Derek shrugged and poured another finger of whiskey. “Beats me.” He glanced at Kai. “Anything in her medical records?”
Kai shook his head. “Nothing major, just a few injuries, some accident reports, occasional fevers.”
“Accidents?” Derek’s brows drew together as he took the file Kai slid across the desk.
“Yeah.” Kai tapped the tablet. “Once she was brought in after inhaling smoke when her room caught fire. Survived a rogue attack as a teenager, a few scratches, that sort of thing.”
Derek scanned the reports, his frown deepening with every line.
“You think those accidents were ordinary?” Declan asked.
“Definitely not,” Derek muttered. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, still concentrating on the papers. “She told me Rolf hates her because her mother died giving birth to her. She has no memories of the woman, no photos, nothing. But what bothers me more is how quickly he remarried, barely a year after losing his supposed love.”
From the dates Kai had pulled, Kira’s birthday had only been at the end of last month, which meant she was little more than a year older than the real Chloe.
“This is getting complicated,” Declan said, scratching his head. “This is not what we signed up for.”
“No, it is not.”
“We are treading on very dangerous ground. She could be a spy,” Declan insisted.
Kai barked out a laugh, causing both Declan and Derek to turn toward him with glares. “Sorry, what?” Kai grinned. “You really think that girl is some master manipulator?”
“Do you have a better idea?” Declan snapped.
Kai raised his hands in mock surrender. “My team would have spotted it if she had any hidden agenda in her profile.”
“Well, maybe your team is not as infallible as you claim,” Declan shot back through clenched teeth.
“Coming from the man who could not spot a spy even when she was staring him in the face,” Kai retorted. “Took me one look to figure her out, remember?”
“That was different. She was my significant other.”
Kai burst into laughter again. “Significant what now? Just say you were blinded by love. Declan, you are too boring.”
“Enough!” Derek growled, and the room fell silent. Declan and Kai always bickered like schoolboys. Declan hated how lightly Kai took everything, while Kai loved needling Declan for being too serious.
Well, Kai enjoyed needling everyone, and it baffled Derek and the rest how the ladies thought he was charming when he was mostly just annoying.
Derek found the whole thing exhausting.
“This is not the time to squabble like rival wives,” he said flatly. Declan shot Kai one last glare while Kai smirked. Declan was clearly stung by the mention of the time he had fallen for a girl who turned out to be an enemy spy. “We need to figure out what Rolf is playing at.”
“I still say she is just caught in the middle,” Kai offered. “She does not strike me as the scheming type, more like someone plotting how to murder you in your sleep for dragging her into this marriage.”
Derek sent him an icy look. “That is supposed to reassure me?”
Declan leaned forward. “I think Rolf, or whoever he really is to her, sent her here to catalogue our weaknesses. She is smart; it would not take her long.”
Derek had considered that too, but he had promised himself he would not regret choosing a revenge bride. If Rolf thought he had won with this deceit, he was in for a nasty surprise.
“Remember how Rolf infiltrated your father’s court,” Declan pressed. “There were other ways to conquer the werewolf territories without going through this entire sham of a marriage.”
“Did you forget that I needed a wife to claim my throne, Declan?”
“You could have chosen any Lycan girl.”
Derek turned to him fully. “My decision is final, Declan. Deal with it.”
“I just hope you do not catch feelings for a werewolf,” Declan said through gritted teeth. “You know how dangerous that would be for all of us.”
“I know what I am doing, Declan. Drop it.”
“They killed my father!” Declan snapped.
In a blur, Derek crossed the library and got in Declan’s face, pheromones flooding the room. “They killed my entire family. Never bring this up again. I am not asking, I am commanding you as your King.”
Declan lowered his gaze and bowed his head in total submission, remaining that way until Derek stepped back and reined in his power. Derek squeezed his eyes shut until his eyes, which had almost bled into a predator’s red, returned to their amber shade. He pulled Kira’s phone from his pocket and handed it to Kai. “See what you can dig up, and install a tracker. I refuse to be caught off guard again.”
Kai bowed dramatically. “Your wish is my command, Your Grace.”
Derek headed for the door, then paused. “And Kai, I know you gossip like an old market woman. None of this leaves this room. Not the fake marriage, not the strangeness around the girl, not a word to anyone, not even Nana. If it does, I will banish you for real this time.”
Kai clutched his chest dramatically. “You wound me. My agency is not the best in Lycan territory for nothing, give me some credit, brother.” He zipped his fingers across his lips and tossed away the imaginary key. “My lips are sealed.”
Derek ignored him and turned to Declan. “Tell Connor to prepare a convoy. We are visiting Rolf right after breakfast.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” Declan said.
The three men left the library together, unaware that Ruby had been hiding behind one of the tall bookshelves. She had snuck into Derek’s private library earlier, hoping to find answers to her questions, and the goddess had handed her everything on a golden platter.
So the King’s marriage to the werewolf girl was arranged and fake, just as she had suspected. Relief washed through her, but it was quickly soured by the fact that, fake or not, he had still married a werewolf.
“Your Majesty,” Rolf called the moment he stepped into his office and found Derek and Kira seated in the armchairs in front of his desk, while Declan, Kai, and Connor stood solidly behind them. Alpha Rolf’s heart skipped the instant his eyes landed on Kira, and she quickly looked away from him, but he masked his nervousness almost immediately and chose to play ignorant, even though he knew deep down that his deceit might already be unravelling. “What has brought you to my humble pack today?”
“Humble indeed, Rolf,” Derek replied, his voice low and edged with danger. He leaned back slightly. “It’s a pity your humility didn’t extend to your paperwork,” he added, then glanced at Kai, who stepped forward and laid several documents neatly on Rolf’s desk.
Kira kept her posture straight and her face carefully blank, but her fingers tightened subtly around the arm of the chair when her father’s gaze flicked to her again, sharp and searching.
“You presented the King with a bride who was not your heir,” Declan began evenly. “You concealed her true identity, her age, and the systematic poisoning that has kept her wolf suppressed for years. You violated the terms of the alliance treaty in three distinct ways: misrepresentation of bloodline, endangerment of the contracted party, and deliberate deception regarding pack succession. This isn’t just a breach of contract, it’s a declaration of war.”
“Your Majesty,” Rolf said, his voice a little too controlled as his eyes moved from Declan back to Derek, and he forced a small, confused frown. “I don’t know what she told you, but this is not a breach of contract, and what systematic poisoning are you even talking about?”
Derek studied Rolf’s face closely, because the older man looked genuinely baffled, and for a moment, Derek wondered whether Rolf truly had no idea about Kira’s suppressed wolf or whether he was simply a masterful liar.
“You’ve been feeding her aconite extract and fadevine to keep her wolf suppressed,” Kai stated bluntly.
“And why would I do that?” Rolf asked, his eyes darting to Kira. “Is that the lie you fed him?”
“Rolf,” Derek said at last, gesturing lazily toward the documents on the desk, “the medical reports are right there for you to read.”
Rolf hesitated before finally picking up the file Kai had dropped and began to skim through the reports. Derek watched him carefully and listened to his heartbeat, expecting it to spike, but to his surprise, it didn’t. It remained steady enough to suggest that Rolf might actually be telling the truth.
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