Chapter 40 40
Denzel’s POV
“I never thought you should trust Tyrell,” Rayon began. I leaned back against my desk, turning fully to face him.
“I think he and Jalisa are fucking.”
There was something in his eyes certainty, not suspicion that told me he knew far more than he was saying.
“I want the whole story, Rayon,” I said quietly. “Don’t hide anything from me. I’m your Alpha. You know I can tell when you’re holding back.”
He nodded, then looked away, jaw tightening. I could already guess why this was difficult. To speak freely, he would have to reveal a source, and it might not be one I welcomed.
“I won’t judge your source,” I said, steadying my voice. “I’ll do my own investigation. Just tell me.”
That seemed to ease him.
“Venessa told me she caught them together,” he said. “Fucking in the deserted section of the service quarters. She was hiding in the broom closet there when they passed by. That’s how she knew it was them.”
The glass in my hand shattered before I even realized I was gripping it too hard. The sharp sting barely registered. Rayon's eyes widened in concern, but it was too late. The damage was done.
I expected that kind of behavior from Jalisa. I did not expect it from Tyrell.
“There’s more,” Rayon continued carefully. “I also believe Tyrell had a hand in our poisoning. He served us the drink. And when Venessa treated him afterward, she said he didn’t even need her help he was already healing. I’ve thought about it over and over, Denzel, and there’s no excuse that makes sense.”
He paused, then pressed on.
“He was the one who made us stop in the forest. He should have heard the struggle, the attack poisoned or not. You and I heard them. That’s why we were ready to fight. Yet somehow, even though he was with us, he didn’t return until Devon found us. It doesn’t add up. I know he’s our friend, but it doesn’t add up.”
I said nothing. Because he was right. I had questioned it myself after I recovered every strange gap, every inconsistency but I’d pushed it aside. Trusted familiarity over instinct.
I shouldn’t have.
“He has motive,” Rayon went on. “If he’s sleeping with Jalisa, then with you and me gone, he gets her, the pack, and the chance to help King Fabian push his agenda. It fits too well. And that brings me to why I had to tell you all this.”
He met my eyes.
“I didn’t order the attack on the bears. And I know you didn’t either. Those men wouldn’t act on their own, and Fabian can’t control them directly. I think Tyrell did it to help Fabian force your hand.”
My jaw tightened.
“Remember before lunch, when I excused myself?” Rayon added. “You should’ve seen them. Fabian and Tyrell. They were friendly. Too friendly. The great and powerful king was far too comfortable with your Beta. We need to watch our backs, Denzel. And we need to investigate Tyrell.”
He hesitated, then said the final blow.
“And if he really is sleeping with Jalisa… that child may not be yours.”
I understood what he was getting at but anger and disappointment drowned out any clarity. Betrayal has a way of eclipsing reason.
“We have to be careful,” I said at last. “For now, Tyrell sits this out. There’s no reason for him to attend the meeting. He can stay back and oversee the pack while we’re gone.”
Rayon nodded, then frowned.
“What about Venessa?”
“If what you’re saying is true,” I replied grimly, “Tyrell could hand her over to the Lycans while we’re away and claim she wandered off. No one would question it.”
He agreed immediately.
“Then we’ll have to take her with us,” I said.
Rayon shook his head.
“She’s part of the bears’ demand. What if they try to take her by force?”
“It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” I said firmly. “I’ll handle Keon and the king. Prepare everything we’re offering them. I intend to give them a portion of Jalisa’s land it’s only fitting she pays for her father’s schemes. They’ll get the money. They’ll get land. But they will not get Venessa.”
He exhaled and nodded.
“I’ll tell her to prepare for tomorrow.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll tell her myself. You focus on the arrangements. We leave at nine. I want us in King Lucien’s territory early and gone before nightfall. The Silver Forest clans are getting bolder, and they strike after dark.”
“They’re growing,” Rayon added. “Outlaws, deserters, exiles. It’s getting bad.”
I nodded grimly. Groups like that were Fabian’s responsibility to prevent. Instead, he was obsessed with seizing power from the Lycan king, claiming he was protecting us from bears and queens while quietly destabilizing everything.
The man was a bastard.
After Rayon left, I sank onto the couch and stared at the ceiling, Tyrell’s betrayal replaying over and over in my mind. My investigation wasn’t about confirming the truth I already knew it was true. It would be about catching them in the act.
Venessa had once linked me, asking me to meet her in the deserted service quarters. I’d thought she was being playful. Teasing. I hadn’t gone.
She’d been trying to expose them.
The realization hit hard.
Was that why she wanted to leave? Because she knew too much? Because she was surrounded by people capable of killing to protect their secrets?
It must have been unbearable knowing all of this, yet still watching me with Jalisa. I remembered the cruel things Jalisa had said to her in the bedroom while Venessa knelt at her feet, giving her a massage.
Had she already known then?
I decided I would confront her. Gently. Honestly.
Maybe just maybe she would finally open up to me.