Chapter 130: The New Recruit
Chapter 130: The New Recruit
Kaden’s POV
Dozens of maids stood lined up in front of me, their bodies trembling so violently that the fabric of their uniforms rustled. Their heads were bowed low, eyes glued to the floor as if looking up would cost them their lives. They could feel my dark, angry Alpha aura flaring wildly, crushing the very air out of their lungs. No one dared to breathe. No one dared to make a sound.
I paced back and forth in front of them like a predator cornering helpless prey, my green eyes scanning every single face like a blade ready to strike. Beads of sweat poured down their pale faces, each one of them terrified that my brutal wrath was about to fall on them.
"Which one of you has been poisoning my breeder’s food?!" I growled, the raw power in my voice vibrating through the walls.
Silence met my words. Only the pathetic sound of soft, terrified whimpering filled the empty space.
My wolf snarled in my mind, completely losing patience and demanding blood. I snapped my posture straight, unleashing my dominant power and letting it flood every corner of the room. "Who poisoned Rebecca’s food? Tell me the truth right now!" I roared, slamming them with my Alpha command.
The invisible weight of my power hit them like a physical wall. Several maids gasped for air, their knees buckling instantly as they collapsed onto the hard floor, clutching their chests in agony. The power of a King forcing the truth out of their souls was torturous; yet, despite the agonizing pressure, none of them spoke. They just wept bitterly, shaking their heads in pure confusion and terror. If the culprit were standing in this room, my command would have ripped the confession straight from their throat.
I frowned deeply, a cold, sickening knot forming in my stomach. Was Rebecca playing me for a fool after all? Was that entire tear-stained performance in her bedroom just a clever act to save her own skin and buy herself time? The thought alone made my blood boil. If she tricked me, I would make sure she regretted the very day she was born.
Just then, the heavy doors opened, and Beta Logan hurried into the hall, holding a digital tablet. His face was dead serious, his eyes wide as he walked straight up to me, cutting through my racing thoughts.
"Alpha," Logan whispered, getting closer to me. "The technical engineer just finished scanning the kitchen CCTV records from two weeks ago. He found the footage."
I snatched the tablet from his hands, my eyes tearing into the screen. On the display, a video was playing. The camera was pointed directly at the kitchen food counters. The footage showed the exact moment a maid in a standard uniform walked up to Rebecca’s dinner tray. She looked around quickly, her eyes darting left and right with guilt, before secretly slipping a strange, dark powder into the soup bowl.
The camera caught her face clearly for a split second before she turned and hurried out of the kitchen.
I stared at the screen, my blood turning to pure ice. I didn’t recognize her face. I looked up from the screen and glared at the line of terrified servants, searching for the snake from the video.
She wasn’t there. No wonder my Alpha command hadn’t forced a confession—the culprit wasn’t even in the room.
"Martha!" I roared, my voice booming so loudly that several more maids dropped to their knees, weeping in terror.
The elderly head maid, Martha, stepped forward with weak, shaking legs. She threw herself to the floor at my feet, her hands clasped together as she cried out. "Yes, Alpha King! Please, have mercy on us!"
I thrust the tablet screen directly in front of her face, forcing her to look at the frozen image of the maid pouring the poison. "Who is this?" I demanded. "Why is she not here among the servants in this hall?!"
Martha looked at the screen, and the last bit of color drained from her face. She began to tremble so hard her teeth chattered together in pure fright.
"S-She... Alpha, that is Lily," Martha choked out, sweat pouring down her forehead and dripping onto the marble. "She is a new recruit. She only started working here a month ago!"
"Where is she?!" I snapped, stepping closer until my massive shadow completely covered her shaking form.
"She... she is not in the palace, Alpha!" Martha sobbed, pressing her forehead against the floor. "Just yesterday, she came to me crying. She left the palace grounds in a hurry, saying her mother was suddenly very sick in their pack. I—I didn’t know, Alpha! I swear on my life, I didn’t know what she was doing!"
A wild, cold rage exploded in my chest, tearing through my veins like fire. A new recruit. A month ago. This wasn’t a mistake. This was a planned, cold-blooded infiltration. Whoever sent her knew exactly when to strike, and they had ordered her to flee the moment the poison completely damaged Rebecca’s womb.
They hadn’t wanted Rebecca dead.
They wanted her alive...
Alive, but incapable of ever giving me an heir.
I snapped my head back toward Logan, my rage exploding.
"Find her," I growled, my jaw clenching so tightly the bones looked ready to snap. "Logan, track her scent from her quarters immediately. Put the tracking team on her trail. Tell the technical engineer to watch the record of the CCTV outside the palace gates too. I want to see exactly how she left and who picked her up."
"I will get him on it right away, Alpha King," Logan replied, bowing his head deeply, his expression hardening.
"Tell them to block all the borders of the pack territory," I ordered, my rough voice vibrating through the stone walls of the grand hall. "I want Lily dragged back to this palace alive by tonight..."
Before I could finish my words, the heavy doors of the grand hall were violently thrown open.
Stephanie rushed in, completely out of breath. Her eyes were wide with pure panic, and tears were streaming down her pale face. She didn’t even care that she was interrupting the Alpha King in front of the entire staff. She ran straight toward me, her voice cracking loudly through the tense silence of the room.
"Alpha! Please, come quick!" she screamed, her body shaking as she gasped for air. "Something is wrong with Rebecca! She suddenly collapsed onto the floor!"