The Alpha King's Witch Bride Chapter 310: Culprit Is Closer Than You Think

Caroline’s POV

*****

"S–Sir... Please, wait..." She choked on her words, wrapping her hands around Kaelos’ wrist.

But he didn’t budge, baring his teeth. "You better start talking before I squeeze the life out of you."

Caroline shivered, her eyes stinging with tears as she patted his hand weakly, trying to signal him that she couldn’t breathe.

"She’s not going to be able to talk properly if you don’t let go of her, Alpha King Kaelos." Althea stepped forward, her voice pleading. "Please, release her."

But Kaelos snapped his neck to her coldly. "Release her? She’s the one who served Odessa the tea during the ceremony. The tea which YOU made, by the way."

Althea’s brows furrowed. "Are you insinuating that I poisoned my niece?"

"By the moon, enough!" Janelle finally snapped, standing from where she sat and glaring at Kaelos. "Alpha king Kaelos... Let the girl down."

Kaelos’ silver eyes locked on Janelle, the muscle in his jaw ticking. For a mont, Caroline thought he would ignore her outright.

Then, with a guttural growl, he loosened his grip and let her drop.

Her knees buckled on impact, palms smacking the floor as she gasped for air. The air scraped down her throat like sandpaper, each cough setting fire to her chest.

But Kaelos didn’t even look at her. His attention had already shifted to Althea, his glare sharp enough to slice through steel.

"You brewed the tea," he said coldly. "You’ve been giving it to Odessa for days. Don’t pretend you had nothing to do with this."

Althea’s face hardened. "That tea was ant to strengthen her womb and ease her nerves. It’s a recipe that I’ve been brewing for decades. If soone tampered with it, that’s not on ."

The tension in the room was suffocating.

Maddox leaned back in his chair like a man waiting for blood to spill. Soren had his arms crossed, his eyes darting between Kaelos and Althea like he was watching a wolf fight and picking his bet.

Marcellus, of course, looked appropriately grim — but Caroline didn’t miss the flicker of amusent in his eyes.

Janelle stepped forward, her long gown dragging against the marble. She moved between Kaelos and Althea, lifting her chin with the kind of authority that made the room obey her without question.

"I’m ending this back-and-forth now." She raised her right hand, and the athyst stone on her ring caught the dim light. The deep violet glow was unmistakable. "We’re going to get to the truth here and now."

Kaelos scowled, but he didn’t protest.

Janelle turned to Caroline and suddenly the latter felt like prey cornered in the shadows of a predator’s den.

"Caroline," she said softly. "You will answer plainly. Do you understand?"

Caroline swallowed hard and nodded.

Janelle’s fingers brushed over the ring, the stone shifting slightly in its silver setting. Caroline could feel the magic in it hum against her skin like static, though she stood several feet away.

And then, the question dropped:

"Did you, at any point, poison Odessa’s tea?"

"No," Caroline said imdiately.

The ring pulsed faintly but Janelle’s expression didn’t change.

"Did you add anything to the tea that you did not prepare yourself?"

"No," Caroline repeated.

The ring glowed again, brighter this ti.

Janelle glanced at Kaelos, her voice cool. "She’s telling the truth. Whatever was in that tea, it wasn’t added by Caroline."

Kaelos’ nostrils flared, but he said nothing. His hands were clenched at his sides, the cords of muscle in his arms tight.

However, Janelle didn’t stop, her erald eyes becoming even sharper. "Who gave you the tea tonight, Caroline? And do not tell you don’t rember."

Caroline hesitated for a mont, not because she was hiding the answer, but because she knew the na would shift the temperature of this room from fire to ice.

"...Layla," She said finally. "She gave it to in the prep room behind the festival hall. She said she was running errands for the Alpha King but wanted to make sure Odessa’s tea was delivered on ti."

The silence that followed was thick enough to choke on.

Kaelos’ head turned toward her dangerously. "My assistant?"

"Yes, Alpha King," Caroline said, forcing her voice to stay steady. "She handed it to directly. I didn’t think there was a reason to question her."

"She’s dead," Alpha King Mwansa recalled flatly, his eyes narrowing in thought. "Died mysteriously during the attack. Which ans if she’s our culprit..."

Althea cut him off sharply. "Layla wasn’t acting on her own."

