Chapter 137 Kaden's POV
I had been trying to reach Elara for three hours.
Her phone went straight to voicemail every time. No ringing, just the automated message saying the subscriber was unavailable.
"Try again," I told myself, dialing for the twentieth time.
Nothing.
Panic was building in my chest something was wrong..
"She's fine," I muttered. "Xavier's protecting her, she's safe."
But I didn't believe it. I was about to call Xavier directly when Ethan burst into my office.
"I found it," he said, breathing hard like he'd been running. "I found the connection."
"What connection?"
"The servant. The one whose scent you recognized."
He dropped a file on my desk. "Her name is Maria Chen. She's been working in the pack house for six years. And her brother was executed five years ago for treason."
My blood went cold. "Executed by whose order?"
"Yours he was caught selling pack secrets to rogues you ordered his execution personally."
I opened the file and saw the brother's photo and read the details of his crime and punishment.
Then I saw Maria's service record. Kitchen staff access to food preparation working the night I was poisoned.
"It was her," I said. "She poisoned me to avenge her brother."
"And framed Elara in the process." Ethan's expression was grim. "What do you want to do?"
"Arrest her. Immediately bring her to the interrogation room."
I stood, rage coursing through me. "And summon the elders. All of them are going to witness this."
Twenty minutes later, Maria was chained to a chair in the interrogation room. The elders stood against the wall, watching.
"Do you know why you're here?" I asked her.
She stayed silent, her face defiant.
"Let me help you remember." I circled behind her.
"Five years ago, your brother was executed for treason for selling our pack's secrets to enemies. For putting every member of this pack at risk."
Still nothing.
"And you've been planning revenge ever since, haven't you? Waiting for the perfect opportunity."
Ethan moved forward with sharp tools. Designed to cause pain.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," I said. "Talk now, or we make you talk."
Maria spat at my feet. "I have nothing to say to you."
"Wrong answer."
Ethan went to work.
The first cut made her scream, the second made her beg. By the fifth, she was sobbing.
"Stop! Please stop!"
"Then talk and tell us what you did."
"I poisoned you!" The words burst from her between sobs. "I put poison in your food! The night Elara cooked dinner for you!"
"What kind of poison?"
"Extract from nightshade mixed with wolfsbane and other toxic plants. A combination that would kill slowly and painfully."
"And how did you do it without Elara seeing?"
"She left the kitchen for a moment. To get something from storage. I poured it over your plate while she was gone she never knew never saw."
"And the note? The one that said Kaden would die by Elara's hands?"
Maria laughed bitterly. "That was my touch. My message to her. I wanted her to suffer knowing she'd killed you and wanted her to live with that guilt."
"But I didn't die."
"No. You survived. I don't know how the poison should have killed you within hours."
Her expression turned hateful. "But at least she's suffering. At least she's being hunted. That's some justice for what you did to my brother."
"Your brother was a traitor, he deserved execution."
"He was my family! The only family I had! And you took him from me!"
"So you tried to take everything from me. My life. My mate, my future."
I moved closer to her. "Do you regret it? Any of it?"
She looked me straight in the eye. "No. I regret nothing, only that you survived."
Something in me snapped.
I reached out faster than she could react. Grabbed her shirt and tore it open. Then I plunged my clawed hand into her abdomen.
She screamed a horrible, gurgling sound. I found what I was looking for in her intestines. Still warm, still pulsing.
And I ripped them out.
Blood sprayed everywhere across my face. Across Ethan across the elders standing against the wall.
Maria's screams cut off abruptly her eyes went wide then empty.
She slumped in the chair, dead.
I dropped the mess of intestines on the floor and turned to the elders. My hands were covered in blood, my face dripping with it.
"Is Elara still guilty?" I asked. My voice was calm. Cold.
"Do you still want to execute the mother of my child for a crime she didn't commit?"
The elders stared at Maria's corpse. The blood is on me.
Elder Marcus spoke first, his voice shaking. "The evidence is clear. Elara was framed and the true culprit has been found and... dealt with."
"So you revoke the execution order?"
They looked at each other murmuring amongst themselves.
Finally, Elder Vera spoke. "We revoke the execution order. Elara is cleared of all charges. She's free to return home."
I didn't thank them and didn't acknowledge their decision.
I simply turned and walked out, leaving them standing in a room filled with blood and death.
Ethan ran after me, excitement clear in his voice. "We did it! We cleared her name! We can bring Elara home!"
But I didn't feel victorious, I didn't feel relief. because I still couldn't reach her. And the fear through the mate bond was growing stronger.
Something was very wrong.
And I needed to get the Dark Moon Pack immediately.