The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 47

Candido worked his jaw for a few moments. His gaze never left mine. It might be the last time we were alone like this. I had already scanned his office, and the book wasn’t there. Wherever he’d put it was hidden, and I wouldn’t have access to his office if things were getting as bad as I figured they were.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” he called and stood up. I heard Allen walk away before Candido shifted his jacket and walked around the desk, barely avoiding brushing past me.

It felt cold and impersonal, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to touch him right now, either. My pride, my feelings, and everything else in me were still smarting from his silent rejection. I wasn’t feeling much like his little girl right now. I would always be grateful for Candido in my life, but I could feel our relationship changing. I just didn’t know if it was for better or worse.

Maybe this was fine. Maybe this was how it was supposed to go. I may love Candido, but the Moon Goddess had clearly intended me for someone else. I thought to Armageddon briefly. That pull and heat had been real. My feelings were real too, but there was no sense in pursuing them if they weren’t reciprocated.

I tried to keep from crying. My heart was breaking.

“We’ll finish this later. Go and get something to eat.”

I stood in place, not acknowledging him, unable to say anything, but I listened to him leave and walk down the hall. My legs wobbled as I considered sitting down. I had told him, and he understood, and he rejected me. Whether that was because he really didn’t feel the same way or because he just couldn’t see himself with someone so much younger than him, I didn’t know, but it didn’t matter.

I turned my focus to the matter at hand. I would deal with my feelings later. I would deal with being Hedy later. I’d meant what I said about supporting him no matter how he felt about it. I was Pandora, and it was my duty to support the alpha king no matter how I felt about it personally. If there was an opportunity to get into the secret passage, I’d take it. I’d risk my life to make sure that the werewolf world was united under Candido’s reign.

I had to. I had promised to do what must be done as a member of Moon Shadow.

My feelings about Armageddon and what to do about that situation would have to wait too.

I lifted my head, keeping my phone on me and hurrying out of the room. I took the fastest path to the parlor beside the meeting room and locked the door behind me. It was an old closet that wasn’t used for much of anything, but it shared an almost direct vent with the meeting room, and through it, I had listened to plenty of Candido’s meetings before.

This would be the first time that I was listening to a meeting of multiple alphas though. I couldn’t see anything more than chairs and legs around the table through the vent, but I recognized most of the voices. There were only the alphas of the New Moon and Red Moon Pack in the room with Candido. It didn’t surprise me since they were the big three, but then there were other voices coming through a computer further into the room.

They had to be video conferencing other alphas into the meeting.

“Are we all here?” Candido asked. “If so, let’s get started with the report.”

An official-sounding voice began to speak, detailing the carnage that had been left behind in the city and how they were still collecting samples and bodies from the area. The city had been quarantined. The news had been fed that there was some sort of toxin in the water that had killed a lot of people, and no one was to come near the area, but there was no telling how long that story would hold.

Journalists tended to be more nosy than they should be, especially when it came to Interpack issues. With Candido’s recent declaration, there was bound to be more interest in what was going on than usual.

“It’s a mystery. No matter how much we look, there are no clues about how they’re getting in and out so quickly.” Norton said gruffly. “No clues about how they have been evading out surveillance either.”

That was an odd notion. Vampires hadn’t been avoiding surveillance in all these attacks. There was plenty of footage though we couldn’t recognize anyone in the footage. It seemed like Norton had some sort of information that he hadn’t shared with Interpack authorities. Had he not looked at the report and all the surveillance or was he operating under the understanding that vampires could avoid our surveillance?

How?

Maybe I needed to hack the Red Moon Pack’s main house directly rather than their city surveillance.

“They haven’t been,” Candido said. “They’ve just been doing it all so quickly that any response we could manage comes too late.”

Someone clicked something. “They’ve been wreaking havoc from the shadows. What about this drug? No origin point? No information?”

“We know that the packaging was bought through various avenues. Too many to trace, too generic to point to anything. The manufacturing companies sell to third-party distributors. Even if we could trace it back, it wouldn’t tell us anything.”

That sounded like Candido had access to Moon Shadow’s analysis and network. My heart lurched. If he was in Moon Shadow, there was a chance that we had met through the mainframe at some point.

Someone grunted in acknowledgment. “Then, what should we do?”

“What about the other attacks? Have the places been analyzed, the victims identified?”

“Most of them.” He rattled off a few names that I took note of. I could probably get a copy of the full meeting through the video conferencing software if my surveillance programs were still working. “There’s seemingly no rhyme or reason, really. They’re all in a child bearing years, mostly on the younger end, from various packs and backgrounds.”

“Seems like that’s all that links them together,” someone said. “That could mean that most women in the territories could be in danger of disappearing. We need more than that to try and make a guess.”

Where had the women been taken from? Where? It was one thing to say they were from all different places, but there was likely some commonality. Were they taken at night or the day time? In bigger or smaller cities?

Why wasn’t Candido asking these questions?

“The temple, several cities, a museum, and several other places of note were attacked. These missing women had to have some commonality besides the fact that they’re women. And it’s definitely all connected.” Candido asked. “Aside from the havoc they’ve wreaked? Various substances have been identified from the corpses and the surrounding areas. Where do we stand on analyzing its origin? Packaging is one thing, but what about the drug itself?”

“You really think it’s all related?”

“I do.”

I worried my l*p. Candido had mentioned the attack on Moon Shadow’s, housed beneath a museum here in the capital. Had he been looking into it? Maybe he was a part of the team that had dealt with the attack.

“To what end?”

“What would vampires want with werewolf women?”

“Did you forget that the ones that survived were pregnant?”

A heavy pause filled the room then a roar of refusal went up. My stomach turned at the thought, but there was no other explanation for the way the women had been returned. As I thought to the men that Julia had caught during the championship, I couldn’t help but agree.

“You can’t be serious!”

“What a ridiculous notion—”

“Quiet!” Candido growled, silencing the room. “What other reason, would those that were found dead be pregnant enough to see in an autopsy and those alive with no memories also be pregnant? Whether it is some sick experimentation or a means to rebuild ranks and grow a spy force, I have no idea, but it is clear that vampires are attempting to bring war to our borders by attacking our people and our way of life.”

“A vampire-werewolf hybrid?” Someone said, their voice shaking. “It’s something of nightmares. What does the temple have to say about something like that?”

“Nothing,” Candido said, but I didn’t believe him. Maybe the temples didn’t have anything to say in public, but I bet he’d gotten some private answers unless he had those answers in the book.

“We are not prepared for war. We’ve been at something like peace for centuries!”

“What would have started this now?”

“If the vampires are seeking to make war again,” Norton cut in. “We need to mobilize.”

“I agree,” Candido said. “We—”

“But I want my daughter married before then.”

I covered my mouth, smothering a gasp of horror as the room went silent.