Third person’s POV
“No way!”
Herman blocked the bed, his expression turning vicious as he bared his fangs.
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“Alpha Howell is resting! This is Silverlight territory; you can’t just barge in like this! Lycan Luna sent you to treat a patient, not to flip Alpha Howell’s bed!”
In a sh, Richard–who had been silent until now–moved. He struck Herman back with practiced ease and ripped away the medical istion film in one violent tug.
In the dim light, the truth wasid bare. There was no Alpha covered in shingles.
Instead, there was a scruffy, middle–aged stranger with bloodshot eyes, shaking like a leaf. The oxygen mask on his face had been knocked askew as he recoiled in terror.
“Please… don’t kill me… I’m just a gardener…” the man whimpered, trembling from head to toe..
Dead silence followed. Luna Skye’s legs gave out, and she copsed onto the plush rug.
Richard looked at the gardener, then turned to Herman with a cold smirk.
“So, this is the ‘Noble Alpha Howell“?”
Dr. Hughes was so livid his beard was shaking. He pointed a finger at the bed and roared, “This is fraud! This is treason! You had the audacity to use a lowly gardener to y games with Lycan Luna rissa!”
Herman hit his knees with a heavy thud.
“No… Alpha Howell… he was just scared of the shingles being contagious… so… so he found a body double…”
“Enough.”
Richard cut him off coldly, adjusting his cuffs.
“Dr. Hughes, since the real patient isn’t here, there’s nothing for you to diagnose. It’s time we head back and report exactly what we found.”
Without a second nce at the sobbing Luna Skye, they turned and walked out.
Back at the Pce, Richard immediately briefed rissa.
She didn’t look surprised. She just let out a sharp snort and snip–her shears cut through a withered rose
stem.
“Go tell Lycan Erasmus he’s having dinner with me tonight.”
00
<b>23 </b>
O
At dinner, the candlelight flickered against the silver cutlery..
rissa elegantly wiped the corner of her mouth and broke the silence.
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“Alpha Howell has been ‘sick‘ for quite a while. Today, I sent Dr. Hughes over to give him a checkup.”
She paused, her eyes locking onto her son’s.
“And guess what? They tried to pass off a stinking gardener as Howell. That Silverlights usually looks so spineless, but they’ve got balls, I’ll give them that.”
Lycan Erasmus’s golden pupils contracted. A chill crawled up his spine.
It had never even crossed his mind that a total loser like Howell would pull a stunt like this.
Ever since he was a pup, Howell had been the quintessential “gutter rat“-cowardly and timid.
Lycan Erasmus vividly remembered a royal martial arts banquet where a dancer’s de identally swung a little too close to Howell.
The man had fainted on the spot and wet his pants.
Later, when thete Lycan King ordered him to the frozen northern border, Howell had spent days crying at the Pce, iming his health was too fragile for the weather and that he was terrified of rogue wolves.
Thete Lycan King took pity on him and let him stay in the capital as a socialite.
Since then, Howell had lived a careful, quiet life among the nobility. He didn’t even dare to protect his own daughter, Melinda, when White humiliated her..
Lycan Erasmus had never considered him a threat.
“I actually misread him,” Lycan Erasmus muttered, his voice sounding dry.
If Howell’s cowardice had been an act for all these years, how cunning was the man?
Frustrated, Lycan Erasmus identally grabbed the finger bowl instead of his wine and downed it.
The acrid liquid burned his throat, but he didn’t even notice. He subconsciously released a wave of aura, a low, predatory growl vibrating in his chest.
Since taking the throne, he’d survived countless bloodbaths, but he’d never felt this unsettled.
Since the treason case broke, he had investigated every single suspect, even those with the flimsiest ties to the plot.
But Alpha Howell? He was the ultimate blind spot precisely because he seemed so harmless.
Cowardice was his perfect camouge.
Lycan Erasmus reined in his aura and took a breath. “What made you send Dr. Hughes over there today?”
00
<b>23 </b>
III
O
<b>18:55 </b><b>Fri</b>, <b>Jan </b>23 <b>J </b>
The air stilled for a second. rissa, a royal by blood, was a master at <b>masking </b><b>her </b><b>scent</b>.
She gave a lightugh and picked up a pecled grape.
“Can’t you smell it? There’s still a hint of that sweet, cloying pheromone in the air. Prisci was <b>here</b><b>. </b><b>She </b>was rambling on about how weird it was that Howell had been sick so long, so I figured I’d <b>have </b><b>someone </b>look into it.”
Lycan Erasmusughed at that, his suspicion of his mother vanishing. He chatted with her for a <b>few </b>more minutes before heading out.
rissa walked out into the cold night with her omega, Yvonne, for her nightly stroll.
As the north wind howled, she looked toward the distant mountains, her wolf eyes glowing gold as if trying to see the future of the kingdom.
Then, she let out a very faint, heavy sigh.
Yvonne knew rissa was worried about the two strongest Alphas in the country: Lycan Erasmus and Lance.
Once the seeds of doubt sprout in a Lycan King’s mind, it’s only a matter of time before the smell of blood fills the air as they tear each other apart.
But she couldn’t do anything, and she couldn’t say a word. To do so would only fuel Lycan Erasmus‘ paranoia.
Sara Lili
<strong>Sara Lili</strong> is a daring romance writer who turns icyndscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of d’s breathtaking cold.