Noah POV
"What do you an you don’t know?"
"Your majesty," Kurtis’s eyes glazed coldly "I’ve already provided a detailed analysis of the situation. There’s nothing more I have to say to you. I have no idea who is posing as King Tanner and there’s not a lot of detail available,".
I stood there feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place as I tried to read Kurtis’ expression to know if he was lying to . Then a thought struck ...
"Princess Jade," I said with excitent "Perhaps she might know who is posing as her father or sothing. Quick, Xavier," I turned to him, "Send for Princess Jade this instance, I need to ask her a few questions,".
"We thought about that too, Your Majesty," Xavier said quietly "And we went ahead to ask her without truly revealing our intention and she said she had not seen her father for the past three years. She was schooling abroad and only ca ho when she had a need, it was t imdiately. From the looks of it, they don’t have a close relationship or sothing about how he’s always busy and she just resigned to her fate of communicating with him via phone calls or texts,".
"Phone calls?" my eyes widened in surprise "Did she say that his voice sounded different?"
"No," Xavier shook his head "We also asked her that. Your Majesty, we have to do sothing now and fast. They’ll soon be here. An hour ago, Kurtis sent out spyware that captured ships coming from the northern seas. They’re so tiny that you cannot easily spot them. Whoever is coming to you is coming purely for war and not because they want to rescue the princess,".
I kept quiet for a mont, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. If this was the situation then it could only an one thing Princess Jade may be working with them.
"Do you think Princess Jade is in on this?" My gaze swivelled from one man to the other "Because I’m surprised, she’s acting rather too comfortable with everything and refused to call her father to tell him that she’s fine. Don’t you find that strange,".
"She’s not too intelligent to pull that off," Kurtis said with a shrug "Princess Jade is not smart enough... and also, she’s banking on her father forcing you to take her as Luna. So, she’s calm. Don’t worry about her, your majesty,".
While we were talking Kurtis’s phone beeped in his pocket, he paused for a mont took it out and imdiately exclaid in a loud voice "The emissaries from the Wild Hunt pack just arrived. I’ve received word from my n stationed at the airport. They’re currently tracking them to see where they’re going. Whatever we have to do, Your Majesty, we have to do it now. I have seen the destruction that fell on packs that got this sort of invitation and it doesn’t always end well,".
I nodded, thinking I would panic but was surprised that I was unbelievably calm. "First we need to be sure of sothing," taking a deep breath, I relaxed my mind and mind-linked Reid.
"Reid! Was any ssage delivered to the Pack House regarding the arrival of soone?" I asked.
There was a short pause before Reid replied "No, your majesty. Are you expecting soone or anything?" he asked.
"Yes, please let know if any ssage cos in, okay?"
"Okay!" he said quietly "Where are you right now? You don’t sound like you’re around the pack house or within,".
"I’m within, just taking care of a few things. Let know if any ssage cos in, okay?"
When the mind link ended, I turned to Kurtis who was watching "I called the confirm if they had reached out to the Pack House to inform us of their arrival but there’s been nothing like that. So..." I looked over at Xavier and allowed my gaze to flit to Kurtis hoping one of them had a plan at this mont because my head was blank "Any ideas on how we can get around this without losses? I cannot afford a war at this mont and I’ll do anything to avert it,".
The duo exchanged aningful glances before Xavier finally spoke up
"The only way I see us uncovering the truth about King Tanner and averting any kind of war is by sending soone undercover to get close to the impersonator. Once we know who it is, we will make quick plans and co up with strategies that can proffer temporary solutions in the least,".
My lips parted as a chuckle escaped "So you don’t have a plan?"
"No, we don’t because we do not know who we’re going up against and its original intent. So we must trade carefully and avoid assumptions that could lead to war and also," Kurtis paused for a bit "We need to hold Jade as hostage until we’re sure of things. I am not saying that holding her would be a gateway but I am pretty sure that in the next few hours, this impostor would try to act like he ca for her but it’ll buy us enough ti. So, Princess Jade stays with us,".
