Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 64 Old Beta’s request

ASHER

“Your Majesty, you have to put that vicious, wicked healer in jail!” Linda Moses declared in a shrill voice

that sent a shiver down my spine.

She and her husband stood in front of my desk, their eyes filled with wrath as they awaited my answer.

I exhaled deeply. In the last few hours, I’d heard two versions of this story. Ca ssandra Keller had said it

was Adalyn who’d threatened her and spilled the acid on her arm, while Adalyn had insisted that it was

actually Ca ssandra who’d spilled

the acid.

Deep down, I knew whose version was more likely and trustworthy, but trust had nothing to do with it.

The situation was much more nuanced than that.

“Adalyn should not have entered the laboratory,” I said as a headache began to plague me. “Everyone

in the palace knows not to go in there, and the guards. informed me she was told quite explicitly to stay

away-”

“That doesn’t matter!” Linda blurted, and then her cheeks flushed scarlet and her eyes fell to the desk.

“Your Majesty.”

“It does,” I pressed. I could have pushed further and chided her for her insolence, but instead, I sighed.

“Besides, Ca ssandra Keller has been confined to

her chambers for the foreseeable future.”

“Confinement isn’t enough,” Linda insisted. “Besides, Adalyn told us why she was there. She was

simply worried about the viper attacks. She just wanted to make sure that any future bites wouldn’t be

an issue for the family-”

“The development of a curing serum is not Adalyn’s business,” I cut her off. “In fact, it’s mine. I hope

that Adalyn wasn’t attempting to interfere with that, but I have a feeling she was.”

Linda’s face suddenly paled and she shook her head. Her hair flared around her and her eyes widened.

“She wasn’t trying to i-interfere,” she said and her lower lip began to tremble. “She was just w-worried

a-about M-Marco… All she cares about is the safety of her family, Your Majesty!”

Adalyn’s mother began to cry, meanwhile, Oliver Moses’ eyes remained fixed on mine. I was a little

agitated by his boldness, but I was already in the middle of a tense conversation. The last thing I

needed was for this to escalate further when I was feeling so weak and stressed out.

“I want a thorough investigation of the incident,” he said slowly. “I want witnesses, interrogations, any

information we can get about what happened in that laboratory.”

“The only witness was Ca ssandra’s assistant, Becky,” I pointed out, and I leaned back in my seat a

little. “We’ve spoken to her and she maintains that Ca ssandra’s story was the true one.”

“Of course she did,” Linda said through her sniffles. “She’s clearly lying because

she’s on the healer’s side.”

My eyebrow shot up at the way she was speaking to me, but I chose to ignore it and looked over at

Oliver.

“The healer could be lying,” the Beta said. “And so could her assistant. There’s a strong possibility of

bias there and I think that there’s more to the situation than they’re letting on.”

He straightened his posture and folded his hands in his lap.

“Your Majesty, I worry,” he stated in a strangely cool tone. “About Adalyn clearly, but most about you.”

“Explain,” I urged. What was going on here? What did the Beta mean?

“I’m suspicious of this Ca ssandra Keller and her origin and intentions,” he

continued. “Something about her strikes me as odd. I don’t like what I’ve heard. With your permission,

Your Majesty, I would like to interrogate the healer.”

I wanted to laugh at him directly. There was no way that I would agree to that request, and besides, I

knew what Oliver wanted. The Beta had a rat among the royal healers. I had no idea which one it was,

but one of them was working for the Moses family under my nose. That was the true reason I’d brought

Ca ssandra back in the first place. She was out of Oliver’s control and I could trust her to conduct

research impartially without any ulterior motives.

Oliver thought he could play me just as he did the others. But he couldn’t.

“Are you questioning the Alpha King’s decision?” I challenged him.

The Beta shook his head immediately and then gave me a small bow of respect.

“No, Your Majesty,” he insisted. “No no. I would never do that. I just worry about you. I want to make

sure everything is well with you. You know me. I would do anything for the glory of the Wegalla

Empire.”

“Hmm,” I remarked, and I crossed my arms against my chest. “I see. I question. your dedication to

Wegalla, Oliver, as you keep challenging me at every turn. Do you think I’m unfit to make decisions of

my own?”

“No, Your Majesty,” Oliver said, and he raised his hands up slightly. “Thats not what I’m saying at all.”

“He would never dare to say something like that, Your Majesty,” Linda chimed in as she wiped the tears

from her cheeks.

“Stay out of it, Linda,” Oliver hissed under his breath, and once his wife sat back, he turned to face me

again. “Your Majesty, what I’m trying to say is that if you insist on only going your own way, the rest of

the Pack might voice complaints. Especially some of the councilors.”

My jaw tightened instantly. Oliver was like a fox. The councilors who would be against my decision

were all on his side. The Beta’s words served as a reminder that my power wasn’t stable.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, my place here in the Empire wasn’t without its challenges. It was

hard to live up to the legacy my father had built, and there were many who wanted to see me fall. Oliver

was one such person and this recent threat to Adalyn only put me-and Ca ssandra for that matter- in

danger.

“I think I can take care of this myself,” I addressed the Beta in a voice that was stern and cold. I raised

my chin and gave him a chilling smile. “Thank you for your kindness, Oliver. It’s appreciated as always.”

The old Beta stared back at me with a confused expression. He opened his mouth to speak and then

seemed to give up on the plan entirely. He simply nodded and then rose to his feet. Without another

word, he took his wife’s hand and led her to the door of the study. Before they left, they offered bows of

respect, but I didn’t care. I was relieved to see them go.

The Moses family had been a thorn in my side for far too long, but there was nothing I could do about it

at this point. I was married to Adalyn and Oliver was the Beta of the Pack. I couldn’t dismiss them, even

though I desperately wanted to at this point.

Once I was alone, I released a heavy breath.

Ca ssandra, Adalyn, Oliver, the vipers, the king of Yurene…

My head spun and I closed my eyes.

This game grew more and more complicated by the day and I was struggling to keep up.