“Alpha! What do you an? She managed to escape? Did you really an that–”
As soon as Talon confird that we were alone in my room, he blurted his questions at .
I realized just how close the rest of the pack mbers were to Rosalie. Why I didn’t listen to them while they talked to about her in the past was beyond .
However, Talon was hesitant to ask the question directly. I knew that he was worried about being too hopeful and getting disappointing news. I could understand that. So I told him, “Yes, she’s alive.”
He let out the breath he’d been holding and asked , “Do you mind sitting down?”
I gestured for him to take the couch as I leaned back in my chair.
After he took his seat, he asked, “She’s in the Denali Islands?”
I nodded again, knowing what his next question would be.
“So why didn’t you bring her back?” he asked, as expected.
I answered bitterly, “Because I f*cked up.”
He was quiet. I rarely needed to explain anything or admit my mistakes to him. He was probably not used to my blunt answer.
Talon thought for a mont and asked, “Anything to do with Soren?”
“That b*stard tricked her.”
Talon was imdiately nervous. “Shall we send n to the island to rescue her then?”
“No, not now.” I stopped him. “Believe , I want to get her back as soon as I possibly can, but she is safe at this mont.”
Soren wouldn’t let anything happen to her now that he knew he could use her as leverage against . If anything, he would protect her for as long as I was a threat to him.
Talon seed a little confused, but I knew my Beta couldn’t doubt if I told him Rosalie was safe. He was concerned, though. “Alpha, are you okay? Did anything happen between you two?”
I shook my head. “That’s not important right now. I need to understand how Rosalie was able to fake her death and get away.”
That wasn’t sothing I would ever ask her, and even if I did, I doubt she would have ever told .
Talon’s focus switched back to the things I wanted him to concentrate on. “You an soone here helped her?”
“Help or not, I can’t say, but if she was able to get to the islands, she couldn’t have done that all alone.”
Talon took a few seconds to sort through his thoughts and ca to the conclusion, “If Rosalie was able to get out, the biggest suspects are Roro and Madalynn.”
I nodded, “Yes, but I don’t think Rosalie would ever accept Roro’s help knowing what he wanted from her. And I don’t think Madalynn has the kind heart to go through all the trouble just to help Rosalie. ”
Talon shook his head. “You’re right. I also overheard Madalynn talking to her maid once. She was very certain and happy that Rosalie had died. We just don’t know exactly what role she played in the whole thing.”
I felt my blood boiling when I heard Rosalie’s na and the word “died” in the sa sentence.
I gritted my teeth. “I need to know exactly what Madalynn did. Also, there’s one more person from the islands we can’t overlook.”
“Roro’s Beta Damian?”
“Yes. Have you found out more about him since I asked?”
Talon nodded. “Yes. We found Damian has been very active, but I’m not sure how it may be related to Rosalie, at least from the surface.”
“Okay,” I acknowledged. “Go on.”
“He has been friendly with Jas for one, and two, he is rumored to have...” Talon seed to be searching for the right terms to describe what he wanted to say, “befriended quite a few maids.”
If Damian simply f*ck around, I knew Talon wouldn’t bring this up to . He continued, “I interacted with Damian in the past, and I didn’t think he was the type who constantly needed attention from won.”
“Your point?” I asked.
He was a little hesitant. However, that didn’t delay his response too much. “I don’t know whether this is useful information or not, but one of the maids serves the Luna Queen.”
That was sothing new.
The Luna Queen, Jas’s mate.
Even though Jas was my cousin, I hadn’t interacted with the Luna Queen often– not that I interacted with any won often, but she was different.
As far as I rembered, she was a gentle and graceful woman. However, ever since she found out she couldn’t bear a child, she rarely showed herself in public any more. I couldn’t rember the last ti I had a conversation with her.
She had no interest in politics, power, or even war. It was as if her heart had died many years ago. I couldn’t think of any reason why Damian would want to approach the Luna Queen.
I frowned. “That doesn’t an anything.”
Talon agreed. “I’ll keep an eye out. If things change, I’ll let you know.”
I nodded.