"Okay," I nodded as I studied Kurtis. I didn’t want to admit it but he was brilliant and seed to know about many situations like this. Also, I saw there was a comfortable rapport between him and Xavier. Making a ntal note to ask him later, I turned to Xavier
"So, who are we sending as undercover? I have a few of our soldiers that have infiltrated packs before and have high success records. So, I can reach out to them and you brief them,".
"That won’t be necessary, uncle," Xavier said gently.
My heart thumped in my chest as he called uncle and not by my title. Whenever he wanted to tell about sothing he felt I might not agree with, he tries to call with endearnt.
I arched a brow "Why?"
"We’ve agreed to use Selene... Your mate... Luna Selene," Kurtis announced "And before you protest about not sending her, we can’t risk sending any of our soldiers but on your side and mine. For one, it’ll be easier for them to be sniffed out and their body build a whole lot. Besides, we can trust Selene and I know she can do it,".
My stomach dropped at the thought of putting Selene in danger like that. Whether or not she could do it... she was going to et a ton of n and there’s no telling what they’ll do to her. I couldn’t risk that.
"No!" I shook my head in disagreent "Let’s look for other solutions... it’s too dangerous. Do you have any idea what you’re talking about? Selene is a woman for moon’s sake... she’s never fought or wielded a knife. Her wolf Bea is not strong enough to defend her yet. No..."
"Your majesty," Xavier said quietly "I know that you do not want to use Selene... too. I an, she’s the mother of my children and imagine telling the girls that I allowed their mother to go for such a high-risk mission... it sounds bad and makes it feel like we’re here lounging around while she does the tough job,".
"Well, that’s it," I cut him off "So, let’s take her off the list and think of sothing else,".
"First, she’s widely known and is your wife so, it won’t raise any suspicion and you know Selene’s diplomatic skills and ability to talk in circles around anyone. She’s our best shot at this. All we want is for her to go in and confirm that the person posing as King Tanner is not him,".
"No..." I said vehently again.
"Think about it, Your Majesty," Kurtis chirped in "By now you should know that Selene is special and I am confident that she would do it. Besides, it’s not like we’ll hang around here doing nothing. We plan to give her full coverage and, in a situation, where she’s in danger, there’s a plan B underway for her to escape. We’ve thought over this carefully. Even though we cannot be sure it’ll work out 100% I’m positive that we’ll get at least a 70%,".
My mind flitted to the encounter I had with a mage the year Selene arrived at the pack. I haven’t told anyone about it yet. About how the Mage had told that the girls were blue-eyed wolves and Selene was a Priestess of the Moon. Even though I’ve gathered conversations of the girl’s clairvoyance... not once has Selene shown any sign of having powers out of the ordinary.
She hated going for runs because it made her weak, she still had to take her mugwort shot occasionally, not to ntion the troubled sleep and nightmares she’d always wake up screaming from it. I was worried for her. Was she truly a Moon Priestess? Aside from that, their points were valid.
"Fine," I gritted my teeth, giving a reluctant nod "As much as I hate to admit it, you guys are right but I can’t tell her to take on this mission. She’d ask a lot of questions and I wouldn’t know what to tell her,".
"She’s not supposed to get an entire grasp of what the mission is, your majesty," Kurtis said "It’s best we outline only the dangers she will and may face and then give her a few tasks to do while on the mission. That’s the only way it’ll take her minds off things and make her survive,".
"Okay," I nodded "But there’s no way I’m telling her myself,".
Xavier shrugged with a scoff "Don’t look at – you’re the one who needs to tell your mate. I’m not getting in the middle of that,".
I shot him a dark look, of course, he would put that on . Exhaling slowly, I turned back to Kurtis who was watching us with what seed to be disgust. "I can’t do it. She’ll not want to listen to especially now. Maybe you should explain it to her?"
Kurtis didn’t argue, he nodded "I’ll go find her now and prep her. anwhile, keep a close eye on Princess Jade. I’ve doubled security at all the borders surrounding the pack. I’ll get back to you in a short while,".
He gave a curt nod and walked away. I clenched my jaw as I watched him go knowing, Selene, she wasn’t going to like this one bit. But if it was the only way to protect the kingdom, I hope she tries to understand.
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