Forbidden Queen
Chapter Thirty-Four – Traitors in our Midst

Anna

I have been working at the hospital for the last few days and I have loved it. All the healers are kind and welcoming. They are very knowledgeable, and I am learning so much. I am also getting to use the latest medical equipment. Things I have read about in books but never seen before.

I am starting to treat patients, but only those with minor wounds. Palace staff who have had accidents, some of the warriors who have sustained injuries during training.

Today I am working alone, there is a line of patients already waiting for me outside my treatment room. I manage to quickly treat their wounds so that by lunch time there is only one left.

As he walks in with a smug smile on his face, I shiver with apprehension. I know there is something not right about him. “Good morning, Anna. It is great to see you again. Your father has been very worried about you.”

I go cold as I realise that he works for my father. I look around frantically hoping to see if there is someone, anyone nearby who can help me escape from this wolf. But he has chosen his time to approach me well. There is no one else her but us. He continues speaking, he is enjoying watching me panic.

“Your father was very angry when he discovered that you had run away. You can imagine how he felt when he heard that you had taken up with the royals. He is wounded by your betrayal.

Your punishment will be severe when he gets you back, and he will get you back. No child of his will be allowed to betray our pack.

It would be better for you, to show your contrition by helping me. If you can provide me with useful information about the comings and goings of the queen and the alpha of the Lunar Eclipse Pack, information that can be used to defeat them, then he may be more forgiving.

Think carefully before you answer. You know your father he always gets what he wants it will be better for you if you co-operate. I will replace a way to speak to you again soon. You can give me your answer then, in the meantime tell no one. Or it will be worse for you.

He walks away, leaving me shaking. I know my father I know that if I don’t do what he wants he will kill me, but I cannot betray my mate, and I have grown fond of the queen and Alex. I won’t be a spy. I just hope that when they replace out that I have been approached by one of my father wolves they will believe that I am not working for him. I decide that I need to tell Daniel what has happened, so that he can advise me what to do next

……………..

I am in a panic for the rest of the day but manage to hold it together somehow. When I arrive back at our rooms Daniel is already there waiting for me. He picks up instantly that something is wrong.

“What has happened?”

“Someone from my father’s pack came to see me at the hospital today. I didn’t recognise him, but he told me that my father is very angry with me. That he will try to kidnap me, take me back home so that he can punish me.”

“I won’t let him do that, there is no way that anyone will take you away from me. I will keep you safe.”

His determination to protect me, gives me some reassurance, but I know my father, he is ruthless and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. I have hurt his pride. I have made him look stupid, unable even to control his own daughter. I dread to think what he will do to me, and my mate.

“He won’t stop. He will do anything he can to get me back, include hurting you. He will be fixated on punishing me.”

“You have the might of the Lunar Eclipse pack and the Royal pack behind you he hasn’t been able to defeat us yet and he has tried for eighteen years” he says holding me in his arms.

I feel myself beginning to relax.

“He wants me to spy on Alex and Katy, to provide him with information that can be used against them. He is going to come back again. He wants an answer. I won’t betray them. They have been good to me.”

“We need to tell Alex, as soon as possible.”

……………….

Ten minutes later I am sitting across from Alex and Katy in their quarters at the palace. Daniel holds my hand as I recount the details of my encounter with my father’s spy.

“Thank you for telling us, it can’t have been easy for you” Katy says to me with a sympathetic smile.

“This information will be really helpful. It is a pity that you weren’t able to recognise him, but I will arrange for a sketch artist to work with you to draw a likeness of this wolf that we can use to hunt him down. If we can catch him, we should be able to extract from him the names of the other spies your father has at the royal court. We know he is not alone, but we don’t know how many spies Lucius has here.

Don’t tell anyone else about your visitor just yet, return to your rooms and I will arrange for the sketch artist to visit your quarters within the next hour. We can’t waste any time in apprehending this traitor.” With those final words we are dismissed. I am relieved that they haven’t blamed me, and that the information I have provided will help in the fight against my father. Slowly I am becoming a true member of the Lunar Eclipse Pack.

Alex

“Anna has confirmed what I already suspected that we have more than one traitor in the palace. If our plan to replace out which one of your advisors is the traitor fails, then the wolf who approached her today may be the only chance we have to expose them”

“Yes, it is good to know that our plan isn’t the only option we have” Katy says. “As good as it is there are so many things that could go wrong.

I think Anna’s actions today confirm that we can trust her. As much as I have always liked the girl, i have been wary of her true motives up until now”

“I agree. We know how Lucius likes to embed his spies into packs, we were right not to trust her straight awa, but Anna has proven her loyalty to her mate, and to us today. I can’t imagine what it must have been like having such a cold and cruel father, but at least going forward she has a good mate in Daniel. I am ready to welcome her into the Lunar Eclipse pack.”