The Alpha King's Princess
The Alpha King’s Princess – Chapter 70

I couldn’t say how long I stayed there, crying on the floor of the library, listening to Francium sobbing through the phone, but it was a long time. The crack in the New Moon’s panel hadn’t shrunk or grown, but it seemed to grow darker above me.

Soon, I heard movement. There was no more sobbing or words, but I heard him walking away from the phone. I listened and waited to hear something else, but there was nothing but silence. T

Then, the call dropped.

I felt my resolve start to build.

I couldn’t stay here.

I couldn’t let anyone know what had happened.

The campus wasn’t safe, and there was nothing more that I could do.

I stood and walked slowly through the halls, walking back the way I had run. I found my shoes and noted the new damage in the halls, great, wide cracks in the mortar. The gilded edges of the hallways had been cracked and revealed the dark stone beneath it.

As I exited the academy, I said nothing to the Team Gamma-2 members, and they said nothing to me.

One of them spoke into his radio about coming back to the jeep as I climbed in the back seat and leaned against the door frame, staring out into nothing.

Clouds gathered overhead. When the last member came back and got into the jeep, thunder rumbled. Lightning twisted through the skin, and the sky opened up, dumping thick sheets of rain over us as they drove me back to the estate.

I walked in, not waiting for an umbrella or an escort. I didn’t care if I tracked water through the house. I’d apologize to the staff later. I got into my room and stripped out of the gown that had grown heavy with rain. I dropped my shoes beside my bed and threw myself into it.

If I never spoke another word to anyone, it would be too soon.

My phone chimed. I didn’t know if it was Armageddon or someone else, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t going to happen.

My mind drifted, listening to Claire’s last breaths and Francium’s desperate voice. I felt the agony of that howl resonating in me, but there was fury too.

He’d killed her. He’d taken her from me, Allen, and everyone else because of that man. Because of those pills, whatever they did for him.

They said that werewolves would die if they killed their own mates or were forever cursed. Would those pills help him survive that? Was it true?

I didn’t know.

A knock sounded on my door, but I didn’t answer it.

“Miss Hedy?” Allen called through the door.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer.

“I’m coming in.”

The door opened, but I didn’t turn over. He said nothing for a moment.

“I… suppose you have heard the news already.” His voice cracked at the end. “My… wife and I will be taking a few days off to… to plan the funeral. If you would like to be a part of it, you are more than welcome. I know how close you two were, and she would… She would want you to be a part of it in some way…”

My eyes burned with tears I didn’t know I had left in me.

“Don’t put her in black,” I said. “She… She would have wanted a spring color.”

He let out a watery laugh. “I’m glad someone else is on my side on that… I’ll be sure to tell my wife that. Thank you.”

“Daisies,” I said, remembering some day from years ago. “And lilies. And sunflowers.”

“You’re right…”

He said nothing more but left me alone.

I pulled my phone to me and opened the report. It didn’t take long for me to replace the coverage on it. She had been found in the forest. The police said that they believed she had been raped, murdered, and dumped in the woods.

I could only guess that she and Francium had been having s*x before he’d dragged her down into the caves beneath the school. She’d been found mostly naked. The Dean of Students had sent out an announcement about her death and a lovely message about how much she would be missed.

Our rugby captain sent another message. The school forum was full of condolences, sadness, and fear about how she had ended up in the woods so far from campus. People speculated that she’d been targeted. People were calling for Francium to say something since he had been seen with her most lately.

There were personal messages to me, but I didn’t answer any of them. I closed my phone and curled back up in bed. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. Not when I kept hearing her dying breaths in the back of my mind.

Another knock sounded on my door. I said nothing.

“Hedy?” It was Candido’s voice. The door swung open without warning. He made a soft, pained sound before walking towards my bed. I felt the bed dip behind me.

“I know it was hard… giving your input on her funeral, but thank you. It meant a lot to Allen, and I know that Claire would have been happy to have you as a part of it.”

I couldn’t speak. Even if there were words to say, what could I tell him? Maybe Claire had gotten killed because they thought she was Pandora? That it might have been my fault for pushing them together in the first place?

That I knew who killed her and how and potentially why?

“Go away,” is all I could manage. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

He sighed. “Claire’s funeral will be held in a few days. Will you be coming?”

“Go away,” I said again. “I don’t want to talk to you.”

“… Are you going to remain upset with me forever?” Candido asked. “I can’t—”

“Go. A. Way.”

He didn’t move. He didn’t even seem annoyed, but I didn’t care. I almost knew that he wouldn’t go away. It wasn’t in Candido’s personality to walk away when he knew he had hurt someone. Not even if he thought it was for a good reason.

“When this is all over… We’ll talk. Until then, I want you to know that I’ll do everything I can to replace out who did this to Claire, and I don’t want you to get lost in your grief about all of this. When you meet him, when you’re… of age, and you can be together, you’ll understand why I’ve made the decisions I’ve made. You’ll understand it, and you might even appreciate it… For now, I’ll leave you alone.”

He stood and walked to the door. “As your guardian, I still would like to meet him one day if you’ll allow it.”

As my guardian? How self-serving of him to say that now after all these years? After knowing how I felt and kissing me anyway.

My sorrow seemed to be heating up into a wave of slow-burning anger and fury. There was Candido, of course. I was mad at him for so many reasons, but it was all tangled up in what we did and didn’t have.

But most of my fury was focused on Francium and the vampire that commanded him to kill Claire.

I sat up, gritting my teeth. It wasn’t fair. She was gone forever. My best friend was gone. Francium got to say he loved her before killing her. Was that love, or was that just a selfish desire to lessen his guilt for the crime?

And that vampire? The puppet master. What else did he have over Francium’s head? What else was he scheming? Did I have time to mourn Claire the way she deserved to be mourned? I didn’t know. I didn’t think so, and that only made me angrier. Claire was such a bright and warm person. So many people would be crushed to know that she was gone. Her funeral would be large and full of tears, but Francium wouldn’t be there.

And I wouldn’t be there either.

I couldn’t go.

I had to catch Francium and that vampire before they could do any more harm. I was the only one who knew the truth, and I could never stomach the idea of pretending to mourn her when she deserved justice.

The first thing I had to do was get out of bed, get some food in my system, recover my strength and get out there to replace Francium.

When I found Francium, I’d replace that vampire and maybe the mole.

I opened my laptop and sent Armageddon a message.

There’s a mole in Moon Shadow working with the vampires. We need to weed them out.

I closed the laptop and set it aside before getting out of bed.

I had a mission now. No more crying. No more scrambling around. War was here, and it was only a matter of time before I ended up on the front lines one way or another.