Alpha King Thorian turned his glare on her all of a sudden. "And you know how?"

"Because I examined her body myself," Althea snapped. "Her mind was shattered from an ancient compulsion spell. The magic residue on her was unlike anything I’ve seen in years. Whoever controlled her... knew exactly what they were doing. She was nothing more than a puppet."

Caroline’s stomach twisted.

If Layla had been a pawn, that ant the real threat had been inside the walls for months, maybe longer.

And she already had a rough idea who the so-called "real threat" was.

Her eyes flicked to Marcellus, her jaw clenching with restraint.

’Don’t do anything stupid, Caroline...’ Vilda whispered cautiously in her mind but Caroline snarled ntally.

’He’s the one behind this and we’re the only ones in this room who know it.’ She snapped, her fists curling beside her. ’How much longer do we wait for evidence before ratting him out?’

’As long as it takes, Caroline.’ Vilda, her wolf, was calm and reasonable. ’We don’t let emotions cloud our ability to carry out a mission. And right now we have only one.’

Caroline closed her eyes, her chest getting heavy with grief.

She had one mission, and yet she wasn’t able to fulfil it.

Poor Odessa...

’We will find her.’ Vilda was reassuring although her tone was also laced with grief. ’She’s stronger than you think.’

Oh, Caroline knew that. And that’s what bothered her more than anything.

Suddenly, Soren leaned forward in his chair, his voice like poisoned honey. "So. The assistant was under soone else’s influence, she poisoned the Luna Queen, then conveniently died before she could tell us who her master was. How... tidy."

Maddox snorted. "You think it’s a coincidence? I don’t. The attack and the poisoning were part of the sa plan."

Kaelos moved then, rounding his desk and planting both palms on the polished surface. His head was bowed, his shoulder-length black hair falling over his face, but his voice when it ca was steel-hard.

"Layla has been at my side for years. She had access to every level of this pack, to our defences, to Odessa. If she was compromised, then so was I."

He lifted his head, his eyes burning.

"This was never just about taking my mate. This was about dismantling the Blood Oak pack from the inside out."

A chill crept up Caroline’s spine.

Althea stepped closer, her voice quieter now. "Whoever did this... wanted Odessa vulnerable. And they succeeded. The miscarriage weakened her physically and emotionally. They were waiting for that mont to take her."

Kaelos’s hands curled into fists on the desk. "Ryker."

The na hung in the air like smoke.

Janelle tilted her head slightly. "If it was him, then he had help. He couldn’t have done this without soone feeding him information from inside."

Her gaze shifted, not to Caroline, but to Marcellus.

For a fraction of a second, his mask slipped. The faintest tightening around his eyes.

Kaelos didn’t seem to miss it either.

But before anyone could speak, Janelle turned her attention back to Caroline. "Caroline. Did Layla say anything unusual when she gave you the tea? Any ntion of where she’d been, or who she’d seen?"

The latter thought hard, replaying tonight in her mind. The blur of music, the glow of lanterns, the sll of the tea as Layla pressed the cup into her hand.

"...She looked tired," Caroline admitted. "Sweating. I asked if she was alright. She said she’d been running errands for the festival... and that the Alpha King had her ’all over the place.’"

Kaelos’ frown deepened. "I gave her no such errands."

That was it. The mont the last thread snapped.

The realisation settled over the room like a shroud... Layla had been moving freely through the pack, using Kaelos’ authority as her shield, and no one had stopped her.

"We need to know everyone she ca into contact with in the days leading up to the festival," Janelle said firmly. "Friends. Staff. Guards. Anyone."

Kaelos straightened slowly, his expression a mask of lethal calm. "I’ll find them."

No one doubted he would.

But as the eting dissolved into clipped orders and tense whispers, Caroline couldn’t shake the weight in her chest.

Layla was gone. The poisoner’s hands were clean. And Odessa was still in Ryker’s grasp.

The trail wasn’t cold.

It was here, in these halls and in this pack. In this bloody room in fact...

As the others began to leave, Caroline’s gaze drifted to Marcellus one last ti.

He wasn’t looking at her. He was watching Kaelos, his lips curled in the faintest smirk.

’Screw evidence...’ Caroline thought to herself. ’We’re bringing that bastard down with or without it...’