teach him the ropes. One who has access to all the codes and the ability to teach his successor without being suspicious." Hayley explains
"I'm on it."
Maddy pulls up a list but it is still too extensive.
"There are no humans or rogues in the guard from the last fifteen years ago still active today." she says
"That means things just got complicated." Hayley comments
"What do you mean?" I ask her
"It means we might be dealing with a wolf born in the pack. A pack mate." she explains
They looked at her as if she was crazy.
"She's right." Christine says quietly "In 1897 a group of wolves from the pack made a coup for the crown. Again in 1914, a wolf killed another for stealing his fiancé. 1952, 1963, 1981...history is full of reports of wolves from the same pack betraying each other. Just because is taboo, it doesn't mean it never happens."
Everybody stays silent, contemplating her words.
"Maddy look into the wolves that are still active in the guard that were a part of the guard 15 years ago. See if any one of them have a connection with Miller or a possible motive for working with the hunters." I instruct her. I turn to Jordan and Dave "In the mean time I want you to find out everything you can about our two main suspects. I want to know who their friends are, where they go, what they eat for fucking breakfast, clear?"
Jordan and Dave nod their heads in understanding.
"Christine" I call out
"Yes?"
"I want you to tell me everything you know about the attack on the pack 15 years ago."
"Sure. Just give a minute." she says.
"Why is that important?" Hayley asks confused "It happened 15 years ago."
"It might give us clues about where to look next." I tell her "Was there anything on this attack in the files you recovered from the hunters?"
"I'm not sure." she says grabbing a tablet and taking a seat on one of the couches as she searches trough the files. "There is not much about it but there is a report about a fail of capture of wolf child. It says here she was seen escaping with a woman, 5"4, brown hair. They couldn't identify her beyond that."
"Why did the hunters wanted to capture the child?" I ask her confused
"It could be multiple reasons. Maybe they wanted her to train her as a hunter and infiltrate her in a pack later on, or maybe they wanted to experiment on her. They have several videos here of experiments on werewolves and their reaction to our weapons."
"And you still call us the monsters." I comment in disgust.
She was about to reply when Christine stepped in ready to tell the story I asked her to.
"Alright so, there aren't many reports of what happened exactly that day so I can only tell you the facts." she says frustrated. I could tell she wasn't happy about not having the full story.
"Better than nothing." I encourage her
"The attack happened 15 years ago on August 13th, 2007. There are no clear reports of how they got in but a group of hunters, approximately 15 of them, infiltrated the pack and caused one the bloodiest attack we had on pack since 1897. 41 wolves died, some butchered in their homes, women, children, elderly, they got to them when they were sleeping in their homes, in the dark of night. Others died in the attack on the palace, a guard saw them and raised the alarm. Probably saved a lot of lives in doing so. But in the mist of the attack, the Ricci family was targeted and slaughtered. Their 4-year-old daughter Tatiana Ricci disappeared and was presumed captured and dead after her blood was found on the scene."
"Why was the Ricci family targeted?"
"Nobody knows. Nathaniel Ricci was a member of nobility, his family had advised the kings and queens of our pack for centuries. He was politically savvy and was said to have the ear of the king. Nothing happened in the kingdom without a Ricci knowing about it."
"So by taking them out they managed to destabilize the kingdom in a single strike." I comment "Who stepped in after them?"
"The Morgan's." she replies "They've been around for a while but nowhere as politically savvy as the Ricci's, or with the influence they possessed. They took advantage of the gap to pull in their ranks and climb the social ladder."
"Interesting." My mind was racing with the information. I turn to Hayley, trying to piece together the pieces of the puzzle. "The wolf child that the hunters failed to capture. Do they say who it was? A name, anything?"
"No, only that she was signed for capture but managed to escape. Why?"
I turn to Chris again.
"Was there anybody else reported missing or presumed captured? A woman perhaps? 5"4? Brown hair?"
"I...." Chris searches through the papers with focus "Yes! Amelia Dubois! She was the Ricci's family personal guard. She was tasked in protecting the family that night. Her blood was found in the room where Tatiana Ricci slept and was presumed captured. It was theorized that they were both taken at the same time."
"You can't think..." Hayley says following my train of thought.
"That she managed to fight of her attacker and disappeared with the child? That is exactly what I am thinking."
"Then why would she disappear? Why not return to the pack?"
"Maybe she thought it would be safe. But why would anyone target the girl specifically? She was just a child."
"I think I know the answer to that question." Christine says with her eyes open wild. "The king. King Dante that is. He was supposed to mate with her. There are stories that say that the two of them were inseparable as children. That is why he has never mated. Because she was his mate, and he vowed never to mate with another."
"Okay, now we are just throwing theories around." Hayley says "The only family that even gained something with the Ricci's death were the Morgan's and they have no affiliation with hunters whatsoever." she says after looking them up on her tablet.
"Well...it's no secret that Annabelle Morgan wants to be Queen." Chris says uncomfortable "Her father has been insinuating as much for years, but the King never caved."
"What do we know about the Morgan's? More specifically the father?" I ask Hayley
"Harry Morgan. Born in a pack near Mexico, transferred here with his mate, Flora Morgan, when he gained more footing in the political field. Has a daughter Annabelle Morgan, 24. Unmated. He's the king advisor and head of council since Nathaniel Ricci's death. He has no suspicious money movements in his account, at least not on the surface, but if you want I could dig deeper. see what I can dig up."
"Please do." I request
"The king will want to be notified of our discoveries." Christine says reluctant "If what you're implying is true than he will want to know."
"Not until we have more than just theories." I tell her "There is no point in having him relieve painful memories, unless of absolute certainty."
If the King really did consider Tatiana Ricci his mate, and still does to this day, there is no way of knowing how he will react to what we found.
"On that note, I don't want anyone knowing of this until I'm ready to disclose it to the King. This stays between the three of us, no one else."
Both of them agree.
If what we were thinking was true, then this goes beyond anything we could have imagined. It could possibly destabilize the pack in ways we hadn't foreseen before.
One more chapter done and our team just got a lead on TWO suspects! And in the mid time they stumbled across a conspiracy more than a decade years old!
Do you think Julius should tell the King immediately or he did well in keeping it a secret for now? Tell me your thoughts!
Don't forget!
VOTE ⭐
COMMENT ✍️
SHARE 💌