Cassy pov

“So whoever planted those wine bottles among the other things must have done it when the visitors parked their car in the garage and then left to meet you. That is the only explanation I can think of. I did go to the garage that day. But I didn’t find anything peculiar. But could it be that the wine was put in the trunk while they were in the pack without their knowledge?” Sir Harold analysed.

“Let’s ask Alpha Sam about their day. They could have made a stop at a store or somewhere like the gas station, and perhaps they were being watched while they weren’t aware.” My father suggested. I frowned. This felt more like a well-planned crime. I just couldn’t fathom who would be that eager to hurt us that bad.

“That is a good idea.” Mom agreed. “It is hard to believe that any of our staff would betray us. I don’t understand why they would.” She added, tapping on the office desk as she sat beside dad, thinking deeply over the matter.

“Should I call him?” I asked. Elliot was beside me.

We were all sitting in the office discussing trying to wrack our brains to solve the mystery behind the incident that had disrupted our peace of mind.

A week had passed since Elliot had woken up, however, we refrained from openly talking about it out loud. We didn’t know who to trust. There was a high possibility that someone close had betrayed us. When Elliot regained full health, we had started to attend to our duties in the office, and that is where we discussed the matter. Because the office is out of access to any of the servants, and it is fully soundproof. Only me, my mate, my parents, and his father were allowed inside. Because these people are those who I believed I could trust with my eyes closed. For sure, they wouldn’t want to hurt me or Elliot.

“Yes. Call him and put it on speaker.” Dad said, and I obliged. Alpha Sam answered soon enough.

“Yes, your highness.” He greeted me.

“Alpha Sam. I’m calling to ask you about the day you visited us. Can you tell us who loaded the gifts?” I went straight to the point.

“It was Miles. But I had personally supervised it myself. I am a hundred per cent sure that wine wasn’t included.” He answered. I paused my lips.

“Okay. We are just trying to analyse the situation.” I sighed. “Did you make any stop on the way? Like at the gas station or something like that?” I asked. There was a pause when I supposed he was recalling the events of that day.

“No…. We didn’t.” He replied. “We drove straight from the pack to the kingdom. I remember wanting to get it done soon because regardless of what Miles had done in the past, it was his duty.” He explained.

“Okay. Thank you, Alpha Sam.” I said and paused for a while before ending the call.

“How is Miles now?” I asked. I haven’t heard about him ever since they left a week ago. I just hope that he is getting better.

I heard a deep sigh.

“Well, he isn’t getting any worse. He still isn’t speaking with anyone. Even Nolan and Castor had started to try and make him talk, but nothing. He just sits in his room, facing the balcony. He eats when food is brought to him, but that is it. It feels as though he is simply existing. No life is left in him. He doesn’t smile, nor respond to any of us. No matter what we say. I….I wish he would talk.” There was a hint of despair in his voice as he spoke.

“We have been following the therapist’s advice. She had told us to let him do the things he loved to do. Nolan and Castor had been trying their best to help, but there isn’t much improvement yet, however.” His voice quivered towards the end.

Closing my eyes, I bit my lower l*p.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

“Is there anything, or anyone he used to be close with later on? Nolan and Castor had not been close to him lately, right?” I mentioned it in a small voice.

Once again, a little pause followed.

“Actually, yes. A little omega pup used to spend an awful lot of time with him lately. I couldn’t understand why, but since Miles didn’t cause trouble I didn’t care about it either.” He said.

“Perhaps meeting him could help?” I suggested. I didn’t understand what I was saying, but I had to say something.

“Yes….maybe. It could.” He said, “Thank you, your majesty. I will try that as well. Right now, I’m getting desperate and I am ready to try anything.” He spoke.

“If nothing works, come here. We can ask the healers. Perhaps they could help.” I told him.

“Sure. I will.”

I ended the call when he replied. An awkward silence filled the office. Everyone had heard my conversation with Alpha Sam. Ever since I had realised how wrong I was, I had been regretting my actions. If it wasn’t for Elliot’s continuous support, I would have believed that I was the worst possible Queen who had ever lived.

“So that could mean the wine was planted in the palace garage. That was the only stop they made.” Sir Harold muttered, breaking the silence.

“Dad, which security guard was on duty that day? Maybe we can ask him. He might have seen if someone was sneaking around near the garage.” Elliot spoke.

“Good idea Elliot.” His father said and started to check the duty roster.

The change of topic made it a bit easy for me.

We called the guard to question him. Upon questioning, we realised that only the guards on duty were around, but they were the ones who were always in the area and so he had not noticed any suspicious activities. This doesn’t sound good. We were at a dead end.

“When I went to the garage that day, I tried to sniff any strange scents. My lycan also couldn’t detect the scent of any foreigner. It could only be an inside job.” Sir Harold stated after we dismissed the security officer.

“So, any of the royal guards?” I guessed.

“Yes. The royal guards, the security officer and the driver. They are the regular ones in that area.” He stated.

“Let’s interrogate them all?” Elliot stated, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Of course. We must.” Dad agreed at once. “And let’s hurry. We have lost enough time already. We will call them in the throne room. The office will get crowded if we gather all of them here.” He said so we all made our way towards the throne room.

“Call them,” I said and ascended to the throne, with Elliot right behind me.

“Cass! Watch out!” Elliot gasped and pulled me towards him, making us both stumble down the steps and fall on our backs.

“Whaaaa……”

I wasn’t even able to complete my question when a sudden blast blinded our sight. Its loud bang made me cower while I felt Elliot envelop me in his arms, shielding me from the debris that flew all over the place. My eyes were squeezed shut, as I buried my face in his chest, holding on to him.

We stayed like that for some time, taking deep breaths, until I felt that the chaos had died down. I slowly looked up and looked into Elliot’s face, hoping that he was okay. He had somehow taken the blow, and I was certain that he would be hurt to some extent.

“Elliot!” I gasped and hurried to check him for injuries. As expected, his shirt was torn and there were little cuts where he was bleeding from. At least, none of those cuts seemed to be deep.

“Oh God, Elliot, you shouldn’t have,” I said, feeling bad that he got hurt again, and it had been just a few days since he recovered from the last attack.

Concerned about our parents, I glanced at where they stood. Thankfully, they weren’t affected much. However, the blast had dissipated dust particles all over the place, making the whole place dusty. The guards that had been standing on duty quickly rushed to our assistance.

“Who is responsible for all this? This surely is an inside job.” My father bellowed when the guards gathered around us.

“I swear to God that I will chop whoever is responsible for these attacks against their Queen!” He was shaking in anger as he screamed.

“You must have seen something, at least someone who was here when he wasn’t supposed to!” Mom exclaimed sternly.

“I demand an answer from each of you! Right now!” My father’s voice echoed in the throne room. It was enough to make anyone cower in fear.

“Your highness, I had started my duty just a few minutes back. I swear to God that I haven’t seen anyone while I was here.” One of the guards swore.

One by one, the guards on duty swore that they were innocent.

“Looks like we must question the guards who just finished their duty,” I stated.

“Bring them in, we will not clean this place before I inspect this place.” Elliot’s father announced.

“Let’s go to the infirmary,” I told Elliot, however, he refused.

“I am fine. These are little cuts they will heal soon.” He replied, looking serious.

Oh, he is f*****g sexy when he is focused. I thought.

“Hmm. I agree with you on that honey.” Izzy purred in agreement. I held back a smirk and looked away. The matter at hand was way too serious for me to lose focus. We better find out who is behind all of these attacks.