𝙴𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚍

Chapter Sixteen

Lucius

"Is everything in order?" I asked, though it came out a lot harsher than I had intended.

"As far as I know, Your Grace." My Gamma replied, voice even. "All there is left to do is to attend the Ball."

I exhaled through my nostrils, trying to ease the nerves that had me by the throat. To everyone else, I was a calm, yet stern man. And that's exactly what I needed to be to them. An unshakable Alpha.

But this mission, handed down to me by the Alpha-King himself, was grinding away at me. It had originally been nothing more than an investigation, but slowly, with each success, it had morphed into something much larger. Something bordering on sinister.

I glanced up at Victor, who had been patiently waiting for my response. And I wondered if he had felt the same uneasiness as I.

Victor and I had known one another since we were boys, his father served under mine in the same position he held now. Yet despite our long history with one another, I could not bring myself to be open with him, let alone anyone else in the pack.

It felt like a weakness, pushing off my worry onto the others. I was their leader, not their friend. It was my duty to take care of any issues that might have arisen.

But this time was different. My pack, one of the strongest war packs in the Kingdom, had been a large part of these operations. They had been out there right alongside me, risking their health to help me fulfill the Alpha-King's commands. So, as their Alpha, I could not bring myself to allow them to be put in harm's way due to my pride.

"Something about this does not sit well with me." I ground my teeth, my frustration gnawing its way to the surface and chipping away at my usual stoic constitution.

His brow raised slightly, as if he noticed my unease, then carefully replied, "Why is that Your Grace?"

"This time does not feel like the others." I continued. My wolf urged me to tell the truth. He too had felt unsettled by something this time, but neither of us could figure out why. "I think there is more going on here than we originally surmised."

The closer our operations grew to the outer reaches of the Kingdom, the larger they ended up becoming. The last one was nearly a mess, with the traffickers having switched up the carriages at the last second. But fortunately for us, I had scented one of the stolen girls before she had been whisked away. Giving us a trail to follow and allowing us to find their compound before it was too late.

They were growing smart. Far too smart for it to have been a small faction of rogues leading the charge. No, someone smarter, and with the resources to carry out such heists was behind these mass disappearances. And I was going to find them no matter what it took.

Something flickered in his green eyes and after a moment of silence he finally sighed, "I agree."

"We need to handle this one differently." I leaned back in my chair, my desk was a mess of building plans for the Randel packhouse, guest and servant lists and maps circled with potential areas of where the trafficking compound might have been. Ilooked at all of it for a moment then realized, if we were watching them, then surely, they had to have been watching us as well. "But it must appear as if we are continuing on as we have been."

"You think they are anticipating us like we are them?" Victor scratched his chin. "So what does Your Grace suggest?"

I sighed, running a hand down my face as the very thought of what I was about to say made me want to cringe. "I will have to dance."

A small cackle left him, and for once in the last eleven years, I felt like a kid again. "You?" He shook his head in disbelief. "The Alpha, nay the Duke of Lunderia, better known as the shadow, is going to dance! Now that is a sight I must behold."

"If their eyes are all on me, then perhaps they will make a mistake." I growled, trying to hide my embarrassment. "And you act as if I cannot dance, Victor, when we both know I am a far better dancer than you."

"Since when?" He laughed, "The last time I saw you dance was when we were both taking lessons at the age of twelve and even then you brooded your way through it."

I flashed him a quick smirk before I let out my aura, forcing him to cough before his eyes darted to his feet, "And the last time I saw you dance, you ended up in a fountain because you were too hypnotized by your partners breasts." I released him, only having done it to jest.

He regained his composure, then laughed at himself, "I dare say, Your Grace, she had the most voluptuous breasts I had ever seen. Very well worth the embarrassment that ensued later."

"I cannot fathom how you can stomach them." I closed my eyes, thinking about the last time I attempted to bed a female that wasn't my mate.

"Breasts, Your Grace?" I did not have to look at him to know he had his head cocked to the side like an idiot.

"No you fool, and stop calling me that." I shook my head at him, "How can you bring yourself to entertain those that are not your mate?" It was a serious question, but with the way he had been looking back at me, I had started to doubt myself.

"What do you mean?" He looked confused, "I bed them like I would any female."

"Are they not sickening? Do they not make you physically ill?" I looked at him dumbfounded. Had it really not been that normal to be disgusted by them?

"We do not need them." My wolf, Marrok, reminded me. "We only need her."

"Are you saying you've never. . ?"

"How about we return back to the important task at hand." I quickly cut him off with a glare. The last thing I needed was the entire pack knowing I had never been bedded.

"Of course, Your Grace." He straightened up, then continued, "I think using you as a distraction will work nicely. If they think your attention has been stolen, those bastards are bound to get cheeky."

"Indeed." I glanced over one of the guest lists only to find myself staring at one of the names. My wolf stirred inside of me at the sight of it, yet I was unsure why it had caught our attention in the first place.

"Eliza Wuldruf." I read the name to myself. "Do I know you?"

"Go on and have them send the carriage." I finally tore my eyes away from the name, "We will be leaving tonight."