Chapter 108 The Beta’s Report
Thomas’s POV
I pressed the phone to my ear, blood from the maid still tacky between my fingers. “Your Majesty.”
Adrian’s voice came through sharp, like he was already halfway to ripping someone’s throat out. “Thomas. What the hell is going on over there?”
I didn’t sugarcoat it. And I didn’t pause long enough for him to cut in.
“Your Majesty, the princess’s personal maid, collapsed in your wing. We walked in and found her surrounded by what looked like some kind of ritual setup. Morgana was inside her…she’s the source of that rotten smell we’ve been tracking.”
I kept talking.
“She bailed the second we entered. Whatever she used to anchor herself is gone, and so is the scent. But the girl’s barely breathing. She won’t last without intervention.”
A sharp inhale on my end. No time to be delicate.
“Lady Margaret was looking for you earlier. Trying to stir chaos. I shut it down and as per your instruction before leaving, all their remaining items have been moved to their new quarters and I’ve issued every guard not to let them step into the palace without an invitation.”
I shifted the phone slightly against my ear.
“Our healer left at dawn for a pack that requested his expertise. No note or explanation to me. I’ve called in a human doctor to stabilize the maid. Also, the new priestess is on her way to cleanse the palace. If Morgana can still jump hosts, we can’t leave any gaps.”
A brief controlled pause before I added the final part. “I’m holding the situation together, Your Majesty. You don’t have to worry.”
A low growl rumbled through the line, the kind that made lesser wolves piss themselves. “Why the fuck didn’t I see it sooner? It all clicks now. The first time I caught that rotten scent outside the palace… only Liana was around. She was the only one near me. So this means that Morgana’s been playing us like fiddles?”
“Exactly,” I said, pacing the hall while Margaret’s screeching echoed from somewhere behind me. “But I’ve got it. The palace is locked down tighter than a drum. Security has been tripped in the human camp. Warriors are on every exit, dogs are still hunting just in case, Philip’s glued to Margaret like a second skin.”
Adrian exhaled hard. “Good. Handle it like I’m standing right there, Thomas. We might not make it back by tonight like I thought we would. There’s something I have to take care of. I trust you will keep everything going smoothly till tomorrow.”
“I’ll give it my best, your majesty,” I said, then remembering the situation with Dominic, I cleared my throat.
One more thing, your Majesty. The human doc. He showed up with bags like he’s moving in. Said our healer’s AWOL so he figured he’d camp closer. We’ve stationed some of our men on him the whole time to keep him safe for as long as he’s here.”
Another growl, deeper this time, pure pissed-off alpha with a side of personal grudge. “Dominic? That smug bastard? I don’t want to see him anywhere close to the palace when we get back tomorrow, Thomas. Handle it.”
“Yes, sir,” I responded quickly.
I thought he would hang up then, but he continued talking, his voice lowering like he wanted to share his hair care routine. “Thomas, there’s something you need to—” but a voice crackled in the background on his end, urgent and clipped..
“Mr. Draven!”
“Shit,” he muttered. “I have to go now. We will have a brief meeting the moment I get back.”
The line went dead before I could even grunt “okay.”
I stared at the phone for a second, thumb hovering over the redial. Damn it. I keep forgetting to tell the king about what I found about the symbol on the princess’s arm. The one he told me to investigate a few days ago.
The black rose.
I’d dug into it some days back, searched through our archives and finally traced it.
The black rose wasn’t some random symbol. It belonged to the Shadowthorn Pack. A pack the former King himself had banished years ago…back when there were countless attacks on the royal family.
The Shadowthorns had been caught deep in the conspiracies, blood rituals, trying to overthrow the royal line from the inside.
Their alpha was captured, the rest scattered like roaches…some went rogue, some vanished into the human world, a handful pledged allegiance to the throne and were allowed to join other packs.
The rose was their symbol. Their cursed mark. All of them have it… it’s like their identity.
So how the fuck did it end up on the princess’s arm?
She’s King Ariston’s daughter. Isn’t she? Royal blood through and through…I’m sure of that. So, how does royalty end up marked by the worst traitors this kingdom has ever known?
How does she have the symbol on her arm? Is there something I'm missing?
I was still contemplating whether to tell the king everything I’ve discovered. Because the king hates that pack…hates them with a fury that could level forests.
And as it stands now, the king is becoming a better and more present king. His wolf hasn’t even gone wild as frequently as it does before, and I want to believe that it’s because he has acknowledged the princess.
If I tell him about the symbol on her arm and the implications it has to the throne… won’t that make him hate her and the bullying will start all over? Won’t that give us the version of the king that doesn’t give a single fuck about anyone?
What should I do? How do I resolve this?
I shoved the phone into my pocket and turned toward the infirmary doors, ready to check on the maid to know if she would live.
That’s when my eyes caught her.
Half-hidden in the shadow of the stairwell, watching everything with a small eerie satisfied smile playing on her lips.
But that wasn’t what caught me off. It’s the way her face gleamed with dark humor.
What the hell is she up to?
Could she be the new host Morgana jumped into?