Orphan Alpha

Chapter 2

Eighteen Years Earlier

“Craig, Jordan, it’s good to see you. I wish it were under better circumstances though.” Alpha Bruce

said.

“You too Bruce. We can’t tell you how much we appreciate your help.” I replied.

“Nonsense. You’re family Craig. I thought I made that clear when I mated with your sister. Now why

don’t you fill me in on what’s been happening since you joined Jordan at the Castle?”

I took a deep breath to steady myself. It had been two years since the royals made it clear that I would

have to leave my position as Alpha of my own pack to join my mate at the castle. She was second in

line for the throne, until her brother assumed the role, she wasn’t free to live her life as Luna to my

pack. Bruce had been kind enough to offer my pack shelter, many of them opting to join rather than

remain in limbo waiting for our return, which could take decades.

Things at the castle has seemed fairly boring. Jordan had to sit in on meetings occasionally, it was

required of her that she learn the ins and outs of running the entire Lycan kingdom. I spent most of my

time training with the royal guard or finding various things to keep me busy. I had decided to look at the

royal family lineage to keep me busy one day when I noticed something odd.

There had been a string of deaths among the royals, but nobody had thought too much of it. Maybe the

king did, but he never told anyone. It wasn’t until I was looking at Jordan’s family tree that I realized

every death was of someone in line to the throne. I wasn’t too sure what would happen once all of the

blood heirs were wiped out; it was something that had never happened in the history of our kind.

Unless you count bloody coups that replaced one dynasty with another, but this seemed like something

else was afoot.

I didn’t want to alarm Jordan. All of the deaths had appeared to be of natural causes on the surface,

though it was highly unusual for illness or disease to take out a wolf. Our species was generally

healthier than humans, untouched by things that would take them out easily, but it did happen on

occasion. I decided to investigate deeper into the deaths. I wanted to know if my mind was creating

suspicion out of boredom or if there was actually a plot unfolding under our noses.

I spent the next few weeks sneaking around, gathering information. I had tried to go directly to the royal

physicians, but they had refused to give me any information. My status as an Alpha held no bearing in

the royal court. Here I was simply Jordan’s mate. I tried to use her own Alpha status as leverage, she

was after all the oldest, but since the crown passed first through the male line, that hadn’t helped either.

Without assistance in gaining access to the deceased royal’s medical records and autopsy reports, I

had been delegated to sneaking into offices after hours. In order to avoid my activities being detected, I

had stolen the files one at a time, making note of anything that seemed important. By the time I had

sorted through all of the records, there was one thing that stood out to me in my notes. All of the dead

royals had been the picture of health prior to their deaths.

With the exception of a handful of the deaths, all of them had been labelled accidental. They had

consumed a deadly amount of wolfsbane. The royals were known to consume small amounts of

wolfsbane in an attempt to inoculate themselves against being poisoned with the stuff, some of them

taking it in small doses with their evening meal. Even so, the amounts detected by their toxicology Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

reports was well over what they would have consumed. They had been intentionally poisoned. I would

need to talk to their omega, if any where still working at the castle after the demise of their masters.

Making a note to look into the location of the omegas, I turned my attention to the few deaths that

weren’t from wolfsbane poisoning. They seemed straightforward, a training accident, a run in with a

vamp, a heart attack. All fairly mundane and not so unusual in the general wolf population. These were,

however, royal wolves, all in line for the throne should anything happen to Jordan or her brother. They

should have been heavily guarded and undergoing regular physicals to detect and treat any ailments. I

knew I wouldn’t get anything from the physicians, I had needed to steal the records to learn anything in

the first place, but I might have some luck with their personal guards, if I could track them down. Before

I could decide how to proceed with getting information on them, Jordan burst into the room, panic

written across her face.

“What’s wrong love?” I asked, rushing to her side.

“Ezekiel.” She sobbed. “Ezekiel is dead. He was found in the gardens with his throat slit.”

I wasn’t certain what that meant for my suspicions, but I wasn’t about to have us stick around the castle

and find out. I hurriedly packed our belongings, explaining what I had found and what I thought it meant

to Jordan as we raced along the highway toward Silver Moon pack lands. Jordan agreed that it looked

like someone was trying to kill off the royal line, but her grief was so fresh that she couldn’t think deeper

into it to offer any insights. I had called Bruce on the way and we found ourselves in his office a few

days later.

“We need somewhere safe to hide out while we figure out what all of this means.” I told him as I

finished explaining the things I had found.

“Well, we have an empty compound on the edge of pack lands. It’s registered under the Silver Moon

pack, of course. I expect your pack members that haven’t joined here will be more than happy to move

there under their Alpha. None of your soldiers have joined us officially so you will have plenty of

protection.”

“My royal guard will join us as well.” Jordan interjected. “Even if this is some plot and not a coincidence,

they are loyal to me and me alone.”

I nodded in agreement. Jordan was right, her guard was extremely loyal to her and they would relocate

in secret with just a word from her. With the existing warriors from my pack and her guard, we would be

well protected. We could remain hidden under the guise of being an extension of the Silver Moon pack

as far as anyone in the royal court was concerned. It would help conceal us further as we tried to find

out just what had been happening. We could deal with Jordan being the sole remaining heir to the

lycan throne once this mystery was solved.