Talon focused back on our original conversation. “Regarding the investigation, though, I’ll start with Samuel and Vicky to get a detailed report of exactly what happened that night. They were the first ones to notice Rosalie was gone.”
I had been thinking through that heartbreaking night over and over these few days, and I had so ideas. “No,” I told him.
“Alpha, you already have a clue? Want to share?”
I looked him in the eye, “Start with the guard who reported seeing her at the cliff.”
He pondered for a second and seemingly had co up with his action plan. “Yes, Alpha!”
As he got up to leave the room; I called him back. “Talon, I’m not done yet.”
He was curious. “Anything else?”
“Just now, you only ntioned regrouping with Samuel and Vicky. Where’s Georgia? Did she go back to the pack?”
Talon hesitated and reported, “No, she didn’t go back to the pack like she said she would.”
“What?” I asked with an irritated tone. “You didn’t want to tell that?”
“Alpha, I was planning to let you know once you get so ti to rest. There isn’t anything we need to do at this mont.”
“Then where did she go?”
“She went to the northern villages with Blake–” Then Talon realized that I had no idea who Blake was, so he explained. “Blake was one of the villagers from the northern border. By the ti we found out she was gone, it was too late for to send n after her.”
“Beta,” I tried to control myself from roaring at him, “great job watching an eighteen-year-old.” I knew my tone was sarcastic, but it was better I did that than lose my temper.
Talon didn’t argue. I could tell that he was upset with himself too, way more upset than I expected. I rarely saw my Beta act this way, and imdiately horrible scenarios ca to my mind regarding Georgia.
“What happened to her? Talon!”
He snapped out from his thoughts, and explained, “She is safe! She sent a letter letting us know she was safe.” Taking a deep breath, he released it. He looked at apologetically. “Sorry, Alpha!”
“Then why the f*ck didn’t you say it the first ti?” I spouted, as I watched him clench his fists.
I raised a brow. Talon seed a bit off today. It was rare.
Seeing him this way, my anger dissipated. He had a lot on his plate, backing up when I needed him most, and honestly no one could’ve done a better job than him.
I softened my tone. “You’ve done your best. If Georgia was able to sneak out without you knowing, she should be able to protect herself.”
Talon was surprised at my comnt. I wasn’t sure whether he was surprised by my calm tone towards him or by my comnts towards Georgia.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I actually could understand Georgia and could put myself in her shoes if needed, just like I could foresee what Soren would do. After all, the three of us were the closest relatives we had left in this world, and so traits we shared were carved in our blood.
I asked another question, “Did she say why she went there?”
“She ntioned that she went to look for soone, but she didn’t accomplish finding that person. However, she found sothing else. I believe her initial goal was Soren. She didn’t explain the new information she discovered though. However, I just had a guess.”
“Go ahead,” I nodded.
“A while back, Georgia showed a book. She tried to tell that the woman in the book looked like Rosalie. Georgia isn’t the type that easily gives up on sothing when she has a firm belief, and I’m not aware of any of her other new interests lately. So I wonder whether she found sothing related to Rosalie.”
Rosalie... the ntion of her na made my heart ache, but at the sa ti, knowing that she was out there, still alive, and I would get her back sooner or later, made any suffering worthy.
I owed her. However, I reminded myself to stay focused.
“Okay, how’s everyone else doing?”
“Overall, well. Vicky has been helping to arrange the displaced citizens and allocate the supplies like before. Estrella arrived back at the pack. Rex is holding up strong back in Drogomor. So far, there’s nothing concerning.”
“Very well. One last thing,” I got up from my seat
“Of course, sir.”
“I don’t care how you do it, I do not want to see Madalynn until our investigation is over.”
He didn’t imdiately respond to my request.
“Any problem?” I arched my brow.
My Beta’s brow was furrowed. He asked, “You want to hear my honest opinion?”
I thought for a second and gave him a flat answer. “No, I don’t.”
“Alpha,” Talon’s expression was... priceless. “Ethan, that wasn’t very kind.”
I shrugged, “As you can see, I need to rest and get better.”
“Okay, then please tell that I won’t need to hear about the wedding preparations from her any more?”
“Talon,” I stared at him and snarled through my teeth, “Why not? If she wants a wedding, she gets a wedding.”
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