Alpha King’s Lost Luna by Aubrey Pepper

Chapter 83 Stolen

CA SSANDRA

We left Asher’s study immediately, and the moment we set foot in the hallway, the guards stationed

outside both glanced at each other in alarm.

“Is everything all right, Your Majesty?” one asked as he studied the Alpha King’s expression. To his

credit, Asher was looking slightly exhausted. His dark circles were far more present than they’d been in

the past week. As the illness was affecting him more and more, his physical appearance began to look

more sickly. He was still as handsome as ever, but it was evident he wasn’t sleeping much these days.

“I’m fine,” Asher answered him politely. “I’ll return shortly. I’m going accompany Healer Ca ssandra on

an errand. Remain here.”

to

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the guard replied obediently, and after he offered Asher a nod, the Alpha King

turned to me and gestured forward.

“Let’s go,” he said, and then we made our way down the hall.

Our walk down to the royal library was silent, and I once again found myself surprised that Asher was

entertaining this theory of mine. I hadn’t expected him to go along with this, but I was grateful that he

was giving my idea the time of day.

When we entered the building, the librarian rose to her feet and bowed to the Alpha King. “Y-your

Majesty,” she stammered. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Yes,” Asher replied simply. “Healer Ca ssandra and I would like to take a look in the private room if you

don’t mind. Could you unlock it for us?”

“Of course,” the librarian said, and she offered the king a brilliant smile. “Let me find the keys and I’ll let

you in. The library is empty today, so you’ll have all the privacy you need.”

3

Asher nodded. “Perfect.”

The librarian rooted around in her desk, and after she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose

and ran a hand through her white-blonde hair, she approached the door and held it open for us.

We beelined toward the room, and as we got closer, my heart dropped, along with my jaw.

“What in the world…” Asher trailed off.

We stopped in our tracks and took in the sight of the disheveled room.

The entire place had been trashed. Books littered the ground, some spine-down, others completely

ripped up. The shelves were off-kilter, and the desk had been overturned.

“The box,” I breathed, and I rushed into the room. I maneuvered around the piles of discarded books

until I reached the back. The large wooden box was still there, but it was wide open. I peered inside the

trunk-like vessel, but much to my shock, it was empty.

“What happened here?” Asher demanded, and all of the color faded from the

librarian’s face.

“I… I don’t know,” she admitted as she shook her head in shock. “This room is usually locked, Your

Majesty. In fact, no one’s been in here lately other than Miss Ca ssandra, and the last time she was

here, everything was normal. I’m just as confused as you are.”

Asher stepped into the room and began to inspect it all. His eyes darted in every direction, and

suddenly he stopped.

“There are some footprints back here,” he said, and we rushed over to join him. Sure enough, beyond

the stacks, there was a set of muddy footprints leading from the windowsill.

“Someone broke in,” I realized as I followed the trail with my eyes.

“They must have done it yesterday,” Asher added. “It was raining all day.”

We turned to look at the librarian, and much to my surprise, she looked as if she

were about to burst into tears.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I… I don’t understand. I swear the window was locked, but I must have

done it improperly.”

“Hey, don’t cry,” Asher assured her gently. “It’s not your fault-”

“It’s mine,” I uttered, and when they turned to face me, heat spread to my cheeks and a lump formed in

my throat. “The last time I was here, I opened the window to get some fresh air. I must have forgotten

to lock it.”

The librarian sniffled and Asher looked as if he were going to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he

walked out of the room for a moment. When he returned, a trio of guards were with him.

“Check the room,” he ordered and then he inclined his head toward the librarian. “She’ll help you

navigate since she knows this place better than anyone.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the guards replied, and then they turned to the librarian. She nodded vigorously

and then gathered herself. As they got to work and looked through the room, Asher and I stood aside

and waited. I crossed my arms and tried not to beat myself up. I felt so guilty for leaving the window

unlocked, and I hoped I wasn’t in too much trouble.

Their inspection took a good twenty minutes, and when they stepped out into the main section of the

library, the librarian’s face looked grim.

“Your Majesty, the books about the Ewonmiams are missing,” she reported.

“What?” I breathed. No… no no no. This wasn’t good. Was the intruder looking for things about the

Ewonmiams? And if so, did that mean the things in the box were related to the sorcery academy?

Could the intruder have been the same man from the basement?

“Your Majesty, the intruder’s footprints are suspect as well,” one of the guards.

spoke up.

“In what way?” Asher asked.

“The prints match the same pattern that’s on the boots of all of the guards,” the guard replied, and a

deep line formed between Asher’s brows.

“Does that mean the intruder could be an imposter?” I wondered. “Someone impersonating a guard to

get around the palace undetected?”

No one seemed to have an answer. The room fell silent and all eyes fell to the Alpha King. Asher

remained quiet, his expression cold and difficult to read.

An imposter in the palace was a serious issue, one that put everyone in Merliscire in danger. There

were hundreds of guards in the palace, each stationed in different halls and chambers. It would be

almost impossible to check everyone out and investigate in a short period of time, and even if we

managed to do so, the imposter could get away with that much notice.

This was a terrible thing.

Anyone among us could be an intruder.

“Da mn it,” Asher cursed, and his nostrils flared. “How could something like this happen right under my

nose?”

He turned away from us and released a sigh. I wanted to reach out to him and tell him none of this was

his fault, but it didn’t seem like my place. He seemed too agitated and cross.

We needed to find a solution, and we needed to do it quickly. If the intruder was in the palace, time was

of the essence.

Suddenly, an idea crossed my mind. Perhaps there was a solution after all.

“The intruder seems to be keen to find anything related to the Ewonmiams,” I spoke up after I took a

deep breath. “And if that’s true, there might be a way for us

to lure him out.”